Murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery and treachery...

...sounds like a day in the office, but no, I went to see the musical Chicago at the Lyceum on a girls night out. What a fantastic production and great to see Gary Wilmot back in action. Funny, sexy and very slick, the choreography was amazing, I was inspired - less chocolate, more gym coming my way, honest!

Posted by: Yvette

The Worlds Largest Snowman... Is a Woman!

Which begs the question:
What's the difference between a Snowman and a SnowWoman?
Answer: Snowballs!

Although the recent snowfall caused chaos across the UK, I was pleased to see that at least some communities get out there and enjoy it....

The World's Tallest Snowman was created in Bethel, Maine in 1999, standing at 113’7” tall. But in 2008 the community set another world record... building the World's Tallest SnowWoman at 122'1".

Angus, King of the Mountain was replaced in the record books by a woman named Olympia SnowWoman who weighs in at 13,000,000 lbs. of snow. 5 foot wreaths were used for eyes, 16 skis for eyelashes, 130 ft. scarf, 30 ft. spruce trees for arms and 2,000 ft. of rope for hair.

Now that's snow joke!

Posted by: Yvette

On top of the world!

I spent most of October in Nepal, on a 24 day trek to Everest Base Camp crossing two high passes, the Renjo La and the Cho La.

Our 12 strong trekking team congregated in Kathmandu and after taking an adrenaline fueled flight to Lukla (check out Lukla airport on YouTube!) we met our team of hero's - the Nepalise Sherpas and Porters, and the adventure began.

We were up at 6am each morning, woken by the call for washing water (no need - it's babywipes all the way!), breakfast at 6.30am, then up and out.

Trekking through the Himalayas was like dropping into another world - away from the rat race, no mobile phones, stripped back to the very simplest of living conditions. Our journey took us to the most remote areas, across glaciers with temperatures ranging from scorching sunshine to below freezing, walking and sleeping at altitude of over 5,000m. Each day brought mind blowing sights - the highest, most beautiful mountains in the world....(and possibly the lowest toilet conditions!) It was proven within our team that toilet humour is international!

We congratulated ourselves and our Nepalese team with a huge party on our last night, and after a kettle full of rice wine the Nepali singing and dancing came naturally to us all - the best ending to an experience of a lifetime!

Check out our leaders report at: http://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/news/reports_read.html?id=697

Posted by: Yvette

Scrambling in Wales

Squeezing in some last minute training for my upcoming trek to Everest Base Camp, I went to North Wales with a couple of friends to climb Mt Tryfan, which is just over 3,000ft. I did this route 6 years ago, and had forgotten 'the fear'. It was actually great fun in some sections, but pretty scary in others. Ended the day with a celebratory portion of chips and peas - perfect!

Posted by: Yvette

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

You either love him or hate him - a bit like marmite. If you're a fan then it's well worth a read. He talks very honestly about his life, and with his inventive use of the English language it's incredibly funny - you can hear him reeling off his crazy dialect as you read.

Posted by: Yvette

Eat me if you can...

Chocolate letter press

Something for all chocoholic type fanatics...
or I'll eat my words!

Posted by: Yvette

Amateur Transplants - when junior doctors get lyrical!

WARNING! Not for the easily offended, but as it says on their website - 10% of all CD sales goes to Macmillan Cancer Support, so you can feel a bit better about yourself whilst laughing at their evil jokes. A bit like making your soul carbon neutral - Karma neutral if you will.

Check them out on YouTube:

Amateur Transplants: Careless Surgeon LIVE

Posted by: Yvette

The Pigeon Detectives

Went to see the Pigeon Detectives at the Carling Academy in Sheffield. Much crowd surfing to be had (not by myself of course), and they were fantastic live - great energy. Really enjoying the Carling Academy too, great venue.

Check them out on YouTube:

The Pigeon Detectives - Take Her Back




Posted by: Yvette

Where's the donkey?

Some of the more unusual sights to be seen in Barcelona ........it's cool for cats!!!!!

Posted by: Yvette

...and off to the pub!

We completed our Race for Life last Sunday, another great day out and all in the name of 'chariddy'!

Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored us.

Posted by: Yvette

Here come the girls......

Race for Life 2008

For the second year running, I will be out in Bakewell doing my bit for the Race for Life 2008. This 5k 'fun' run is in aid of Cancer Research - so, if anyone would like to sponsor me, it's very easy, you can do it online at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/yvettenuttall or on my sponsor form in the office.

It's a great day out - a brilliant atmosphere, a little exercise followed by a well deserved pub lunch, I'm very much looking forward to it!

Thank you to everyone who sponsored me last year, my family and I raised around £300.

Posted by: Yvette

Turtle-power

I bought this recently in the attempt to reduce my plastic bag collection and be more 'ethical'. I was unaware that as well as filling landfill sites many of our plastic bags end up in the sea, to be gobbled up by hungry turtles mistaking them for jellyfish - foolish and sadly fatal! I think it's great that high street shops are championing their cause. Also 30p from the sale of each bag goes to the Marine Conservation Society http://www.mcsuk.org/

Posted by: Yvette

Coca Cola Hippo

Formed from washed out old coke cans, this hippo was an unusual gift from my friends!
It was created by an artist in Africa who recycles old cans and turn them into quirky animal sculptures.

Posted by: Yvette

The cure for road rage? Quite possibly!

I love this, what a fantastic way to get to work, both fun and practical… and it’s just my size! This miniature tank has a fully integrated ready-to-fire paintball gun, built to order with rollover bar and roll cage, with six colours to choose from and it’s only £8000.

Looks like I’ll be trading in my motor sooner than expected.

Posted by: Yvette

By ‘eck, it’s tha Great Yorkshire run!

Is it the next Seb Coe and Paula Radcliffe (or just a couple of contestants in a gurning competition – in which case, I win!)?

Nutters and Chiddy rocked in at 54.25 mins on the Great Yorkshire Run, coming 1425th and 1426th out of 4500 runners.

Not bad for a pair of veterans!

Posted by: Yvette

Big Bites

I’ve had these ads on my desktop for a very long time now; if you’ve not seen them before, they were created by the agency Jung von Matt in Germany to promote a product called Stop n’ Grow. It’s a great example of ambient media in action - using plastic carrier bags

Stop n’ Grow is a product you can apply to your fingernails; apparently they taste so damn awful that no nail biter would ever consider sticking their fingers in their mouths again!

Bringing the biting concept forward to the grandest scale, check out this ad created by Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann for an chain of motorway restaurants called Oldtimer in Austria…

Posted By: Yvette

Pick Your Nose!

Look at this use of ambient media promoting Toronto Plastic Surgery; with a perfectly shaped nose printed onto the side of a coffee cup, it gives the impression a nose job is just as quick and easy to achive.

A nice idea, but it'll only work if you drink from the cup in exactly the right position... and of course if you're going to do that you're probably very, very insecure about the way you look!

The idea below is much better, using the concept above for party laughs - available in packs of 24, with an assortment of differnt noses for both sexs... go on: pick your nose!

Posted By: Yvette

Funky Brochure

I picked up this funky brochure for sleek Italian brand Patrizia Pepe from a shop down Ecclesall Road in Sheffield.

I love the way it’s made from one continuous sheet, folded up to create the individual pages. The glossy photography is lush and the embossed spot UV cover makes this a quality piece of design.

Posted By: Yvette

Another Easter Joke

Posted By: Yvette

Cereal Naturally...

Spotted these creative packaging designs for Dorset Cereals. The pack sizes, materials, colours and see through sections draw your attention to the textures and makes the brand stand out as an appealing natural, healthier choice. Tastes bloomin’ brilliant too!

This range of packaging was also commended in the 2007 Design Week Awards.

Posted By: Yvette