Simon's Cat in "Sticky Tape"

The ever-brilliant Simon's Cat is back... and this time he's getting into a sticky predicament!

Enjoy!


Andrew

2 Years of Blogging - kind of!

Although I didn't start this blog until July 2009, today is the second anniversary of me being bitten by the blogging bug. My former colleague and friend Stephen had been blogging for some time and had asked me to do a guest piece for him. Without a deadline and without a topic, it took me a while to come up with something but I eventually did.

Having written the piece, and seeing it published, I was inspired to join him in the ranks of bloggers. After some further procrastination I did and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Although I will still make a song and dance when anniversaries of this blog roll round, I will always count that guest post for Stephen as the real beginning of my blogging journey!

Click here to read it in all it's nascent glory and here for Stephen's blog.


Andrew

5 on the 5th has a Facelift

Regular readers will know that I contribute to a monthly photography feature called "5 on the Fifth". The deal is simple - just take five pictures on (or in the lead up to) the fifth of the month and then post them on your blog or photo site.

This month the project has been refreshed and rejuvenated with new logos and a fresh approach to posting - details to follow. The organiser, Stephen, has also spruced up the look of his blog which I'd recommend you add to your follow list - have a browse here.

The fifth (of March, eek!) is only a week away now - so why don't you start thinking about making a contribution? The theme this month is "lines" but your pictures could be anything you wish. Keep an eye on Stephen's Blog for more details.

Andrew

Comic Relief

Last month I posted this on The Inbetweeners' Rude Road Trip. As you may have gathered, I've long been a supporter of Comic Relief, the UK charity founded by (amongst others) Richard Curtis in 1985 and which has been organising Red Nose Day and the accompanying TV charity telethon since 1988.

One of the founding principle of Comic Relief was that every penny raised should go direct to the people whom it aims to support (the split is historically 2/3rds to Africa and 1/3rd to the UK, although support was given to Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake.) To this end, they have a number of partners who either give support in kind or cover the various admin costs associated with large-scale fundraising.

This transparency also extends to those products that are sold to support Red Nose Day, where the amount actually going to Comic Relief is publicised at the point of sale.

Another great reason to support Comic Relief is the way that they use celebrities in fundraising. It is not enough for a celebrity to appear on the show or record a video in support; they'll visit projects that the charity is funding both here and abroad and see the challenges first hand. It is also interesting to note how many stars remain supporters year in year out, even while fame and trends wax and wane,.

A more recent development, kicked off by David Walliam's English Channel swim for Sport Relief, are the sponsored events where groups of celebrities take on gruelling challenges. Last year a group of 8 or so cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End non-stop while the year before a similar number climbed Kilimanjaro. These cleverly cover a number of fan-bases and widen the scope for donations as well as lengthening the period over which funds are raised.

This year Lorraine Kelly, Scott Mills, Kara Tointon, Olly Murs, Ronni Ancona, Dermot O'Leary, Peter White, Nadia Sawalha and Craig David are crossing 100km's of the Kaisut desert in Northern Kenya. You can find out more here and donate here.

In the UK you can also text 'Desert' to 70011 to donate a pound. Or text twice to donate £2... Texts cost £1 plus the cost of one text at your standard network rate.

Anyway, all that was a roundabout way of getting to today's post of one of Dermot O'Leary's latest video diaries from the trek:

Andrew

Not an A-Z of my CDs: B

After featuring Adele's fantastic Brit Awards performance last week, which propelled "Someone Like Me" to a re-entry at number 1 in the charts, here's the second entry in my series featuring acts whose music I do not (yet) own, have previously owned, or just stuff I like. This week, B is for B52s along with an honourary mention for the BMX Bandits... Click to enjoy some Serious Drugs. 

Now, back to the B52s and Roam:

and here's Rock Lobster:

Such good fun!

Andrew