Summer has now come to a close and the mood in the office is distinctly autumnal.
I always feel, as it turns to September, that I should be hitting the high street and stocking up on stationery bits and bobs and finding that all important new pencil case – old habits die hard I guess and I am still a big child at heart.
Talking of children, I have a little yarn to share with you about one of my more personal A1 VOX experiences a little later.
Now those of you that are friends of A1 on Facebook will have seen that we have now added AudioBoo to our proceedings. The first is a corker from Brian Blessed, recorded only a week ago. He shares his thoughts and er...feelings about A1 in his usual bombastic way. 'Brian's Alive' - check it out!
So whilst Charles and Chris were being let loose on our celebrity guests and I was off sunning myself in Cornwall and getting rained on in Ireland, the A1 VOX cogs continued to turn. Many a familiar face seems to have graced VOX Towers in my absence, the first being loveable funny woman Caroline Quentin.
Caroline has had an extensive television and acting career but is probably best known for her television appearances in Men Behaving Badly, playing 'Dorothy', and her turn as 'Maddy Magellan' in Jonathan Creek.
In 1998 came the first sitcom to be built around Quentin herself, Kiss Me Kate. At the British Comedy Awards in 2004, Quentin won the "Best Comedy Actress" award for her performance in Von Trapped and in the same year, she started the major role of 'Maggie Mee' in the popular drama Life Begins. Steady on lady cakes.
She is currently starring in the 2009/2010 BBC comedy series The Life of Riley where Quentin is reprising her role as 'Maddy Riley', the matriarch of a modern, mixed-up family that includes not just a ten-year-old son from a first marriage and a baby from her new husband, but also two chippy, adolescents.
Her home situation, she says, is less complicated than Maddy Riley's. “I'm married to the father of my only two children which makes life more straightforward.” And yet it is still not exactly your conventional nuclear family. For starters Sam, whom she married in 2006, stays at home on their farm in Tiverton, Devon, to look after the children while Quentin brings home the bacon. “He's made huge sacrifices and my career wouldn't have been an option without him,” she admits.
The couple met shortly after her 1998 divorce from the comedian Paul Merton. Mention of the latter is the only time Caroline ever tends to get prickly. “Neither Paul nor I have ever talked about it. What I will say is that it was an incredibly sad time in my life. But it's also a long time go. People probably don't remember we were married and, if they do, they don't give a s***.
Here are some quick fire thoughts from the lady in question who turns the big 50 this year - Therapy? “Great idea...I'd definitely have it, although I haven't needed it yet. But, then, isn't that what all crazy people say?” Religion? “No. I think I can say with some certainty that I'm not a religious or spiritual person, unless you count having a smallholding as a kind of religion. There again, it's pretty quiet on the smallholding front right now. All our animals are in the freezer.”
Funny girl, Caroline Quentin, A1 VOX wishes you all the best as you reach that big birthday landmark and as a tribute to that fact below is a wee quote from Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly:
Dorothy: Gary, when I was away, did you sleep with a woman?
Gary Strang: How do you mean, "woman"?
Dorothy: A woman. You know, the ones with what you and Tony call "shirt potatoes."
I was very disappointed that I didn't get to meet Jasmine Harman when she came into A1 as I am a keen traveller and wanted to find out if she really does have the best job on the planet.
In case you are not au fait with Jasmine's work she is best known for presenting Channel 4's award-winning show, A Place in the Sun - Home or Away, and has filmed over 200 episodes.
From Bavaria to Barbados, Sydney to Slovenia and Tobago to Tenerife, no stone has been left unturned on her quest to travel the globe and find the best properties for her house-hunters.
Prior to working in television, Jasmine had a successful career in the Health Club industry. She is a qualified fitness instructor and lived in the Algarve for several years, working as Marketing Manager for a luxury health resort. It was here that she began writing professionally and developed her passion for broadcast, hosting her own twice-weekly live magazine show on the Algarve’s most popular radio station - Kiss FM. I really want to hate her now!
Since 2004 when Jasmine was selected from hundreds of applicants to present A Place in the Sun – Home or Away (it should have been me!!!), it has gone from strength to strength.
The programme is also broadcast throughout Europe and the rest of the world, some as far-reaching as New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. She is a natural and popular presenter who represents a generation of stylish, 30-something women. Stylish (in a shambolic bohemian type of way), 30-something...and I am indeed a woman – where do I sign up!? - ok I will stop now... I promise.
Jasmine is also an in-demand writer and commentator on topics such as overseas property, travel and homes, and has written features for Company, Living Abroad, and My Travel magazines. She is the resident travel columnist at LOOK magazine where you can read her weekly travel tips, and a regular contributor to A Place in the Sun magazine.
From skiing on the Austrian Alps to discovering perfect pizza in Puglia, Jasmine finds time to sneak away to some of her favourite holiday destinations found whilst travelling the globe with A Place In The Sun.
She grew up in Hackney, East London but has defected and gone South of the river where she now lives with husband Jon and their dog Shadow!
She seems to lead a charmed life and I wish her all the best..grrrrr...no really I do.
The only lad featured this week is none other than rude boy Radio 1 DJ Nihal Arthanayake.
DJ Nihal was born on 1 June 1971 in Harlow, Essex. That’s right people a fellow Essex lad to my Essex lady! Get In.
He is a British radio and TV presenter, club night promoter (Bombay Bronx) and DJ, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio 1, BBC Asian Network and from August 6, 2010 BBC Radio Five Live. He resides within Notting Hill London where he lives with his wife and two young children.
After graduating university, he began an unsuccessful career as a recording artist and so in the late 90s, he turned to music promotion which seemed to be much more his bag.
This turn saw him working for artists as diverse as Nitin Sawhney, Judge Jules, Mos Def, and Elton John. It was while working for the groundbreaking Asian Beats record label Outcaste Records that he promoted, amongst others, Badmarsh & Shri's seminal Signs album.
Nihal joined BBC Radio 1 in 2002, to become co-host of a night time Asian Beats Show with DJ Bobby Friction. The show went on to win a Sony Radio Award in 2003 - achieving Gold standard in the Specialist Music Category for their show.
In 2007, Nihal became the presenter of the Weekend Breakfast Show on Radio 1 and is currently one of only two DJs to present both a mainstream and a specialist show on the channel, the other being Annie Mac.
But enough of all the hip muso stuff cause here at A1 we have a bit of a food crush on TV programme MasterChef so we were all chomping at the bit to ask Nihal about his recent Celebrity MasterChef experience.
The fifth series of Britain's favourite celebrity cooking contest started with five celebrities trying to impress judges John Torode ("It's like an alien has landed on the plate") and Gregg Wallace ("That fish is good enough to kiss").
Actor Neil Stuke, athlete Tessa Sanderson, Dragon's Den entrepreneur Richard Farleigh, Brookside actress Alex Fletcher and our very own guest voice artist Nihal Arthanayake were put through a series of gruelling cooking challenges.
Only two of them could go through to the next week's quarter final, taking them one step closer to becoming the next Celebrity MasterChef.
Nihal, who by his own admission 'didn't know what the hell he was doing' managed to impress the judges with his Thai chicken curry on a potato rosti with honey glazed carrots. Cor, Bang on the money.
It was between Nihal and Neil to be fast-tracked. It’s Neil.
There’s a palate test with a herb, mushroom and gruyere omelette. No-one stands out.
Nihal, Alex, Richard and Tessa all cook tempura vegetables and garlic mayonnaise. Alex did best at the test.
Alex and Nihal go through to the next round.
Alex, Nihal and Neil cook at the Swan restaurant. Nihal told us it was one of the hardest things he has ever had to do in his life and this guy presents live radio!!
The next challenge was to cook two courses for the Quarter Final.
Nihal cooks soup and chicken koftas and after deliberation the judges decide all Nihal’s dishes were sweet and needed chilli - he is outta there.
Don't let it get ya down Nihal even though you weren't exactly "a volcano of food emotion", we think your fab, and remember........
PRESENTERS DON'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS.
So in my time at A1 VOX I have dog sat for an extremely large German Shepherd that could have dismembered me with one short, sharp command, I have held on to a new born baby whilst answering phones as its mother talked for money in the VoxBox and I have got up close and personal to many a celeb, some bawdy, some terrific and some downright scandalous, but nothing could prepare me for what came next......Child Minding!!!!!
Two small girls, seemingly cherub like in appearance, polite and unassuming. Enter pen and paper and it's like a Rolling Stone's after party for the underage.
I took my eye off them for one minute whilst answering a call in my office only to hear the sobbing of a small child the next.
Sarah enters the Green Room to a scene of florescent pink chaos. One child has blue ink all over her brand new uniform which she then informs me is her only one (EEK!). Child number two is hiding behind a chair sobbing, revealing pink arms of the permanent kind. Oh and they thought it would be hilarious to draw bindi spots on their foreheads. Hey Suess!
Luckily spots could be removed and we were left with ruined uniform and slightly chaffed limbs - god only knows what could have happened had I been one minute later.
What do they say about never working with children and animals...well lesson learnt.
SOHO NEWS:
This weeks Soho news is looking to the markets of Mexico for inspiration. New restaurant on the block Wahaca was born out of love for fresh, honest, Mexican market food.
To mark the launch of their restaurant in Wardour Street, Soho, they are launching an exciting competition to design staff T-shirts. Not only is this a chance for peeps out there to show off their creative side, but the winning designer will be treated to 12 months free food at their Soho restaurant!
Blimey that sounds like a jolly good incentive if ever I heard one - Areeba, Areeba!
It is good to be back people and I hope you have enjoyed your first 'term time' blog. Catch you next week!
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