Typecast

A while back, I had a bit of a reminisce about the rave years .   There's a certain generation that enjoyed that type of music the first time around (I sound so old when I say that) but have you ever stopped to wonder why?  Could it be because the children's programmes of the 1970's were feeding it into us at a young age? Have a look here.  What do you think? Drop That E It's not a spoof either.  You'll find it mentioned on the Beeb's own Cult pages !! 

I feel SO old when I hear some of the stories behind Alyssia's  Soundtrack To My Life  but I also love how different the genres are for her song choices.  Alyssia is studying Film and Television at University and as well as chronicling her life on her blog she's also really into nails, nail polish and nail design.  A woman after my own heart! Links are at the end of the post but for now, it's over to Alyssia... ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Busted - Year 3000 This song reminds me of being in Primary school. When I was in my later years (5 + 6) the school came up with something to reward us for good behavior. It was called 'Golden Time' it lasted for the final hour of the day on every Friday. And if you misbehaved during the week you got time knocked off of 'Golden Time' of course I was a goody goody and always got my full hour. Anyway, during this time we could basically play and do whatever. What me and my friends liked to do was go into the hall and play music an...

Earlier this year I took part in two Race For Life events to raise money for Cancer Research UK .  My daughter joined me for the first one (in Blackburn) and my sister in law joined me for the second one (in Manchester) .   On Monday 30th September my online donation page officially closes  but just have a look at the total raised. £907.00 (plus £144.88 in Gift Aid) YOU did that.   Every single person who donated can be assured that your money is going towards developments and research to help beat cancer - a disease which affects more than 1 in 3 of us. So, from Rachel, Trish and myself THANK YOU Here's to next year!

Yesterday the internet was buzzing with outrage and anger over the fact that Asda felt it appropriate to name a Halloween costume "Mental Patient" .  Since the furore across Twitter and Facebook, Asda have removed the item from their online store and have pledged a £25,000 donation to the mental health charity, MIND . It has also been reported that similarly named fancy dress/Halloween costumes have been removed from other online outlets such as Tesco and eBay.   Paths have been created to right some wrongs but it still doesn't go anyway to understanding how someone in an influential creative marketing and digital team considered using those particular words to advertise seasonal clothing was a good idea.   Doesn't it feel as though they have glossed over the Time To Change campaign and ignored the fact that many people are ashamed of the stigma attached to mental illness?  Translate that train of thought into another illness and see if you still agree...

Is it like this? Asda seem to think so. At the time of writing they are advertising this Halloween costume for the bargain price of £20! There is a pathway to production and whilst there is nothing actually wrong with this as a costume, I cannot find a point in that process where someone suggested that this was marketed as a "Mental Patient" costume with other people on the marketing team agreeing. This is not a decision that was made by just one person regardless of what Asda representatives will say during the aftermath (no pun intended). The webpage that is was open for orders was very carefully managed as the title does not reflect the browser tab title which reads " Zombie Fancy Dress Costume | Men | George at Asda ".  That I can accept. Or "Horror Butcher" or "Abatoir Worker" (you can see why I don't work in a creative team that considers names for products, can't you?).  But this is unacceptable. Does this co...

For most of us, designing a house is a very adult, and very individual process. This is to say, we choose features that we ourselves want in our homes, in an effort to design the perfect environment. But for parents, additional considerations come into play. It's important when building or designing a home to construct an environment that your kids will not only feel comfortable in, but grow to love. So with that in mind, here are 6 features to consider including in your home, purely for the benefit of your children! 1. Secret Rooms A few secret rooms or compartments can thrill a young child to no end, so get creative if you're making additions to your home. It could be as simple as a closet with a door designed to blend in, or it could be something as elaborate as a small room - and indoor clubhouse of sorts - built into a child's room. 2. Tree House Speaking of clubhouses, the tree house might be the gold standard of unique kid features that make home feel ...

It's hard to refuse Tara when she sends out such lovely emails with great ideas .  She's always coming up with ingenious ways to connect bloggers with photography or video and this latest venture really got me thinking. I hate photographs of myself.  I am not in the slightest bit photogenic but there is the odd time that my 'good side' is caught.  The request was to provide a black and white picture of yourself holding up a word which you think describes you so that everyone gets to see a little bit of the blogger behind the blog.  What would your #oneword be?   Let me know in the comments or feel free to take your own picture and join in.   There's a link-up on Tara's blog   where you can see all the other pictures. And just in case you don't know what I look like , here's my picture and the word I chose to describe me.  Mixing old and new, just like I do on the blog... #RETRO

Whilst watching Rewind The Tube  on Channel 4 I was transported back to a world that doesn't exist any more. One where proper music programmes featured the music of the now rather than a M ö bius band o f music videos presented in a themed show.  Just to prove a point to myself, I cruised the music channels on the satellite channels and found  Power Ballads Heaven , VH1 Loves Justin Timberlake , The Hottest Girls in Pop and  The Heat Hotlist  on the first page of listings. Most of it makes me want to heave. I would have saved my pocket money for a couple of weeks, then gone to Woolworths in the town centre and bought a single that I'd heard and liked. The week after I'd be glued to Top of the Pops on Thursday to see if my purchase had helped it up the charts at all.  None of this " straight in at number one or it's a flop " malarkey. It was an era when vinyl was King, cassette tape was Queen (see what I did there?) and bringing up the rear wer...

The Big Cheese had a bit of a hiatus last week (nothing at all to do with scheduling hiccups... oh no) but it gave me plenty of time to write some more questions for the team to answer at the next recording. The Big Cheese  is recorded exclusively for  Preston FM .  You can listen live by tuning in to 103.2FM in the Preston area or via  TuneIn    But, just in case you were busy on Monday, here's the MixCloud upload for you to listen to.  I hope you enjoy it. The Big Cheese, Episode 4 by Nickie O'Hara on Mixcloud Don't forget, you can keep up with the show on Facebook or follow the live tweets on Twitter by searching for #BigCheeseQuiz .

Yvonne has been patiently waiting in the Soundtrack To My Life wings for a while.  Her foodie blog isn't your usual read as it incorporates interviews, family history alongside plenty of cooking chat.   When you read Yvonne's choices and stories, imagine them told as I do, with a Southern drawl.  She's also got a great tenuous connection to one of the singers in her choices. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Hank Williams - Your Cheatin' Heart  and  Elvis Presley - I want to be your Teddy Bear I shared a room with my older sister in the fifties. Hank Williams, the father of modern music had only been dead by a few years. Elvis Presley just hit the scene. She had both of their photos hanging in our room. I wrote once: " Somewhere between Hank and Elvis you will find me standing there, lost between the pages of time... " Billie Holiday - God Bless the Child   Back in the time you decorated your home, particularly the living/sitting room around the radio. You ...

Hey Kev, when's Footloose 2 coming out? Hey Kev, what's in the shed? Something else? Ever the comedians, here is what my Social Media Massive had to say. Hey Kev, how much did EE pay you? Hey Kev, do you like bacon? Hey Kev, can you still do the Footloose dance? Hey Kev, can I touch you? ( slightly worried about this one ) Hey Kev, how old are you? Hey Kev, was it really not a good day to die? Hey Kev, does it hurt your soul when they make you quote TOWIE? Hey Kev, why have you not starred in any Tremors sequels? Hey Kev, red sauce, brown sauce or no sauce at all? Hey Kev, what happened to your career? Hey Kev, has anyone ever made a sculpture of you out of bacon? Hey Kev, what do you want to say to Bernie Madoff? Hey Kev, was it good being invisible? Hey Kev, how many good men does it take to make 'a few'? Hey Kev, why was your wife's series taken off the air and why is it now called a different name?...

Whenever I see Michael Parkinson on *that* life insurance advert he makes me want to ram the Parker pen right up his arse. He mentions that people ask him what his most favourite interview is and he's very reluctant to answer however, if you ask him who his 'worst interviewee' was then he doesn't hold back in saying "Meg Ryan". And we all remember The Worse Ever Interview In The History Of Interviews With Meg Ryan, don't we? Or do we? Why don't you rewatch it ? You back?  Ok then... Everything seems hunky dory until about 2 minutes in.  I don't see much awkwardness apart from a little bit of closed body language which indicates nervousness.  Ryan seems amiable, is engaged in the conversation and quite humorous.  Then Lord Michael of Parkinson attempts to engage her in a conversation that would see her discrediting journalists (for which he is one and we find out that she trained as one, but never graduated)...

About three years ago, TaraLara set a theme of " self portrait " for The Gallery  and I very cleverly avoided posting a picture of myself. I am a confident person but I have spent most of my teenage and adult life avoiding the camera lens.  I have never been comfortable with the way I look and don't have a very photogenic face.  I'm not at all sure how to smile properly either.   However, I have come to accept that this is the way that I look and it's not going to change any time soon. I have started finding the confidence to put my own picture on my social media accounts.  You have no idea what a huge move forward this is.  <> I have recently found a hairstyle that I totally love and should have had the confidence to go for it sooner.  <> I now wear contact lenses most of the time but I also have a pair of glasses that suit my face shape. <> I'm working on my body shape and accepting that I will probably never be as...

Last week I had some time off work and went to visit my dad.  He showed me some produce from his garden and greenhouse and we discussed how our allotment has been more about renovation rather than cultivation this year.  He presented me with some tomatoes and peppers to take home.  I wanted to try something different with them and I was thinking about lunches for work this week so here is my (experimental but very successful) roasted tomato and pepper pasta sauce . Ingredients 6 tomatoes from my dad's garden (you'll have to find your own dad, or your own garden or your own tomatoes) A handful of cherry tomatoes 2 sweet green peppers from my dad's garden (ditto above) 1 green bell pepper from my dad's garden (you get the drift...) 1 red onion 1 teaspoon of garlic granules (or 2 fresh cloves of garlic, chopped finely) 2 teaspoons of basil 2 teaspoons of oregano a splash of sunflower oil Method Chop everything up!  I sliced the onions and the pe...

The hardest thing to do is "nothing".  When was the last time you did "nothing"? If I could give you the gift of one hour, how would you use that time? You cannot travel anywhere because that would use precious minutes. You cannot spend any money, you can only use what is to hand and you will not be interrupted.  I wrote once before about what I would do if I had an hour to myself. I said that I would switch everything off and lie on the floor. I would attempt to listen to the silence but I know that would never happen. There is always noise around me; the whirring of computers or printers, the sound of chattering, the television or radio, cars driving past, birds tweeting. When was the last time you heard "nothing"? I have plenty of opportunity to do "nothing" but there is always "something" that needs doing.  At home there are chores, at work there are tasks, in between there are the car journeys or mundane responsib...

Yes, folks, it's your weekly reminder about Preston FM 's most excellent quiz show, The Big Cheese (which I just happen to host).  You can really hear us settling in the show and injecting some humour.  I'm also collecting some 'after the watershed' out-takes which will be shared exclusively on this blog at the end of the series. Now I know you were listening live on Monday but, just in case you were really busy then here is your chance to listen on MixCloud .  If you haven't heard it before then stick it on in the background and let me know if you enjoy the show. The Big Cheese, Episode 3 by Nickie O'Hara on Mixcloud Don't forget, you can keep up with the show on Facebook or follow the live tweets on Twitter by searching for #BigCheeseQuiz .

It's a delight to introduce Jo to participate on Soundtrack To My Life this week.  She has been blogging since taking part in a project called " Fish Is The Dish " and has continued to grow her blog.  Here are Jo's tunes for you to enjoy - she's chosen a couple of my forgotten favourites too. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Guns & Roses - Patience  Hubster made me a compilation when we first got together and this was on it. That was 17 years ago & it has stuck with me, we were both just out of serious relationships and just looking for a bit of fun... The Wannadies - You and Me I worked in the Music & Video department at John Menzies and this song reminds me of club nights out in those days. The Pointer Sisters - Jump This song was on the first album I ever bought and it always transports me back to my 10 year old 'pink' bedroom! Bon Jovi - Never Say Goodbye This album featured heavily as a teenager & many a drunken night wal...