Christmas Song Number One Recipe.

There’s a recipe to a good Christmas pop song and I think I may have actually sussed it...

Take one (for best effect add two more of similar size and shape) shiny haired pop prince/princess (shiny, smile and organically grown is best)
Sprinkle them strategically with faux snow (glittery snow adds extra wow-factor)
Shake vigorously until substance gyrates of own accord and begins uttering warbles similar to that of the angels after a heavy session down the local celestial brewery (kebab optional.)
Apply generous fine tuning (until sounds like a sober angel)

Bake until charts at number one.

N.B: This recipe is not necessarily fool-proof as it can be subject to undercooking (against some overly chirpy reality star contestant most likely) or a sharp gust of cynicism.

Cat

Christmas is looming..

Or at least that’s what the shops would have us believe! All around are twinkly lights and festive red and green colour schemes.
I keep half-expecting Santa to jump out from shop doorways and rugby tackle unsuspecting shoppers into the stores!
I’m all for seasonal festive-based cheer (my journeys to Starbucks for gingerbread lattes are enough to prove that) but dare I say it- I’d usually say that “Maybe it’s a little too early to bring on the Yule?”

This year however I’m playing devils advocate (or do I mean Tiny Tim from Christmas Carol) Maybe this year we should start Christmas early- this year has had a lot of gloom and doom (and recession and rain...) maybe everyone deserves to put the tree up early and start consuming mince pies....maybe....

(On your marks, get set, go!)

Cat

Laughing along with Rob

I went to see Rob Brydon on Friday night at the Concert Hall and had a really good time, it was a very enjoyable night out.
I went along - probably like many others in the audience- as a Gavin & Stacey fan, loving his Uncle Bryn character and having seen previous programmes he has acted in but never seeing him perform as 'himself'.
From the start it was a laugh a minute, I even cried with laughter at one point! From his impersonations to extremely physical version of comedy, he involved the audience throughout his act.
Also, I am never going to the toilet halfway through a show EVER after seeing one lady become the centre of Rob's attention after a toilet break!

Jenny

Do I speak cat language?

I have recently had 2 additions to my house, of the furry variety. My 2 new cats are already starting to rule normal household activities and behaviour- including what time I wake up in the morning, making me hoover and clean more often, getting in my way whilst making dinner, etc.
I started thinking about whether they understand us humans at all when we talk to them, and I wondered what they might be trying to say to me. Apparently we can analyse their behaviour...
Twitching tail- they are excited
Swishing tail- they are curious or annoyed
Scratching furniture- they are seeking attention
Short meow- hello
Long, drawn out meow- feed me now!
Arched back- Leave me alone!

I will see if, over time I can figure out what they're saying to me!

Jenny

Congrats to all A-Level students!

It's been another great year for A-level results, with record numbers of students achieving A grades. After being around some of the happy students yesterday, they have their whole lives ahead of them to pursue whatever career path they want to...it made me feel quite old!
Congratulations to everyone who got their results, starting University is a scary but exciting step and you need to try and enjoy every minute of it!

Jenny

Perfume causes pandemic

It has been in the news recently that 150 workers in a Texas bank had to leave the building due to a woman spraying strong perfume. It makes me wonder what on earth this perfume was?! I thought the point of wearing perfume was to attract others to you, not repel them.
Apparently 12 people had to be taken to hospital suffering from dizziness and shortness of breath. Now I know there are usually office politics in most workplaces, but is trying to harm people with your perfume taking things slightly too far?!

Jenny

Carry on camping

I've just returned from a camping trip to Cromer in Norfolk and can say I've been bitten by the camping bug! (and surprisingly no other bugs)
I'm a girl who likes my luxuries so I had my concerns about sleeping in a tent in the middle of a field, but having chosen a very well equipped campsite (with electric points for the all important hair straighteners- a must)I can really see how easy it is to get in the relaxed way of life.
With sea views and plenty of room for frisby throwing and BBQ's, it was a really relaxing experience and I will definitely be going again- hopefully next time it won't even rain.

Jenny

Meat free Mondays

According to Paul McCartney (and the world's leading climate scientist, but obviously Paul thought of it first) we should all be encouraged to go 'meat free' for one day a week for the sake of saving the planet by reducing carbon emissions.
I myself would find it more of a challenge to eat meat everyday anyway, as many of my weekly meals are meat-free.
I am all for supporting these schemes if the experts (not Sir Paul) believe it could truly make a difference, but I am now wary of the supermarkets raising the cost of non-meat products and making us pay more for our environmentally friendly diets.
We will have to wait and see if this catches on.

Jenny

Heatwave induced slump

Being typically fair-skinned and British, I am not coping very well with the current hot weather! After sitting out in the sun for a picnic for an hour or so at the weekend I had to retreat to the shade with pink shoulders.
Having popped to the tennis centre for a meeting this afternoon, I couldn't even contemplate sitting watching a match let alone running around on a sun-soaked court.
I was put to shame by all the lean, bronzed legs wandering about so there are benefits to their dedication to the sport!
Jenny

The precarious predicament of a skirt pretending to be a parasol!

Just thought I’d play wordsmith for a second there! So spring is a tricky season to dress for. It causes a number of conundrums none more worrying than the ever-present threat of the ‘Flash attack’ a.k.a Marilyn Moment- minus the coy grin and perfect poise.
What usually befalls us poor women is the desperate clutching of our clothing as the cruel spring wind attempts to strip us of our dignity!
Gents don’t get let off lightly, I’ve seen you; desperately trying to maintain your perfectly preened ‘do!
My solution to the skirt fiasco is to clutch a clump of skirt in both hands whilst ducking and diving into alleyways if a particularly nasty gust attempts to catch me off guard! (Smart, eh?)
Sure I look like a crazy woman and sure I could just wear trousers but then why should I succumb to the British weather?
We should all embrace the windswept dishevelled look... to be fair it seems to work in Hugh Grant’s favour enormously.
Cat

The humble sandwich is celebrated!

It is officially national sandwich week and this should be celebrated! An authentic British snack, it is amazing to think of all the possible variations and fillings you can make to fulfil your hunger.
Although I'm partial to a fancy version every now and then- roasted vegetable, mozzarella and pesto panini for example- you can't go far wrong with a traditional cheese/ham/chicken salad or the good old bacon butty with lashings of ketchup.
One of the most basic snacks to make (and master the art of) the trusty sandwich will never go out of fashion!

Jenny

A typical British summer?

The forecast for the summer months has been announced today and I have to say I'm not about to get too excited just yet. Apparently it is meant to be hot and dry...with heavy downpours not ruled out. Isn't that just covering all bases just in case?!
After being cheated out of the past two summers, I'm sure everyone's been hoping for some lovely weather this year. Lets hope we can make the most of the summer fashions and barbecue opportunities, or it's off to the travel agents I go!

Jenny

What a hefty load for fashion

The age old concern of how large womens handbags are and the potential health implications these may have is back in the news today. I know we tend to carry a lot of (very essential) items around in our bags but I didn't realise they weighed an average of half a stone!

When it's put like that it does seem a bit ludicrous but I don't think I could bring myself to leave home without the 'basics'- purse, keys, phone, glasses, make up, ipod, diary, hairbrush, umbrella (dependant on weather)....that's just what I can think of off the top of my head!

Although this would explain the shoulder ache I tend to suffer from every now and then, it seems I am not alone in my suffering as apparently over half of womena are often in pain when carrying their bags, with shoulder, neck and arm complaints being the most common.

Each season seems to bring around an even larger bag in the fashion world so I cannot see an end to this trend. If it's good enough for Mary Poppins then the rest of us ladies will have to learn to cope!

Jenny

Happy Easter

I think it has reached that time of the year where a few days off is needed. The holiday season is still a bit too far in the distance and the weather isn't nice enough to get excited about yet so a long Easter weekend is the best prescription.

We've battled through the dark mornings and darker nights of winter and the light is at the end of the tunnel. As per typical British weather, the weekend is not looking the best but I for one will still try and make the most of it.

All those who have been struggling through lent (myself not included!) can treat themselves and it's the perfect time of the year to get away with eating lots of chocolate!

Jenny

Holloway holiday camp

I have been watching the programme on ITV about life inside Holloway prison, expecting to be shocked by the levels of security and threats of danger,etc as when I think of women's prisons, especially Holloway it conjurs up images of the most dangerous women all enclosed and desperate to get out.

How wrong I was, it seems most of the inmates try their hardest to remain inside for as long as possible and as soon as they are released the majority of them return withing weeks if not days. They seem to have got into the pattern of being fed 3 times a day, being able to wear their own clothes, go the to prison gym and swimming pool and generally live quite a life of luxury.

At one point it really did resemble a holiday camp, with 'jobs' earning them the money to buy treats each week and a TV for their cells costing £1 per week. Visits to the hairdressers are at discount costs while the rest of us pay full price in the outside world for all these things!

It has left me wondering what exactly this programme set out to achieve, as many potential offenders would not be deterred from offending, if anything they probably see it as an easy way to pay for their crime.
I will watch the rest of the series as I am a bit hooked now so it could reveal a more meaningful side eventually...

Jenny

Happy Friday!

So I stepped out of the office for my lunch break and went walking around with squinted eyes (I felt like a small animal emerging from their burrow into the big wide world) and it’s now what I’d officially call spring. There was blue sky, birds chirping (quietly in comparison to the veritable smorgasbord of traffic noise) and yes also the slight indication I could walk about without my coat on and developing frostbite!
Yes, it probably helps that shops are crammed full of Easter paraphernalia: Bunnies and chickens galore! I enjoy the fact that window displays are embracing the colour yellow and somehow, miraculously, this has encouraged the sun to peak through the clouds and grace pasty English!
May I say welcome back Mr Sun, may you stay for the spring and summer haul of 2009...
And please don’t leave us!!!
Cat

Happy St Patrick's day!

While the celebrations are going on all over the UK and many other countries with Irish links, I have found a few facts about Ireland and its traditions:
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!
- There are an estimated 10,000 regular three-leaved clovers for every one lucky four-leaved clover
- The colours in the Irish flag represent different things- green is for the people of the south, the orange is for the people of the north and the white represents the peace that brings them together
- The Irish consume an average of 131.1 litres of beer per year, the 2nd highest amount after Czech republic
- The common surnames starting with 'Mac' mean 'son of' and 'O' mean 'grandson of'

Jenny

My little pony

On the BBC news website there is a story about a pony who is being mistaken as being stuck in the mud in the field. Apparently many passers by have been calling 999 to report the incident and the poor little pony has been causing chaos without even knowing!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7939187.stm

At half the height of the other ponies in the field, this vertically challenged animal must look quite amusing!

Jenny

Still got it!

Hurrah! Cadbury have seen sense and brought back Cadbury Caramel Rabbit! She’s now even saucier featuring bigger curves and more make up but thankfully she’s still wearing her trademark pink bow.
8 years on since the bunny was the spokesperson for the chocolate bar she’s back in order to help encourage a more ‘up-market’ appeal of the chocolate. Along with a change in packaging which will feature more flowing calligraphy with the phrase ‘Still got it’, the design has been altered to represent the smoothness of the caramel.
Just goes to show that presentation is extremely important (and one can never underestimate the significance of a bunny with a pink bow.)
Cat

A Killer of a show

I was lucky enough to see the Killers at Nottingham Arena last night and can honestly say it was the best live concert I have been to. From the opening track 'Human' to the final encore of 'When you were young' the band gave it their all and gave a faultless performance.

I had recently read reviews that mentioned Brandon's Dad-like dancing but I would be concerned if my Dad wore skinny jeans and a feather embellished jacket! I will not hear a bad word said about his talents as a front man, he kept the crowd going throughout.

Jenny

Looking into the void...

As I perused the Guardian website I came across an exhibition that’s going on in Paris's Pompidou Centre entitled: “Various Voids, a retrospective” which is basically various rooms left completely starker’s.
Apparently it “assembles in a totally original manner exhibitions that showed absolutely nothing, leaving empty the space for which they were designed.”
People are able to walk through the dozen rooms and experience “Emptiness also represents a form of radicalness” personally it doesn’t sit well with me as ‘art’ but that’s probably because I like more art a little more visually stimulating!
But then again kudos to the artists for managing to sell this idea to people to such an extent there’s an exhibition dedicated to white-wash installation walls.

Multi-tasking for pets

I came across this link today on sky news:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Hamster-Powered-Vacuum-Cleaner-Roomba-Video-Skynewscom/Article/200903115232375?lpos=Strange_News_First_Strange_News__Article_Teaser_Region__0&lid=ARTICLE_15232375_Hamster-Powered_Vacuum_Cleaner_Roomba_Video_Skynews.com

It is a contraption that you put a hamster in their exercise ball on and they generate the power to activate a hoover.
Being a hamster owner myself, this seems like a genius invention! My little furry friend is in his element when he is running around the house crashing into walls and generally trying his hardest to break free from the confines of his plastic ball.

My only concern is that my hamster is male so probably wouldn't master the art of multi-tasking!

Jenny

A celeb-tastic endorsement for Adidas

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the new adidas advert last night on mtv. The sports brand are obviously not being affected at all by the credit crunch, with what I would think is one of their most expensive campaigns to date.

The first time I saw it I was drawn in by the music (Franki Valli and the Four seasons- ‘Begging’) and the creativity of the advert, but the second time I was determined to identify as many celebrities as possible! The ones I spotted were:
David Beckham, Katy Perry, Estelle, Ting Tings, Missy Elliott, Run DMC, Method man, The Game...and others that I recognised but wasn’t able to name.

It’s a bit of a 'who’s who' in celebland and really goes along with one of adidas’ slogans- ‘celebrate originality’. This campaign is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of adidas and I think it really sets them apart from their rival brands. Watch it and see how good you are at celeb-spotting!

Jenny

Cooking with mother...

Well not quite. When I say cooking with mother I mean more so attempted baking (with the added bonus of flour and sugar everywhere) with my “urban family” of friends.
I’ve read a couple of articles about the recession causing fast-food outlets (who shall not be named!) to be one of the only businesses that’s still smiling in this gloomy time.
Understandably people are going for the cheap option and unfortunately the first thing you think when you hear the word cheap is “unhealthy, quick, convenient” a.k.a fast food.
Attempting to fight-back the tide of takeaway menu leaflets my friends and I are buying good old wholesome basics like “self-raising flour” in order to concoct our own recipes. These basics are surprisingly cheap when you buy in bulk (especially when you compare them to their pre-made, neatly-packaged counterparts)
I was quietly chuffed with the fact I’ve passed on my recipe for mean marmite scones via email to a few people who wanted the recipe after eating it!
As another big-name food corporation (they’ll remain nameless too!) says; “Every little helps”
Cat

Happy Valentines!

I want to wish everyone a big Happy Valentines Day!
As for singletons, now is not the time to go into a deep depression, it could be the best time to meet the perfect match...two lonely hearts and all that!
Although I do think it is an overly commercialised celebration, where people tend to be forced into spending lots of money...it's nice to receive a card and appreciate the small gestures that make us all happy!
So enjoy the one day of the year that we are allowed to show our emotions without being judged!

Jenny

Gemini Join Myspace, Facebook and Twitter!

Come check us out on:
www.myspace.com/geminiprmarketing.com

and on Facebook and Twitter!

They're still works in progress but pop on by and tell us what you think!

Cat

Power to the Pistol!

You have to love it when unlikely celebrity endorsements work exceptionally well! Like good old John Lyndon (or Johnny Rotten) plugging the benefits of Country Life butter. The image of seeing this middle-aged punk gallivanting all over the country side stating that he doesn’t buy Country Life butter for the patriotism of helping out the British farmer but rather it’s the supposedly yummy, buttery goodness.
Well obviously it’s worked quite well. Here I was scoffing at the implausibility of the campaign actually working and it turns out that people love the cashing-in of Lyndon’s style and I’m sure so are the Country Life Execs as sales of the brand lifted by 85% in the most recent quarter.
Sure he may be selling up his Punk ideals- but there’s something quite likeable in a man who will go to the extremes of tongue-and-cheek behavior… especially in the name of butter… let’s just hope it really is as good as he claims it is!
Cat

Bring back snow days!

This wintery (rather delayed Christmassy) weather has made me wonder at what age do snow days become frowned upon?! With the hundreds of schools closing this week due to snowy conditions, inevitably all the teachers are also enjoying the time off. Why should the rest of the country’s workforce be missing out? I say national snow days should be compulsory! Obviously there would have to be some sort of guidelines...a certain amount of centimetres of snow for instance but I think this would boost morale and let everyone enjoy the rare opportunity for a snowball fight! I believe this would also cut down on the amount of women slipping over on the ice and getting injured due to no fashionable shoes having any form of grip on the soles...but that’s another matter entirely to rant on about, I’ll save that for another day.
Jenny

Knowledge is power...

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

As we're in the middle of the working week I feel I should do my part to stave off the Late-Afternoon-Mind-Shlump (or L.A.M.S for short.. I felt it was worth while forming some form of abbreviation as I’m sure to use the phrase again in another blog at some point…) I’ve decided to give you some gems of knowledge in the form of random ‘facts’ (Google is great for producing this kind of stuff in search engines: That is a definite fact!)

So here goes, get your brain matter chewing on these morsels:

- Elephants are the only mammals that can't jump.
- You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.
- There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and silver.
- If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.
- On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily!
- Every year more people are killed by donkeys, than in aircraft crashes.
- Porcupines float in water!

Now, doesn’t your brain feel all the more richer and replenished for knowing these vitally important facts?!

Cat

A Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas already seems so far away and yet we’ve only been back to work for a week. I don’t know about anyone else but I really enjoyed the break which gave me the chance to recharge the batteries – and get to know the family again!

The lead up to Christmas is always frenetic as you try to squeeze in the Christmas shopping along with concerts at school, parties – and not to mention the work which for Gemini was particularly busy throughout December. But I’m now back with some renewed energy – which is probably just as well with all the talk of doom and gloom – and ready to take on some new challenges.

My own particular focus is on continuing to provide a high quality and cost effective service to clients whilst also driving the business forward.

There have been some changes here at Gemini of late. Helen and Ruth have moved onto pastures new to take on some fresh challenges. For Helen this means Nottingham Trent University and for Ruth, Nottinghamshire Police. This means that there are some new faces at Gemini – Cat Leggatt and Jenny Hutson – take a look at their personal profiles to find out more about them.

All the best to everyone for 2009. Its going to be a difficult year ahead and I think its going to be very much a case of keeping the nose to the grind stone. We’ll aim to add a lighter note with our blogs so keep checking it out to find out our latest pearls of wisdom!



Dianne