Why Meat Loaf has got it so wrong!

I heard on the Radio 2 breakfast show this morning that 35 years ago Meat Loaf released his grand, operatic rock concept album, Bat Out of Hell. In October 1977 it was let loose into a world where there had never been anything like it, and it sold, and is still selling, millions. In tribute Chris Evans was playing various tracks from the album, and I was singing along in my car at full pelt.

He then played Two out of Three Ain't Bad, a brilliant song, that I truly love but hadn't listened to for a while. As I was singing my mind went off at a tangent, thinking about the 2 out of 3 sentiment. I was thinking that many times in my life I have settled for 2 out of 3; like when I've found a top I like that is the right material, fits well, but isn't quite the colour I want, or a pair of jeans in the right colour, perfect style, but not quite long enough (hey I'm a smidge off 6 foot, and believe me they're NEVER long enough!), but I've still bought them anyway. Why???

You know the scenario you have a boyfriend who is cute, has an amazing body, but has the intellectual appeal of a fruit fly, but you put up with him, because, as Meat says, 2 out of 3 ain't bad!!!!!

But, and it's a big BUT, I don't settle for 2 out of 3 when it comes to the umbrellas I stock, they have to live up to all my expectations of Quality, Style and Gorgeousness, so why do I settle in my personal life?

I bet I'm the same as many of you in that I will spend more on others than myself, probably for many reasons, but let's not get into a therapy session here. If this also sounds like you then the words, uttered by the mouths of many a celebrity selling hair products, need to repeated by you (and me)

"Because I'm worth it!"

We are all 'worth it', but often settle for less than we deserve, and this has to stop, NOW!

So next time you see something you want, but hear the Settling Fairy whispering in your ear, give her a quick shove off your shoulder and shout
"2 out of 3 is bad.
I want 3 out of 3!"

Why Hello Brolly is better for you than Starbucks & Amazon!

It's better for your budget to buy from independents than Starbucks & Amazon!

How can this be?

A  four month investigation by news agency Reuters found that Starbucks had paid absolutely no corporation tax in Britain the last three years, but told investors that it was 'profitable'.  

A Starbucks' representative stated "We have paid and will continue to pay our fair share of taxes in full compliance with all UK tax laws, as we always have." John Culver, the president of the Starbucks’ international division, boasted to analysts: ‘We are very pleased with the performance in the UK." 

What?

On the same subject, Amazon, Britain’s biggest online retailer, had sales of £3.3 billion last year, but paid no corporation tax at all!!!

This seems utterly baffling to me, and to many of the independent business owners that I know. We all, in the general population, work hard to create profits or earn wages, of which the British tax system takes a proportion. Whether you think this amount should go up or down is for another discussion, but what is important is that we all have to pay in to the system so that the UK can run vital services such as the NHS, schools or many of the things that we sometimes take for granted, like national security.

Hello Brolly (my business) is a British based business, owned by me, a British woman who pays all her due taxes, who also pays staff who live locally. Therefore everything that I earn and all that I pay out whether in wages, taxes or personal spend goes into the British coffers.

Compare this to Starbucks, a global company that doesn't seem to pay it's 'fair share' into the British tax system, because according to them, they have no profits! They also use the supply chain to move their 'potential profits' out of Britain, as the UK arm has to pay the company's own subsidiaries in Holland and Switzerland (cheaper tax systems) for buying and roasting their coffee beans.

Yes, they do employ staff who through their taxed wages pay into the system, but this is at the cost of the jobs at local independent cafés & coffee shops that are closed down due to the predatory practices of a company who can afford to trade longer at a loss to crush the opposition (how can this be for a company with NO profits?).

So how can I make the claim that independents, like Hello Brolly, are better for your budget than Starbucks? 

Well the more money that is paid into the British tax system, and kept within the country by British based businesses, means the less money the government will have to get from the individual.

This in turn means your personal taxes don't skyrocket, but the more money that is moved out of the country, or legally manoeuvred into a 'no profit' status, then the more you will have to pay out to make up the shortfall.

So please look for a British based alternative when you are thinking of spending your money, it'll benefit you in the long run.

1000 Umbrellas floating like swans

 'Just Sometimes..' by Luke Jerram

For three days De Wereld van de Witte de With Festival in Rotterdam brings international and national modern art to public spaces that is created by some of the young and cutting edge artists from Europe and Rotterdam. 'Just Sometimes..' was temporary artwork that was commissioned by the festival organisers in 2010 from artist Luke Jerram, who grew up in the English town of Stroud.

The installations remit was to create strong imagery and visually connect the streets with the waterways. Around 1000 orange and yellow umbrellas were installed over a 300 metre length of the canal for the public to enjoy during the 3 day festival. From a distance it was hard to tell what they were, but as you got closer you could see the umbrellas floating gracefully on the canal.



During the festival hundreds of people took photos of the artwork on their mobile phones and cameras, and even the driver of the local tram made an impromptu stop, abandoning his passengers, in order to get out his camera and take a quick snap. Another artist team from Norway built special benches that were placed alongside the canal to provide a pleasant view of scene.


The artwork was removed at the end of the festival and all the umbrellas were handed out to people passing by. Since the festival ended the distinctive yellow and orange umbrellas can be spotted around the city on rainy days, acting as a legacy and reminder of the art.  

19 umbrellas & 16 million colours brighten the lives of sick children.

This is so stunningly beautiful that I just had to share it.

'Imagine' by Matthew Placzek

Photos © 2010-2011 Thomas Grady Photography 

Made for the Omaha Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Nebraska, by sculptor Matthew Placzek, 'Imagine' captures the innocence of youth in a heartwarming scene of children at play with umbrellas, inviting you to float inside the building where 19 colourful umbrellas are suspended from a 75-foot steel ribbon inside the stairwell. The umbrellas contain programmable LED lights capable of 16 million different colour combinations.

Broken umbrellas used to create art & environmental awareness.

Kickstarter funding, where any individual can back potential projects with a pledge starting from only $1, has been reached for the creation of a beautiful dome sculpture 'Harvest Dome 2.0' to be made out of discarded pop bottles and broken umbrellas in New York.

The project, which asked for $7500, and actually received $7596, aims to raise awareness of the debris that clogs New York’s waterways, threatening fish and other forms of wildlife. The project is the brainchild of husband and wife Alex Levi and Amanda Schachter, New York City Architects who returned to New York in 2007 after ten years creating Public Art, and practicing architecture in Spain. 

The funding is for their second version of the dome; the first ended in disaster. On October 19, 2011, they transported the original Harvest Dome over water from Hunts Point to the Inwood Hill Park Inlet, with the help of Rocking the Boat and the Bronx River Alliance, but bad weather caused the dome to be blown against Rikers Island. What was left of the dome was then seized and broken up by the New York City Department of Correction (though the project eventually reclaimed the remains and will display them alongside the new Harvest Dome).

The Harvest Dome 2.0, a 24 foot diameter sphere, will introduce light into the work, and have an array of light-emitting-diodes, inserted into each of the bottles and powered by tiny photovoltaic cells to create a glowing halo in the water at night.

They are currently working with groups local along the Harlem River to secure a location to construct the Dome nearer Inwood Hill Park.  NYC Department of Park and Recreation has already obtained permission for them to put the Dome in the inlet waters.