Remember, Remember the 5th of November- Gunpowder and a whole lot of fire!

Remember, remember the 5th of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot....

Back in the day, the 5th of November 1605 - Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with barrels of gunpowder- he was responsible for lighting the barrels to bring down the government building and ultimately parliament! Unfortunately for him, he got caught, tried and then hung, drawn and quartered! And so on the 5th of November we (the UK) celebrate his failure- usually with fireworks and a bonfire on which we burn a 'Guy'!

Poor Guy...

Burning crosses... as ya do...

In a southern part of the UK, not far from Brighton, is a town called Lewes; they hold the UK's largest and most famous festivities and have become known as the 'bonfire capital of the world'. The town has 6 separate societies that parade through the town carrying fire sticks, barrels of bangers and throwing crackers. Dressed in traditional costumes each society has a marching band and they wind through the streets ending up at their own individual bonfire sites.

'We wunt be druv' - an old Sussex phrase meaning 'We won't be pushed/persuaded'

On average 80,000 spectators attend the event, and that causes all kinds of chaos for this small market town that normally has a population of under 16,000! 3,000 people take part in the parade and the town is closed from 2pm on the 5th so the town can prepare! It's AMAZING stuff and a sight to be seen.

Sound advice.

Luckily, we have a friend, Wally, who lives in nearby Brighton. We drove down to meet him early on Saturday afternoon and joined the queue at Brighton station at 6pm to go to Lewes. Preparation is key, as there are massive crowds so Laura got the tickets, I (Sarah) got the snacks & Wally got cash, we then made our way to the queue. It was a great time to catch up on all the news until I did a sense check about 45 minutes in and found out that in fact - Wally had the cash, I had the snacks BUT Laura DID NOT have the tickets!!!! She lost them! FREAK OUT!!! So being the 'sneaky girl' that I am (thanks, Laura) I feigned illness and got let out of the queue and with cheetah-like speed ran to the ticket office, got replacement tickets, and hurdled the nearest fence to arrive back in line before the police could catch me! After an hours queuing we boarded the train for a 15 minute ride to Lewes, on arrival we were herded in the direction of the town. The scene that met us was indescribable! First of all there is a lot of fire around - dropped on the street, held up, in barrels, on bonfires! And then there's the noise- it's loud! Laura had earplugs in and still jumped whenever a banger hit the ground - share in my enjoyment at her scared-ness HERE! ;D Hey, at least she didn't cry this year!

Poor Laura! I was no help either as I was too busy laughing at her! [captions written by Laura] 

Lewes do a great job of keeping everyone safe (as long as you have a level of common sense) but when the parade is upon you there is nothing stopping the heat of the flames, the noise of the bangers or the impact the band have. It is like nothing I have EVER seen anywhere else. See our video sample of the parade HERE!

It's also worth mentioning that every society have their own 'guy' to burn - some opt for the traditional 'Guy Fawkes' other go for something more topical- this year we saw Gaddafi, David Cameron (our prime minister), the Pope, Brighton FC's mascot (a big seagull) and Rebecca Brooks & Rupert Murdoch carrying the News of the World!

The Brighton FC mascot!

Murdoch and his mistress

After the parade has passed you choose a society's bonfire to attend and as we had to make sure and get the last train back to Brighton we decided to head to the 'Waterloo Societies Bonfire' - as we entered the field the Bonfire towered in the centre and we made our way towards it. After a while the Waterloo Society parade entered with their 'guy' (the News of the World) and then the fun started. The bonfire was lit and within seconds the sky was filled with fireworks. As every society starts their celebrations at roughly the same time every direction you look the sky is brightly coloured and a smoky haze fills the air- it creates a moment where you stand and look upwards in amazement with a broad grin across your face. Then you realise you are a little to close to the fire and make a run for the train!!!!

The bonfire and fireworks

Getting our faces melted off by the heat of the bonfire

It's certainly a good way to make sure you remember the 5th of November!

The amazing fireworks!!

The three of us had a great time!!

What We Love Wednesdays!! For The Love of Diet Coke

If there is one thing we know a lot about, it's brand loyalty. If you know us, or as you do get to know us through our posts, you'll discover that we are very loyal and passionate towards the things/people/brands we love. And so we come to today's WWLW topic, the one that started it all for Laura and Sarah - Coca Cola, or more specifically, Diet Coke.  

Ohhhh, YEAH!

My (Laura's) love affair with all things DC (yeah, we love it so much we have a pet name for it) began as a child in Idaho, the land of 80 cans for $10 (£7ish). (AMAZING, right?). My Mum, me and my brother used to drink it so much we installed a can crusher in our house just to make room in the recycling bin for all our cans. Sarah's mum apparently used to drink it all the time until she was pregnant with Sarah, when she stopped and now doesn't drink it anymore - obviously she passed her love of it onto Sarah instead.

We love it in cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles, 2 liter bottles, and mini cans. What do we love about Diet Coke? I'm not sure we have time to write all the reasons out (How do I love thee? Let me count the ways), but we'll try.

We love the taste. Don't whine 'it doesn't taste like Coke' at us - because this is a selling point! Diet Coke doesn't need to taste like Fatboy Coke - it's ALWAYS more refreshing, and tastes less like syrupy sugar.

We love the caffeine / bubbles. The bubbles make your nice cold can of DC last longer, and the caffeine makes long work days just that much better. It also gives you a lift halfway through a night dancing, or helps you survive long tube journeys during peak hour. 

We love the fact that Diet Coke doesn't stain when you spill it. At least, in our experience (Laura is very clumsy), it always comes out.

We love the brand colours - red and silver! Over the years we have bought a LOT of DC SWAG, because we love it, but also because it's all so pretty! We have the below limited edition bottles by Karl Lagerfield in our flat!

We love the history - I suppose this is more Coca Cola, as Diet Coke has only been out since 1982, but we go gaga over the old advertisements, the classic Santa that comes out around Christmas time (Did you know that Coca Cola were the first to give Santa Claus a red coat and hat? Before that, he was dressed in green!), the classic coke bottles, everything.

Jolly old Santa, thanks to Coke!

Santa, you're looking a little green!

We love that they give back. Coca Cola, and Diet Coke, raise money pretty consistently for different charities - Diet Coke specifically raises money for 'The Heart Truth', in support of women's heart health. They also give us, the consumer, lots of great freebies!

We love that its such a well known worldwide brand. Since being together, we have sampled Diet Coke (or Coca Light) in six different countries (USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Italy - and we will soon try it in Russia!). Though they taste noticeably different to the DC connoisseur's palette, we trust the brand and are happy that we can guarantee they will have Diet Coke in most countries we travel to. This is important when you travel as much as we do.

How much do we love it? Laura and Sarah have driven 11 hours from Idaho to Las Vegas, where we revelled in the magical place that is the Coca Cola store. We met the Coca Cola polar bear, and bought some great DC stuff! When we lived in Sydney last year, our biggest expense besides rent and car petrol was Diet Coke, hands down. There, $13 for 24 cans was the best deal we could get. Yikes! When we spent 10 days in a campervan travelling the South Island of New Zealand, we lived on eggs and spaghetti-O's - and as much Diet Coke as we could afford from not buying real food. We judge restaurants on whether they serve Coke or Pepsi, and are less likely to LOVE a restaurant that serves Pepsi (Nandos, last week's WWLW (which you can view HERE), serves Coca Cola, of course). Similarly, we find that we tend to like the company of fellow DC lovers. Perhaps it's the common interest, but they are great people.

Getting eaten by the Coca Cola polar bear in Vegas!

Peace!

In fact, we love it SO much that we dedicated our 2nd ever WWLW to it - and we are drinking DC while writing this. 

If you didn't think we were obsessed before, it's a sure bet you do now. 

And we're willing to bet our last can you are going to go get a Diet Coke now that you've read this! 

What We Love Wednesdays!! Mo' 'staches!!

MOUSTACHES OR MUSTACHES, HOWEVER YOU SPELL IT, YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE THEM.....

Over the last few years, Laura has developed a love for mustaches, and the manly men who wear them. Sarah grew up with a Dad who has sported a [rather dashing, Laura thinks] 'tache her entire life so has grown accustomed to seeing the lip rug asleep on his lip - others have men in their life who prefer the clean shaven appearance. But rightly or wrongly the moustache is back in fashion! No longer are men celebrated for being boyish and hairless... now men showing of their manliness are kind of attractive!

Of course, being a girl girl couple we lack the ability (or desire) to rock the 'mo, but (because Laura wishes she could) we have decided to dedicate this week's WWLW to the marvelous mustache as we are mid-way through Movember and both of us have a soft-spot for man with a flavour-saver!

The moustache has played its part in history: the thickness of a man's 'mo used to denote military rank and experience - men who had them were thought to have much wisdom and strength! Not sure Hulk Hogan quite fulfills that criteria!  

The person responsible for Laura's 'stache fixation is her good friend Julia Green, who has LOVED all kinds of facial hair for as long as Laura can remember - beards, mustaches, and combos too I'm sure! She is an amazing illustrator, and has done a good many mustache pictures throughout the years, as well as cute animals, all kinds of characters. She is probably the most talented person we know, so you should most definitely check out her website!! www.juliagreenart.com 

One of Julia's amazing mustache-d men!

WHAT IS THE MOVEMBER CAMPAIGN??

As we mentioned, we can't be a part of this event - but we CAN support those who are capable of growing a 'stache - For the month of November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men's faces in the UK and around the world. The aim of the campaign is to raise vital funds and awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. The Movember Foundation is an Australian-based, not for profit, charitable organisation.

On Movember 1st, men register at www.Movember.com with a clean-shaven face and for the rest of the month these generous and manly men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the history books of fine moustachery! Mo Sistas are the women who register to support the men in their lives, raising funds by seeking sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts. Some women even pledge to wear a fake mustache every day of November! Laura is trying to get Sarah to do this next year :)

Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November and through their actions and words raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men's health. This year is the 5th annual campaign.

At the end of the month, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas celebrate their gallantry and valor by either throwing their own Movember party or attending one of the infamous Gala Partés held around the world by the Movember corporation, for Movember.

Alternatively, for all the single and generous women out there, Asylum have come up with another way to support the cause: HAVE SEX WITH A GUY WITH A MUSTACHE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GudcxvmHoyQ

We might just stick to supporting those MoBro's that we know instead! :)

http://mobro.co/Mattbotthttp://mobro.co/GordyB

 If you'd like to donate, just click the above links - we promise the last guy does actually have a mustache, it's just blonde!

 Look - even Perez is in on the action:

the MSN logo:

And US!!

It's Britney, Bitch!

Britney did it again! She put on another great show! This time it was the Femme Fatale tour and we saw it at Wembley Arena on Monday the 31st October 2011 (Halloween!).

Britney and I (Sarah) go back a long way - in fact I first saw Britney 11 years ago on her Oops I Did It Again tour- and again at Wembley Arena! Last night was the 5th time I had seen a Britney show and a 2nd time for Laura- in fact I haven't missed a tour yet:

• Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour (2000)
• The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004)
• The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009) - I went to 2 showings of this one!!!
• Femme Fatale Tour (2011)

I won't go in to great detail about the past shows but I will say Britney knows how to put on a show - from amazing sets, pre-show videos, ridiculously good backing dancers to set lists that include all the songs you love and a few remixes and covers! I have no doubt that any Britney show we see we will enjoy - who can resist singing along with Baby One More Time, Toxic, Boys and I'm A Slave 4 U? - Not us!

Last night Britney was supported by Joe Jonas - a treat for Laura as she has a bit of a Jonas Bro's crush (Laura interjection: a bit of a crush? You mean unhealthy love! ;D ) - it just made me feel old! The first Britney tour I saw Aaron Carter when he was 13 - he's all grown up now (and on a separate note, looks too much like his brother now)! To give Joe Jonas credit he performs like a pro. With his Disney dance moves and catchy pop songs he was a good act to get the crowd going - especially when he covered 'Beautiful People' and threw roses into the audience - talk about a little heartbreaker!

The hottest Jonai!

But back to the lady of the night....the set list was better than expected (and I say that because her new album lacked classic Britney and was more 'dance' than expected). Having said that seeing Britney perform some of the newer tracks live (Big Fat Bass - with Will I Am, Drop Dead Beautiful and Till The World Ends- with Nicki Minaj) did have us enjoying the new Britney music in way we hadn't appreciated just listening to the album.

B & Will I Am

Britney Spears “Femme Fatale” Tour Set List

1. Hold It Against Me

2. Up N’ Down

3. 3

4. Piece of Me

5. Big Fat Bass

6. How I Roll
7. Lace and Leather

8. If U Seek Amy

9. Gimme More

10. (Drop Dead) Beautiful (feat. Sabi)
11. He About To Lose Me

12. Boys (Remix)

13. Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know

14. Baby One More Time

15. S&M
(Rihanna cover)
16. Trouble For Me

17. I’m A Slave 4 U

18. Burning Up (Madonna cover)

19. I Wanna Go

20. Womanizer

21. Toxic

22. Till The World Ends

Enjoying the concert- with the creepy guy behind us- we couldn't figure out why he was there!

Bang, bang!

From start to finish the audience (and us) danced and sang a long and as we were only 7 rows back we were perfectly placed to enjoy it all. This was the first Britney show we had stood at and I liked it! It allowed for dancing and best of all it meant we could get to a perfect viewing spot (and photo spot). We can say that we actually saw Britney (jeans shorts & glittery bra en all) up close and personal! At quite a few points I swear Britney looked at us :) 

'Why hello, Laura and Sarah!'

'Do you like my extensive collection of shiny undergarments?'

We've seen the negative press and it's fair to say that Britney's dancing could have been more enthusiastic but that never detracted from the show.  It's one of those things when you say your a Britney fan people have an opinion and in the main there's judgement - but you have to see a Britney show to appreciate it! Sure she's not going to the best singer, or best dancer but what she does well is perform! We haven't met a single person who has seen a Britney show and not liked it!

Highlights of the night:

The show!!!

Britney at home dancing in a cage (we swear that was recycled from the Circus tour)

At home in the cage? I don't know, but she looked AMAZING!

Hit Me Baby One More Time (this time while riding a motorbike! - still Laura's fav song)

Backing dancers that had expert ninja moves (and one had an amazing mexi-tash)

Britney mounting Joe Jonas during this is 'How I Roll' (well it was his last night on tour!)

Strong thighs, Joe?

If U Seek Amy (Marlyn Munroe style) 

The finale (including brilliant pyrotechnics, Nicki Minaj (in video), an awesome song and us being close enough to be covered in confetti) --> see the amazing video HERE!

We LOVE glitter!

Laura's fav Britney fan!

This girl (Laura) loves having confetti boobs.

Britney's really cute witches costume (we think this was a Halloween special)

We hope Britney will be back soon as we are ready to Do It Again (Oops :))

Love Britney - another amazing show!!