Friday 27th March 2009, 15.00
Well spring is almost here, and Fantastic Fireworks is starting to burst to life after a couple of months of relative hibernation! Rocket Park is now awash with a sea of bright yellow daffodils, there's blossom on the trees and little bunny rabbits hopping about in the lane! Everyone is cheerful with the thought of summer just around the corner, and the heavy snows of last month are already a distant memory!
Spurred on by the uplifting change in seasons, a crew of our top Firers are at this moment excitedly setting up for tonights display. Paul Roberts and Dick Budgen, ably assisted by trainee Jack Aylward, are firing a show in the beautiful surroundings of the Luton Hoo estate - and I am sure our display will be every bit as gorgeous as the setting! I will be passing by Luton Hoo tonight as I return from a family meal in nearby Wheathampstead, and am hoping to time my journey to coincide with the show! It's always a pleasure to see a good fireworks display - and with FF behind it you know it's gauranteed to be spectacular!!! ;o)
27 Mar 2009
23 Mar 2009
Tina's Tasty Brain Teaser!
Monday 23rd March 2009, 15:35
As you may have noticed, staff here at Fantastic Fireworks are not averse to the odd bit of chocolate! In fact it was like all our Christmases had come at once when we were asked to take part in the Wispa advert, not least because we were thanked in copious amounts of the scrummy bubbly bars!
So in keeping with this yummy theme... here is a little quiz, courtesy of the lovely Tina Ward, to get you all thinking (and no doubt get your tummies rumbling!) of a Monday afternoon. All answers are chocolates or sweeties, past and present, and I will post them on Wednesday.
1. Talk quietly = WISPA
2. Sly giggles = SNICKERS
3. High class thoroughfare = QUALITY STREET
4. Dark occult = BLACK MAGIC
5. Money making Royalty = MINT IMPERIAL
6. Mothers local =MARS BAR
7. Clever folk = SMARTIES
8. Various black items = LIQUORICE ALLSORTS
9. Sport for Princes = POLO
10. Frankie Vaughan wanted it = MOONLIGHT
11. Feline equipment = KITKAT
12. Garden flowers = ROSES
13. Assorted girls = DOLLY MIXTURES
14. Dairy holder = MILK TRAY
15. Marriage arranger = MATCHMAKERS
16. Edible fasteners = CHOCOLATE BUTTONS
17. Wobbly infants = JELLY BABIES
18. Big bus = DOUBLE DECKER
19. Gem orchard = OPAL FRUITS
20. Spin around = TWIRL
21. Istanbul harem = TURKISH DELIGHT
22. Up out there = MILKY WAY
23. Even more up out there = GALAXY
24. Big cats pub = LION BAR
25. Noisy insects = HUMBUGS
26. One who wanders = TREKKER
27. Musical bards = MINSTRELS
28. It’s a party = CELEBRATIONS
29. Outside meal = PICNIC
30. Locals from Malta = MALTESERS
31. Reward = BOUNTY
32. Ten cent pub = DIME BAR
33. Toothless drunk = WINEGUMS
34. Pub pins = SKITTLES
35. Fireworks couldn’t work without them! = FUSE
As you may have noticed, staff here at Fantastic Fireworks are not averse to the odd bit of chocolate! In fact it was like all our Christmases had come at once when we were asked to take part in the Wispa advert, not least because we were thanked in copious amounts of the scrummy bubbly bars!
So in keeping with this yummy theme... here is a little quiz, courtesy of the lovely Tina Ward, to get you all thinking (and no doubt get your tummies rumbling!) of a Monday afternoon. All answers are chocolates or sweeties, past and present, and I will post them on Wednesday.
1. Talk quietly = WISPA
2. Sly giggles = SNICKERS
3. High class thoroughfare = QUALITY STREET
4. Dark occult = BLACK MAGIC
5. Money making Royalty = MINT IMPERIAL
6. Mothers local =MARS BAR
7. Clever folk = SMARTIES
8. Various black items = LIQUORICE ALLSORTS
9. Sport for Princes = POLO
10. Frankie Vaughan wanted it = MOONLIGHT
11. Feline equipment = KITKAT
12. Garden flowers = ROSES
13. Assorted girls = DOLLY MIXTURES
14. Dairy holder = MILK TRAY
15. Marriage arranger = MATCHMAKERS
16. Edible fasteners = CHOCOLATE BUTTONS
17. Wobbly infants = JELLY BABIES
18. Big bus = DOUBLE DECKER
19. Gem orchard = OPAL FRUITS
20. Spin around = TWIRL
21. Istanbul harem = TURKISH DELIGHT
22. Up out there = MILKY WAY
23. Even more up out there = GALAXY
24. Big cats pub = LION BAR
25. Noisy insects = HUMBUGS
26. One who wanders = TREKKER
27. Musical bards = MINSTRELS
28. It’s a party = CELEBRATIONS
29. Outside meal = PICNIC
30. Locals from Malta = MALTESERS
31. Reward = BOUNTY
32. Ten cent pub = DIME BAR
33. Toothless drunk = WINEGUMS
34. Pub pins = SKITTLES
35. Fireworks couldn’t work without them! = FUSE
20 Mar 2009
Kate reels in red nose cash
Fri March 20th 09, 10.48pm
With all the bids in, I'm delighted to report that our Comic Relief campaign has raised nearly £200. From a lesson in fly-fishing to a specially created pop-art poster Fantastic Fireworks staff came up trumps not just with their offers but their bids. A special thanks to Kate who organised the auction and to everyone who took part.
With all the bids in, I'm delighted to report that our Comic Relief campaign has raised nearly £200. From a lesson in fly-fishing to a specially created pop-art poster Fantastic Fireworks staff came up trumps not just with their offers but their bids. A special thanks to Kate who organised the auction and to everyone who took part.
17 Mar 2009
Le Manoir celebrates in style
Tues March 17th 09, 10.08pm One of the country's best-known restaurants celebrated its 25th birthday tonight with a huge party and fireworks display. Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons near Oxford is a byword for culinary excellence. To thank the local community for their suppport, M Blanc laid on a band, food, drink and Fantastic Fireworks set to his favourite French music. David Willsher designed the 15-minute display which was fired by Paul Roberts, assisted by Justin Petty, Rino Sampieri and Dave Twydell.
12 Mar 2009
Time to flash your cash!
Thurs March 12th 09, 3.56pm
Hi everyone. As Kate’s on holiday this week she has asked me to let you know all the offers that have come in for our Comic Relief auction tomorrow. We have had a very good response & thanks to all who have contributed.
Hi everyone. As Kate’s on holiday this week she has asked me to let you know all the offers that have come in for our Comic Relief auction tomorrow. We have had a very good response & thanks to all who have contributed.
Here they are:
From Hayley - some custom-made jewellery
From Turney – a fly-fishing lesson for beginners
From Linda – a box of 10 Phoenix greetings cards
From Jon – a Sunday afternoon out on his canal boat
From David – a bespoke pop art portrait
From Ian – an hour’s guitar lesson
From Ali – a weekend of pet sitting
From Craig Pamphilon – a day of kite making & flying
From Kate – a home-made cake
Now it’s down to everyone to flash their cash!
So, here’s what to do next: between now and Sunday evening please email Kate katem@fantasticfireworks.co.uk with your bids, as little or as much as you like, on as many items as you like. There is at least £250 worth of goods and services on offer so it would be great to raise at least that amount.
Kate will open the bids on Monday and email the results later that day.
Happy bidding & good luck!
From Turney – a fly-fishing lesson for beginners
From Linda – a box of 10 Phoenix greetings cards
From Jon – a Sunday afternoon out on his canal boat
From David – a bespoke pop art portrait
From Ian – an hour’s guitar lesson
From Ali – a weekend of pet sitting
From Craig Pamphilon – a day of kite making & flying
From Kate – a home-made cake
Now it’s down to everyone to flash their cash!
So, here’s what to do next: between now and Sunday evening please email Kate katem@fantasticfireworks.co.uk with your bids, as little or as much as you like, on as many items as you like. There is at least £250 worth of goods and services on offer so it would be great to raise at least that amount.
Kate will open the bids on Monday and email the results later that day.
Happy bidding & good luck!
10 Mar 2009
Democracy Indian style
Tues March 10th 09, 6.30am
Between the fizz and fun of fireworks, pyrotechnists do the odd bit of reading. My current paperback is The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. This Booker prize-winning novel tells the story Balrham, an uneducated and impoverished Indian servant who escapes from the darkness of his squalid existence into the light of success, Indian style. Recognition, respect and riches become his but, in order to achieve them, he has to commit murder. There are some wickedly drawn insights in this delightfully dark and irreverent take on life in the world's largest democracy. One of them is when Balrham is chauffeuring his master, Mr Ashok, and his wife, Pinky Madam, to an important event. For amusement Mr Ashok asks him a few basic general knowledge questions. Laughing at his hopelessly wrong answers, Mr Ashok turns to Pinky Madam and sighs: 'See what democracy really means? Putting our glorious country in the hands of half-baked people like this.' Little does he know it but Mr Ashok's own life is very much in Balrham's hands. An excellent read.
Between the fizz and fun of fireworks, pyrotechnists do the odd bit of reading. My current paperback is The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. This Booker prize-winning novel tells the story Balrham, an uneducated and impoverished Indian servant who escapes from the darkness of his squalid existence into the light of success, Indian style. Recognition, respect and riches become his but, in order to achieve them, he has to commit murder. There are some wickedly drawn insights in this delightfully dark and irreverent take on life in the world's largest democracy. One of them is when Balrham is chauffeuring his master, Mr Ashok, and his wife, Pinky Madam, to an important event. For amusement Mr Ashok asks him a few basic general knowledge questions. Laughing at his hopelessly wrong answers, Mr Ashok turns to Pinky Madam and sighs: 'See what democracy really means? Putting our glorious country in the hands of half-baked people like this.' Little does he know it but Mr Ashok's own life is very much in Balrham's hands. An excellent read.
4 Mar 2009
We take on the Hamster in TV rocket duel
Wed 4th March 09, 10.59pm
Amazing what you can find on YouTube. I didn't expect to see one of our rockets pitted against TV stuntman Richard Hammond until Steve in our Manchester office told me about it. And there it is, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QheJ2Gc9l2c, British daftness at its best as the Hamster takes on our Whopper rocket and a golf ball to see who's fastest over 250 metres. Hammond is propelled by a 170mph motorbike in a stunt for the TV series Brainiac on Sky. I won't spoil the fun of it all by revealing the result. Just let me say that after watching it you may want to call Hayley in our Mail Order department on 0800 511 511 and place an order!
Amazing what you can find on YouTube. I didn't expect to see one of our rockets pitted against TV stuntman Richard Hammond until Steve in our Manchester office told me about it. And there it is, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QheJ2Gc9l2c, British daftness at its best as the Hamster takes on our Whopper rocket and a golf ball to see who's fastest over 250 metres. Hammond is propelled by a 170mph motorbike in a stunt for the TV series Brainiac on Sky. I won't spoil the fun of it all by revealing the result. Just let me say that after watching it you may want to call Hayley in our Mail Order department on 0800 511 511 and place an order!
2 Mar 2009
Fantastic Fireworks - Doing Something Funny For Money.
Monday 2nd March 2009, 13.35
So get your thinking caps on people - I will be looking forward to reading what you have to offer!!! ;o) For those not able to offer a 'promise', we do hope you will be happy to take part in the bidding... x
I am sure you are all aware that Comic Relief is now just a couple of weeks away. Here in the Fantastic Fireworks office we have been racking our brains to try to think of something we can all do that is not only good fun, but will raise a nice tidy sum for this brilliant cause. Finally we reached our decison, and I’m sure you will all on be tenterhooks as I reveal that our fabulous FF fundraising plan for 2009 is... an ‘Auction of Promises’.
So, we are asking all our office staff - plus any generous and willing Firers - to think of a ‘promise’ they can offer up for our big Comic Relief auction. This could be a skill or talent you could hire out (i.e. cookery, cake making, party planning), a lesson you could give (sports, languages, music, dancing), or a service you could offer to the highest bidder (pet sitting, car washing, gardening, to name but a few).
To get the red nose rolling, here’s a few brilliant donations we’ve had already...
So, we are asking all our office staff - plus any generous and willing Firers - to think of a ‘promise’ they can offer up for our big Comic Relief auction. This could be a skill or talent you could hire out (i.e. cookery, cake making, party planning), a lesson you could give (sports, languages, music, dancing), or a service you could offer to the highest bidder (pet sitting, car washing, gardening, to name but a few).
To get the red nose rolling, here’s a few brilliant donations we’ve had already...
From Jon – an afternoon out on his canal boat, gliding through the glorious English countryside!
From David – a unique pop art portrait of you or a loved one!
And from Ian – a balloon animal of your choice!!*
If you wish to take part and offer a ‘promise’ for the auction please email me ASAP. The auction will be open to bids from our extended FF Facebook family as well as us lovely bods in the office. Once all the 'promises' are in I will then open up the auction for bidding, so please keep an eye on this blog or on our Facebook page for updates.
From David – a unique pop art portrait of you or a loved one!
And from Ian – a balloon animal of your choice!!*
If you wish to take part and offer a ‘promise’ for the auction please email me ASAP. The auction will be open to bids from our extended FF Facebook family as well as us lovely bods in the office. Once all the 'promises' are in I will then open up the auction for bidding, so please keep an eye on this blog or on our Facebook page for updates.
So get your thinking caps on people - I will be looking forward to reading what you have to offer!!! ;o) For those not able to offer a 'promise', we do hope you will be happy to take part in the bidding... x
(*please note this offer may change, subject to public decency laws)
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