TV Junkies

Wow, so this whole blogging thing isn’t as easy as it seems and I have already failed in my goal for 2 blogs per week. Time to pick it up Halliday!

Anyway in the spirit of trying new things in Melbourne, Matt and I became live TV junkies this week by attending a live taping of ‘Talking About your Generation’ on Wednesday followed by the taping of ‘7pm Project’ on Friday.

Both tapings were super fun and very interesting to see what happens behind the scenes. In sticking with the theme of my previous blogs of bullet pointing, the highlights included:

Talking About Your Gen –

·         The crowd warm-up guy is bloody hilarious and I was in stitches the whole time.

·         We were there for about 3 hours to film a 45min show, although most of the breaks involved setting up for each segment. Not once did I look at my watch, as the time just seemed to fly by.

·         Josh Thomas surprised me, as he was very funny and the only cast member to interact with the crowd during the breaks.

·         Shaun Micalleff is a comedy genius

The 7pm Project -

·         The studio is tiny and so much smaller than it seems on tv.

·         They are completely live, although the interviews with people outside the studio are pre-recorded.

·         Denise Scott is hilarious and has good taste in clothes. During one of the ad breaks, she pointed over at me and then proceeded to tell me my top was lovely. Bless her and looking forward to going to her live show during the Comedy Festival.

·         Charlie Pickering is a cyclist and Carrie Bickmore is tiny.

·         Special guest Kris Smith (aka Mr Danni Minogue) is a very good looking man, though the British accent throws me.

Both were super fun experiences, where I learnt that clapping at double speed makes it sound like there are twice as many people in the crowd, jokes are much funnier when you are in the studio than on tv and everyone really is skinner in real life than onscreen.

Definitely recommended to anyone living in Melbourne or Sydney, where most of these shows are filmed. For information, you can check out this site, which provided links to register.

Starlight Children's Charity

What a feel good start to the weekend, even if I did shed a few tears in the process.

I have just spent the morning in a training session to become a "Wishgranter" for the Starlight Children's Charity. I have been involved with Starlight for a number of years and previously volunteered for a fortnightly 4 hour session in the Starlight Express Room at Princess Margaret Hospital (WA).

The Express Room is a place within each of the major children's hospitals that are filled with computer games, activities and toys for the sick kids and their families to play with. Plus there is Captain Starlight who is always around to put a smile on the kids’ faces and the regular visits from celebrities and sporting heroes.

Volunteering in the Express room was incredibly rewarding as you were able to help brighten the lives of these courageous kids, who were stronger than you could imagine. The smiles and laughter would stay with you right up until the next visit.

It's been a few years since I was involved with the SER and with work commitments I was looking for a new way of being involved. Wishgranting is a wonderful opportunity that has presented itself. Basically there are a large number of children currently awaiting 'wishes' and Starlight requires volunteers to be assigned a child and help manage their wish from a dream to reality.

At today's session we were taking through the process of wishgranting and now I eagerly await my phone call, where I will be assigned my wish child. The highlight of today's session was the promotional videos which we were shown of completed wishes. The reactions on the kids’ faces were priceless, reducing most of us to tears and it completely reinforced my decision to get involved. The email I sent to enquire about the program and the decision I made to attend today's session was the best decision I have made for a long time.

So basically I urge anyone with a bit of spare time or any interest in helping out to check out the  Starlight Website and jump in. 

The SER and Wishgranting Programs are only part of what can be done, so there is something for everyone, no matter how much/how little time you have.

I can tell that this adventure is going to just as rewarding for me as it is for my wish child. I can't wait!

Becstar x

7 Day Detox

So one of the major pushes to finally start a blog after years of thinking I should was coming off a 7-day detox. I came out of the week feeling super fresh, motivated and keen to improve in all areas of my life but it wasn’t like that all week, let me tell you.

Matt and I decided to do the detox after a 2 month festive season of too much food, drink and merriment that had us in some unhealthy habits. The detox we stuck to was a simple one we found on the internet that basically called for NO wheat, NO dairy, NO meat (Allowed oily fish), NO alcohol and NO caffeine.

What are you left with? Basically fruit, vegetables, salmon and brown rice!

The reason I feel as though this is an interesting blog topic, is the way we both reacted so differently across the week. While the first 2 days were filled with headaches and “Why did we do this?”, as the days rolled by I seemed to flourish, while Matt continually suffered and was counting down the hours til he could eat meat again.

While Matt struggled for energy, I was always wide awake, hardly needing any sleep and running laps of ‘The Tan’ as well as I would have pre-detox. Even without a daily coffee I was motivated with work and felt as though my daily procrastination time was reduced.

A few lessons I learnt during the week –

·         Good, seasonal fruit is YUM & a much better snack than processed, pre-packages ones

·         Having your fridge stacked with fresh, healthy food is vital in making the right food choices (We are very lucky to have the South Melbourne markets within walking distance)

·         Tofu isn’t a real food – I don’t care what anyone says, it is horrible!

·         I do not need a carbohydrate heavy snack before evening exercise (ie. Bread or cereal) to perform. I was running just as well on a healthy lunch & fruit.

·         Rice milk, brown rice and homemade cereal (Rice puffs, rolled oats, crushed nuts & honey) are good.

·         Unsalted nuts are just not as enticing as salted ones

·         I love coffee – I missed this the most & actually enjoy the taste but now take it without sugar and will limit to 1/day

·         Men need meat – Another day and I think Matt would have started gnawing on my arm in the middle of the night.   

·         Everything in moderation is the best way to live – One of the hardest things about the detox was the impact on our social lives. We had to avoid social settings in fear of being labelled “weirdos” as well as pre-eating before going to a 8^th birthday party, where it was very hard to say no the very pretty pink cupcakes.

Coming back to ‘normal’ eating was also an interesting experiment, with just as many headaches as going on the detox. For me it was bread that killed me and then the first coffee, while for Matt the reintroduction of beer (well actually about 7) surprisingly led to a rather hazy head.

Overall an interesting experiment and with all things that I do, I think I have learnt a thing or two. Now it’s just a case of seeing how long I can keep these ‘good’ habits in my daily routine.

Becstar x

Welcome to Bec Blogs!

Welcome to my blog.

So this is my first ever blog and if you actually happen to be reading it, welcome.

WHY?

I have decided to start a blog for a number of reasons –

·         I have just moved from Perth to Melbourne, which has started a whole new adventure & I will use this blog to keep a journal of events.

·         I enjoy writing – so this is a good way of practicing this & possibly a lot cheaper than venting my thoughts in therapy.

·         I enjoy other people’s blogs – so I thought I should give something back.

·         All the cool kids are doing it – A lot of people who I have great respect for in sporting & business world have blogs, so why should I miss out?

·         I always have an opinion – so why not share it?

·         I think I lead an interesting life & do interesting things – As Oprah said recently “Life is better when you share it”

·         I am always up for trying something new – so here we go......

WHO?

If anyone is still reading and if you are not a family member who I have forced to read my blog to get my page visits up, (Thanks mum!) I’ll give you a quick summary of who I am and what I am all about (Again dot points are just easier) –

·         My name is Bec, I am a 27 year old female who lives with boyfriend of 5 years Matt

·         Recently moved from Perth to Melbourne

·         Work for small business injuryConnect – an online injury management system (www.injuryconnect.com.au)  

·         Enjoys keeping fit, especially cycling & running, spending the past 2 years riding my bike a hell of a lot, which included racing nationally & internationally

·         Has the best family – Dad Pete, Mum Chris and baby bro Travis

·         Plus the coolest friends in the world, all who seem to be getting married at the moment

·         Very competitive and enjoys pushing myself to the limit and chasing my goals.

WHAT?

Finally before I dive in, you may be wandering what this blog will be all about. Well to be honest I am not entirely sure, but I will be aiming to blog twice a week on a range of things that I find interesting. There may be blogs on what’s going on in my personal, sporting or work life, my opinions on world events or simply random thoughts that are going on in my head at the time. Whatever I feel like at the time really? If you feel like reading, be my guest, if not then no worries. Either way, I hope you have a lovely day!

Becstar x