The Steeple Times

Tag: teacher

  • Sasha Reid: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Sasha Reid: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks author, designer and band manager Sasha Reid: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

    “Anything is possible”. I love knowing that you can take a little idea and create anything out of it. The possibilities are endless.

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    “Kill people with kindness”.

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?

    For me, people being cruel to animals is something I find unacceptable. I hate the fact innocent creatures are being killed. We should respect the animal kingdom and allow them to share our precious planet.

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    I miss having Christmas with all my family. When I was growing up I was looked after by a nanny.  She wasn’t my granny – she was a proper nanny and had looked after my mum and my uncle when they were little before coming to look after my brothers and me. Our Christmas used to be my mum, dad, 2 brothers and me, nanny and my grandparents.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    Happiness. What is the point of being able to have everything if you can’t be happy?

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?

    I hope my money is safe.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    The word “grand”.

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    I was recently on tour with Kasabian and Jersey Budd who did the Teenage Cancer Trust gig at the Royal Albert Hall. I was inspired to see the good work that the charity does and meet some of the young people who have been helped and hear their stories. I also like to support animal charities.

     

    The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    I think mobiles are great as long as they are used at the right time and place.

     

    Sasha Reid
    Sasha Reid

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    I would want my mum and brothers (Charlie and Sam), and of course my mum’s little dog, Honeybear. I would also invite the Kasabian guys: Tom, Sergio, Dib, Kealey, Ian and Tim so that I could have great music.

     

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    I hope I would never end up on death row but if I had to choose my last meal it would be risotto, pancakes, chocolate and a banana cupcake from the Chelsea Teapot on the Kings Road. I would want to eat it all on a beautiful beach watching the sunset.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    Anytime: It’s always evening somewhere in the world.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    A watermelon martini.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    Matthew Steeples has the best parties. They are full of the most interesting and lovely people in London.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    My brother Charlie. He is always so calm and always sees the glass half-full .

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    I love watching American television shows. Nashville and Revenge are my favourites at the moment.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    It would be a phoenix as I love what this mythical bird symbolises. There is going to be a phoenix on the scarves I’m designing.

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    I would be a red Cadillac.

     

    Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    That I am related to General LaSalle who was first General to Napoleon and I can get married in Les Invalides in Paris. I’m sure the James Bond character was based on him. I am also related to Prince Yusupov who murdered Rasputin.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    I have family photographs, candles, a clock that was my granny’s and my Kasabian AAA pass.

     

    Sasha Reid trained to be a teacher before becoming a headmistress of a nursery school. She was then responsible for discovering a Leicester band called Kasabian and worked with them until they were signed to a major label. Currently, Sasha writes children’s stories, manages singer-songwriter Jersey Budd and is designing a range of rock and roll scarves.

     

    Download Sasha Reid’s children’s stories onto your iPad at: http://store.interactivetouchbooks.com/books/sasha+reid+and+amy+withers+riedl

     

    Follow her on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/rockchicksasha

  • Richard Griffiths OBE (1947 – 2013)

    Richard Griffiths OBE (1947 – 2013)

    Richard GriffithsMost recognised for having played Uncle Monty in Withnail and I and Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films, this Yorkshireman truly was a larger than life actor. (more…)

  • A cock-up by “Cock Roache”

    A cock-up by “Cock Roache”

    The latest in a series of bizarre comments from actor William Roache

     

    William Roache MBE, who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, is no stranger to controversy.

     

    The grandson of a Freemason who was interested in hypnotism, theosophy and esotericism, Roache is a vegetarian and spiritualist who was photographed participating in Druid rituals in the 1970s.

    (more…)

  • Jim Bowen (born Peter Williams)

    Jim Bowen (born Peter Williams)

    Jim Bowen 350This witty Northern comedian began his career as deputy headmaster at Caton Primary School in Lancashire. Best known as the host of Bullseye between 1981 and 1985, Bowen’s back in the limelight as many suggest he’s a lookalike of the new Pope. His BBC Radio Lancashire show was axed in 1999 after he referred to a guest as a “nig-nog” and in 2003 he launched a stand-up comedy DVD named You Can’t Tell These Anymore. Nothing, however, will ever “Beat a Bit of Bully!”

  • Neil Hamilton: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    Neil Hamilton: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

    The Steeple Times asks writer, broadcaster and entertainer Neil Hamilton: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

    Christine.

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    If you say so dear.

      (more…)

  • Ten types of playground mother

    Ten types of playground mother

    Sarah Tucker explains the types of mother she thinks exist in the school playground

     

    In a short video for Netmums, best selling author Sarah Tucker educates viewers about the ten types of mums she believes frequent school playgrounds. Her insights are both amusing and revealing.

     

    Sarah Tucker's ten types of playground mother
    Sarah Tucker’s ten types of playground mother
    Best selling author Sarah Tucker
    Best selling author Sarah Tucker

     

    What’s your view? We look forward to receiving your comments below.

     

    Watch the video on YouTube at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FnW0pz1XeA&list=UU43QDbPR1s23wM4utg03ZGg&index

     

    Buy The Playground Mafia by Sarah Tucker on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Playground-Mafia-Sarah-Tucker/dp/0099498456

  • Teacher tops charts with posthumous single

    Teacher tops charts with posthumous single

    Zach Topley reports on a Wellington College teacher who lost his battle with cancer who is now topping the iTunes chart

     

    Jimmy Higham, who sadly lost his battle with cancer last year, has soared through the iTunes download charts with a beautiful cover of Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely. Higham, a Lancashire born teacher at Wellington College in West Berkshire, recorded the song just months before his tragic death in December 2011, aged just 26.

     

    The late Jimmy Higham is now topping the iTunes downloads chart

     

    After being released on iTunes last week, the song quickly rose through the charts and now stands at number 15. All proceeds go towards the Jimmy Higham Bursary Fund, set up in his memory to enable 16-year-olds from the north of England to attend the school and play sport.

     

    “Jimmy was an instant hit at Wellington with students and staff, hard-working, dedicated, wise, funny, kind, helpful, a gifted teacher with amazing promise. The students loved his dry humour and willingness to listen,” the College said in a statement.

     

    Students at Wellington have got behind the cause, spreading the word via Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #jimmyhigham.

     

    A student commented: “We’re all hoping it can get to Christmas number one. We need support from everyone, both in buying the song on iTunes, as well as telling friends about Jimmy’s story.”

     

    Follow the campaign for the Jimmy Higham song to top the charts on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/JimmyHighamSong

     

    Donate to the Jimmy Higham Bursary Fund at: http://www.justgiving.com/wco

     

    Watch the official music video for the single at: http://youtu.be/RDYOHmQWFcU

     

    To purchase the single for just 79p, go to: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/music-video/isnt-she-lovely/id587014296

     

  • Adele Adkins

    Adele Adkins

    “I don’t know what’s going to happen if my music career goes wrong,” states this Tottenham born singer. Having been named “one of the most influential people in the world” by TIME Magazine and broken the record for the longest number-1 album by a woman in Billboard history, she really need not worry. Adele’s still “Someone Like You,” except she’s now worth in excess of £23 million and is guaranteed a place amongst the music greats. Gordon Brown wrote to this Labour supporter to tell her that she’s a “light end of the tunnel” but we prefer the view of former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash. Of her, he proclaims: “She’s great. She’s a shot in the arm for this industry.”

  • Picture of the Week: The two faces of Ahmadinejad

    Picture of the Week: The two faces of Ahmadinejad

    Contrasting images of President Ahmadinejad

     

    In a departure, this week we have two The Steeple Times pictures of the week. They were separately taken but both feature President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Whilst one shows a fawning television presenter interviewing this madman, the other illustrates a courageous lady sticking a finger up to him.

     

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran being interviewed by Piers Morgan on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight”

    On CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, ahead of his visit to the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad was, according to the Daily Mirror, “not at all fazed” by the questioning from his interviewer. Given this rare opportunity, Morgan, instead of pussyfooting around, should have confronted this tyrant with better thought out questions than:

     

    “You have two sons and a daughter, what would you do if one of them was gay?”

     

    The world already knows Ahmadinejad’s bigoted views on homosexuality and Morgan should have realised that this former teacher would have prepared his answers to such. It would surely have been cleverer of Morgan to have hit his guest with something unexpected.

     

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran comes face to face with a lady courageous enough to stick her finger up to him

    As a contrast, this morning on Facebook my friend Michael Marmol shared an image featuring Ahmadinejad in a setting he plainly hadn’t anticipated. Here, a young lady stands in front of the Iranian leader’s motorcade and publicly sticks her finger up to him. Captioned: “Courage, It is most awesome when you least expect it,” we only wish Morgan had taken this mantra onboard before agreeing to interview President “Ahmawackjob.”

     
    Watch videos of the CNN Piers Morgan Tonight interview with President Ahmadinejad at: http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/23/piers-morgan-sits-down-with-iranian-president-ahmadinejad-advance-highlights/

  • Leonid Rozhetskin

    Leonid Rozhetskin

    He co-founded City AM and was executive producer of the 2009 film Boogie Woogie. This Russian financier and lawyer led a closeted life and disappeared in March 2008. Elements of the Russian press suggest he’s living in California under the Federal Witness Protection Program but others argue that he was the victim of foul play at the hands of the KGB. A credit card belonging to Rozhetskin, whose favoured haunts numbered The Wolseley and Nobu, was found next to a body found in woods in Latvia in August 2012.