Your surprising Heyday Friday newsletter

EARS AND EYES AT THE READY,
IT'S YOUR
HEYDAY FRIDAY NEWSLETTER

There are several things about this week's blog that have come as a surprise to me.

It concerns a recommendation that was made to me, which I followed through with not inconsiderable reservations, but which I now pass on to you with absolutely none.

Obviously you're going to have to read it - which you can do by CLICKING HERE - to find out what I'm on about, but I will tell you that one of the reasons I'm recommending it so highly is because of another fabulous award-winning actress (if you didn't read last week's newsletter, or blog - you can catch up by CLICKING HERE - it featured Golden Globe award winners Michelle Yeoh and Jennifer Coolidge).

Anyway, this week's missive is made all the more unmissable because of this peerless performer doing something that was a first for her. 

Am very much hoping that's enough tantalising information to tempt you to have a look at THE BLOG. I promise you won't regret it if you do!

Sometimes you hear something that refocuses or even resets your view of the world, and THIS BLOG, explains why hearing a conversation with this man - he's Sir Tim Smit, the founder of The Eden Project - did that for me.

Have you ever been to, or held, a clothes swap event? Where you get together with friends, bring clothes you no longer wear and, well, swap them. If you haven't, I heartily recommend it as a great way to both recycle and socialise at the same time. For the purposes of this 

SMART SAVE TIP OF THE WEEK

though (which I now realise is two tips for the price of one if you've never done the former) I'm suggesting you do the same with books. 

There's nothing I like more than reading a book that has been recommended to me, it's how I make my reading selections every time (and I hope why you choose to dip into the books I recommend here and in the Heydays blogs).

And as much I hate then having the books I've loved just sitting on a shelf, I relish physically passing them on to other people (as opposed to just suggesting they read them). A book swap is just an extended version of that.

I'm sure I don't need to explain how a book swap works, but a couple of pointers that can help it to be a success is to suggest the maximum number of books people bring, make sure they only bring books they have enjoyed (rather than seeing it as a chance to just have a random clear-out) and to encourage the participants to put a post-it note on the cover of each book they bring explaining what they loved about it. It makes it so much easier when everyone is rummaging through all the books at the same time.

To make the event even more charitable, you could ask for a donation to a charity of all your choosing from each person that comes. 

THIS WEEK I'VE BEEN....

.... WATCHING

I am definitely on a feel-good TV viewing roll at the moment. But then, Lord knows, we all need as much uplifting entertainment as we can get right now, don't you think?
Well, if you're a fan of unashamedly entertaining, proper laugh-out-loud, frequently tear-jearking (in the best way) television then look no further than Michael McIntyre's Big Show, currently on BBC 1 on Saturday evenings at 18.50. If I say this is proper, old-style family variety entertainment which can be watched and hugely enjoyed by everyone from youngsters to grandparents, I mean it as the greatest compliment. 
Genial, warm and, in my book, hilariously funny Michael is the perfect host. A brilliantly quick witted ad-libber, he also has a fabulously contagious laugh, which is very much in evidence as he not only introduces and fronts, but appears to be enjoying the pranks, games, stunts, celebrity guests, and participation of the live audience at the huge Drury Lane theatre where the show is filmed, as much as we and they are. 
And blimey, the complexity of some of those stunts and pranks has to be seen to be believed. It's no wonder that the show takes so many months to prepare and film. It's impossible to pick out a favourite, but the Midnight Game Show, when Michael steals into the house of an unsuspecting celebrity in the middle of the night (with the collusion of their other half), wakes them up and gets them to play a variety of ridiculous games, often involving other surprise celebrity guests, never fails to be wildly entertaining.
Then there's Send to All, which involves an invited celebrity guest in the theatre handing over their phone to Michael who not only rummages through it (enjoyed by the audience via a large screen it gets plugged in to) but then uses to send a suitably embarrassing message to all their contacts. Later in the show, he returns to see who has responded and what they've said. Queue more brilliantly comical ad-libbing from Michael.
As for The Unexpected Star of the Show, where a member of the public starts off thinking they're taking part in something, like a meal in a restaurant, or a podcast, only to discover that they're actually in an elaborately constructed set, alongside actors, which reveals itself, and them, to actually be in the theatre, where they're then invited to perform at the end of the show (having had a hair and make up makeover and a short time to rehearse). Nominated by friends and family who join them on stage, they're always brilliantly talented and needless to say they, and we, are almost always in tears afterwards when they've realised their performing dreams. 

This week will be the fifth of six episodes of the current season of MICHAEL MCINTYER'S BIG SHOW. You can catch up with each one, after it's aired on BBC iPlayer

Because Valentine's Day is coming up (on Wednesday in case you needed reminding) I thought I'd dedicate these regular slots this week to the event and the theme of love. First up is 

FRIDAY FUNNY

and if you're struggling to think of what to write in the card for your Valentine, Michael McIntyre (that's his wife with him in the pic, in case there's doubt about who the recipient of his cards is) has this suggestion

WORDS OF WISDOM

I happily admit to being a bit of a Julianne Moore fan girl (in case you couldn't tell). But I loved her even a little bit more when she said this (and yes, that's her husband she's pictured with)

Hope you have the chance, this and every week, to tell the person you love that you do, whether that's in a Valentine's card or in person.

Sending my love your way until next time. 

Diane x