The Future's Orange

Note how the cushions were
chosen to match my hair..

Dec 2012 Update: Wiggo wins Sports Personality of the Year - get in!

With Bradley Wiggins' triumphant addition of another Olympic Gold to his medal tally, being the first Brit to win the Tour De France under his belt, and exceeding Sir Steve Redgrave's medal haul to become Britain's most decorated Olympian (an accolade he now shares with Chris Hoy since this was first published) I thought now would be a good time to extol the virtues of 'the redhead'.

Being born with bright orange hair I was adored and indulged by my Irish grandmother (what is it with elderly Irish ladies? They love a ginger-haired baby!), and called 'Goldilocks' by my mum who would brush my hair until it shone.  Less charitably I was called 'ginger nut' at primary school.  Childish but disappointingly still happens among adults - what gives?  

The red wasn't destined to stay and I went from orange to ginger to strawberry blonde to whatever number it is on the colour chart that my hairdresser uses but I still get excited to see a redhead give their childhood bullies the equivalent of a big 'v-sign' by being successful. 

Check out 'Wiggo' below.  Not content with being superhuman, he's managing to rock sitting on a golden throne with his kit unzipped to the navel whilst giving a peace sign.  Only the truly outstanding among us can carry that look off.

Mr Wiggins 'at rest' - photo
courtesy of Grazia

Aside from this titian titan here are some of my other favourites:

Daniel Craig - finally a Bond to give the girls a run for their money in the swimsuit department.
Karen Elson - born in Britain, massive in America, stunningly gorgeous model and super cool singer.
Nicole Kidman - smart enough to ditch TC early on
Josh Homme - Queens of the Stone Age frontman, amazing 'axe'-wielder, friend of Dave Grohl and very fine indeed...
Ronald Bilius Weasley - funny, magical and he gets the girl. In your face Potter!
Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud - not content with being part of one of the biggest girl bands of all time; she got serious, became celebrated within broadsheets and high fashion magazines, and her public stance on the damage caused by sun beds helped pass the bill banning them from use by under-18s.  Hats off to that woman.

On a more personal note I want to send big love to a few fine redheads that I know: Vicki who was building a successful online business before most of us had figured out text messaging, Laura of the band Fairfolk who has a voice as mellifluous as her hair is vibrant,  Lucy who wore a Monroe-style wedding gown with more sophistication and class than a blonde ever could, Auntie Karen who was my first example of an 'independent woman', and my niece Leila who at the age of 4 is proving to be a talented actress already.



So here's to Bradley Wiggins - so cool that Paul Weller thinks he's cool.  The man's a legend and he's ginger.  Judging by all the spectators wearing ginger 'lamb chop' sideburns at the Olympics I can feel a trend towards people asking for red the next time they visit the salon - the future's orange.

Love is Contagious

After the Olympic torch relay tweet mentioned in No Sex Please, a few people have asked me what prompted it, so here goes.

I was waiting with the children at a mini-roundabout by the Travelodge in Newbury (glamorous - n'est ce pas?), for the spectacle to arrive.  We'd chosen the spot because a group of people had set up camp there hours earlier so we reckoned it must be a good viewing place.  Not for nothing do people risk catching their fingers in collapsible seating, fill flasks and don kagouls....  As we waited, a lovely couple explained that everyone was there for one torch bearer - Emma Cope, a  16 year old local girl who had chosen to respond to her incurable kidney disease by fundraising for research.  Her current total stands just shy of £38,000 and people were looking forward to publicly celebrating her incredible achievement.

The crowd got deeper and whilst I usually pride myself on my strength:size ratio, I couldn't lift both of my children at once without risking injury to one or all of us, and was struggling to give them a good view.  This was picked up on by the 'lovely couple' who offered to move out of the way so the children could stand at the front.  This little display of generosity sparked further gestures as other members of Emma's party handed the children flags and braved the throngs of people reaching for giveaways to collect gymnastics ribbons and other goodies.

When Emma did arrive, her torch was not lit.  She had been dropped off to await the 'mother flame', and stood for a second like she had been teleported from another dimension  - wide-eyed in a space age tracksuit complete with mystical symbol (or golden cheesegrater, take your pick) in hand.  A moment later her mum raced to her side and hugged her, which made everyone hug each other, which made us all a bit teary eyed.

From having Thames Valley Police as a 'warm-up act' (I can't imagine I will see a policeman on a motorbike conduct a cheering competition then high-five spectators again), to the kindness of strangers, to a mother's hug setting everyone off it was a fantastic and memorable couple of hours of people being really happy together.  It had the flashing lights and whistles - all it would have needed was some techno and people massaging each others shoulders to have made it feel like a rave c.1991.  That and people off their faces - but it was the middle of the day in Newbury, so maybe like a rave held by a church group and the WI.  Anyway, I digress - back to the point:

The feeling seemed to permeate the whole of the town.  It even reached the man behind the voice that floated out of the parking payment machine - I had lost my ticket in the crowd and instead of charging me the £12 he should have for a lost ticket, he let me off.  The good vibes of that day must have been contagious, I hope that it lasts way beyond the end of the Olympics.