Archive for May, 2009

My unique Gibson up for grabs Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

gibson-for-grabs

Truth be told, I was hoping out of sight, out of mind, and I’d get to keep it. Turns out, I was wrong.

MTV have told me that it’s time that I let go of my Gibson. But they aren’t having it all their way. We’ve agreed that I can give it away to one of you. I know, I know – go ahead, take pleasure in my misery.

It’s pretty unique, one of only 25 ever made and signed by John Legend, Metallica, Macy Gray, Kasabian, Paolo Nutini, Spinal Tap, Russell Brand and more.

So, I don’t just want to give it away. If I’m going to part with it, I want to know it’s going to somewhere it belongs. So, if you want it, you’re going to have to work for it.

Show me an effort you have made to improve the environment around you.

Big, small, a change to a place, or some people – that’s for you to decide. What’s most important to me is that you do it with the imagination and style that I can relate to. My guitar’s a total individual, and its owner needs to be too.

Be inspired, be playful and be smart.

Send me a video, story or image to my blog or via email email
Before submitting your entry be sure to read the competition terms and conditions.

You can go to the MTV website www.mtvcherrygirl.com to find out more soon – but don’t worry I’ll keep you posted.

Surprise me. I look forward to it.

xxx

“Grime Boy” Revealed Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Hello,

So some friends have found the mysterious person behind cleaning the
“Destroy Nothing” philosophy around Barcelona and Madrid.

…”Grime Boy” (aka Moose)

grime-boy

He wanders around the cities of the world, seduced by the grime.
Cleaning walls and floors and tunnels he transforms the filth of the city
into its poetry and art.

A little bird told me Grime Boy is trying to woo me! I look
forward to seeing this…

grime boy 2

grime boy 3

Float through the chaos Grime Boy…

xoxo

I took the Gibson from MTV Monday, May 11th, 2009

So I took the Gibson and found a sunny spot on a corner in the city opposite a busy cafe, with an early lunch crowd spilling onto the street.

I started strumming a few chords.  The Gibson was completely out of tune (I wondered if it had been played in the past two years).  I started with Lilly Allen’s “The Fear”…a friend on Twitter recommended it, she said she liked the way she sings happily about bad stuff.

Looking across the road, I noticed a serious-looking guy watching me from the bar so I smiled.  He broke into a very cute awkward grin, stood up, crossed the road, came over and asked “Where did you get the Gibson?”.

What?!  He was actually looking at the Gibson?  Oh well.

I told him my story and over the next hour he helped me tune it and figure out a few more of the signatures like Paolo Nutini and Macy Gray. It turned out he was also pretty good at playing, we sat in the sun and he slowly showed me the chords to Nutini’s “New Shoes”.

But then he got a phone call and suddenly had to leave.  As he dashed off I realised I did not even have his number.

As I sat there alone with the Gibson, I thought, it’s interesting how
not doing something well but giving it a go anyway often attracts people
to you…

I strolled back to MTV, about to give back the guitar….but I couldn’t! I just could not let it go…

I have to let other people play with the Gibson…to play with me.

I’m off to find someone now and this time I’ll be sure to show you the music we make together.

Abraços

Close up of the Gibson Friday, May 8th, 2009

A close up was requested on Twitter.  Just trying to figure out some of the signatures…Gibson-web-close

Got a Gibson! Thursday, May 7th, 2009

So I dropped into MTV yesterday to say hello to a few people and to check out something they said I had to see.

I have been telling everyone how I want to start playing the guitar again and there sitting in the corner was the most amazing Gibson!

Staring at it I could see the scrawled signatures of the Beastie Boys, Snow Patrol, John Legend, Kasabian, the Foo Fighters and some others I could not quite make out.

Apparently it is one of only 25 ever made, its body and neck made from rainforest friendly mahogany and signed by the acts at Live Earth.

The others have been auctioned off, and the Gibson in front of me is the only one left.

I just had to get my hands on it!

I cheekily asked if I could “borrow” the Gibson….and amazingly they said yes!

I’ve got some fun planned for me and the Gibson – I’ll keep you posted…

Guitar-web

Homemade Oven Friday, May 1st, 2009

I was strolling past a local pizza restaurant and noticed the stacks and stacks of pizza boxes piled up in the kitchen…I was wondering what on earth could be done with an empty or used pizza box. It felt like such a waste.

I sent out a curious tweet and was given an amazing link by my new friend @awktane

He found a website with full details on how to turn a pizza box into a solar powered oven.

Check out the website here

Sounds crazy so I had to try it out and see if it worked. What do you think? One used pizza box, a bit of foil, some sunshine, my cherry cookie recipe et voila! Well, actually, it wasn’t the hottest day, so I ate them half-baked, but they still tasted good (if a little gooey). How cool it actually worked though!

Cherry Girl Cookies recipe:

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter at room temperature
85g light muscovado sugar
85g golden caster sugar
1 organic egg
225g self-raising flour
50g plain fairtrade chocolate , 50-70% cocoa, roughly chopped
85g natural colour organic glacé cherries , roughly chopped

Method

Prepare your used pizza box and check the weather report to make sure it is a hot and sunny day. Beat the butter, sugars and egg until smooth, then mix in the flour, chocolate and cherry pieces and 1/2 tsp salt. Spoon into in large rough blobs – you’ll get 20 out of this mix.

Make sure they are well spaced as the cookies grow substantially as they bake. Bake until a little golden, but still quite pale and soft in the middle (depending on pizza box and weather report, for anywhere between 20 minutes to 2 hours – if taking longer, it is just not sunny enough) . Cool cookies and enjoy!