Meeting James Martin (Leeds Loves Food Festival)
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It’s not often you meet a genuine celeb, and I guess James Martin is the real deal.
Via good old twitter, I was invited over to meet James at the Leeds Love Food Festival, which is going on right now and over the weekend. Admittedly, this is not a food blog, but having a soft spot for most types of nice grub, plus knowing Mr Martin was a petrolhead, I went over to meet him.
He was a really nice chap – you can see why he is well liked – a marketing person’s dream. Before he left I grabbed a couple of minutes with him talking cars and Macs – just click the play button below:
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It was very encouraging to see that the PR firm who were involved had organised a session for bloggers (that’s me that is) to meet him and ask questions, so there was a few of us who turned up and got asking. I made a few notes, and managed a couple of foodie questions before getting onto the good stuff 
- He doesn’t think of himself as a celebrity, but branded one
- He finds inspiration by going to great places
- He started out as head chef at Hotel Du Vin in Winchester (and in fact I remember him back then in a Lotus Esprit Turbo), where he was discovered by a “lady old enough to be my Mother” who “popped her card in his pocket and said she would make me a star”
- This led to an interview and job on the Big Breakfast on Channel 4
- He had his birthday a few days ago, with hundreds of people attending a party, with 100 plus chefs of course. He said “what the hell do you cook for Michelin starred chefs?” Well, he did fresh langoustines, wood-fired pizza and then an ice cream van turned up for dessert. I like it!
- The good news – he is a Mac, not a PC and has used them for 12+ years
- He is driving a number of cars at Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend and cook for 1100 people one evening!
- He has just got the new R8 V10 a couple of days ago and is very impressed (he’s a big Audi fan)
- He hasn’t been to the ‘Ring (the big girl’s blouse)
- He is going to do the Mille Miglia again in 2010
- Top tip for office lunch is to hollow oout some fresh bread, fill with chicken, pesto, mozzarella etc, then put in the fridge and take a slice to work each day – it will last all week
- His latest project is a serving 30,000 meals around the world.
Time for some new shoes – Church’s Leeds delivers
Decent, honest customer service is becoming rare these days. Also, the fact of actually buying something in the flesh rather than using the web. Shoes are VERY important. You wear them every day, they are what you wear to walk / run in and they say a lot about you. As the legendary @Opotopo (Mr Kelly) said
Life is too short for crap gear
And I heartily agree. So, it was a great pleasure to buy a new pair of shoes from Paul and Patrick at Church’s Leeds yesterday. They helped me choose, helped with the fitting and made sure I felt like a special customer. The upshot is that good old WOM, or Word of Mouth comes in. Anyone who asks me where to buy shoes from, and I am going to recommend them without hesitation.
A HUGE thanks chaps and here to further embarrass you, some photos! 
Papers Review on BBC Radio Humberside
A big thanks to Ruth Barcroft, the BBC Radio Humberside DJ, (who does the Saturday morning show) who invited me in to review the papers this morning. It meant an early start but was great fun and look forward to doing it again very soon!
You can listen below
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So, when is Google Voice coming to the UK?
Google Voice looks superb. But I’ve not heard anything about plans to launch in the UK. Ribbit also impresses me (bought by BT) and again, nothing concrete for a UK launch. This is really starting to tick me off. So, anyone who knows anything, please post something!
In the meantime, check out the Google Voice video:
If only more companies were like Google
Green can be fun
Objectified film
If, like me, you love design, the new film Objectified is going to be right up your street.
Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability.
If I use something every day, it is SO much better to get pleasure from it. From the look. From the feel. From the usability. From the ease of use. From the design. My mobile. My computers. My house phones. Light switches. Lamps. The list goes on.
What do you covet in terms of design?
