Yesterday we had another radio interview – this time with Dream 100, for the area surrounding the Chichester store on Monday – 17 interviews so far and more to go! The regional press have been great and we have more coming to see us in store on Monday and Tuesday. The Grande Finale takes place in the New Malden Tesco Extra, on Wednesday the 14th February, where Hugh & Co will unveil what Hugh calls his “Secret Evil Plan” – a super-unique, romantic event that Tesco will never forget!
Feb 10, 2007Comments Off on South Africa, Pride and Thanks
Yesterday afternoon we went to the Newbury Tesco Extra where we met Simon and Rob. Rob is from Namibia and fought in the Angolan war, protecting South Africa. He’s been over here for ten years and has been watching Stormhoek develop. I was very moved by our conversation as he spoke about how the country has changed sinced Mandela’s release in 1994 and how proud he is that people like Stormhoek and Hugh & Co are supporting South Africa via “global microbranding”.
We all agreed that there’s no place quite like Africa or South Africa…it’s a country that once you visit it, your soul remains behind when you leave…
[UPDATE:] Rob just sent us this very kind mesage:
Hugh, Colin and Cath,
Very much enjoyed meeting you three at Newbury Tesco. Not the best of venues for a first time meet n chat but I guess we could have done worse than the discounted CD/DVD gondola!
I especially enjoyed initially bumping into this trio as Hugh was pushing a trolley through the store with Cath sat in it (and a very tasty ex Durbanite she is too), while Hugh monologued to camera. It was a sight to behold.
For me as an expat Namibian/SAFFER, it is essential that S Africa continues to reach out and reclaim its rightful place within the global community.
The struggle to escape the siege mentality derived of the cultural and economic isolation years during apartheid must continue still. Everyone in South Africa was affected and still are suffering. Innovation was repressed as a result. Secret deals with America and UK were made however we still had to ask relatives in UK to send us videos of Match of the Day!!
But now S Africa has a new breed to lead the way forward. Innovators like Mark Shuttleworth, musicians like David Kramer and Johnny Clegg with businesses like Nando’s and Stormhoek together with ordinary people at Jo’burg like Champers who is completely engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS, will see S Africa re-emerge from the years of economic, social and cultural repression. Their determination and dedication will succeed and pull the country and immediate regions to success.
Thanks to people like this business card cartoonist called Hugh Mcleod, more and more South African products will get to be stocked in stores worldwide and will, (not perhaps or maybe) take up more prominent positions on the supermarket gondolas.
SA export revenues will help fund research into AIDS, pay for AIDS prevention programmes, build water wells for the drought stricken areas, build schools to educate the children and create better funded social programmes for all communinities in S Africa.
I tip my hat to you Hugh. May I call you the next time Newbury fete has a supermarket trolley race?!
Went to a super little place on Thursday night in Bibury (Cotswolds) – The Catherine Wheel.
Inside the 15th century Catherine Wheel, we found many exposed, original ship’s timber beams, prints and photographs of Old Bibury and blazing log fires in the winter. The food was great – I had Irish stew, Hugh had a kind of meatballs dish, called Faggots and Colin had Bibury Trout.
I loved this picture of an old Landy. Our travelling “Love Unit” is a Landrover, so I thought it rather appropriate I take this snap!
On Thursday afternoon we met Sarah Hyatt who is a make-up and style consultant for Virgin. She gave Hugh a couple of styling tips: lose the shirt, trim the tummy, polish your shoes, get rid of the hanky, get a new belt, keep the jeans, keep the trendy glasses (the glasses were bought in a boutique shop in Chicago 15 years ago!). Trinny and Suzannah, where are you!
The remainder of the time spent in-store resulted in Hugh’s fragile ego being stripped bit by bit… Pretty blonde, Steph Carey said, “why would anyone want to go to Cape Town with you? The only thing cool about you is your jeans, but I’ll give you money if anyone goes!”. Poor Hugh felt like he had been punched in the gut and limped away like a bull mastiff, tail between his legs.
We drove through thick snow to Cirencester, in the Cotswolds, where one couldn’t really feel any more romantic… Our final destination of the day was the Cirencester Tesco Extra. With wine display in full form and Hugh standing at the entrance signing cartoons, in walked Zoe – a local girl from Cirencester. Fifteen minutes later, he had her phone number, email address, and she had proposed!
Zoe’s on the left!
Feb 9, 2007Comments Off on Soul Connections and all that…
Some people just “get you”…Some people just don’t… is it a spiritual thing, or is it just an understanding of someone? Maybe it’s something completely different… Anyway, I think it’s a spiritual thing and I’m a bit of a romantic. I believe in the whole soul connection, someone “getting you” thing…
Travelling with Hugh Macleod has reinforced my belief in that… In fact, he’s just shown me a cartoon he drew in Jan this year before we’d even met! Cool chap…
His cartoons are also quite unique and one of the things that make Stormhoek love him most!
Hugh
Feb 9, 2007Comments Off on Hugh’s cunning plan goes public…
We went to Blackpool (a well known seaside resort on the northwest coast of England and a favourite holiday destination for the gay community) on Sunday and it was absolutely freezing! All three of us had never been there so it was a rather “interesting” experience, to say the least…I reckon it’s better in Summer…
We took Hugh for ice cream and candyfloss and went for a walk on the famous Blackpool pier. No girls around though, so he braved a “wild ride” all on his own :0)
Watch the movie clip… poor bloke flying around like a hamster at high speed in a wheel ;0)
After fun on the pier, we went to the Blackpool Tesco Extra store where we met the most wonderful girl, Louis, at the back of the store. She’s gay and had the most wonderful story to tell us and reinforced the fact that really, at the end of the day, all we want and need is good old fashioned love with a little bit of passion sprinkled on the top! 🙂
Funny Love,
Cath
x
Feb 8, 2007Comments Off on 1 Week Gone, Still No Love! from Cath
Today is Day 7 of the Love Tour…It’s snowing today – a nice addition to the romance in the air… We’ve just visited the Gatwick Tesco Extra which has the best display of Big Love so far.
We were mobbed by 10 members of the Emirates (United Arab Emirates) cabin crew who [A.] thought Colin our filmmaker was “very cute” and [B.} decided that they needed to tell us why Loverboy Hugh still hasn’t found a date…
Recommendations for Hugh included shaving off his ‘goatie’ and hitting the gym to lose the tummy! (he didn’t look to impressed ha ha… ;0).
Colin and I have decided we might just call on the services of Trinny & Suzannah to help Hugh with a total makeover…
We’ve only got 7 days to go to find the perfect woman to accompany Hugh on an all expenses paid, romantic trip of a lifetime to Cape Town… dinner under the stars on the beach, getting lost in the vineyards and all that… Can he find her in Tesco….?
Next blog post I write, you’ll see Hugh flying around on a fairground attraction in Blackpool. I hope you laugh as much as I did.
Big Love!
Cath x x
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