The welovelocal Blog

Another week has begun, which means there are more free songs to win from iTunes. We’ve also got last week’s winners for you…

We had a great response to last week’s competition and had plenty of locals vying for our three bundles of iTunes vouchers. We’re very pleased to announce that the following will be jigging along to their favourite new tunes:

Our review of the week goes to Ben B’s review of Zuttato. Want to find a great Italian in central London that’s reasonably priced? Ben reckons this is the place for you…

Next was Judy H’s review of the Gipsy Hill Tavern. Good job they don’t do food, eh Judy? You would never have written us this great review!

And the final winner is Kitty N’s review of Headmasters. Kitty, we’re just glad you found a barber that could tame your “thick, voluminous hair”.

The iTunes codes will be winging their way to you now.

Did you send us a review and didn’t make the top 3? Don’t worry! There’s another load of iTunes codes to give away this week, as well as the grand prize winner who’ll be choosing 50 songs from iTunes at the end of our competition. Get scribbling folks – time is of the essence.

Like last time, you need to bear the following in mind to be in with a chance of winning:

• You must add a profile picture to your review
• As iTunes codes will be e-mailed to our winners, please ensure the e-mail address we have for you is correct!
• The weekly competition opens at midday on Monday and closes the following Monday, at midday. Our run of competitions ends on 3rd August, 2009.
• All reviews must conform to our usual terms of service

And here are a few Ts And Cs from iTunes…

This content code expires 31/08/09 and is redeemable only on the iTunes Store for the UK. To redeem the code you must have an iTunes account, subject to prior acceptance of licence and usage terms. To open an account you must be above the age of 13 and located in the UK. You will need a credit or debit card to activate your account.  iTunes 6.0 (7.0 or later for video), compatible hardware and software, and Internet access (fees may apply) are required. Not for resale. For full terms, see www.apple.com/legal/itunes/uk/gifts.html.  For more information, see www.apple.com/uk/support/musicstore.  Don’t steal music. TM and © 2008 iTunes S.à.r.l. All rights reserved.

Picture is by inkynobaka at Flickr.

We’re giving the top three reviews each week ten free songs from iTunes. It’s time to get scribbling…

We appreciate your hard work at welovelocal.com, and we also know that it’s nice to be rewarded for it every once in a while. And that’s precisely the reason why we’ve got a whole bunch of free iTunes codes to give away each week throughout the rest of June and July.

What we want is what you always give us – the inside track on the local businesses that you love. To qualify, you also need to add a picture to your profile (don’t worry, it could be anything – you, your pet, your car, a desk). It also needs to conform to our usual terms of service, but that’s it. Like we said, just keep doing what you’ve been doing.

Every Monday at midday, we’ll close the past week’s competition and start the next (the final week’s competition closes at midday on the 3rd of August 2009). We’ll also be adding great reviews to our front page as we go, so if you make it, you’re in with a chance. The top three reviews – and the editor’s decision is final – will be awarded a 10 song iTunes voucher so you can get the music that you’d like to listen to while writing your next welovelocal review.

We will also be awarding one overall winner an iTunes voucher worth 50 free songs, to the best review over the course of the competition. Quite a prize, we’re sure you’ll agree.

And that’s it. Simple, right? Have a quick look at some Ts and Cs below, but you’re good to go. The first week’s competition starts right now…

The picture is by Aidan Wojtas on Flickr.

And why don’t you follow us on Twitter? Keep up to date with our special offers, reviews of the week and blog postings.

This content code expires 31/08/09 and is redeemable only on the iTunes Store for the UK. To redeem the code you must have an iTunes account, subject to prior acceptance of licence and usage terms. To open an account you must be above the age of 13 and located in the UK. You will need a credit or debit card to activate your account.  iTunes 6.0 (7.0 or later for video), compatible hardware and software, and Internet access (fees may apply) are required. Not for resale. For full terms, see www.apple.com/legal/itunes/uk/gifts.html.  For more information, see www.apple.com/uk/support/musicstore.  Don’t steal music. TM and © 2008 iTunes S.à.r.l. All rights reserved.
Only one entry per e-mail address is allowed. In the event of mulitple entries the best review, as deemed by the editor, will be considered for a prize.

Unblocking my drain this morning got me thanking the angels that come in and sort out the jobs from hell.

Have you ever wrapped your arm in a bin bag and rummaged in a blocked drain, nose millimetres away from the devil’s H2O? I have, this morning in fact, and you know what? I could do without experiencing it again.

After common sense prevailed and I’d got on the phone to Thames Water, a knight in shining boilersuit with a flexible joust turned up. Ten minutes later and the stench, the over-flowing and the damp bin bags were history. I couldn’t get the cash out of my wallet quickly enough (this is rare – ask my friends). Perhaps I was a little hasty in shaking him by his gloved hand (still wet), but that’s the impetuosity of youth for you… ahem.

So it got me thinking of the saints that tackle all of the jobs that, in an ideal world, just wouldn’t need sorting in the first place. These are the people that allow us to get on with our lives, blissfully ignorant of the nasty jobs that would put a small dent in our perfect world.

Keith E. from Gateshead is loving Stanley Thompson, a plumber and central heating engineer from the Northeast. Stan, apparently, is even dinky enough to fit into small, tight, spaces – an essential skill if you need a boiler fixed on the same day that the thermometer dips to record levels of freeze.

It’s not up there with my drain ordeal, but getting a nasty stain on your beautiful dry-clean-only frock is a proper nightmare. Especially if you need it turned around quickly for a formal bash with the Caravan Club (or someone) that evening. Ed N. knows what I’m talking about, and that’s why he’s bigging up Brum’s First Choice Dry Cleaners.

Gokhan H. was pulled out of a tricky situation by London’s Handy Removals. His wife was eight months pregnant and he needed to move house to Littlehampton – sounds like a very tricky, potentially explosive situation, right? In came Handy Removals and out went their belongings. Gokhan emerged from the incident with his back intact and Mrs Gokhan made the move stress free. What a result.

So come on folks, what have you got for us? Who’s intervened when you’ve gazed into the terrifying eyes of a nasty job? Your reviews and your comments please…

The lovely (?) picture is by wonderferret on Flickr

And why don’t you follow us on Twitter? Keep up to date with our special offers, reviews of the week and blog postings.

It’s time to give it up for business owners who’ve either put a bit of thought into their name or sought inspiration with a few swifties down The Noose And Monkey.

OK, so you’re casually walking down what you thought was a nondescript high street, possibly munching on some chips. Out of the corner of your eye, you suddenly see something that demands you take a second look. You turn around, scan a crudely painted sign above a shop and involuntarily spit a mouthful of fried potatoes over an innocent bystander. Comedy gold has struck when you’ve least expected, the author a shop owner with the greatest sense of humour in the world.

People, it’s time to stand up and pat those shop owners on the back. We’ve got a few highlighted below, but we need you to flag up the comic heroes that staff our local shops and businesses. Someone needs to give them props after all – the recession sure isn’t putting a smile on their face.

So what have we got for you? These beauties:

Alive And Klippin, Swansea: Tucked away on an average road between two fairly average towns (Neath and Pontardawe) lies this slice of genius. We’ve never been there (hence no review), but we’ve almost crashed the car on numerous occasions as we’ve struggled to keep our hands on the wheel while laughing so hard. We’re guessing they’re Simple Minds fans, though we’ve no idea where that ‘K’ came from – hopefully it’s some sort of hairdressing jargon we don’t understand and not bad spelling.

Buy The Book, Nottingham: This one works on so many levels, which is why it’s double genius. Obviously, it puns ‘By The Book’, but we’re particularly loving the (not so) subtle command that leaves you with no uncertainty what the owner wants you to do once you step foot in his shop. Splendid work, sir/madam.

The Frying Scotsman, Paignton: A brilliant pun made even better by the sheer randomness of it. OK, so it’s a chip shop, but it’s in Devon. Devon, in case you’re geography isn’t up to scratch, is about as far away from Scotland as you can get.

So what else have you got? Your comments and reviews ladies and gentlemen, please…

The picture was supplied by dev null on Flickr

And why don’t you follow us on Twitter? Keep up to date with our special offers, reviews of the week and blog postings.

It’s still sunny, so it’s time to pay respect to your humble ice cream parlour. We’ll have a 99, by the way…

So you think you’re miserable when it’s grey and raining? Then spare a thought for those that run ice cream parlours. Every morning, they slowly peek through their curtains, desperately hoping that the sun’s decided to put his hat on. Everyone knows that sunshine + ice cream = good times, but for the ice cream seller, it’s a miserable day if the rain’s coming down in sheets.

As we seem to be having an unprecedented run of sunshine recently, we thought it right to big up these floggers of our beloved chilly ambrosia. Since arriving on these shores via The Feast Of St George in 1671 and the influx of workers from southern Italy in the early 19th century, we’ve been LOVING ice cream. Some stick a flake in it, some cover it in strawberry sauce and some make it taste like bacon-and-eggs (Hesther Blumenthal, you are a freak).

While a 99 from an ice cream van is cool (pardon the pun), and bagging a Calippo down the local newsagent is great, some of us are lucky enough to have our own ice cream makers in the local ‘hood. Being a native of South Wales, I can say with great authority that you haven’t lived – and I’m being totally serious – if you haven’t had a two-scoop tub of vanilla ice cream (with chocolate and nut sprinkles) at Joe’s Ice Cream in Swansea. Folks, I’m getting hot-under-the-collar just thinking about it. Like Muhammad Ali, it is the greatest, and were it distributed more widely, world peace would surely be on the cards. I don’t believe there’s a finer tasting ice cream in the world. In fact, I’m almost certain there isn’t. You know what to do if you disagree, right? Send us some pictures, write a review and let’s put it to the test. The ice cream war starts here…

Photo by amandabhslater on Flickr

And why don’t you follow us on Twitter? Keep up to date with our special offers, reviews of the week and blog postings.

The sun is out. Dear Lord, is the sun out! Time to make the most of the UK’s open air swimming pools.

It’s blimmin’ baking at welovelocal HQ. So baking, the only thing we can think of is slipping into our navy blue Speedos and hitting any number of the UK’s famous lidos. Isn’t that what you were thinking as well? No? What’s wrong with you? Seemed obvious to us.

Call us duffers on history if you want, but we thought swimming was a feature of our evolution since amoebas hit the world stage. Turns out we were wrong. Once our ancestors got out of the soup and began walking, swimming got consigned to history’s dustbin. The breast stroke, front crawl and butterfly were relegated to the ‘Where Are They Now?’ file, and travelling unaided in H20 was most definitely not de rigeur.

Until the 30s, that is. Suddenly, swimming became the new rock’n’roll and the UK’s government couldn’t do enough to throw up amazing outdoor swimming pools. You just weren’t ‘in’ if you didn’t have some natty bathers or worshipped Duncan Goodhew and Michael Phelps.

Eighty years on, and it’s a similar story. Some of the lido’s may have closed, but there are still plenty about for you to fine-tune your back-stroke, soak up the sun and take in the 30s’ wonderful attitude to recreational public facilities. We know you’ve been loving the lidos for a while, which is why we thought we’d give these three an honourable mention:

Brockwell Lido in Brixton, Sandford Lido in Cheltenham and the Spa Lido in Droitwich.

So come on, what are you waiting for? And QUICK! While the sun is still out! Hit those Lidos. It’s fun, it’s cool and it’s a fascinating part of our history*. And bung us some reviews, while you’re at it, too!

And don’t forget: No Running, No Pushing, No Acrobatics or Gymnatics, No Shouting, No ducking, No Petting, No Bombing, No Swimming in Diving Area and No Smoking!

* Please note: welovelocal.com may well have incorrectly interpreted or stretched historical facts to fit vaguely amusing prose.

The lovely pic is by victoriapeckham on flickr.

And why don’t you follow us on Twitter (everyone’s doing that, too)? Keep up to date with our special offers, reviews of the week and blog postings.