Now I will share with you my favourite cleaning product, events, Netflix or TV series, fashion items, viral trend and food from this quarter.
Cleaning Product
Method Toilet Cleaner
I have been using Method cleaning products for roughly a year now since my mum bought me the Clementine Kitchen Cleaner along with the Imperial Leather Marshmallow bath cream (see Part 1 to see what I think of it and the shower gel version) and other toiletries. My favourite Method products so far are the Clementine Kitchen Cleaner and the French Lavender Multi Purpose Cleaner, both of which smell gorgeous, and the Method Toilet Cleaner. The Method Toilet Cleaner is spearmint-scented and smells more pleasant than the Method Eucalyptus Mint Bathroom Cleaner. In spite of the bottle’s opening seeming unusual at first, it cleans my toilet as effectively as other toilet cleaners I have used, although it is the most environmentally friendly I have ever tried.
Events
SpiceUp London Exhibition
The SpiceUp London exhibition took place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, North London, from 28th July – 20th August 2018 and it was absolutely brilliant. I liked the light-up tunnel entrance that enticed visitors into the exhibition and the many exhibits that were based on Spice Girls singles, Spiceworld: The Movie, merchandise including that with Pepsi and Walkers crisps, their concert tours, each individual Spice Girl and the Viva Forever musical. There were also big screens showing Spiceworld: The Movie and concert footage. Another great touch to the exhibition was Spice Girls music playing throughout. The exhibition also took place in Manchester and from 15th November until 31st December 2018 it will be held at the intu Shopping Centre in Watford, which is where Geri (AKA Ginger Spice) is from.
The Lion King stage musical
When I heard that my mum and my sister were going to visit me in London this summer, they thought of seeing The Lion King stage musical together because they wanted to see it when they were in New York a few years ago, but it was too expensive for them. As a huge Disney fan (I’m sure you can tell by Part 1 of my favourites!), I decided to tag along with them to see the musical at the Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden. My mum managed to buy us some tickets as cheaply as she could. We all sat in the Grand Circle, which meant that we got a decent view of the stage if it was at a particular angle that was hard to describe, but it was cool to see the inner workings of the spiral staircase that would sporadically pop up throughout the performance. The best assets of the musical were the music (it consisted of songs from the original ‘The Lion King’ Disney animated film, its sequel ‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride’ and songs that were exclusively written for the musical); most of the dialogue being the same as that in ‘The Lion King’ film albeit some modernisation; the costumes; the props; puppets representing characters such as Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa; the wildebeest effects; and the child actors who played Young Simba and Young Nala.
Tusk Rhino sculpture trail in London
The Tusk Rhino sculpture trail took place throughout London in August and September 2018. There were 21 unique rhinoceros sculptures each designed by a different artist from children’s book illustrator Axel Scheffler to The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie wood. Each sculpture was designed to raise awareness of poaching, a major threat to rhinos, and they went up for auction to raise money for the Tusk organisation. Like with previous sculpture trials I took part in, I enjoyed participating in this one. While I found a few sculptures to be distressing, particularly in the Mayfair area, I liked most of the designs and finding the rhino sculptures was good exercise too.
Netflix/Amazon Video/TV Series
Honourable Mentions
The Great British Bake Off and The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
I have already discussed ‘The Great British Bake Off’ in some of my Quarterly Favourites videos, but I thought I’d discuss it here because I have thoroughly enjoyed this year’s series. ‘The Great British Bake Off’ is a series where amateur bakers take part in three different challenges based on a particular theme in a week: the Signature Challenge, the Technical Challenge and the Showstopper Challenge. Each week one contestant is crowned Star Baker while another is sent home. The series is broadcast on Channel 4 (it originally aired on the BBC from 2008 – 2016), it is presented by Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding and its judges are Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. My favourite bakers this year are Manon, Jon, Dan, Kim-Joy and Briony and one of my favourite challenges is the Biscuit Portrait Selfie Showstopper Challenge from the first episode. Although the history section was not included in this year’s series, I liked to see the addition of two completely new themed weeks, which were Vegan Week and Danish Week. I have also enjoyed watching ‘Bake Off: An Extra Slice’ where Jo Brand gives a recap of the week’s episode, is joined by three celebrity panellists and Tom Allen as of this year’s series, shows photos of baking triumphs and disasters that viewers have sent in, shows bakes that studio audience members have brought in and chats with the baker who left the tent in that particular week.
Mr Bean (on Netflix and Amazon Video)
‘Mr Bean’ is a comedy series that I have been in phases with for several years. I remember watching it as a child and I still have two VHS tapes of it: one called ‘The Best Bits of Mr Bean’ that includes sketches from various episodes and one with the full-length episode ‘Merry Christmas Mr Bean,’ so I was thrilled to see that I could watch episodes of it on Netflix and Amazon Video. Highlights of the series include Mr Bean getting a turkey stuck on his head, Mr Bean getting dressed and brushing his teeth in the car because he is running late for the dentist and Mr Bean driving his Mini from an armchair on the roof. The video I embedded here is from the Mr Bean YouTube channel. It consists of clips from the original live action sitcom as well as the two films and it also thanks its viewers for 9 million subscribers, although the channel now has over 10 million subscribers.
The Loud House
Who’s who in the thumbnail?
Centre: Lincoln Loud
Clockwise from bottom left corner: Lucy Loud, Luan Loud, Lori Loud, Leni Loud, Lynn Loud Jr., Luna Loud, Lisa Loud, Lola Loud, Lily Loud and Lana Loud
‘The Loud House’ is a Nicktoons series that revolves around the crazy everyday antics of 11-year-old Lincoln Loud and his 10 sisters: the bossy and cynical yet caring Lori aged 17; the not-so-intelligent yet stylish Leni aged 16; the rocking musician Luna aged 15; the comedic prankster Luan aged 14; the sporty and competitive Lynn Jr. (named after her father Lynn Sr.) aged 13; the gothic poet Lucy aged 8; the 6-year-old twins Lana, who’s tomboyish and loves fixing things, and Lola, who’s more girlish and enjoys participating in beauty pageants; the brainy scientist and mathematician Lisa aged 4; and the baby of the bunch Lily aged 15 months. Since ‘The Loud House’ was created by Chris Savino, who came from a large family himself, it is one of the most realistic animated series ever made. As I don’t have cable or satellite TV in my flat, I can still watch short clips of it on Nickelodeon’s American and British YouTube channels and full episodes of if that I downloaded to my iPad from iTunes. Despite the use of toilet humour, especially Lily’s, “Poo-poos,” and some of the characters seeming stereotypical, I have found it a generally amusing and entertaining cartoon to watch and I like how its art style is inspired by that of Sunday newspaper comic strips that Savino read when he was younger. My particular favourite episodes are ‘Potty Mouth’ where Lily’s day care interview is coming up and her older siblings are worried that they have become a bad influence on her when they hear her say a particular word; and ‘One of the Boys’ where Lisa makes and gives Lincoln a watch that sends him to an alternate dimension where he has brothers instead of sisters.
Fashion
Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt, Primark
While my parents and I were on holiday outside of York this summer, my mum and I went shopping in York itself on our first full day. The first shop we visited was Primark where my mum purchased me a Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt from the menswear section. As a larger woman, most women’s clothes in Primark won’t fit me, with the exception of a one-size-fits-all grey open cardigan I was given one Christmas, but if I look as thoroughly as possible I might be able to find some decent menswear T-shirts in Primark that could fit me. The Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt fits me perfectly and I love how it has the logo on one of its sleeves. Although I never really played any Sonic the Hedgehog games in my childhood, I vaguely remember watching The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog animated series back then and I played Sonic Jump on my old iPhone a few years ago, so I still think this is a cool addition to my wardrobe.
Merci Paris T-shirt, New Look
Unlike Primark, I can find a decent range of plus size women’s clothing in New Look as part of their Curves (formerly Inspire) range. Also while my mum and I were shopping in York, she bought me this mustard yellow T-shirt from the sales, it says, “Merci Paris,” and there are two interlocked hearts above the slogan. Like the Sonic T-shirt, this one fits me very well.
You can see me try on these T-shirts in my second York 2018 vlog below:
Viral trend
Matilda Challenge
‘Matilda’ was one of my absolute favourite films as a child and I enjoyed reading the book as well, although the film beats the book ever so slightly. The Matilda Challenge is a viral trend where people re-enact the scene where Matilda (portrayed by Mara Wilson) utilises her powers more by making a spoon feed her cereal and making objects move around the lounge. Each Matilda Challenge video features the song ‘Little Bitty Pretty One’ by Thurston Harris that was also featured in the original film scene as well as one person pretending to have powers like Matilda and other people moving the objects themselves to give the illusion of the person ‘with the powers’ making the objects move. I find the challenge very fun to watch – even Wilson herself gave the challenge positive feedback. Some of my favourite videos to feature the Matilda Challenge were the JrMojo video where two girls create their own version of the scene, the Fine Brothers Entertainment video where their panel of kids react to the challenge and a video where Wilson reacts to the kids reacting to the challenge.
Food
Fibre One 90 Peanut Butter Popcorn Bars
In two of my Quarterly Favourites videos, I rave about the Fibre One 90 Chocolate Brownie, Lemon Drizzle and Cinnamon Drizzle bars as they are all great ways to satisfy my sweet tooth without the guilt because they all have under 90 calories each. Whilst doing one of my Ocado shops, I stumbled upon the Fibre One 90 Peanut Butter Popcorn Bars and I was intrigued to try them, so I added them to my shop. Like the bars I have mentioned earlier, the Peanut Butter Popcorn bar is delicious. The bar contains real pieces of popcorn and peanut and I like the peanut flavoured coating at the bottom too.
This wraps up Part 2 of my July, August and September 2010 Favourites blog posts. Please let me know what you enjoyed this quarter in the comments.
Links
July, August and September Favourites Part 1: https://stompgal87blog.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/july-august-and-september-2018-favourites-plus-life-update-part-1/
Method cleaning products: https://methodhome.com
SpiceUp Exhibition: https://www.spicegirls-exhibition.com
Tusk Rhino Trail: https://www.tuskrhinotrail.com
Fibre One 90: https://www.fibreone.co.uk
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