Happy Xmas!

I hope you all have a fabulous Xmas and a prosperpous New Year. I will leave you with a video of some of the art of dance pole dancing students having fun in their last pole dancing lesson of 2009.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Random Silliness

I am not usually a very festive person but for some reason this year I am feeling much less scrooge-like than normal. I have even downloaded a Xmas playlist  full of some old classics as well as some new tracks including the slightly filthy 'Christmas tree' by Lady Gaga.

As you can see from the picture (left) my students have had to endure my Xmas happiness as well as some very silly Xmas session plans. The picture was taken during last nights 6.15pm class where we tried to create a human Xmas tree made of pole dancers, we played Musical poles (video to follow very soon!) and we got so many students spinning on one pole that the pole nearly unscrewed itself! The Xmas fun continues tonight! (Students pictured are, from the top, Sara, Steph, Sarah, Aimee & Noni.)

I, like many people, am finding it hard to stay motivated at work, it is my last offical day in the office before Xmas and I seem to find myself neglecting my admin and opting to spend time on Twitter and Facebook instead. I am sure that my motivation will return with avengance in 2010!

I will get the student xmas videos uploaded in the next 2 days and hope to get the photos back from the St Luke's Xmas Disco too.

Before I sign off for today you may be interested in having a little flutter on local diving sensation Tom Daley, the bet asks how many times will Tom feature in the Herald on the 2nd January 2010? Click here to find out more.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Pole Dance Bet 2 and St Luke's Xmas disco!

Apparently I have just undertaken another pole dancing bet without even knowing. My lovely husband has decided that I need some more pole dancing endurance training and has placed another bet on how many times I can climb the pole in 60 seconds. If you didn't see the last challenge click here to see my madness! My last attempt was 14 climbs in 60 seconds but I didn't pace myself so I hope that if I do pace myself I might actually exceed 14 climbs. The problem is that I have started celebrating Xmas early and have had a little more beer than the recommended drinking guidelines which may hinder my performance. So if I do less than 14 climbs you can blame St. Austell Brewery! Click here to see the bet! I will be doing the challenge at 5pm on Tuesday 22nd December at my Plymouth studio if anyone fancies coming along to watch?

Another bet worth a punt is the proposed Jean Claude Van Damme fight, will Van Damme get his butt kicked by a Thai boxing champion? Should be a fight worth watching! Also you can bet on talented local sprinter Katherine Endacott and her bid to get to the World Indoor trials, click here for the Herald story. Go Katherine!! 

The massive St Luke's Hospice Xmas disco is nearly upon us. This coming Thursday 17th December will see me performing alongside some great acts at Oceana in Plymouth - here is a list of acts:

Triple Soul are introducing their new female singer for her debut - Triple Soul will be playing Soul, Motown and the like,  Karen G is singing some Christmas songs to warm you all up and Harry Lea will be driving you onto the floor with his Blues Brothers and Wham!   Jack Bryce a superb Plymouth based Magician will be wandering the tables performing some mind boggling close up magic.

In the Disco at 8pm:

The Plymouth Calendar Girls shaking their booties and having some party fun plus you can buy their lovely new calendar as a stocking stuffer! The TJs will be performing Thriller, Saturday Night Fever and a couple of surprise dances - watch out for their spectacular costumes!

Sam Remmer from the Art of Dance will be stunning us with some class Pole Dancing (that's me!)

Karen Mills (World Famous!) will be letting fantasies begin (no no calm down) with her fantastic Body Art and Extreme  Body Painting

Magician Jack Bryce will be popping up everywhere so be careful what you have in your ears that you didn't know about

Del Boy is to be confirmed !

DJs!  Playing music from the 70s and 80s - Motown, Disco, Soul, Funk and Party Classics:

Organiser and Ex Fiesta, Academy, Monroe's, Top Rank, Barbarella's + the hellholes and dens of iniquity of Norway ;) and 15 years in California = DJ Wavy Davy (aka David Saunders or Symons) first ever sober job in Plymouth and just as wild!

DJ Ian "Calvie" Calvert (BBC Radio Devon, 261 Plymouth Sound and TSW) with DJ Skanking Dazza Cox

DJ Rob Storey (ex Fiesta, Snobs, Circus Tavern and Monroes)

DJ Peter Gunn (Devonair and loads of work with the Cavitron Trust)

DJ Ringo (One of Plymouth's original DJs - if not one of the first!)

DJ Dave Jordan (Caroline Roadshow)

DJ Roger (Jack Daniels Please) Lee (Fiesta, Snobs and almost everywhere in town) Win his original 70s silver platform boots

DJ Johnnie Vee (Everywhere in town that would have him ;) )

DJ Johnno (Plymouth Calendar Girl and professional Blagger Lucy Johnson) doing text shout outs and generally getting everyone moving

DJ Missus Motown (Wavy Davy's Old Girl from Detroit, Michigan YAY)

Lorna Baker (professional Can Can Dancer) LOL

Dom Moore will be the official event photographer

Birdman confirmed he is appearing today so we have emailed Christopher Biggins and told him sorry he can only do about 10 minutes we have BIRDMAN!

Click here to buy your tickets or get more information.

More news to follow.....

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

The Perfect Getaway

 Boats in Padstow harbour.

Having not had a holiday this year my husband and I decided it was time to get away for a few days to relax and forget about work. The answer to our prayers came in the form of a 2 night break at the St Austell Brewery owned Old Custom House in Padstow. Like many other establishments, the Old Custom House offers some fantastic off-season deals meaning you can have a luxury break without the luxury price tag. The 4 star rated 'Enjoy England' Old Custom House seemed particularly attractive to us due to its Michelin Star Fish restaurant and its bar with real ales!

Padstow harbour (the view from our room)

In true Remmer tradition we couldn't just have a holiday without some element of work so on Sunday we travelled to Padstow for a Muay Thai Interclub hosted by Higher Level Gym. My husband brought many of his University of Plymouth fighters for the event and they did him proud. it was a fab afternoon with some great bouts and a lovely friendly atmosphere. Thanks to Steve from Higher level for hosting the event.

  Sid and his University of Plymouth Muay Thai fighters.

It was so nice to finish the interclub and not have to think about the drive back to Plymouth, instead we had just a 3 minute drive to our Hotel in Padstow harbour. The Old Custom house is situated next door to Rick Steins renowned seafood restaurant which we had originally looked at staying at, but we couldn't justify the inflated prices and had read several reviews stating that the Pescadou restaurant was just as good as Stein's. We even looked at some sample menus which confirmed the Old Custom House as our preferred choice.

The Old Custom House and narrow Padstow streets.

The interior of the Pescadou Restaurant.

The Pescadou Restaurant in Padstow.

After checking out our fabulous double room with sea view we ventured down to the bar to start sampling the beers before setting of to the restaurant for meal number 1. I opted for the salmon and dill balls to start and then the hake and gnocchi for the main with a side serving of purple sprouting broccolli and pine nuts. I think I would have been happy with just the pine nuts as they were gorgeous, the hake was perfectly cooked too. After the meal it was straight back to the bar to test some more beers  to round of the end of the evening.

Me sampling the St Austell Tribute.

If we thought the evening meal was nice we weren't about to be disappointed by the breakfast: My husbands full Cornish breakfast looked divine and my Smoked haddock, mushrooms and poached eggs were truly scrumptious. I even had a little Greek yoghurt and grapefruit to freshen the palate and then washed everything down with some Orange juice and a pot of Twinnings Earl Grey. Feeling rather full I then left my husband to lie in bed for 2 hours reading the day's papers whilst I opted for a 2 hour Beauty treatment in the studio adjacent to our room. The facial and paraffin pedicure were amazing and I floated out fo the treatment rooms with one very shiny face and slippery velvet like hands. My husband did find my shiny face very amusing!

Sid enjoying the day's papers.

The afternoon was spent meandering around the tiny streets of Padstow with a brief stop for a Cornish pasty for lunch, unfortunately my husbands northern roots seriously kicked in when we were charged £5 per pasty! it took him some time to get over the shock.

Sid paying £5 for a Cornish Pasty.

I have to admit to a bit of people watching as being one of my favourite past times and the award for most interesting  was two gentlemen in their early 70's who seemed to have a talent for synchronised dining. I have never seen such precision and timing as both gentlemen ordered their beers at the same time, drank at exactly the same moment, placed their glass back on the table at the same time and then carefully loaded their bar meal of spaghetti bolognese onto their forks and chewed and swallowed in perfect unison, it is a talent I have never witnessed before but it impressed me, my husband and the bar lady immensely.

A Seagull perusing Padstow harbour.

Peace and tranquility were restored in the evening as we returned to the bar and then to the restaurant for meal number 2, this time I opted for the mushroom soup to start, which I have to say is the best mushroom soup I have ever tasted, followed by a personal favourite of sea bass, cockles, lemon beurre blanc and more purple sprouting broccoli. My husbands sirloin steak was one of the largest steaks I have ever seen and was so filling he even skipped breakfast the following day. I however had no intention of skipping breakfast and this time opted for the vegetarian option with beans, mushrooms, toast, hash browns & free range poached eggs.

Another view of Padstow Harbour.

After breakfast it was time to head back to Plymouth to get back to work. We squeezed in a quick visit to Stein's delicatessen to buy some freshly baked bread to bring home. The drive back, or should I say aquaplane back, involved torrential rain but I didn't care, I was chilled, rested and refreshed. I would highly recommend the Old Custom House to anyone wanting a short break, it is amazing value for money and has everything you could want for 2 days of heaven. The staff were fantastic, the service was excellent, what more can I say. I am currently one very contented little bunny!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Bed Pushing & Burlesque

Just a short blog today to update you on the latest news:

Firstly a quick mention for yesterdays bed push which went very well despite the ferocious freezing wind! There were a few narrow minded abusive comments directed towards us volunteers but the majority of shoppers restored my faith in humanity! I hope we raised lots of money for the Eddystone Trust as well as raising much needed awareness of HIV and Aids. Click here for the Herald Article on the bed push.

Next, onto last nights Amateur Burlesque performances at Annabel's Cabaret by two our Burlesque students Delicious Delilah and Miss Purr-dy. Both ladies did the art of dance proud with their beautiful dispalys. We started with Delilah's enchanting belly dance based piece to 'Trust in me' from the Jungle Book and then we were delighted by the Gorgeous Miss Purr-dy as she performed a classic Burlesque piece to 'Need to be Loved'.  Both ladies will be performing again at our next Amateur night in February 2010 although judging by their performances last night they look more like professionals.  If you or anyone you know wants to join our next Burlesque course or try our January taster session just click here for details. A big thanks to our professional Burlesque Babes Miss Georgina Gale and Miss Amelia B for being such great teachers and for ensuring the night ran smoothly.

A quick bit of thanks to my lovely husband for the divine fish pie he made me last night that I am currently munching!  The phallic pastry shape adorning the pie made it even more delightful! 

Must quickly mention Max , the new addition to my aviary, and the rest of my menagerie. Max is settling in well and he took food from my hand for the first time this morning. For a cockatiel he is a very large male so he shouldn't have to worry about being bullied by the others! The Quail seem to be getting on OK despite some fighting during the summer months, perhaps they have been pacified by their daily treat of live mealworms (see picture left)? On the subject of mealworms my live colony is doing well despite one episode of the great escape during last weeks storms,  trying to catch about 100 little critters in the pouring rain is not much fun and I must have looked a right state in my dressing gown and hiking boots racing around the back yard trying pick them up!  I think I caught most of the escapees and with the additon of some extra sacking in the lid of their house I seem to have solved the problem.

Enough writing for me as I have lots of work to do, several interesting new projects lined up and I will be on holiday on Sunday and Monday - can't wait!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x