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Yesterday I stumbled across the perfect Cafe; It was my Mum's birthday and we had decided to take a stroll down the Barbican for a bite to eat. After realising it was Black Sunday (one of the days of the year where the Barbican is packed to bursting point and there are always a few people who drink throughout the afternoon before starting mini riots later in the day) we opted to return to a cafe we had perused on our initial walk. Cafe Kiss opened just last week and offers everything you could possibly ask for; superb home-cooked food, locally sourced ingredients, piazza style outdoor seating as well as plush leather sofas for those opting to dine inside. The cafe is licensed and sells everything from wines and spirits to a fabulous pint of Doombar.
I started with an amazing pot of Jasmine tea, probably the best example of a green tea I have ever tasted, and then chose a simple option of a Jacket Potato with cheese and tuna. My Mum opted for the salmon fishcakes which were apparently sold out, this did not mean that they weren't on offer but just meant we were asked if we would mind waiting an extra few minutes whilst they made another batch, that's what I call good service and proves all the food is made freshly. Sid uncertainly went for the Thai Green Chicken curry fearing it would be like many of the disasterous Thai imitation foods found in the west.
None of us were about to be disappointed as the food arrived stunningly presented and with a taste to match its appearance. The food was fabulous value for money and neither of us could stop complimenting the food or venue as we tucked into our sumptious dishes.To add to our dining experience we had grabbed a table on the patio area in the glorious sunshine (hotter than Spain or Greece!), we also enjoyed live background music courtesy of a young lady singing at the Swallow.
If you have a sweet tooth then Cafe Kiss has a perfect selection of home made cakes or if cocktails are more your thing check out the cocktail menu (check out some of the pictures on facebook!). The menu caters for both carnivores and vegetarians as well as those with a more fishy appetite.Cafe Kiss is family owned and run (see Mother and Son pictured right, the daughter was off yesterday) and is not part of a chain which, for me, adds to its appeal. The cafe is light and airy with modern decor yet it still retains a family charm. There is disabled access and baby changing facilities for those who require them. 
Cafe Kiss is situated away from the main Barbican area in Bretonside making it a perfect getaway for those manic bank holidays when the Barbican receives more than it's fair share of visitors. There is one major drawback with this cafe and that is its addictive properties, we all had such a great afternoon at the cafe that we can't wait to go back and I fear this will develop into a regular habit. As you can probably gather I can't rave enough about this cafe and I hope that those of you lucky enough to live in and around Plymouth will give this place a try to help ensure its long term success, this place certainly is worthy of it.Stay Healthy,Sam x
picture above of Emma Thorpe and Rosanna Durban from the art of dance, Miranda Goldring from Pole Affinity, Alex Conley from Spin City Exeter Clare Rigby from Zigs Pole Fitness, Shelley Neave from House of Pole, Sarah Scott from Studio 22, Kate Johnstone from Spin City, Emily Smith from Emily's pole Fitness and Robyn Rooke from 360 Pole Dancing all revising the PDC Syllabus.
It is now nearly 5 weeks since I sustained a Grade 2 tear of my menial collateral ligament (that's a knee injury for those of you who would rather be spared the jargon). I have a few more weeks or so before I will be able to do anything high impact with my knee but I am now able to do some gentle pole work as well as beasting my upper body and core on both the pole and the gymnastic rings we have in our aerial studio in Plymouth. My abs are now sore to touch but there is no pain no gain!
picture above of Sid Remmer, Miranda Goldring and Emily Smith.
This weekend has been another working weekend for me with the Art of Dance Open Day on Saturday and the PDC Syllabus filming day on Sunday in Bristol. Thanks to all of those who turned up on Saturday for the open event and to those who helped out at the Bristol filming, your support is always greatly appreciated.
For all you avid pole dancers out there don't forget it is just 2 weeks to go before UK Pole Dance Day; in addition to the many satellite events happening across the country there is a huge showcase being held in London with some of the UK's top pole dancers in action they include the winner of this year's All Wales Pole Dancing Championships Jamie Alexah Taylor (pictured above), Justine McLucas (pictured below - photo courtesy of Daniel Andrew photography), Karen Chaundy, Bendy Kate, Keem and the Pole fit troupe. Other dancers to be announced soon.
Lastly if you have been patiently waiting for the new Pole Fit range to arrive you can save the wait by ordering the items on line at the Pole Dance Community Shop, I love my new spider back sports bra and can't wait for my new roll top shorts :)
More news to follow including a follow up on the Plymouth Pay Protest and news on the next event protest to be held at midday on Saturday 30th April outside Plymouth Guildhall.
Stay Healthy,
Sam x
What a roller-coaster of a weekend, after the shock arrival of the new addition to the Remmer household (Minky the ferret aka Satan pictured above) it was off to Wales for the All Wales Pole Dancing Championships (AWPC) where I was judging.The drive should have taken about 5 hours but the M6 had other plans for me and at one point I managed a measly 12 miles in 1 hour thanks to the idiot who decided that he could pull out of a slip road without checking it was clear, his mistake resulted in someone else's death and and a huge tailback. 2 more accidents later and I reached Llandudno in the snail like time of just over 7 hours. Despite the horrific journey I have to say that the A55 is a stunning drive across the North Wales coast and was equally beautiful at 4pm as it was in the morning mist at 9am.Luckily the show was just starting as I arrived so I dashed to the judges table briefly perused the scorecards and watched the first performance by the lovely Karen Chaundy. I will be writing a review of the All Wales Pole Championships later this week for the Pole Dance Community site so watch their pole dancing magazine for full details.After the AWPC it was time to find a petrol station as the tank was off the red and then off to find the B & B that I was staying in. After a scenic tour of Llandudno and an unintentional detour the wrong way around the 1 way system I found both fuel and accommodation. The AshtonWood B & B looked so welcoming and I was ready to collapse and fall asleep immediately, however sleep proved elusive and instead I 'enjoyed' a night of insomnia due to no fault of the B & B and purely due to my restless mind and me missing my husband and menagerie.
Breakfast was served at 8am and I joined the lovely Tracy Huckfield (organiser of the AWPC, Level 2 PDC approved pole dancing instructor and proprietor and principal instructor at Pagan's Pole), her husband and some other people from the AWPC. We enjoyed a lovely English Breakfast and had a chance to reminisce on the events of the previous night before it was time for me to depart to return to Plymouth.I was making excellent progress and was just thinking how the homeward journey was much more pleasurable than the outbound journey when just 25 miles from Exeter I saw the warning signs flashing, the traffic stopped at junction 26 and the A38 was brought to a standstill. After about 10 minutes I decided to take advantage of the unexpected stop and I climbed into the back of the car to change into a light summer dress, I then grabbed a newspaper and got out of the car and sat on the bonnet, others had started to share the idea and before long we had our own mini Summer festival with some getting out camping chairs, dogs being walked and teas being made in the back of a caravan that was still the right way up (unlike the one that caused the accident). I have to say it was the best traffic jam I have ever been in.
For those of you who do make the M5 trip through to Bristol have you noticed (not sure how you could miss it) the new development adjacnet to the wicker man. The willow man, created by artist Serena de la Hey, used to enjoy the tranquillity of blue sky and green fields but no more, now he shares his environment with a building I am now calling Armageddon. Fortunately the willow man still retains his fabulous bottom :) N.B. The image above is actually a canvas that is available to buy from artist Tony Howell. There was more drama on the homeward journey when I got stopped for speeding in the service station car park, the officer who pulled me was obviously having a bad day and his attitude did not impress me, he could have simply asked me in a nice manner if my speed was correct but instead he chose to speak to me like I was piece of dirt which I felt was completely unnecessary. "Was that an appropriate speed for a car park?" he shouted, "I believe so" I replied knowing that actually the speeding laws for public highways do not apply for private car parks, "What speed were you travelling at" he asked " The same speed as you?" I replied, "Did you think it was appropriate to undertake me " Yes" I replied, I could see his frustration but I did not believe my speed was inappropriate for the circumstances and I was not about to be belittled by a grumpy highways officer who was obviously looking to take his anger out on an innocent driver. Finally after 6 and a half hours I was home ready to enjoy a cool, refreshing beer in the backgarden before getting ready for a night of glorious sleep on my most beautiful memory foam mattress and duck feather pillows!If you are about to make a motorway journey please stop and think about the safety of others, driving selfishly might not just end your life but might end the lives of other road drivers too. Think and drive safely!Stay Healthy,Sam x
I wanted to take a moment to share with you a letter received from a student at the art of dance:Hello,
I am in Jane's Pole Flow Yoga class and I am from Japan.
On 11/3/11, one of the biggest earthquakes occurred in Japan. Earthquakes lead to secondary disasters such as fires, nuclear power plant damage and tsunamis (awful new footage showing the tsunami's power and resulting devastation) which destroy and damage houses and buildings and wipe out the whole area.
A total of 10,102 people are confirmed to have perished and 17,53 people are missing so far. The figure for Fukushima is far below those of the other two prefectures partly because search operations were suspended in areas within 2 kilometres of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The figures are almost certain to rise because of the absence of family members to file reports on the dead and missing. In some areas entire families appear have been swept away in the tsunami that followed the magnitude 9. earthquake.
There are about 200,000 people being evacuated to shelters which are like school gyms. In the affected area there are no power supplies and few daily supplies, so they don't have enough heating, clothes and blankets to keep them warm and the lowest temperature is below zero (4 degrees C in Fukushima on 24th March). Some children and babies who were in shelters have no support as the roads to get there were destroyed and people are dying because there is no food or milk even after surviving the earthquake and tsunami.
Several weeks have already passed since the disaster. The effects of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant are being felt all over Japan now. People in Japan are still very distressed and worried but they are trying hard to live their life each day. I am trying to raise money for the survivors of this incident and I would really appreciate it if you could contribute whatever you can. All the collected money will be sent to Japan through the British Red Cross. Please bring some change with you when you come to class and support us.
Thank you so much for your support.
Kyoko Kusumoto.
We will be collecting money at the art of dance reception for the British Red Cross and you can also donate on-line. My thoughts go out to the people of Japan in these terrible times.
Stay Healthy,
Sam x
So the first stage of our Plymouth Pay Protest started today with a group of us standing outside the council chambers with placards, thanks to all of those who turned up to support this campaign. For those of you who turned up late you would have missed the vitriole spouted by Plymouth City Council leader Viven Pengelly who clearly missed the point of the protest, failed to communicate with me and instead resorted to bullying tactics and threats of legal action. Whilst bullying tactics may work in Ms Pengelly's own cabinet they do not work on me. Whatever my actions I did not deserve the torrent of abuse that Ms Pengelly gave and I was extremely disappointed that she would not give me a chance to explain my point of view or the point of the protest.
I should explain that the original protest was started after I read an article on the thisisplymouth website about pay rises awarded to senior civil servants, the figures that the article quoted were taken from the Taxpayers alliance who released their figures under the Freedom of information act. Here are the Taxpayers alliance figures. Plymouth City Council are keen to deny the figures stating that they are inaccurate, I had asked the democratic office for the 'correct' figures but have received no reply.
Whether the figures are correct or not is not really the point, those at the top are being paid too much and are not taking the same cuts as those at the bottom. Check out this story from a lady called 'Anne' who works for the council and who spoke to us today at the protest. "I am finding it really hard, all my overtime has been cut, I was on a low wage anyway and now I can't make ends meet. I haven't had a pay rise in years and the cuts now mean I earn less now than I did three years ago. To make matters worse the cost of living has gone up so I am actually earning far less than I have ever done in my life. "Also at today's protest was an off-duty police officer who commented that his annual income has been reduced by £6,000 per year and he will be looking at an early retirement as the force seeks further cuts.A follow up protest is now in the offing as well as a petition to campaign for the reduction of the wages of those at the top level of salaries. So campaign continues and I will update you as and when I have news. Thanks to all of those who supported me and those who bothered to turn up today and thanks to Heart FM, Radio Plymouth and ITN news for covering things to date. Stay Healthy,Sam x
None of us can escape the growing sense of unease at the growing divide between rich and poor, we have all seen the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and now we watch with interest the developments in the Yemen, Bahrain and more worryingly Libya.Of course the dissatisfaction with local and national government is not confined to foreign shores and most of us are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living whilst dealing with pay cuts, job losses and major cuts to front line services.On Wednesday morning I read the Heralds coverage of the pay-rises (check out the comments) awarded to senior council officials and my stomach churned. The figures, which are denied by Plymouth City Council but confirmed by the Taxpayers alliance under figures they received under the Freedom of Information act, state that Barry Keel, the current P.C.C chief executive has been awarded a pay rise of 18.6 percent resulting in his pay rising from £170,000 per year to £203,000. A 36,000 pay rise in a time of cuts is simply obscene.So whilst Mr Keel and many other senior council enjoy their huge salaries, generous pensions and expenses the rest of us carry on suffering.In response to the pay rises I have organised the first of several targeted protests aimed to send a clear message to the council that we will not tolerate cuts at the bottom without cuts at the top. I personally would like to see a £50,000 cap on wages for council leaders, this would still allow them to have a more than comfortable standard of living and would free up finance to spend on more important city issues.Those, such as Barry Keel, will argue that their wages are in-line with private sector pay so I challenge them to seek employment in the private sector instead and allow people who genuinely care about the people of Plymouth to fill the vacant posts on the proposed capped salary.
If you feel angry at the recent council pay rises and the growing divide between rich and poor in the city then please join us at our Plymouth Pay Protest to be held on Tuesday 29th March at 1.30pm outside the council chambers. This will be a peaceful protest and I ask if everyone can wear something red as a symbol of your anger towards our city fat cats.
There is a Plymouth Pay Protest facebook group that you can join to be kept up to date with all protest events and there is an events page for the protest planned for the 29th. Hope to see you all there.Stay Healthy,
Sam x
As some of you may know there have been lots of celebrations in Plymouth this week for International Women's day, the events are a chance to appreciate the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Being involved with some of these events has been a fantastic experience.The Intergenerational event was held at Plymouth Guildhall on Friday 11th March, (Herald article on the intergenerational event) it was an amazing event with women of all ages getting together to create this special occasion. The fashion show saw women from the age of 15 to 91 hitting the catwalk wearing clothing from the 1910's through to the modern day. Their was music from the intergenerational choir as well as choirs from Montpelier (my old school) and Mary Dean's Primary School. 
I had been invited to pole dance at the event and I was excited to set up my x-pole next to the Tor Lace group and the cake stand. The array of fresh, home-made cakes baked by Platform 51 was mouth-watering and free but I resisted temptation and stuck with a nice cup of tea instead!The event gave me a chance to meet women from different walks of life and of varying ages. Most of the ladies who watched my pole dancing demonstrations were between 14 and 16 and they were full of questions about what I do and how I earn my living. They, like many, assumed that I worked in a lap dancing club and could not get their heads around the fact that I earn money from teaching pole dancing to members of the public.One young lady asked me if I was a slut which kid of sums up some peoples ignorance to fitness pole dancing. The lady in question was soon asking questions of a different nature and seemed eager to learn pole dancing for herself. Now that the young ladies were being entertained by gymnastics and not the exotic dancing they were expecting they were asking me to repeat tricks such as death drops and allegras, one lady chose the death drop as her favourite move whilst another loved the shoulder mounts, it was great to capture the attention of these young women and I hope to see some of them again very soon for some lessons.It wasn't just the younger generation who came to watch me, many of the ladies from Age Concern grabbed a table next to me so they could watch my performances whilst enjoying the fabulous cakes too. Many of the ladies took pictures and perhaps the most common questions were "Doesn't it hurt your skin?" and "Aren't you frightened of falling off?" The answer to both questions was Yes.
If the ladies were amazed by what I was doing I had to admit being amazed by the Tor Lace group whose intricate work was simply beautiful. The piece pictured below had taken one lady nearly 2 years to complete. The ladies were working throughout the event creating their mini masterpieces for all to enjoy. The group also provides a social network for women to meet, swap patterns and enjoy each others company. If you are interested in joining the group simply e-mail Alison.
The intergenerational event also gave me a chance to celebrate the life of Elspeth Sitter, founder of Plymouth Age Concern. Elspeth's tireless work to ensure better conditions for the elderly has not gone unrecognised. Read more about Elspeth Sitter's remarkable life.
Another inspiring aspect of the event was that it was held in the place I got married, Plymouth Guildhall has many special memories for me and it was lovely to perform there again just as I had on the day of my wedding. Finally Plymouth Guildhall has been given a maintenance budget allowing essential repairs to begin at long last, the crumbling building is so important to Plymouth that I am surprised it has taken so long for the money to be found to begin work. The most important thing is that work is taking place and slowly the building can start to return to its former glory. The pole dancing demonstration had an unexpected outcome for me as I managed to irritate a ligament injury to my knee, within 30 minutes of the end of my demo my knee was starting to throb and swell. Rosanna and I returned stepped in at short notice to cover my classes (than you Rosanna x) home hoping that ice, elevation and rest may be enough to repair the damage. Unfortunately my plan failed and by 2am on Saturday morning I was in agony, I was also terrified as an injury to my knee could spell the end of my dancing career. It was time to visit the local minor injuries unit to get some professional advice. After a 2 hour wait, and much hilarity in the waiting room as my husband and I bumped into local licensee's Phil and Lyndsay Gill, I was booked into an appointment with a consultant at the fracture clinic on Tuesday morning. I now have to wait till then to see how long I need off work and what the exact prognosis is.
I am gutted but hope that the outcome will be less serous than I fear.Before I sign off for today I want to send my thoughts and best wishes to the people caught up in Japan's devastating earthquake, the images we are seeing are breathtaking for all the wrong reasons and the death toll looks set to rise beyond expectation. You can help by donating via one of the many charities, such as Oxfam, who will be sending aid direct to the disaster zone.More news to follow soon on my unexpected drinking session last night with council leaders Vivien Pengelly and Ian Bowyer.Stay HealthySam x
Yesterday I stumbled across the perfect Cafe; It was my Mum's birthday and we had decided to take a stroll down the Barbican for a bite to eat. After realising it was Black Sunday (one of the days of the year where the Barbican is packed to bursting point and there are always a few people who drink throughout the afternoon before starting mini riots later in the day) we opted to return to a cafe we had perused on our initial walk. 
I started with an amazing pot of Jasmine tea, probably the best example of a green tea I have ever tasted, and then chose a simple option of a Jacket Potato with cheese and tuna. My Mum opted for the salmon fishcakes which were apparently sold out, this did not mean that they weren't on offer but just meant we were asked if we would mind waiting an extra few minutes whilst they made another batch, that's what I call good service and proves all the food is made freshly. Sid uncertainly went for the Thai Green Chicken curry fearing it would be like many of the disasterous Thai imitation foods found in the west.
None of us were about to be disappointed as the food arrived stunningly presented and with a taste to match its appearance. The food was fabulous value for money and neither of us could stop complimenting the food or venue as we tucked into our sumptious dishes.
Cafe Kiss is situated away from the main Barbican area in Bretonside making it a perfect getaway for those manic bank holidays when the Barbican receives more than it's fair share of visitors. 
