Attend the Olympic Games in London 2012

Posted by Shelley Worsley ,
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As you all know the Olympic games are coming to London in 2012. Living one and a half hours from London means that this is the best chance for me to go and watch some of the events.

 The Olympics is a big part of my summer every four years. In 2008 when the games were in Beijing I was up all night just so I could watch the events live on TV, because of the time difference. I have always been into sport and love participating in any sporting event. I would say that I’m pretty good at most sports but I have never excelled in one individual sport to an Olympic level so I would never be able to attend as an athlete.

Anyway, tickets are on sale now but you have to go through a ballot system which means you apply for tickets and if you are selected then you can purchase them. If you are not selected then you can’t go. I’m not sure weather I like the idea but I suppose it is the fairest way for everybody.

I don’t just want to attend the Olympics though, I want to be a part of it and for it to be something major in my life history. The best way for me to be in the thick of it is to be a volunteer. I applied for a ‘Games Maker’ position back in September 2010 along with 250,000 other people. I didn’t get my hopes up too much as that is a lot of people and there are only 70,000 positions to fill.

On Tuesday 22nd March 2011 I received an email stating that I had been selected for an ‘in-person’ interview. Out of 250,000 applicants only 100,000 people were successful in being interviewed. This is a real achievement for me and I snapped up the chance to head to the London Excel centre for my interview on Sunday 27th March 2011 at 12.30pm.

It was with some excitement that I left the house to head up to London. The journey was a nightmare. I arrived at London Victoria Train Station at 11.15, which gave me 1.15hrs to get across London. ‘Loads of time’ you say! Well as it was a Sunday the underground was closed for engineering work in many places and I had to get a ticket. It took me 30 minutes to get a ticket as there were so many people queuing up to do the same. I then had to get off the underground and head to the Bus stop. The bus then took 25 minutes to get to ‘Tower Gateway’ where I then still had another 20 minutes on the DLR train to the Excel Centre. I ended up being 20 minutes late for my interview and I thought I had blown my chance of becoming a volunteer.

I walked up to the Registration all sweaty and red faced and explained what had happened. They seemed very chilled out about it and put me in the next time slot group. I then had my passport checked to confirm my identity and was then given a blue wristband. I then continued to the next desk where my passport was photocopied and my photo taken (for my ID if I was eventually successful as a Games Maker). After this I was sent to the display area where I meet some people from the Accreditation Team and some other hopeful applicants.

We then had a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation to find out what being a volunteer was all about and for the team members to get to know us as individuals. We then went into the cinema room and sat down to a short film and messages from Lord Sebastian Coe and Eddie Izzard. We then continued to the interview Pods for a 30 minute interview.

I was in Pod 19 with an interviewer called Rob. The questions were basic and what I had expected. As quickly as it started it was over and I was shown out to the message board and shop. I signed the board with ‘Every Journey starts with ONE step! Good luck everyone’.

I will find out my fate of being an Olympic volunteer in October 2011, and if accepted there will be a series of training and testing events to make sure we all know what we are doing when the Olympics start next year.

Are any of you volunteering or have you in previous Olympics?

4 comments

Attend a showing of your favorite TV show

Posted by Shelley Worsley ,
,

I know I have already completed this item, but I attended another showing which was LIVE this time.


For the semi-finals of the X Factor’s shows I was lucky enough (and the envy of all my friends!) to have tickets to see it live in the audience. And what an experience it was!

Living in the south I had a 2 hour journey to London, which is usually fine on the train but this week the whole of the UK has been under snow. This mean't my journey took double the time but was definitely worth it!




We got our seats not long before the show started. The first thing I noticed was the size of the studio and stage. The live shows are filmed in a different studio to the auditions and this time around the studio was half the size. It is a lot smaller in real life than it looks on TV, we were sat six rows from the front but it still felt within touching distance.

On the tickets it stated that the doors would open at 18:45 so everyone had enough time to get allocated seats before the show started at 20:00. Luckly for us the doors opened early as they were doing a pre-recording for the results show on Sunday. We were all really excited as we had heard that the Black Eyed Peas were performing on the results show so we assumed we were going to see them.

As we started the pre-recording it turned out to be the cast of Glee all the way from the USA. It was there first ever performance on British TV and they were promoting Season 2 of the show. I believe that it is a big show over in the USA but I have never seen it. I may have to check it out as I really enjoyed the performance.

Watch the performance here!
After the pre-recording we had twenty minutes before the live show. There was a warm up guy who told us what to do and got us all hyped up!

The judges walked on and Dannii and Cheryl looked stunning, Simon and Louis looked just like they do on the TV! It was fantastic to see them all in real life. All the judges were friendly and made the effort to interact with the crowd whilst not live on TV, some people were even lucky enough to have a hug and a kiss with Simon and Cheryl. Dermot O’Leary was funny and charming often walking through the audience and shaking peoples hands. I even managed to get Dermot's autograph! It was just a shame we weren’t allowed to take any photos.

Watching the contestants live reminded me that they were real normal people, whilst everyone at home was watching the contestants VT before they sang their song, we got to see them getting ready on stage – most of the time just standing there full of nerves.

The atmosphere in the studio was electric, everyone screaming and cheering for their favourite acts, the noise of the crowd in the studio is much louder than you hear at home. Everyone quickly got into the spirit of the pantomime of the show, booing at the judges when they weren’t so nice to the contestants, we all easily got carried away with the whole thing!
The show seemed to be over so quickly, being live meant it only lasted a tiny bit longer than you see on TV, but we got to stay in the audience whilst the Xtra Factor was filmed. Konnie spoke to the contestants on stage, then the judges moved to the studio and we got to see them on the big screens answering questions from callers at home.

Unfortunately the evening couldn’t last forever, and it was soon time to take the long journey back home – but what an experience being live at X Factor was, and imagine my surprise when I watched it back to see myself in the audience! I just hope I get to go back next year…


Watch out USA as Simon is bringing the X Factor (and maybe Cheryl Cole) to your side of the Atlantic!

2 comments

Go backpacking around the World

Posted by Shelley Worsley ,
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Travel is a huge part of my life! With many holidays over the years I have officially caught the 'Travel Bug'. After many years of talking about it, I am eventually doing it - Travelling the World!!!!

My life wasn't really going anywhere and I still don't know what career path I want to take.

Travelling has always been a part of my life but doing it for a year on my own was a scary thought. After many years of thinking and planning I finally realised that it would be a huge achievement and an experience not to be missed. So, I finally started saving my money and making my dream a reality.

I can't believe it but this is really coming true as I have recently bought my ticket!!!!!

I will be leaving in April 2011, visiting Europe, USA, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

I'm going to be travelling around europe using Interrail visiting Croatia, Italy,Spain,Switzerland and France. From there I will head over to New York to begin a Coast to Coast trip to Los Angeles before I head to Fiji for a month of Rest and Relaxation. After that I will head down to New Zealand visiting Auckland, Christchurch and Queensland with everything inbetween, mainly checking out the adrenaline sports. Finally I will head into Melbourne (oz) to travel up the east coast aiming to be home for Christmas.

I cannot wait for this as it has been a dream of mine for a while now. If anyone has been travelling to these places it would be great to hear some advice on places to visit and must sees!

Americans, please can you help?? I want to see everything there is in the USA but I only have 2 1/2 months to see it. I definitely want to see Florida.

Can anyone suggest a southern route that will pack in a much of the must sees!!

2 comments

Watch your team win the World Cup

Posted by Shelley Worsley ,
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The World Cup only happens every 4 years, so thats only 20 World Cups that England could win in my lifetime. Thats if i make it to 100 years old! With this in mind and the fact that i'm supporting ENGLAND, I have changed this thing to do to 'Attend a major sporting event'. (Bring on 2012)

As the world cup has recently finished I thought I would give you all a summary of my view.

It didn't really start that well for all the major teams like France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and England losing or drawing their opening matches to the like of USA, Japan, Korea etc... France then walked out on their manager and didn't even make it into the last 16, while England lost to Germany in their worst ever World Cup defeat (4-0). There goes my hope of watching England for another 4 years!

Meanwhile in the rest of the competition Brazil and Argentina looked to be the favorites for the final, as they both played excelllent throughout the group stages. That was until the quater finals. This gave Holland and Spain the chance to beat Uruguay and Germany for there own victory.

The final was nothing special with tackles here, there and everywhere. Many different shots going on target but getting deflected one way or another. Extra time turned up and out of nowhere Andres Inesta scored with a fantastic shot in the 116th minute to give Spain their fist ever World Cup win!!!

This makes Spain only the 3rd team in history to hold both championships titles together (European and World). With the Golden Boot going to Thomas Muller of Germany and the Golden Ball going to Diego Forlan of Uruguay.

I have to say that this wasn't the best World Cup i've seen and one that I would be happy to forget.

 What are your thoughts on this years World Cup??
Did your team do as well as you expected??
Did anyone go to South Africa to watch a match???

4 comments

Attend a showing of your favorite TV show

Posted by Shelley Worsley ,
,

Throughout my life watching TV I have always wondered how people manage to make it into the audience of a TV show. Did they win tickets in competitions or buy them like any other concert or sporting event??? I used to be very jealous of these people, as they get to see how TV shows are made and maybe even see some celebrities. Some people even manage to make it onto the screen as the camera scans the audience.

So about 2 years ago I started searching on google, trying to find out where to get the tickets and how much they cost etc... I found a couple of websites all advertising different shows and to my surprise the tickets were FREE!!!!! I started registering and applying for different shows.

Over the past 2 years I have attended many TV shows such as: 'The Paul O'Grady Show', 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and 'The Whole 19 Yards'. They were all fantastic days out and definitely worth the trips to all the different studios. But I had to attend my favorite show, which is of course is The X Factor!

Imagine my excitment when I recieved a congratulation email saying I had four tickets to see the live auditions on 21st June 2010!!!

So armed with the tickets and lots of food, my friends and I boarded the 8.30 train to London and rushed to the Excel Centre hoping that we had made the first 2000 people. The most tedious part of it all was waiting to go in, even arriving by 11.00 we had to wait 3hrs until they finally opened the door (good job the sun was shining)!

Once inside we were overwhelmed, the set that has been on the TV for 6 years was in front of our very eyes. The massive red X and the London signs were on the backdrop and the opening music was playing. Soon enough the quirky warm up guy told us a few jokes, and the procedures were all made very clear, "No photo taking during an audition and NO BOOING the auditionees!!". 

Dermot O'Leary made an appearance and did a few takes for the opening links (then was never seen again). Then the judges were introduced (Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh). After a few words from them the auditions started and throughout the 3hrs of filming we saw the good, the bad, the ugly and the crazy but I don't think we saw the winner!!


Once the last auditionee has finished the judges were hurried out by security and the hot and sweaty 2000 member audience made a dash for the exit. The train home was packed but everyone was buzzing! If I had the chance to do it all over again I would.

I have already applied for boot camp and final tickets so we will have to see.

The audition process is shown over a 2 month period starting at the end of July, so we will have to watch and see if we are lucky enough to make it onto the show. Last year I made it onto the Xtra Factor (a spin off with Holly Willoughby) so maybe I could  do one better and make it onto the main show.

If you would like to register for TV audience tickets I suggest visiting Applause Store as it has the best show and is available in the USA. You can visit by clicking here.

Have you been in a TV audience and made it onto the TV????

2 comments

Ride the World's Biggest Rollercoaster's

Posted by Shelley Worsley ,
,

Thorpe Park is known as the 'Nations Thrill Capital' located in Kent, UK. After working the night shift my friends and I decided to drive the hour and a half to Thorpe Park for the day, and what a day! The sun was shining and the schools hadn't finished for summer.

We started the day off by only paying £18 (what a bargin) to enter the park with 2 for 1 special tickets that gets you access to 30+ rides and attractions.
The first ride of the day was stealth, which launches you 205ft up into the air, going from 0 - 80mph in 1.8 seconds. (Holding the record for the fastest acceleration in Europe). All I can say is OMG! Going that fast in such a short space of time sent shivers down my spine. If you ever visit Thorpe Park this is a must.

We queued up for all the must do rides:

Detonator winches you 100ft up, then fires you back to earth at 75km an hour
Tidal Wave is an 85ft drop through water
Nemesis Inferno is a suspended rollercoaster featuring a jounrey through the heart of an erupting volcano.

While letting our lunch settle we tried our luck at winning a soft toy from the arcades section. You know what it's like, you start one game and then you become addicted until you win. We eventually won 2 soft toys (a purple dolphin and a crazy shark) after paying about £15. It's the fun that counts!!!

Finally one of Thorpe Parks flagship rides and my main attraction of the day was COLOSSUS!! Currently a record breaking 10 vertical loops (the highest number of inversions in the world), this rollorcoaster made the list of top rollorcoasters to ride before you die.

What can I say? We had been queuing for rides all day and wasted a lot of time, so we decided to buy Fasttrack tickets for £3, which lets you on the ride at a certain time instead of queuing. The best decision we made all day!!

We arrived at Colossus at 3pm our designated time  and waited for about 5 minutes. Upon entering the station, the dramatic music really helps to build the suspense. Before you know it you are in your seat about to set off. We climb up the lift and off we go for a minute of madness.

If you ever go on this ride I need to warn you!! Going though the corkscrew section you head bangs against the sides of the restrictor causing serious pain. You may need to bring padding!

All in all I would rate Colossus as a 7/10 but definitely a must if you are in the UK. I have now completed 1/6 of the rollorcoasters suggested in the book. I think a trip to the USA is in order.

Which rollorcoaster's have you completed from the list????

5 comments

Try... Abseiling

Posted by Shelley Worsley ,
,

Abseiling (Rapelling in America) is used in many sports such as climbing or canyoning to decend down a cliff or waterfall that is too dangerous to decend without protection. It can also be used in emergency rescue that cannot be accessed by foot.

Abseiling is classed as an adrenaline sport which can be experienced at different heights from the ground.

About a month ago I saw an advert in the local newspaper from 'The Rowans Hospice' wanting people to sign up to a charity abseil event in Portsmouth, so thats exactly what I did.

Today was the day that I completed my abseil of 200ft down the side of a building raising £135 for the hospice, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

At 4pm I registered and was told to wait in the reception area for everyone to arrive. We were then taken up in the lift to the top and given safety equipment and a safety talk. This was the point that I started to get nervous as I was out in the open and could see the view.
It was finally my turn after waiting at the top in the wind and rain! I was clipped into the safety ropes and stepped onto the edge of the roof. Slowly I lowered myself down so I was in the abseiling position and began to walk down the wall. As I became more confident I started decending quicker and even throw in a few sneaky jumps. Finally landing on the ground, relief fell through me and I wanted to go again.

After I was unclipped I returned to the register table and collected my medal!!!


Abseiling was great fun be the excitement diden't end there. I was about to witness a Guinness World Record!

Doris Long abseiled down the same 200ft wall setting a record for the oldest person to abseil at the age of 96!



Doesn't see look good!!!

If Dorris can do it then anyone can. I would highly recommend this sport as you can do it from any height you want to.


Thats now another item ticked off my list!!!


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