Tag: oxfam

A day in the Oxfam book shop

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

Boos, lots of books

After another day of working in the Oxfam shop yesterday I must say that I am really starting to like it. I most like to work behind the till which I did all day yesterday. I like the interaction with the people buying books or music. Some are very talkative, some are very grumpy but most of them are friendly people. And I also figured out that I like this work much more than my paid day job work …

The shop is located on Marylebone Highstreet (a 5 minute walk from Baker Street station and not too far from Oxford Street either) and attracts both the very posh and the very down to earth (and everything in between), and both the very young (children) and the somwhat older.

Here are a couple of notes I made in some quiet moments (of which there were very few):

  • I have sold everything from children’s books to old school Wagner LP’s.
  • There are the regulars who are waiting for the shop to open to be the first to check if anything interesting has arrived. And there are people who just wander in without really wanting to buy anything but then come to the till with a huge stack of books. “I really didn’t want to buy anything today” they then say, “but there are so many good books in this shop”. It’s nice hearing that.
  • Two lovely DJ’s sitting down on the floor going through the boxes with vinyl record for ages and buying a stack of them. Vinyl is stil hip I tell you. Not only for dj’s, also classical music LP’s are still sold. And I have even sold some prerecorded casette tapes!
  • VHS videos are still sold. Yep. I admit that the DVDs (and they have Bill DVDs too – I saw Hot Fuzz coming in yesterday …) are more popular but there is a good offer on VHS tapes: 3 for £1. There, how cheap is that?
  • And I sold The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan LP to a very friendly American. I had a talk with him about the fact that LP covers are so much cooler than cd covers. We talked how a carefully selected stack of albums carried under your arm could define just how cool you were.

    This American could not resist the temptation of owning The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan on vinyl again. And he didn’t even have a record player at home he said!

  • It is quite amazing to think about the fact that every single book in this whole shop (and there are many many books!) has been donated by someone. It is heart warming when people come into the shop with bags of books they want to donate. And they can use everything, so please come in and bring the books (or music) you no longer need.
  • Kids love to sit down on their knees on the floor in front of kids section reading a fairy tale or looking for Harry Potter.
  • It is lovely to see all those people wander around in the shop, browsing for books. The shop does have quite a selection, and there is something for everybody. From easy to read chicklits to novels, literature, and books about science, gardening, films, London history, trains, planes or automobiles. There is a pretty good Travel section too, and when I saw this San Francisco guide come in (in mint condition and for only £2,50) I of course had to buy it.
  • Have I spotted any celebs in the shop? Yes I sold a book to the singer of former UK band The Fine young Cannibals. Never a dull day in the book shop!

I will be back working in the shop next Sunday so come in and say hi if you happen to be in the neighbourhood.

Let’s go this way

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Piccadilly Circus

Today it was time for some neighborhood exploring and I took a walk passed through:

  • Maida Vale which has beautiful lanes with big green trees. And if it has to be a Starbucks to get your cup of tea then the one in Maida Vale/Kilburn has to be one of my favourite ones in London. It is a 2 minute walk from here and they sell this great book: Inspired by Music is The Prince’s Trust new book featuring personal accounts from celebs of how one piece of music became their inspiration.

    Not only does this book contain contributions from your favourite celebrities (Bill Nighy (worth to buy the book for alone), Tony Blair, Ozzy Osbourne, Michael Sheen, Richard E. Grant, Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey – just to name a couple), it also contains fantastic portraits by award winning photographer Cambridge Jones.

    You might want to get your copy for the coffee table. (The above pic is the book being advertised on Piccadilly Circus spot the man with the funky specs! And yes it was nice weather today.)

  • St. John’s Wood. This is a very posh area (and a celebrity hotspot) but very nice too. It feels like a small village with a cosy (but very expensive) High Street and some beautiful parks too and it is just around the corner of Regents Park.

    I had no idea it was the area of Lord’s Cricket ground until I suddenly stood right beside it. I think there was a game going on as they were selling tickets for it at the tube station.

  • And then there was Marylebone which has the same village feel but is not far from Oxford Street. Again, the high street was realy nice and I tried to find this, ehrm, Oxfam shop and succeeded. (And no he wasn’t there anymore)

    This a rather large Oxfam shop specialised in books, film and music. And seeing as they were looking for volunteers to help in the shop in weekends I am going to be on a try out there next Sunday. I have long been wondering if I could use my weekends for something a little bit more useful than hanging about in the cinema, so this seems worth a try. Let’s see how it works out.

What way are you going?

To conquer Illustrator and say hi to Roger

thegirlinthecafe 5 Comments

Happy Holidays

I really wanted to learn Illustrator (especially the pen tool) and the only way to do that was to actually make something with it. I found a nice tutorial for this winter landscape here, this is my interpretation of it.

This drawing has taken me an insane amount of time to make, but I have learned a lot. Mostly that there is a lot to learn. Everything is drawn from scratch (except the xmas font), the trees, the snow man and the birdies.

It looks simple but it has taken me ages to draw the bloody christmas trees, and to make a heart shape frazzled my mind completely. But determination got me to this illustration, which isn’t great but it’s a start. And it is enormously relaxing to draw.

If you are into Illustrator and you are not a pro yet, this is a nice site, and this tutorial really helped me on my way.

Send the card to a friend

Download in full size here.

In other news, the animal family, Eddy and Bridget will soon get company from Roger. I think Roger looks pretty cute. Roger is going to help out some people in Africa, as he is pretty good at helping to carry large loads over long distances which really eases the burden of for example fetching and carrying supplies to and from a market.

If you want to give a useful xmas present this year have a look at Oxfam Unwrapped they have loads of original and fun gifts. The good thing about Roger: he comes with a DVD with footage of Bill Nighy in Tanzania on it. I mean – what are you still doing here? Go. Go. Go!!

And to make things even more festive, it’s Bill‘s birthday today. I hope he has a happy one. If you like him (which, of course, you do) make sure not to miss out on the brand new Charles Paris radio play. (It’s 4 episodes, the first has been sent but catch it on BBC iplayer or BBC Radio 4 listen again, it’s worth it.

The Girl in the Cafe on tour – and more G8 Bill Nighy

thegirlinthecafe 3 Comments

It must be a perfect moment to have a post about The Girl In The Cafe on tour, seeing as another important G8 meeting is held in Japan as we speak.

Now just in case you don’t remember what it was all about, here is a message from your Uncle Bill, as he can explain it much better than I can.

And let’s face it, he is also much groovier than I am.

More Bill:
Bill has also written a post on the Oxfam International blog about his experiences in Japan.

And Bill’s (and many other Oxfam ambassadors’) letter to the G8 can be read here.

And more on OXFAM.

OK so now you are up to date. The Girl in the Cafe, the film, is about the same things. And my DVD of this great film has been travelling for quite a while now to far away places (as you can see on the world map)

The DVD has visited 69 people around the world, and new participants are signing up regularly, with Greece, Singapore and Wales being new destinations.

And there are new reviews from a couple of people who participated.

Please step inside »

Bill Nighy at the G8 in Japan for Oxfam

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Bill Nighy as Lawrence in the Girl in the Cafe

Because he is such a great and groovy and intelligent man. Because it is such an important issue. Because it is so related to The Girl in the Cafe – we do a Bill post. How long has it been anyway!

Bill Nighy is currently lobbying with Oxfam at the G8, to make sure that the G8 doesn’t forget their promises about making poverty history.

Bill did an interview for the Andrew Marr show (Bill’s interview is about 30 minutes in the program).

You can see the interview here.

See also: Oxfam

Go watch the interview!

An update on The Girl in the Cafe DVD world travelling project soon to come.

This is not an xmas card and Eddy and Bridget

thegirlinthecafe 5 Comments

I have designed my “this is not a xmas card” card and I am quite pleased with the result, it is very colourful. They are ordered and should be with me between now and 3 weeks. This means that they probably won’t be with you before Xmas, but hey, it is not an xmas card anyway. I will send out an email to the 19 lucky people who are now struggling to find/make a card on the “love, actually” theme. Know that my card fits into that theme as well, and that I am so looking forward to receive 19 postcards with Christmas!

Talking about Christmas.

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Bill Nighy in Tanzania with Oxfam

thegirlinthecafe 13 Comments

bill-nighy-in-tanzania-with-oxfamThe BBC has a 3 minute film of Bill Nighy who travelled with Oxfam to Tanzania to see the difference that international aid can make. BBC news has also featured a short clip with Bill, as has the morning Breakfast show on BBC 1.

Heya kids, here’s a very important message from your uncle Bill:

Bill Nighy in Tanzania with Oxfam.

And here is more information, should you want to know more. And you really should.

www.makepovertyhistory.org
www.whiteband.org
Oxfam
www.one.org
The G8 wait
www.joinred.com

And – I love his hat.

Update:
The BBC Radio 4 has a very interesting interview with Bill Nighy about his trip to Tanzania with Oxfam where he tells about his experience and his thoughts about how aid really helps. At the other side of the table, so to speak, sits Paul Collier former Director of the World Bank.

Listen to the program here. (it’s the first 10 minutes in the beginning, and available for a week only)

Christmas is all around me

thegirlinthecafe 2 Comments

Eddy the GoatAnd so I bought a goat.

Say hello to Eddy.

While the mind is occupied with New York and the like, it doesn’t mean we can’t think about other people a bit. I like to think that that’s what Christmas is all about.

So I bought Eddy. And Eddy is probably going to Uganda, or Zimbabwe, some place where she is needed, and where she hopefully will breed and get a big family.

I like that. Eddy is going to Make Poverty History. For a few people at least.