Monthly Archives: June 2013

Big Ted in Terra Attack at Bristol Aquarium

Big Ted the charity fundraising bear and rock and roll superstar is currently traumatised after a routine marketing and publicity trip to Bristol Aquarium turned sour. While checking out the creatures in the Amazon section he was attacked by a rogue Terrapin which tried to drag him into the pool. Fortunately he was rescued at the last moment by the quick actions of Michelle, one of his people.

Big Ted Terra Attack

Big Ted Terra Attack


Earlier Big Ted had be pointing out the attractions to his marketing and support group who were in attendance at the time of the attack, unaware of the drama which was to follow.

Big Ted is recovering from his ordeal at an undisclosed location near Bristol. The Terrapin is reported to have returned to the Amazon tank without making any comment, and non the worse for the encounter.

Hero the Bear in Arnhem

As you know, Hero the bear is providing moral support and assistance to the @TechyTubbies Team participating in the Help for Heroes 4X4 Rally. They stayed overnight at Arnhem, close to where the 1st British Airborne Division dropped for Operation Market Garden on 17 September 1944.

Operation Market Garden was launched to shorten the war and save lives but was ultimately unsuccessful. Part of the story is immortalized in the 1977 film directed by Richard Attenborough, A Bridge Too Far

Hero checking out the tent near Arnhem

Hero checking out the tent near Arnhem

Hero can be seen above checking out the security of the tent before settling down for the night.

Find out more about Help for Heroes Rally:

Rendering the Studio

Work is progressing on the studio build, with the top coat of render going on. As usual I was supervising the quality of the work, but the Keith the plasterer achieved an excellent finish.

Render - Big Ted supervising detail

Render – Big Ted supervising detail

Help for Heroes Rally Sets Off

The bears were privileged to be at the start of the Help for Heroes 4X4 Rally setting off from Littlecote House Hotel, in Berkshire.  The first participants set off at 1130hrs with the teams leaving at 45 second intervals.

As usual, I did the final preparation with team TechyTubbies, with help from Arthur and Hero, while the rest of the bears explored the grounds of Littlecote House Hotel. Unfortunatly they were too busy sampling the food in Oliver’s Bistro, and missed the photographers and the rally start!

Arthur and I waved Hero off with the team, and have been following their progress live via SkyTag GPS
You can follow Team 24 via Live Track H4H 4X4 Rally  ‬

Other links:

Banging on the Bell Cast

No work on the rendering yesterday due to the weather.  Interestingly, bears and plasterers don’t like the rain much!

Today we put on some of the mesh corners round the windows and doors.  Of course I let the people do the hard stuff while I gave useful hints and helped holding up the Bell Cast Bead. This bead, also known as Render Stop Bead, forms and protects the lower edge of the external render.

Scratch Coat - Big Ted gets the bead level

Scratch Coat – Big Ted gets the bead level

 

 

Putting on the Scratch Coat

The weather is fine today, so we are back on the building site again. I have been helping plasterers Keith and Mathew putting the first code of render (the scratch coat) on to the new studio. As you can see I get the fine detail done with a specially made bear sized tool. How did you think all those neat lines got there then?

Preparing for Help for Heroes Rally

Today the Bears and I went on a road trip with Hero, to help him preparing the team Land Rover for the Help for Heroes Rally. This will be setting off on Saturday the 15th June.

Hero will be providing moral support for the TechyTubbies team ‏(Twitter @TechyTubbies) our favorite IT technicians entered in the H4H 4×4 European Rally 2013. The rally follows the path of the the Allied Invasion through Europe following the landing in France early on D-Day morning 6th June 1944.

If you want to find out more about the TechyTubbies you can still sponsor them or follow them via the links below:
Web: techytubbies.com
Twitter: @TechyTubbies
Facebook: TechyTubbies & H4H 4×4 European Rally

First Fix Wiring and Electrics

Today is first fix electrics, and I went through the specifications with John and Phil the electricians to make sure everything was installed correctly. We need plenty of power when we turn the amps up to eleven!

The bears helped me install some network cabling to make sure we can get a good broadband connection to upload our music and video tracks. Fritz measured and cut the lengths of cable, Angus coiled the tails up in the roof space to keep things tidy, while I pulled through to the wall locations.

Just before the end of work we took delivery of the soundboard for the walls and ceilings.  Those sheets are much heavier than standard plasterboard, in order to absorb the sound as the band rocks on.  My people worked very hard with Barry the builder to move it all in good time.

Big Ted Supervising deliveries

Big Ted Supervising deliveries