Whipsnade Zoo is the place to go to Spice Up Your Life – just ask singing star Geri Halliwell.
I hear that Geri, who shot to stardom with the Spice Girls, dropped in at the zoo the other day.
But she wasn’t there for a filming project.
Geri just went along with daughter Bluebell and some friends for a lovely day out.
How nice. I’ll look out for Spice Girls as well as amazing animals next time I visit the zoo.
Geri, do Say You’ll Be There...
Ooh la la! Film fans from the Dunstable area who go to see Les Misérables on the big screen might notice some familiar scenes.
For the crew came to Ashridge, near Dunstable, for location filming last year.
The magic of movies brought snow to the National Trust estate in late April.
I was fascinated to learn that fake snow was shipped in and scattered about to recreate a chilly French setting.
How exciting. The estate was transformed into a 19th century Parisian landscape for the blockbuster movie.
Harvey Edgington, the National Trust’s broadcast and media manager, said: “The crew arrived in late April 2012 to shoot in the huge expanse of woodland at Ashridge.
“Once again the estate stood in for foreign countryside, having doubled in the past for Germany, Scotland, France and even Dinotopia, as well as being home to the wall that is the border with the magical kingdom of Stormhold in the film Stardust.
“This time it was the outskirts of Paris in the mid-winter.
“About 1,000 sq m of c90 (fake snow) was scattered – c90 is washed away after use and doesn’t have any negative conservation or environmental impacts.
“As well as helping the local economy, filming makes a massive contribution to the upkeep of this stunning estate.”
Many thanks to the people at national agency Creative England, who told me all about this.
The film has a star-studded cast, including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Creative England says that the movie tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption, and is a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit.
Hugh Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by ruthless policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for the young daughter of factory worker Fantine, their lives change forever.
It’s adapted from the Victor Hugo novel, of course.
And it has certainly had a happy ending for Ashridge...
Oh dear. Monday is never the cheeriest day of the week.
But next Monday, January 21, is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year.
It’s all based on the weather, debt, time passed since Christmas and general lack of motivation.
So now you’ve had a heads-up, maybe you can make a few cheery plans to brighten up the day.
Or perhaps it’s best to be spontaneous and come up with some fun ideas that really are “out of the blue”...