#GoodTimeScrapbook (25/05/2020)

Hello all, happy Bank Holiday Monday to you all. It’s time to bring you our next installment of the #GoodTimeScrapbook, our series of weekly posts with little ‘scraps’ – ideas – of positive things to see, do and enjoy whilst we’re all still in these strange times, whether that’s a new podcast to listen to, a new show to watch, an Instagram live stream to follow, a fun activity to do, or just something generally uplifting.

And as always I’m happy for you, the reader to get in touch. You can leave your comments below during the week to let me know if you’ve taken up on any of the scraps we’ve suggested, or even message us on our Instagram or here if you think there’s something we should try.

Time then to press on with our look at this week’s scraps…

• SCRAP #1 – Colour in iconic album covers

Now we’ve made no secret of the fact that colouring in and music have been two of our favourite pastimes during lockdown. Now the guys over at Sony Music have combined the two with their new campaign The Colouring Sessions, where you can download blank templates of iconic artwork for albums that they’ve released, and listen to some specially curated Spotify playlists of the artists behind them whilst you do it. Amongst those on offer are George Ezra, Elvis Presley, Foo Fighters and Little Mix – above is our completed attempt at their debut album cover from 2012 for DNA. Pretty good, huh?

• SCRAP #2: Gentle exercise from Beeja Meditation

Will Williams is the man behind Beeja Meditation, an organisation that runs regular meditation courses and classes in London, and which he has been streamed live on YouTube and Instagram since lockdown began. We love them, but we also love his simple, gentle exercise pattern called ‘The Five Tibetans’, which we thought we’d share with you this week. Give it a go every day for the next few days – maybe even outside if you’ve got a garden or green space – and see how you get on.

• SCRAP #3: It’s still number one…

BBC Four air their weekly reruns of the old chart music show Top of the Pops every Friday night (they’re currently on 1989) but what about those of us who want a reminder of how the show looked in the 90s and 00s? Every Thursday at 7pm, the brilliant Ben over at Pop Unlimited on YouTube live streams two old episodes – one from each decade – so you can revisit the sights and sounds of TOTP from the decades of Cool Britannia and New Millennium whilst reminiscing with fellow retro pop lovers on the live chat.

• SCRAP #4: (Virtual) cups of tea for Marie Curie UK

This is usually the point in the year when a cause we’ve long been a supporter of – Marie Curie UK – launch their Blooming Great Tea Party fundraising appeal, where supporters are asked to host a tea party in June or July to raise money to help their nurses continue to provide palliative care to those living with terminal illness and their families, which as you can imagine is more needed than ever in the current crisis. But this year, it’s still going ahead, just in the form of Virtual Tea Parties at home, and the theme is ‘Whatever’s your cup of tea’, so it doesn’t even have to be a cuppa and a cake. It could be cocktails and nibbles or Pimms and sandwiches! Whatever you want to do, it’s a great way to stay connected and help raise vital funds for a much needed cause. To sign up for a fundraising pack, head to the Marie Curie website.