I'll 'ave 'alf (Saturday August 30th)

Mission accomplished, a cracking night, plenty of money raised and a fair few glitches discovered that we can learn from for the full bananathon.

Chafing. I don't know about Jane and the banana, but I have six patches of broken skin, mainly where my Ivy rubbed.

Make up. Jane's make up came off pretty early in the run and his/her eyes smarted throughout.

Numbers. The numbers smudged and ran. The tip of the banana's head rubbed nearly all the ink off Tom's number leaving just 'ARZ' visible on his back. Laminating will fix this.

Bananas Head. The top of the banana drooped down, it needs a cardboard cone inside and a visor to keep it off Tom's face. The mass of yellow also needs branding with charity details.

Text to Number. I don't think one person texted the number all night. We need a strategy to fully utilise this, particularly at places like the Moon Under Water where there will be a lot of people who can't physically reach a bucket.

Hand out cards. We really need something on paper to give people to tell them what it is all about. As soon as we mentioned that we were collecting for Leukaemia Research and that Tom was in remission having had Lymphoma people reached in their pockets

Bucket carriers. We need a couple of runners in LRF t shirts following the trio with buckets to collect after we have passed. We found that people wanted to give even when driving past in cars or barges (on the canal). If us three stop to collect it will slowus down and make us late for the visits.

Drinks. It was really thirsty work. Tom had never drunk so much on a run. We need a support vehicle just for fuel.

Timekeeping. It was nigh on impossible to keep an eye on the time even when only chatting to people in a pub. We need a timekeeper and a minutes warning after nine minutes at the venue to ensure we leave on time.

A massive thank you to all the venues who took part, particularly The Railway for providing us with a start, finish tape and mountain of butties after the run. Louise Makin really did us proud.

Along with Tarzan, Jane and the Banana running the 13 mile plus course were Stockport Harriers Andy, Brian, Lee and Simon and Railway regulars Carl and Mike. Thanks to them all for their support. Brian was a particularly good 'Enforcer' when it came to collecting, I am going to hire him for my son when he goes to collect his paper round Christmas tips.

We left bang on six o'clock and within minutes had our first donation with a cyclist on the Middlewood Way riding a good half a mile just to give us some money. I soon realised that in the exitement I hadn't pressed start on my stopwatch, but knew that we had to be at The Dandy Cock by 6.40pm. The response on the A6 was amazing with every other car beeping their horn in support. If we could just turn those beeps into donations.

At the Dandy Cock in Disley we met a real character in the shape of Ingrid. She took a shine to Jane and also to the ghost, quipping 'This is the first time I've had the Willies put up me in ages', along with a whole host of other racy gags. We were made very welcome there and at the White Lion in Disley where a few of us had a stab at the real ale, gorgeous.

On to New Mills and the Beehive where Ruth had brought some pasta to help us practice eating on the move. Several friendly faces turned up here and later made their way to the Railway at the end. The Hare and Hounds gave us a typical Ruuffell family welcome, Mike had never been in the pub before but was totally taken with the Elvis Room. Lee became a fan for llife when the DJ played Superchannel by The Alarm for him and I served behind the bar for a spell and gave a poor renditon of 500 miles. James had encouraged a regular, Shaun, to dress in just undies, collar and cuffs a few weeks before and they generously gave the nearly £150 they collected to LRF. Fantastic.

Five minutes behind then and a long run to the Crown at Hawk Green along the Peak Forset Canal. We picked the pace up along here in the failing light but still arrived at the newly refurbished pub after our target time. After a drink and a chat we moved on to Marple Conservative Club where I sang King Of The Swingers and was joined in a slightly better version of 500 Miles by Jane and the banana whose 'dance' steps wowed the packed room. The chairman of the club presented a cheque for £50 and a collection yeilded in excess of a hundred pounds more.

Onwards then, back to The Railway where we were met by a big crowd of supporters, some much needed food and drink and an aerial display from some UFO's.

Thanks again to everybody involved. I will put a total of the money collected up on the blog on Monday and then add that to the money on the justgiving site.

Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we all enjoyed the night.

with Ingrid at the Dandy Cock, spot the ghost

Tom does his best Mavis Reilly at The White Lion

The gang 'Beehiving' themselves

The wonderful Ruffell family at The Hare and Hounds

Five bananas at the Crown

Top class arm movements at the Con Club

Back at the Railway, even the banana is excited

Tarzan x

Co-op Travel Denton (Friday August 29th)

Now this venue is very special to me as it is only about 400yards from where I was born on Acre Street. I was brought up in Denton and spent many happy days there with my extended family.

Clare and the team at Co-op travel have really got behind the Bananathon and if there wasn't enough reason to pop into the Crown Point store, seeing the staff dressed in hula skirts is an extra incentive. The shop was really busy when I popped in there with folk booking holidays in places as diverse as Greece, Spain and Butlins. I also bumped into an old mate, Pete Bolger, from Hyde Little Theatre who has recently been working as a supporting artist at Emmerdale. He was saying what a great deal he had got on a break in Portugal.

Co-op Travel have donated a fantastic prize which I know will raise a mint when auctioned at Tiger Tiger on the 13th,; a match day package for 2 people for Saturday 27th September, Man Utd v Bolton Wanderers which includes tickets for 2, match programmes, mega store discount vouchers and meal vouchers for Harry Ramsdens.

I'll bob in again over the next week or so and get a decent picture of the store and staff as the logo doesn't really do them justice. I have the feeling they will have a few surprises up their sleeve when we arrive on the day of the event.

23 down, 3 to go.

Tarzan

Dimitris (Thursday August 28th)

I love Dimitris. The food is gorgeous, the atmosphere is brilliant. It's the closest thing you can get to being on your holidays whilst still in Manchester. I remember one cracking meal 'Jane' and I had there with our families after having taken our lads to go and see England play football at Old Trafford. They didn't know where we were going until we queued up to pick up the tickets. The meal finished off a magical day.

The Meze and tapas are just fantastic and you have to be careful you don't order too much food as the portions are really generous.


What you may not know is that Dimitri is not only a great restraunteur, but a talented actor to boot. He played Bob's solicitor during the 'Who Killed Tom King' storyline with great aplomb.


Thanks to Nuno and all at Dimitris for the voucher for a meal for two. This will be one of the raffle prizes, along with the £500 Debenhams clothing voucher.



Tarzan

Behind the scenes - (28/08)

With just a couple more venues to be announced we will take a quick look behind the scenes to see how the boys are shaping up with their pre marathon training and preparations and get an insight into their outfits :

Tarzan : looking suitably tanned after a couple of relaxing weeks in the South of France has stepped up his training with some longer runs in the past two weeks - today Jane borrowed his outfit to use as a template in her redesigned outfit - hopefully the itching powder now inside Tarzan's briefs wont be too much of a nuisance on the day.

Jane : (s)he has just returned from a pre Bananathon rest in the South of France and is hoping the pounds that he has put on whilst resting will disappear before September 13th - Jane is redesigning her outfit for the big day and hoping to add a bit more sparkle to it !

The Banana : Tom has been running twice a day and is looking forward to this weekends training run around New Mills and Marple where he will be togged out in his full banana outfit - will chaffing be a problem... watch this space and you'll be the first to know !

The rest of the team back LRF Towers have been working frantically arranging TV interviews, press releases, posters, ticket sales for the Tiger Tiger Party and generally doing really good stuff to make the whole day an unbelievable success.

Debenhams (Tuesday August 26th)

Now think what you could do with a £500 clothing voucher at Debenhams. Personally,I could kit myself out with gear for a good couple of years. Some of you could buy a coat or a pair of shoes. That is the beauty of one of Manchester's biggest department stores, there is something for everyone, right through the price range.

And a £500 Debenhams clothing voucher is exactly what the winner of Tarzan's Bananathon raffle will have courtesy of store manager Craig Beddow. Tickets will go on sale over the next week or so and will be available from Tarzan, Jane and the banana and anyone else we can convince into selling them. They will also be available on the night of the event when the raffle will be drawn.

We are not sure exactly what we will be doing at Debenhams yet sometime between 4.10 and 4.30pm, but we will keep you posted here on the blog.

Big Thanks to Debenhams. Only five more venues to announce till all 26 are in the open.

Tarzan

x

Moon Under Water (Monday August 25th)

Make no bones about it, this place will be absolutely heaving at about 7pm on Saturday 13th September and that's saying something as the Moon Under Water holds 1,500 people at capacity. I was told it was the biggest pub in Europe at one stage and I can believe it. Dave the manager told us that people often order their drinks from their mates by mobile phone it is so big. Certainly I can remember using the pub's size to my advantage when a strange character had latched on to a group of us. We gave him a tenner to go to the bar and never saw him again, he might still be in there for all I know.

The pub is part of the Wetherspoons group and as such you know you will get great value beer and food in a friendly atmosphere.

This is the place en route where you can have your photo taken with Tarzan's Bananathon in a themed booth in exchange for a donation to Leukaemia Research Fund. Dave and Jenny have also kindly offered a collection and with 1,5000 thirsty revellers in the building, it should be a good one.

Tarzan

Twenty Flight Rock (Sunday August 24th)

I ran twenty miles this morning, the bulk of it with Tom the banana and the wonderfully named Gingerbreadman (designer and producer of Tiger Tiger Tickets), Eric Seagull and Funk. I lagged behind for much of the run and found it pretty hard going. To emulate the bananathon we put a few short stops along the route and after I had run 16 miles I stopped off at home for ten minutes, had a bite to eat, then went off and did another three miles, then came back and ran a mile on the treadmill.

It was tough to get going again after the stop but what I didn't anticipate was that I would feel sick and have a stitch. To be on our feet for ten hours on bananathon day we are going to have to refuel as we go along and that means taking on food as well as sports drink(more will be revealed in a later blog). This is something I am not used to doing and need to practice more over the next three weeks. I have been known to run 20 miles without even water in the past but I'll be flaked out come Gorton if I try that on September 13th. Next week's half bananathon will be a real chance to practice a food strategy. I intend to run from my home to The Railway which will give me an extra 5 miles, making the run about 18.5miles in total.

During today's run Tom mentioned how we might get cold at the ten minute stops in the bananathon. I thought he was being a bit of a wuss but he was absolutely spot on. When I had my ten minute break back at home I was close to shivering. If the weather isn't so kind on the day (remember this is Manchester) and we don't fuel correctly and keep warm we may risk Hypothermia. Not the best state to be in when you are reading a childrens book or collecting glasses outside a bar. Tom suggested space blankets and that's what we will be wearing at the venues if needs be in the form of lining under themed leopard skin print ponchos.

All this running chat has inspired me to have a proper stab at a late autumn marathon and the random calculator has taken in details and spewed out Milan, flat and cool and at the end of November. I may well be joined by two other runners. Must book those flights.

If you can draw your eyes away from the poncho, LRF visor and shapely legs in the picture above you may have noticed I am holding something. What is it?

It's a list of ten songs customers of Dawsons Music shop can choose from, to decide which three songs White Van Man will play at the ten minute gig at 5pm in the shop window on the day of the bananathon. People either pop a donation in the tin or text 'Tarzan' to 82540 and then tick a box by the song they want the band to play. The choices are 500 Miles, Baby I Love You, Cinnamon Girl, Common People, Ever Fallen In Love, I Found Out, I'm A Believer, Miss You, Suspicious Minds and SWords Of A Thousand Men. Let's get ready to Rock.

Tarzan's Half Bananathon (Saturday August 23rd)

Practice makes perfect, as they say. Well I can't claim that Tarzan's Bananathon will be perfect, but make sure the concept runs smoothly, next Saturday August 30th we are having a dummy run in the shape of Tarzan's Half Bananathon. A half marathon distance run around Marple, Disley and New Mills calling at some of the area's finest hostalries en route to raise funds for Leukaemia Research.

You can see a map of the route here. I have pictures of all the venues here on the blog, including a beauty of Bananaman Faz and Simon outside The Crown.

It starts at 6pm and finishes at 9pm at The Railway in Rose Hill, Marple where my lovely sister-in-law Louise Makin is at the helm for the week. The run is half and half trail and road with sections along The Middlewood Way and Peak Forest Canal.

We will be running at 9 minute mile pace with ten minutes a throw at each of the venues and then stuff going on when we arrive back at the Railway.

Railway, Stockport Road, Rose Hill 6pm

Dandy Cock, Market St, Disley 6.40pm

White Lion, Buxton Road, Disley 6.50pm. Singer 'Tony Dee' appears here at 9pm.

Beehive, Albion Road, New Mills 7.15pm

Hare & Hounds, Low Leighton Road, New Mills 7.30pm. Karaoke and Disco on tonight.

Crown, Hawk Green Road, Marple 8.25pm

Marple Conservative Club, Church Lane, Marple 8.45pm Free and Easy with singers.

Then back to The Railway, Rose Hill 9pm. Fun and Frolics.

See you there

Tarzan x

Bingo-o-o-o (Friday August 22nd)

I left a couple of clues in yesterday's blog about thodays' venue and what a stonker it is.

We are hoping for a 'full house' at 2.30pm on Saturday September 13th at the one and only Gala Bingo in Belle Vue where Tarzan, Jane and The Banana will be drawing the national game. That's right. All 187 Gala Bingo Clubs throughout the country will be linked in a giant fundraising bonanza with a multitude of table collections.

So wherever you are in the country, you can be a part of Tarzan's Bananathon by getting along to your local Gala Club at 2.30pm. Visit their website, pop your postcode into the store locator and away you go.

Eyes down....whoops did that yesterday

Tarzan
x

Two Little Ducks (Thursday August 21st)

Quack quack, just 22 days to go till the bananathon and if you haven't had a good look at the interactive map yet, now is the time to get stuck in.

Click where it says 'view larger map' just under the map to right of the blog and then click the white box that says 'Satellite' to get an actual image of the 26 mile course. The route is marked out in banana yellow and eighteen of the venues now have their place on the map with a clickable icon that reveals what we are doing at each place, where it is, what time we are getting there and a gateway to their own websites. Zoom in using the bar on th eleft side of the map to exactly where we will be running on the day. Just 8 more venues left to name and we have some absolute belters. Eyes down.

It's been a bit of a frustration to me that I haven't had time to make more films about the race. Once all the venues are in place I will make one of the whole course, but that will probably have to be it. I showed the original film to one of the celebrity DJs today and I was amazed to see how much the idea has changed sinced we launched back in June.

We originally planned to have top bananas (lrf fundraisers) running with us all the way round, but decided that there was more than enough going on without that aspect. The time has also changed, originally it was 10am till 8pm, now it starts and finishes half an hour earlier to maximise the use of Tiger Tiger.

I haven't a clue what the next few weeks will bring, but am really looking forward to getting together with the Tom the banana and running a long way on Sunday with him. We will purposefully work stops into the run as specific training for the event. We have both individually done this on runs and noted how difficult it is to get going again after a few minutes rest. Cramping may well be a problem and if that kicks in we may have trouble reaching all the destinations at the right time. What have we let ourselves in for?

Tarzan

Chisholm Hunter (Thursday August 21st)

When I recently went out for a birthday meal at the Dolce Vita in Marple with friends, little did one of the number realise by the end of the night that they would be enticed into the world of Tarzan's Bananathon. Brian certainly turned out to be a Diamond geezer when he suggested we pop into Chisholm Hunter in the Arndale Centre to meet up and have a chat about the event.

Although the pic above isn't of the Manchester store you can get a sense of the sort of classy establishment Chisholm Hunter is. To prove the point they have really shown their pedigree by donating a quite fantastic auction item; a Versace watch worth £900. We will be handing out vouchers for ten minutes between 4.25 and 4.45pm on the day and making people aware of the host of services the 150 year old Diamond Merchants have to offer.

Thanks Brian, you are the nicest City fan I know.

Tarzan

Crabs! (Wednesday August 20th)

Had a blast on ITV daytime's This Morning.....er this morning, you can watch the item here and I was given a very generous slot about the Bananathon which features the one and only Magic Clipboard. The 'no expense spared' hand drawn map was featured in close up.

After a hair raising cab journey (The Eastern European driver pulled out of a junction and missed an oncoming car by inches, his explanation..."London!") I met up with Alex, Sally, Serena and Tom at Leukaemia Research Fund headquarters and had a really productive meeting. With just over three weeks to go to the big day, it's all hands on decks, splice the mainbrace and a host of other sailing metaphors.

A special mention today to my two wives. Viv, my on screen missus who today started a prison sentence and Ruth, my real partner who has been a tremendous support over the last few months whilst I have been busy with the Bananathon and celebrated her birthday today. (I won't say how old she is, but the runners among you may be interested to know she has 'moved up a category'.) Hats off to the ladies.

Tarzan

Rumble In The Jungle (Tuesday August 19th)

Long before George Foreman made his millions endorsing fat free grilling gadgets and liking every invention submitted to America's Got Talent he had a famous fight with Muhammad Ali in Zaire........oh sorry, not that Rumble In The Jungle. This one is a fabulous children's book by Giles Andrae (aka Purple Ronnie) with illustrations by David Wojtowycz that Tarzan Jane and the Banana will be bringing to life as part of the Bananathon on September 13th at Waterstones on Deansgate somewhere between 6.35 and 6.55pm.

Events organiser Nick Lewis has secured the children's section for the reading and I for one am really looking forward to it, if only to enjoy the 'acting' skills of Sean and Tom (The last time they performed they were mercilessly left on the cutting room floor) and after nine hours on my feet to get a bit of a sit down.

Hmmm one thing I hadn't thought of when me and Sean went to meet Nick. Stairs! All very well on a Saturday afternoon trip out, but after 25 miles pounding the pavements that walk through the shop back to Deansgate will be a real quad burner.

So, beg steal or borrow a child and bring them along for a ten minutes never to be repeated.

Tarzan

Gavel And Stacey (Monday August 18th)

When I first ventured into the City Centre in search of venues I had a specific pub in mind to call at. Somewhere themed around Tarzan and fruit.....ah yes.... The Ape And Apple on John Dalton Street.

Stacey Saunders played the perfect host and if you are in Manchester between 6.20pm and 6.40pm on Saturday September 13th you too can taste some proper beer and marvel at the warm welcome whilst bidding in a ten minute speed auction.

We have three items to auction in the ten minutes. An Emmerdale script of the 'Tom King's Murder' one hour special signed by sixteen current cast members, a framed signed photograph of Manchester United Legend Norman Whiteside and a gallon of beer supplied by the pub.

So, even if you don't want to get your wallet or purse out, get along to The Ape And Apple to boost the crowds as Tarzan's Bananathon nears it's end.

Tarzan

Lost In France (Monday August 18th)

Twelve days without a blog.

I managed to see a few emails on my mobile but couldn't open them, not even a telly in our caravan (sorry, deluxe mobile home), which meant the break was really a break. Not that great for getting anything done, but ace for recharging the batteries.

Back last night, leaving Jane and his family to enjoy the sunshine to be greeted by eight scripts with a million lines and just the call you want on a Monday morning, 8am at the Emmerdale village.

Less than four weeks to go to the big day and hundreds of things still need doing, but on the whole they will have to wait till Wednesday when I will have a few hours with my laptop travelling to and from London to appear on ITV daytime's This Morning. I will be on at 10.30am ish talking about this weeks storyline and Tarzan's Bananathon. I also had the pleasure of chatting with Natalie Anglesey today and she will be writing a piece for the Manchester Evening News over the next week or so.

I'll keep it brief because I have a lot of lines to learn for the morning and hope to get in bed by 9pm. I will be up at just after 5 in the morning so I can drive over to Leeds and run before my 8 o'clock call. For the time being I am back in Training, I weighed 11 stone 13 last night and need to drop some girth before the bananathon and I also have one eye on a marathon at the end of November and giving it a proper go for a sub 3 hour time.

Anyway, shut up Tarzan and get on with naming the venues........

Stockport Market - (Wednesday 6 August)

What a team - Tarzan and Jane meet Stockport Markets finest

Well we made it to the meeting with John Grainger (The King of Stockport Market I think was his job title) - he is a cross between Brian Blessed and Peter Ustinov and every bit as charismatic).

He quickly gathered some of the key members of his team together including Paul Downes who is Operations Manager (remember that this is all happening outside in the middle of Stockport Market amid the fruit and veg and womens underwear!) - a quick brain storming session later and we have one more amazing bunch of people on board - with collections, fancy dress judged by the Tarzans Bananathon team and a cheerleaders troupe for the day and it will be amazing.

Stockports amazing Market Hall

Stockport market is an amazing place - film buffs amongst you will recognise it as being one of the locations used in the second world war love story 'Yanks'

The 15th century Market Place is home to more than 200 stalls selling just about anything.
Stalls are housed in a Victorian Covered Market Hall, a Speciality Produce Hall and on street, in one of the only remaining traditional street markets in the North West.

It boasts the freshest dairy produce, meat and fish, fruit and vegetables at well below supermarket prices and everything you could need to give your home a makeover, from pictures to curtains and crockery to lamps.

John Grainger lookalike Peter Ustinov

No visit to Stockport would be complete without experiencing the hustle and bustle of market day and listen out for the cry "Three for a pound...." !

How to be nearly late for a meeting... (05/08)

Three for a pound love !

You know how it is you have a really important business meeting to attend, you've even washed your hair and put on your favourite undies ! - and you definitely don't want to be late, especially if the meeting is with the boss of Stockport Market (more of the market later in the week).


Well I was in just that position on Friday, sat in Tarzan's car we left in good time (or so we thought) and then it just turned into a scene from Beadles About.


The drive from New Mills into Stockport normally takes 15-20 mins outside rush hour, not so if you have some flat capped octogenarian at the wheel of a Saab Turbo driving in front of you for 10 miles (why he was driving at all let alone a 'Turbo' is beyond me) - anyway with an average speed only slightly quicker than a Shopmobility electric wheel chair we screeched into the car park next to Stockport Market - ran at break neck speed to the car park machine, fed it the right money and it ate it, then laughed at us and went 'out of order' - next stop another car park machine and at last success and we were on our way again. Just 200 metres to go and a clear path - or so we thought - until every 'lovely old lady' in Stockport, linking arms with other old ladies step into our way, we dodged left, we dodged right, we jumped over them and around them eventually arriving at the Market Hall just about on time !

Phew - I wonder how we will get on in our meeting !!

Morgan Computers - (Monday August 4)

After a long day of walking the streets of Manchester looking for the final couple of venues we decided to also chance our arm (well arms actually as we have two each - so total of four) on trying to go hi tech and get a laptop to be used for both the evenings auctions at Tiger Tiger and also to be auctioned off as well.

Off we marched, nor proper arm swinging marching (that would look really silly), more cool 'we are on a roll' kind of marching towards Piccadilly Station we went and into Morgan Computers - with row after row and shelf after shelf of amazing laptops, palm tops, PC's and every make and model of amazing computer hardware.

We met Harry Cain and his team and asked the question - 'any chance of a free laptop please, I am Tarzan, this is Jane...' etc - blank faces, puzzled looks and a reply of 'we will have to speak with head office...' which we have learned is often company speak for 'no chance, now buzz off!'

So off we went, a little saddened, wondering where to next - within two minutes Tarzan's Bananaphone range and on the phone was Harry Cain saying he's sorted it all out and could we come back - Yeeesssss, result !

Let me tell you a little bit about Morgan...

Morgan Computers started life as a secondhand camera shop in Tottenham Court Road over 30 years ago; since 1983 they have also traded in surplus and end-of-line computer equipment. The ageing Leicas and Nikons have now made way for Toshibas, HPs, IBMs and the like - though they haven't totally lost sight of our roots as we now do a thriving trade in digital cameras.The move to computers accelerated over the years with large showrooms opening in Central London (New Oxford Street), Birmingham (Five Ways Island) and Manchester (Piccadilly) plus a nationwide Mail Order department and warehouse/distribution centre in West London.

Morgan are now one of the UK's leading dealers in surplus, overstock and closeout computer stocks. Equipment is typically sourced direct from manufacturers and large distributors and sold direct to the end user - from individuals, the SOHO market, education and corporates. Morgan are one of the largest and longest established operators in this field in the UK.

Lets hear it for Harry !

Six weeks and counting... (Saturday 2 August)

Less than six weeks till the big day, and what a long long day it will be.

All the venues are now in place - more to be announced next week - the route has been decided and we are now in the process of arranging the Tarzans Bananathon entourage (I like that word) to help out with the day itself... bring it on !

I've also just heard that Tarzan was spotted earlier today in the South of France - hopefully arranging some venues of a different type where they serve fine wines and food !

Full House (Friday August 1st)

Wahaay, what an amazing day.

Today, me and Sean and Gill from LRF have met some brilliant people.

We now have all 26 venues in place.

We have a route which is 26.2 miles long including one full mile on the treadmills at The Printworks.

We have tickets ready to sell for the party at Tiger Tiger.

We have celebrity DJs and a celebrity bar person for that party at Tiger Tiger.

We have a load of great auction lots and raffle prizes.

We have a laptop computer to help with the eBay auction.

We have a fantastic sports marketing company of a major brand behind us.

We have .....a two week holiday. Well I do anyway; so Jane, The Banana and the LRF team will be updating the blog for the next fortnight, whilst I snooze in the sun with my wonderful family.

Thanks so much to everyone for your fantastic help and support

See you in a fortnight when I will return with a tan and record breaking love handles.

Oooooorrrrreooooorrrreooooorrrreoooooooeeeoooorrrrhhhhh!

Tarzan

x

Tickets Please ! - (Friday 1 August)

Does anyone out there still say ' a pinch and a punch for the first of the month, no returns' ? - or is it just my family that want locking up !

Welcome to August - the month of summer sunshine, wine drinking and lazing about in the South of France - but not just yet as there's unfinished Bananathon business to take care of.

As the venues continue to be announced (cant wait to get dressed up by American Graffiti !) I'm pleased to announce that we now have in our hands the ticket for the years finest party at Tiger Tiger - priced at only £5 each (or £10 for two) they guarantee you a night to remember at one of Manchester's finest venues - with live music, celebrity DJ's and many surprises throughout the evening its sure to be a night to remember.

... whats that we've sold the first two already... !

Jane