[00:00:09.320] - Gordon
Hello.

[00:00:09.620] - Taylor
Hello.

[00:00:09.970] - Gordon
My name's Gordon from Drayson Design.

[00:00:12.270] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from the Creative Tinker.

[00:00:13.520] - Gordon
And welcome to "This Week with Taylor and Gordon," a weekly podcast and vidcast where we talk about things that have affected our businesses over the last seven days. And welcome back. It's been a busy week.

[00:00:26.000] - Taylor
It has.

[00:00:26.480] - Gordon
I seem to say that every week, but it does seem to be very busy at the moment. In news, actually, we've had some downtime with my main telephone line and also the Internet. And if you were listening before, you'll know that this is the second time it's gone down in about three weeks. Luckily, it was only down for about two days this time.

[00:00:49.940] - Taylor
Also, luckily, we have my WiFi.

[00:00:51.360] - Gordon
Well, exactly, we had a backup WiFi, which was really useful to me because otherwise I'd have been stressing out my phone internet, which would have been not so good. And luckily, Taylor wasn't using it. Why weren't you using it, Taylor?

[00:01:08.550] - Taylor
So a while ago, I mentioned my 12 Months of Coffee project, and on Monday was my first trip.

[00:01:17.720] - Gordon
Amazing. So where did you go early in the morning on Monday?

[00:01:20.880] - Taylor
So I went to Milan. So Milan in Italy, and it was great.

[00:01:25.290] - Gordon
As opposed to Milan where?

[00:01:28.690] - Taylor
Well, you know, a lot of Europeans will know where Milan is, but people from Asia or from America and things like that probably don't know. A lot of people think, Americans think Europe is one country, so there is that.

[00:01:43.230] - Gordon
It is true.

[00:01:43.620] - Taylor
So yes, I went to Milan purely to sit in a coffee shop, really. Milan is one of six of the Starbucks roasteries. So these are basically where Starbucks... I don't know if they for the whole world, but they basically roast coffee beans. So like a roaster would, where you buy from the coffee shop, or you buy from your local supermarket, whole beans, or even if you go to a coffee shop and that's what they're using, they will grind the beans and they will have been roasted beforehand, before being delivered. And it was really interesting. It was like an industrial factory style interior with really really nice coffee. Obviously, they're very big on their coffee in Italy.

[00:02:32.880] - Gordon
Nice and fresh, I would expect.

[00:02:34.770] - Taylor
Definitely. And yet it was just really fascinating because you could see the whole process of all of the beans coming in being, I don't know what they do to them, but being roasted, I guess. And then they come down, sort of like you think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they come down these hopper shoots. And when the people, the baristas are making the coffee, if they need more, they open a valve and a bunch more coffee come in and they have different coffee beans from different places. Most of the coffee beans come from somewhere in Africa, but you have different types of coffee beans and places for different flavours, different textures and things like that. And it was just a lovely experience. And I went there all three days of my trip purely because I just loved the vibe and the atmosphere that was there. I got quite a bit of my client work done, things like that, answering emails, had a couple of phone calls, and they'd go, "How are you?" I'm like, "Good, I'm in Milan." They're like, "Oh, wow, that's really cool." And then I obviously explored the city. There was a really nice Cathedral, some nice shops, obviously, there they're very big on their fashion and high end things. So if you're into that, then it's obviously a good city to visit. Had pizza, had pasta, and all around, I really enjoyed it.

[00:03:55.910] - Gordon
So you should explain a little bit more about what your 12 Months of Coffee is just so that those who haven't already heard you talk about this can understand.

[00:04:04.920] - Taylor
Yes. So 12 Months of Coffee is a project or an idea that I came up with that combined three things that I enjoy and I like. So the first one is traveling. I started traveling by myself, I think it was last year in February when I went to America.

[00:04:27.790] - Gordon
Alright, rub it in, just because I couldn't go because I was down with Covid and I was supposed to go with you and you ended up going for three weeks to America without me.

[00:04:39.040] - Taylor
Yeah. And then I went to...

[00:04:41.030] - Gordon
Just rubbing it in.

[00:04:41.470] - Taylor
Then I went to Word Camp last year, which was in Porto in Portugal. Then I went to New York. I went back to America again in October. I just really enjoyed traveling, especially by myself, because you get time to just be by yourself. And a lot of people aren't okay with that and would be worried or scared or nervous to travel by themselves. And if you haven't, I highly recommend you do it because it's really fun. I stayed in hostels. Makes it a bit cheaper, but also it's a nice way to be able to talk to people and put yourself out there and make friends, I guess. The second thing is coffee. I really like coffee. I collect the mugs. So Starbucks do a series called "Where Are You?" And for each city/country, they create a mug with all of the iconic places from the place that you bought it from. So London obviously has Big Ben, the London Eye, the Shard, things like that. You have Milan, which had the Cathedral and things. And then they've got a lot of the states as well in America. So Texas, Las Vegas, you've got the strip and things like that, and the Nevada sign, and all of those types of stuff. And they make them for all of the different places in both a city type/state version, but also a country. So you can buy an England one or an Italy one. And I decided that I wanted to go for the cities purely because it meant I can visit a country more than once and still get a mug to bring back with me.

[00:06:20.770] - Gordon
And Starbucks know this, which is why they've done that to get more money out of people.

[00:06:26.590] - Taylor
Yeah. So I got two mugs in my trip. So I got the Milan "Where Are You?" series mug. And I also got a Milan roastery, so the Starbucks roastery, which there are only six of them in the entire world. There's Milan, New York, Seattle, I think Shanghai, and a couple of other places. So there's only six of them in the world. And so I thought, I'll start collecting them. And obviously, as I go to the different places, I can collect them. Sadly, I didn't realise this when I was in... Well, I did realise it. There's one in New York, and I've obviously been to New York twice, and I didn't realise how awesome this place was. I thought it was just like another coffee shop, which it's not. It's far more than that, and it's really cool. So I'm gutted, but it just means I've got to go back to New York again. And then the third thing is I enjoy what I do. I enjoy building websites and things like that. And because of my job, I don't need to have a physical location 100% of the time. And so being able to take my work with me and still be able to do what I enjoy from a coffee shop, wherever I want, as long as there's an internet connection, is just great. And a lot of people were asking, "What did you do in Milan? Did you go and visit?" And I said, "I kind of just sat in the coffee shops," because for me, it was just being able to experience a different culture of... You just get a different vibe from sitting in coffee shops in different countries. And for me, that's what I really enjoyed. I don't really enjoy going and doing lots of touristy stuff. I like walking around and experiencing it, but I'm not one that wants to go into all these museums and things like that. It's not something that I enjoy, so I'd rather spend my money on things that I do enjoy.

[00:08:17.630] - Gordon
And you can get inspired as well, can't you? By taking yourself out of your normal location and surroundings and putting yourself in, in this case, another country, you're going to be seeing different things and your brain is going to be making different connections, and you can get inspired and come up with more ideas.

[00:08:31.990] - Taylor
Yeah. And it's all about getting a better understanding on cultures in different places, because what is accepted in the UK is completely different in places like Milan or just other countries. I think there's something to do with cappuccinos in Italy where you can't have them after a certain time or before a certain time. I'm not sure which one it is. And that's just not something we have in the UK. You can order whatever drink you want at any time of the day, and you most likely won't be judged. We drink alcohol at 10 in the morning.

[00:09:08.960] - Gordon
What? We do?

[00:09:09.940] - Taylor
Well, there are some people.

[00:09:11.440] - Gordon
I don't.

[00:09:12.230] - Taylor
There are some people in the UK that do. Especially if you go to an airport, you'll find people do that.

[00:09:18.450] - Gordon
Ah yes. So people going on holiday, that's a different state of mind, that is. People will do all sorts of different things then.

[00:09:27.170] - Taylor
But yeah, it's an all round...

[00:09:29.260] - Gordon
And then there's a fourth thing as well that you like as well, and that's your tech and your gadgets, right?

[00:09:31.850] - Taylor
Yes.

[00:09:38.060] - Gordon
So Apple is one of them and so was there an Apple store by any chance?

[00:09:41.490] - Taylor
So I was just walking around. So I'd been working the morning and stuff, and I thought I'll go for a walk and just explore. And I didn't even know where I was going. I just kept on walking and just was like, "I'll just see what's down here." If something looked interesting, I just walked down. And I ended up stumbling across the Apple store. I didn't actually look it up, didn't even know if there was one. I did think, "is there one in Milan," but I had no idea where it was. I didn't know if it was far. And I literally just stumbled across it. And it's really interesting. It's like if you took the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York...

[00:10:22.850] - Gordon
Which is the glass cube.

[00:10:25.470] - Taylor
Yes, and you sliced it and made a slice of bread, thin top part. And then it was underground, same with the Fifth Avenue Store.

[00:10:33.640] - Gordon
So it was like an oblong? It was like...

[00:10:35.740] - Taylor
Rectangular.

[00:10:37.280] - Gordon
Rectangular, yes, okay. Just an oblong.

[00:10:38.550] - Taylor
Yeah. And it was just interesting. And it had this water fountain with the water going onto the glass rectangle, oblong thing. And then, yes, I went inside. And the downstairs was very very similar to, again, the Fifth Avenue store, which again is underground and you have to walk down the steps to get to it, which goes to show how even though you have different cultures, there are some things that seem consistent. So with Starbucks, you know if you're going to go into Starbucks, there's going to be WiFi. There's most likely going to be charging ports and you're going to have the same types of drinks. McDonald's is slightly different. McDonald's actually have quite a lot of different food and things like that.

[00:11:21.200] - Gordon
They have the staples, though, in every single McDonald's.

[00:11:23.990] - Taylor
Yes but they do have things that are different based on different countries. And Apple, again, is very consistent throughout all of their stores around the world.

[00:11:31.840] - Gordon
Very exciting. So do you know where your next trip is going to be? When's your Word Camp? Is that next month?

[00:11:39.220] - Taylor
Yes.

[00:11:39.490] - Gordon
So the next trip then?

[00:11:40.920] - Taylor
So World Camp is the next trip. That is June and that is, I think, 8th to the 10th of June, I believe.

[00:11:48.640] - Gordon
Where are you this time?

[00:11:50.150] - Taylor
So we're in Athens, so in Greece, which will be good. And I get to see - I've been to some of the Greece islands, but I've never been to the actual mainland Greece, which will be exciting. And then I need to plan what's next.

[00:12:04.340] - Gordon
Plan for July. Very good. So if people want to follow your travels as to where you're going, how would they do that?

[00:12:07.480] - Taylor
So I haven't done it yet, but my plan is to create a project called 12 Months of Coffee 2023. And inside of that page will be basically a list of all of the places that I have visited. And because I track all my data, like the check-ins, the food, any activities, I do things like that, what I'll do is I'll pull out all of the photos from each trip again, like a mini sub project of the 2023 main project, I guess. And you'll then be able to go into each individual trip and see the check-ins, see what I ate, things like that. And I'll pull out the interesting parts. I'll put the flights in there. And yeah, so you'll be able to see.

[00:12:54.250] - Gordon
And this is on your personal website?

[00:12:56.530] - Taylor
It will be, yes. It's not there yet. I need to build it. But that's the plan.

[00:13:02.090] - Gordon
Okay. So once it's there, we'll tell you about it and you can go and have a look. Anything else you want to say about your amazing trip?

[00:13:11.600] - Taylor
I don't think so. I think if you can travel, I'd highly recommend it. And don't be scared to travel by yourself.

[00:13:18.760] - Gordon
It's true. I went to Canada by myself. That was the first time I went. I went to Montreal. Just got on a plane myself at the age of 19, I think I was, about that sort of age. And yeah, it was great. I took a friend with me with me as well next time because I enjoyed it so much. And we both had a lot of fun. And there's a shout out to Andy Lingfield, our trip, which has become legend. We talk about it very fondly, very often. Yeah, traveling is a good thing. We both enjoy it.

[00:13:51.210] - Taylor
So what's your topic for this week?

[00:13:53.360] - Gordon
So I've got a brand new podcast. Yes, I've looked at how much money we make from this one and decided to start a new one. And already, it hasn't been launched yet, but already it's earned the same amount of money as this one has.

[00:14:08.460] - Taylor
Wow.

[00:14:08.790] - Gordon
Yeah, I know, right? So I'm doing it not because of the financial gain because I don't think many people make money out of podcasts, not unless they spend a lot of time doing it and do it full-time. And I don't want to do it full-time. It's just something I want to do as a side-line. But this podcast and vidcast, because I've got into doing that with this now, is all about family and children's entertainers. And in fact, it's called FACE Family And Children's Entertainers, the podcast. See how clever that is.

[00:14:40.740] - Taylor
Very clever. Although people don't usually include the 'and' in their abbreviations.

[00:14:45.970] - Gordon
No, but it's more accurate by doing that. Otherwise it would be FCE, exactly, which is not really a word. So FACE worked out quite nicely. And FACE the podcast is great for an interview type podcast, I think. So basically, I'm going to be interviewing children and family entertainers and talking to them about what they do, how they do it, what their challenges are, what their thoughts on the entertainment is at that time. And then every third episode, fourth episode, I will get together the people that we've had interviews with, and we're going to have a roundtable, and we're going to talk to them about what they all think about the state of children's entertainment as it is at the moment and chip in with their own ideas. And I think, in fact, the roundtables are going to become possibly one of the more anticipated episodes because I think they're going to be more topical and they're going to have a lot of different opinions. And I think they're going to be very interesting. So I've already started recording. The first episode was from a legend, the children's godfather, children's entertainment godfather, a gentleman called Terry Herbert. Now, that name won't mean much to you unless you're an entertainer. But he is a legend. He's an elderly man now, but he's done it all. He's been there, he's done it. He's entertained. He's very well respected, yeah. And he's very well known basically because he came out with one of the first ever video tutorials on VHS back in the day called "Children's Parties the Herbert Way." And he got very well known because of that, because it was effectively the only video resource that was available. Lots of books, always been books, but the first video resource. And he was very kind. I know Terry very well, and he doesn't live 100 miles away. It's probably about 40 minutes from where we are. And he invited me to join him for a day. So I went and filmed talking to him and interviewing him. And I took him for lunch afterwards, which was really nice. And the video got edited up. Luckily, I didn't lose it in my hard drive saga, which is still going on for those interested. I'm still trying to rescue the data from my 7 terabytes, which currently I don't have access to. My computer did go down and this was one of the files that I struggled to get back, but I managed to get it back, so that's all good. So that video is being edited. It should be up by next week because next week there is the Trix in the Stix, Children's Magic Convention. So I will probably talk about that next week and tell you all about it. But I felt that this was a good time to launch FACE the Podcast because it's going to be a convention full of children and family entertainers. So that is going to be up. It's not quite ready yet. We've got a bit of work to do tomorrow on this so that hopefully it will be ready for when I get there for Monday. I will put a link to this in the show notes because it's unlikely that the show notes will be done before I get back. I'll try and do them, but time is not on my side at the moment. So if it's not up, it will be up next week. And I'll put a link up there, and hopefully the site will be ready so that you can have a look if you are even vaguely interested. It's going to be very much for children's entertainers and family entertainers, not for the general public. But feel free to go and listen to it or watch it if you want and you know, love to hear from you and hear what your comments are. If you're a muggle, non-magic person, it'll be really interesting to see if that sort of thing is interesting to you. In fact, this episode is all about Terry's career, and he had lots of turns and different jobs before he turned professional quite late in life. So yeah, it may be of interest to you. You may know him if you ever watched The Paul Daniels Show, because he was one of the guests once.

[00:19:23.000] - Taylor
Okay.

[00:19:23.530] - Gordon
He was Terry Herbert, which was the beginnings of the Great Fiasco Act, which is something he's also very well known for, where everything in his act goes wrong. But he's a wonderful gentleman and he's got a great story, great character. And it's taken a while to get to this point, finding the name, getting the identity of it, and then also getting the recordings done, because they are not going to be quite as easy as this, because we can just sit down in front of a camera and record. Whereas when I've got people all over the world, it's going to have to be Zoom. On this occasion with Terry, I went to his house because it wasn't too far. But I've got some other episodes already recorded which haven't been edited yet, and they are over Zoom because that was the only opportunity I had to be able to do it in a reasonable amount of time without it taking a whole day out of my schedule and going to visit them and possibly even staying over. So I think Zoom is going to be the way that a lot of them are going to be done. But hopefully the content is what's important.

[00:20:32.010] - Taylor
Yeah, sounds good.

[00:20:33.050] - Gordon
Thank you very much.

[00:20:33.940] - Taylor
Thanks for promoting your own podcast on our podcast.

[00:20:36.560] - Gordon
Well, it's very exciting to do another one. This one is very specific on its topics, and FACE the Podcast is also going to be a very niche podcast. And I think to be well known or to get a following, I think it needs to be niche. I don't think these broad podcasts get the recognition that maybe they want. I know for a fact this one doesn't, but it is niche. And on that note, if you know somebody that might be interested in This Week With, please let them know about it. We're always looking to grow our viewership. It's something that we've done now since lockdown. So we're in our third year?

[00:21:27.560] - Taylor
Are we not on season four?

[00:21:29.040] - Gordon
Season four, yes.

[00:21:31.170] - Taylor
Fourth year.

[00:21:31.660] - Gordon
Fourth year.

[00:21:33.460] - Taylor
In our fourth year.

[00:21:33.790] - Gordon
It's in our fourth year. So 2020, '21, '22, and now we're in '23. Yes. So we're doing our fourth year now. So there's a lot of content to look back on, and you can always search for things on our website, which I'll let Taylor tell you about in just a moment. That's everything I think I wanted to say.

[00:21:54.120] - Taylor
Great.

[00:21:54.680] - Gordon
Anything you want to add?

[00:21:56.360] - Taylor
I don't think so.

[00:21:57.640] - Gordon
Good. Well, thank you for joining us. As always, we can be found on YouTube and on Facebook. Please like, share, and subscribe.

[00:22:05.510] - Taylor
You can also go to our website thisweekwith.co.uk to find all of our past episodes and anything we may have spoken about.

[00:22:12.000] - Gordon
So thank you for joining us. Until next week, we will be with you at 1pm on Friday. Until then, my name is Gordon and I'm from Drayson Design.

[00:22:21.680] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.

[00:22:25.310] - Gordon
Goodbye.

[00:22:26.100] - Taylor
Bye.

This Week's Topics

Show Notes