News just in....and hello world!

Here's a quick rundown of what's in store on OPH today. I have now physically received the first trade - the 'flipping ladybug' from Kenley and her kids in Carlsbad California...and it is so cute!
I introduced the FLB to my OPH (picture above) and now the precious painted hair accessory will be despatched first class to the US and A.
I have two other rather large swapping negotiations going on at the moment and, trust me, I wish I could say more but, OPH is sworn to secrecy! Let's just say that an existing swapper and future swapper may benefit.

Last, but not least, a quick name check to the latest countries to tune in to the swapping frenzy. Hi to China, Pakistan, Israel and Uzbekistan. Oh and also Jordan, the country, not the well endowed UK model Katie Price. Big shout to Jersey also in the British Channel Islands where there's a big OPH following.
Don't forget. Get in touch wherever you are with your swaps! Onepinkhairclip@hotmail.com
Have a lovely day,

Grahamx

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We inch boldly closer to space...

I've just finished a phone conference with Josh, 21, from Surrey, who is the 'space balloon' expert I hope will be sending the next swapper's payload of choice into space.
I say 'conference' because it sounds dynamic and serious and, let's face it, you don't just 'chat' about spaceflight.
To be honest I hung up without really understanding half of what he said. The sentences were peppered with big words like 'telemetry', 'extrapolation' and 'helium'. But, what I could gather was that Josh is a very serious and focused young man and if anyone can realistically get our next swapper into space, by golly, it was him.
As he discussed the risks involved, my brain played The Dambusters theme tune and I imagined him smoking a pipe and jabbing it at a space map to emphasise his words.

Here's what I did understand. If this swap is agreed, blast off (float off?) will take place in Cambridge, UK, the space balloon and payload will hopefully rush up into the sky, brush the fringe of space at around 100,000 to 120,000 feet, it will pop and then return to earth for retrieval. Yep, if all goes to plan you could possibly have your (small) object of choice in space. Hopefully there will also be footage of the epic voyage and an as-yet, top secret experiment in which Josh will be "attempting to produce an artistic piece of work in near space". Beats me what that means too!
I won't kid you. The risks involved are not small. Cue The Dambusters...a bird may peck at the balloon, it could be shot down by an angry farmer or, heaven forbid, the Almighty, in all his infinite wrath, may strike down our impudent space balloon with a thunderbolt.

But hey, cheer up, them's the breaks!
No. Let us not dwell on the 'what ifs'. Let's allow Josh the space balloon expert to run through the 'telemetry', 'extrapolate' a possible arc of flight and source some 'helium'. Here's his website so you can see for yourself that he's the real deal:Joshingtalk.com.

As much as I'd like to rush this swap, just like love, you can't hurry spaceflight. (Sorry about the Phil Collins joke).

Yours in swapping and spaceflight,
Grahamx
Ps if you want to send a small object 100,000ft up only to have it plummet back to earth, please email me with the details of your trade onepinkhairclip@hotmail.co.uk

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Do we have a cosmonaut?

A quick lunchtime post to whet your appetites...

Delicate discussions are still in progress with Josh, from Surrey, regarding his offer of spaceflight (see post from yesterday).
It's like this – his girlfriend loves the swap we currently hold - front-of-house X Factor Live tickets - and with Valentine's Day coming up, sealing this swap could win him serious Brownie points.
Meanwhile, with this trade still to be sealed, we could already have someone interested in sending an object into space.
OPH doesn't want to count its chickens but the pace of this swapping is staggering! 

Stay tuned!

Graham 

The story behind OPH

Click here for an article from Netmums' website: http://netmumsblog.com/

Trade six: Spaceflight?

No, your eyes don't deceive you, spaceflight could be our next One Pink Hairclip swap.

I am currently in delicate negotiations with Josh from Surrey, UK, who specialises in sending hi-tech weather balloons up into the very fringes of space, videoing the incredible journey and tracking the flight across the heavens using GPS.

He, in turn, would get the X Factor tickets.

If this comes off we could be sending the seventh swappers payload of choice 118,000 feet up and filming its epic progress.

Say, for instance, you own a pooperscooper company, you could send one into the cosmos and have footage of it with the curvature of the earth in the background - the first canine sanitary product in space and a home movie to prove it!
Now, the more astute and technically minded of you may argue that 118,000 feet up isn't strictly space, it's the stratosphere or ionosphere or some such. But having seen footage of a similar flight Josh did and witnessing the earth in all its glory, it's more than high enough  for me. Besides, there's no air to speak of up there and your eyes would probably pop out due to cosmic pressure and your blood would boil. If that ain't space then I'm a monkey's uncle.
I mentioned this possible trade to friends at work and they kind of wrinkled their brows and said, almost in unison: "What's the point?"
I'm sure that when Captain Cook approached the British Admiralty with plans of his epic journey to map the antipodes they didn't ask "what's the point?"

No, they furnished him with a trusty barque (old talk for boat), a few barrels of rum, a crew of pess-ganged men and cancelled all his home newspaper and milk deliveries for 20 years.
Fast forward a couple of centuries to President JFK telling the American people to buckle up for the giant leap into space.

No one questioned JFK's motives. Instead the Yanks dreamt of dressing in tin foil, eating pill 'meals' and generally gadding about like The Jetsons.

And no, it wasn't their fault that their national debt got in the way.
Indeed, we need innovators and visionaries like fresh-faced 21-year-old Josh from Surrey more than we need the nay-sayers. He is the future. And that's why we need that pooperscooper (or similar object) in space as soon as possible. Stay tuned and I'll bring you the latest.
Yours in spaceflight,
Graham

PS If you have something pretty light that you want to float sedately into space beneath a big balloon, email me on onepinkhairclip@hotmail.co.uk

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Jimmy Carr's reaction to OPH...

Great effort by Gemma from Andover, UK, who stalked deadpan comedy genius Jimmy Carr on behalf of One Pink Hairclip. No swap, but ten house points and a pear drop for the effort. Who's next Gemma? Here's her account of the episode. (TV presenter Anne Diamond also lost a child to cot death.)

"I accosted Jimmy Carr last night and asked him to visit your blog! As you can see from the confused look on his face it doesn't look likely, but he did say it was a good cause and that he met Anne Diamond recently and had a good chat with her."

"What's that? Pink haircut?"

My favourite Jimmy Carr oneliner: "My father always used to say, 'What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger,' -  until the accident."

Keith Chegwin and now Jimmy Carr! Email your OPH celebrity stalks to me at onepinkhairclip.co.uk. I wonder what SuBo thinks?

The story so far...

It's Sunday... A day of rest and general pottering. So it's a great time to look back at the first week of One Pink Hairclip and my quest for a swap bigger-than-a-house to donate to FSID. What better way to do this than with some things I've learnt:

Try to be professional even if it's "just you"
If you meet a minor celebrity's PR flunkey, try to look and act the part. I found myself in this unlikely situation onWednesday lunchtime while trying to pump Keith Chegwin for swapping tips, or at least a message of support for this humble blog. When asked for my 'card' I looked blank, stammered and replied: "Card? But it's just me!" My point was that OPH isn't a glossy corporate machine it's just one bloke with a hair accessory to trade. Luckily the PR had a card and I had a scruffy train ticket and a biro. Job done!

The Court of King Cowell is a surreal place
After signing up to Twitter this week I blithely suggested we should tweet Simon Cowell for an X Factor ticket upgrade for our next swapper. (Thanks again to NetMums for the swap!) It seemed a simple plan and it was all in aid of a great charity (FSID.org.uk).
But then I actually visited Simon's Twitter page and the scales fell from my eyes. It's mayhem. For the people who go there Simon owns the 'fickle finger of fame' and he can point it at whosoever he chooses. Amongst the hullabaloo of hundreds of people trying to reach out and touch the messiah's cape, any talk of pink hair accessories seems to be very quickly lost. I hate it when people say it won't work....and it doesn't!

One Pink Hairclip is about you, not me
The thing that's really shone through this week is that the swappers are the stars. Take for instance Kenley and her kids from Carlsbad, California, and her 'flipping ladybug'. What a great opening swap.
Then there was t-shirt designer Richard from Cardiff who needed the 'flipping ladybug' to keep his knitted monkey and Where's Wally mug company on his work desk. He had a branded OPH shirt to swap.
Next up, Bronya from Freed London who had a handmade and box-fresh pair of pink ballet shoes to trade for the OPH t-shirt. She'll be displaying the shirt in her shop's window. Thanks Bronya.
The final trade of the week came from NetMums who had two front-of-house X Factor Live tickets for our latest swap. And this is where we stand today.




Sometimes the unsuccessful swappers steal the show
Cockney Alan, from Argentina, who offered a piece of fine art to swap for our third trade, may have walked away empty handed, but he's since become a folk hero in Buenos Aires. My colourful account of his flight from Britain to Argentina (I'm not suggesting he evaded the UK authorities), via Brazil attracted lots of Latin American local attention. Alan, who wooed a South American beauty before siring a handsome son is, as we speak, hunting for another swap to help us on our way to that final bigger-than-a-house trade for FSID. Here's a copy of Alan's bus pass photo:

You can't say 'yes' to everyone but you can say 'thank you'
Loads of offers of swaps have landed in the OPH inbox this week, but I haven't been able to reply to them all. I'd like to say thank you to everyone who took the time to get involved, offer swaps and show their support. It's important that you do this if we're to get that final bigger-than-a-house final trade for FSID. Thanks also to the people how have become OPH "followers" on Blogger and Twitter.

Do you have the next swap?

Are you a cockney evading extradition from South America and need to salve your conscience?

Email onepinkhairclip@hotmail.co.uk now!