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Smile! It’s Love at First Sight
PROOF that
love at first sight leads to long-term relationship success. A
staggering 22m Brits admit to having fallen in love at first sight,
with 2 in 5 Liverpudlians still in a long term relationship with the
other person after 10 years, new research reveals.
The ‘thunderbolt’ research conducted by the UK’s
busiest dating website, reveals a nation of die-hard romantics, with
87% of Scousers passionately believing in ‘love at first sight’
- a phenomenon also experienced by Bill and Hilary Clinton, Katie
Holmes and George Clooney. A nice smile, good eye contact and
the sound of a person’s voice are the biggest romantic ‘triggers’
among Brits who admit to falling instantly in love with a stranger.
However, of those that felt an instant attraction with a complete
stranger who passed them by, only 30% acted on impulse, plucking up
the courage to make a ‘connection’ and talk to the other
person. Like a scene from 'Sliding Doors', the remaining
67% of people weren’t brave enough to make the first move, and of
those 77% admit to regretting not making contact right there and
then. Sadly, 10% Brits admit to regretting the missed connection for
years afterwards and dream about what could have been with the other
person.
Sophy Silver of Gumtree.com says:- “It seems it’s real love,
not lust, at first sight for Brits, which will come as a real
surprise to all the romance cynics out there. For the die-hard
but shy romantics, there’s an opportunity to re-connect anonymously
online through ‘Missed Connections’, where singles can post an ad
looking for the person they’ve had a moment with. For that group, it
can be a case of ‘love at first site’, which holds equal promise.
The trick is to include as much detail as possible – from the colour
of the person’s hair to the colour of their eyes, what seat on the
bus they sat at or whatever book they were reading at the time–that
way there’s little confusion and people reconnect with the exact
person they passed by.”
On the site, hundreds of people post ads for ‘missed connections’
every week, with more and more people putting their hearts on their
virtual sleeves in search for a stranger they’ve fallen for. Since
January, postings for missed connections have increased by a record
367%.
A posting from the Gumtree.com site reads:- “On the District
line from Richmond. You had a red handbag and rucksack. You were
reading Saturday on a Tuesday morning. You have the most amazing
eyes. Just thought I’d let you know, you made my morning”
(ref)
Smile, you’re in love!
For 66% of Brits a nice smile is the biggest
‘trigger’ of
romantic attraction. 1 in 2 fall for ‘nice eyes’, with 28% of
Brits blindly falling in love with another person’s accent or the
sound of their voice. The way the other person dresses (26%), walks
(19%) and their perfume or aftershave (17%) are the other biggest
turn-ons, coming ahead of a person’s hair cut (11%) and height
(10%).
Other research highlights
· 25% of those questioned admit to falling for a stranger in a bar
or a club. 14% people admit to acting on impulse and connecting with
a complete stranger on a train and 11% of people have hooked up at a
music festival
· 50% of Northern Irish have fallen in love at first sight while 61%
of people in the North West have never experienced it
· 37.5% of Londoners would make a connection rather than see it pass
by
· 12.5% of people in Northern Ireland most likely to make the first
move
· 20.9% of people in Midlands have never made a move and still
regret it to this day
· Almost 2 out of 5 men make the first move with 75% using
eye-contact to grab a girl’s attention
· 26% of men find they fall head-over-heels at work while 1 in 5
confess to finding their lady-love while out shopping
· 33% of men prefer to stick to old-school charm and chivalry to ‘woo’
a stranger. Opening the door or giving up their seat on the bus or
train being the most popular gestures
· 4% of Scots to fall in love on a train, it happens to 25% of
Northern Irish on a bus – 66.7% of which have made a connection –
and 1 out of 10 people in Wales get ‘revved-up’ at traffic
lights!
· The research also points to an increasingly competitive market for
British singletons, with 28% admitting that they devote more time to
their work life than their love life and so are keen to snap up
every ‘love opportunity’ they can get - even if that’s on the
tube commute to and from work
When they made the alphabet they should have put U and I together
Smile – It’s contagious and will make you much more
approachable
Make eye contact – look across at the object of your
affections, catch his/ her eye and then look away. Do it gently so
that it appears natural and don’t stare – it’s a turn off!
Make the first move. You might not get another chance so take
a deep breath, move closer to the person you want to meet and open a
conversation. Say hello!
Avoid chat up lines at all costs. Who wants to hear
“how was heaven when you left?” when you’re running late for
work having not had enough time to wash your hair and iron your
suit? It won’t do you any favours
If you can’t pluck up the courage to speak to that person then
and there, don’t loose heart – you can always post a missed
connections ad. After all, you never know who reads them
If you are going to turn someone down, do so graciously |
Pioneering arts festival attracts 1,200
A FLEDGLING
Merseyside arts festival attracted over 1,200 people for a line-up
that included brass bands and Bond girls last week. The
Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts was in its 3rd year, and took
a big gamble when it increased from 4 days in 2005 and 2006 to 10
days in 2007.
"We're a small town and a small organisation, and we just
didn't know whether people were going to turn out ten nights in a
row," said Artistic Director Dr Rob Howard, "but we
took a risk and it paid off. It's the first time Prescot has tried
anything on this scale. But it couldn't have been more successful."
On the 1st weekend, a performance of Faure's Requiem featured a
choir of 85 singers specially assembled from all over the region. As
the weekend went on, audiences packed in for a programme that mixed
the best of amateur, semi-professional and professional talent, both
local and national. For many, the highlight was Word of Honor,
a 1-woman show presented by Honor Blackman, the actress who made her
name as Pussy Galore in the 1964 James Bond flick Goldfinger. Still
looking as glamorous as ever, the sixties sex symbol held the
audience spellbound as she told the rags-to-riches story of her
illustrious life and career. The Merseyside Police Band
brought the Festival to a close on Sunday night with a
Last-Night-of-the-Proms-style finale, featuring a potpourri of
classical, jazz and pop favourites, alongside traditional rousing
anthems such as Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory.
"We're already busily preparing for the 2008 Fest," Dr
Howard continued. "It's the Capital of Culture year for
Liverpool, and that will be an exciting time for anyone involved in
local arts in the region. Watch this space."
More information about the Prescot Festival, including the town's
all-year-round arts programme, is at the official website,
www.prescotfestival.co.uk.
ATLANTIC ADVENTURE
FOR TALL SHIP TEENS
A WAVE of teenagers will navigate
the Atlantic high seas of the American seaboard this week – thanks
to a unique sail training programme. After rigorous
interviews, 9 Liverpool youngsters, aged 16-17, have been selected
for a trip of a lifetime to sail on board the Tall Ship Prince
William in the prestigious American Sail Training Association (ASTA)
Challenge.
The 9 nautical novices will be racing on the 200 foot square rigger
from Newport, Rhode Island to Halifax, Nova Scotia from June 30 to
July 14.
Those flying to the USA this weekend are:-
* Helena Appleton, 17, Aigburth
* Terry Cannon, 17, Fairfield
* Anna Marie Flanagan, 17, Norris Green
* Virginia Hale, 17, West Derby
* Fiona Hastings, 17, Allerton
* Kate Hubbert, 17, Norris Green
* Joseph Hughes, 16, Dovecot
* Abdulaziz Saad, 17, Toxteth
* Darren While, 17, Kensington
Their places have been funded by Liverpool City Council’s Youth
Service and Liverpool Culture Company in the UK’s largest publicly
funded sail training programme. Launched in 2006 it will have sail
trained a 100 youngsters by the end of the year.
Liverpool’s sail training programme was devised in preparation for
when the city hosts the start of the 2008 Tall Ships Races next July
18-21. More than a million people are expected to flock to the
Mersey for the maritime extravaganza – and the aim is to fund more
than 200 Liverpool youngsters to race to Maloy in Norway. For
the Asta Challenge, Merseyside Fire Service and the Tall Ships Youth
Trust (Merseyside Branch) have also sponsored a further 10 young
Merseysiders to board the Prince William.
Councillor Warren Bradley, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said:-
‘’The 2008 Tall Ships Races is a fantastic opportunity to
reconnect a new generation to the sea and showcase a new look
Mersey. I’m delighted that with our partners we’ve created a sail
training programme that is already capitalising on this event to the
full, providing real life-changing experiences for so many
youngsters.’’
New Theatre opens at
Ormskirk Hospital
FOLLOWING the move of Ophthalmic
surgery to Ormskirk & District General Hospital at the beginning of
April a new operating theatre has been built bringing the total of
theatres at Ormskirk to seven. £1million has been spent converting
offices into the new state of the art facility for ophthalmic
surgery.
"The new theatre will undoubtedly cut waiting times",
said Penny Hipwell, Theatre Manager at Ormskirk, "as it means
we will be able to do more operations each week". Rob Gardner,
specialty lead for ophthalmic surgery and his team are delighted
with the new facilities, he said "at the moment we do around 55
cataract and inter-ocular surgeries each week and this is likely to
increase, and as the eye surgery has had to be done in one of the
existing theatres up to now, this additional theatre will mean we
can do more surgery."
The new theatre will be used for eye operations every day except
Tuesdays and it has the potential to be used for other work on that
day. As well as special facilities for ophthalmic equipment and the
normal clean theatre environment it has also been fitted with a
special Howarth Ultra Clean Laminar Flow Unit that forces ultra
clean air over the operating table. This is used particularly when
joint replacements are being carried out, as it creates an ultra
clean environment, and this makes the theatre multi-purpose if
required in the future.
The first operations in the new Theatre will be carried on Monday 9
July 2007. |
