This is definitely a must-have this summer. The beer bucket inflates in a few minutes and holds up to 8 bottles of wine or 24 large beer cans – perfect for a BBQ in the garden or even a picnic in the park. It’s also great if you want an alcohol free picnic with the kids; you can fill it with fizzy drinks or ice lollies to save some pennies if you’re using it away from home!
Coolers are heavy to lug around but this inflatable bucket solves that problem completely; you can deflate after use and simply pop it in your bag. For £7.99 from I Want One Of Those, you can’t go far wrong!
This unique interactive world is full of fun and strange characters who will keep you entertained for hours. When you play for the first time you are taken to your town via taxi and introduced to your new home and the other animals in the neighbourhood. Each character will talk and interact with you in their own little manner; some are very polite and chatty and some are a bit weird but there are loads of animals for you to talk to.
There are many places to visit such as Tom Nook’s store where you can purchase all your necessities, hair salon, town hall, museum, café etc. Earn a living by helping people in the village, such as working in the shop. You still need to pay your bills and buy your own household goods in this game!
With the integrated Nintendo Wi-Fi connection you can visit your real friends within the virtual world of animal crossing. Travel to other towns and meet loads of new characters, throw parties and join in competitions. There are endless activities for you to take part in without having to leave the comfort of your bedroom! Animal Crossing is designed for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite.
Bit of a sad topic for first thing monday morning, but I guess there’s never a good time to talk about how you’d like to be remembered after you die. A new website (Silent Hands) gives you the opportunity to leave messages behind to your loved ones after you’re gone. You are able to upload photos, create videos, add sounds, write messages and keep a diary that others can retreive once you’ve passed on. You can assign keyholder(s) to your account who will gain access once you pass away and you can even have emails sent to whoever you wish, with set times for delivery.
Although this is something most of us probably don’t like to think about, Silent Hands offers a unique service that provides some comfort to those who experience a loss. It is especially great for those with a terminal illness who wish to leave behind happy memories that they want their loved ones to remember them by. So although most of us tend to ignore these issues, we should probably take some time to think about those we would leave behind should the unimaginable happen.
So my prediction earlier last week was spot on – Spiral and Michael received the least votes and were evicted from the Big Brother house on Friday. Apparently only 9.7% of the population wanted cat loving Michael and Irish DJ Spiral to remain in the house – who are you crazy 9.7%?! Before the pair found out their fate, their last week in the house made great viewing. For those of you who had your heads burried in the sand, heres a quick recap …
Each best friend pair had to choose who would become a Big Brother prisoner and who’d become a prison officer. Pete, Imogen, Aisleyne, Glynn and Spiral became prisoners, while Richard, Susie, Jenny, Micky and Michael thought they’d got the better end of the deal by becoming prison officers. The prisoners were locked behind bars in prison clothes, made to dice and peel 1000 onions and unlock some ridiculous number of padlocks with the right key … yes it seemed as though the prison officers were the lucky ones – with their sexy uniforms and easy task of watching a few minutes of CCTV each day – until the secret hideaway was revealed that is!
The prisoners found a tunnel into paradise, where they had all the food and alcohol they could consume, a spa area with baths, treatments and pampering facilities and even their own mini beach! All they had to do was keep the secret hideaway a secret from the prison officers and they’d receive a letter from home. They managed to pass the task and each of them received their letter (except Pete who’d swapped roles with Richard earlier) – which led to a lot of emotional housemates.
Other BB news includes Richard having his Madonna-themed birthday party and Glynn having some time by himself in the shower! Last Night’s task ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ caused some of the housemates to learn more about themselves than perhaps they wanted to know, but was great to watch! Anyway, last week was a great week in the Big Brother house, fingers crossed that this week will provide as much entertainment …
A) Sell bespoke essays to university students at £400 a time!
Well, at least that’s what some people have been doing. According to an article in the Guardian, the industry for “Internet Cheating” is worth £200 million a year. One company they spoke to called ukessays.com claims to employ 3,500 specialist writers on a broad range of subjects. They even guarantee that all the work is original and that it will be up to a 2:1 or 1st standard. The service is clearly in demand as the owner of ukessays, Barclay Littlewood, has both a Ferrari and a Lamborghini in his garage!
MTV kicks off it’s ultimate festivals weekend today with a fully packed agenda of latest bands and top talent. Performances from Arctic Monkeys, Kanye West, Sandi Thom, The Strokes and The Zutons are all lined up plus appearances and interviews with the hottest artists around. The Oxygen Fetival is one of the main highlights MTV will be covering.
My boyfriend bought a Pentax Optio Wpi camera earlier this year and has not left his house without it since. It is a 6 megapixel camera that has a 2.0 inch LCD screen and cost about £200 at the time he bought it. The best thing about it is it’s ability to take incredibly clear pictures and videos up to 1.5 metres under water. During our trip to Bulgaria in June, all he wanted to do was play with it in the swimming pool. Below is a video he took of himself in the pool.
Pentax have now launched a newer version of the camera, the Optio W10 which has a larger LCD screen of 2.5 inches and takes higher resolution videos (640×480) compared to the Wpi (320×240). Since returning from Bulgaria I too have learned to love this little camera and we fight to take photo’s with it! Am hoping to get the newer version (shown below) later this year.
Those of you who still want to believe in Uri Geller’s psychic powers should look away now. In this clip, the famous Canadian skeptic, James Randi exposes Uri’s methods and shows you how to repeat some of his most famous tricks such as the bending of a key or spoon.
The clip climaxes with Uri’s appearance on the Tonight Show, where they surprise him with an array of objects on which to demonstrate his powers. Unfortunately for Uri, he was not aware of these in advance and was therefore unable to prepare them. His response, “my powers feel weak tonight”.
Of course, this did little to dent Uri’s career and decades on we still see him on TV, although more often now as an unofficial “friend” spokesman for Michael Jackson.
After watching this film I went straight on the internet to find out more info about it and watch the trailer again – I just couldn’t get enough! I was surprised to find out that this touching and insightful movie about a young woman’s dreams and fears was written by a man. I was even more surprised to discover that that man was comedian Steve Martin, who also stars in the film. Shop Girl is based on a short novel which tells the story of Mirabelle, a girl whose only remarkable characteristic is a talent for chalk and charcoal drawings.
Although Mirabelle dreams of becoming an artist she settles for a mundane job in a swanky Beverly Hills store as a shop assistant. The film tells the story of Mirabelle’s relationships with two very different guys that see meets; Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) a young clumsy and bad mannered graphic artist and Ray Porter (Steve Martin) a cool millionaire who is much older than her. Both men offer Mirabelle something very different and Mirabelle is faced with making decisions about what she really wants from a relationship. I was amazed by how a story about an average girl and the sort of situations that most of us have encountered, makes such a fascinating film. Like a more wholesome version of The Secretary, this film will really get you thinking about what you want from a relationship.
I’ve always dreamt of living in a huge house with a gym, pool, hot tub etc etc … (I know – stop dreaming) but now, thanks to Bestway, at least one of these is within my reach. Lay-z-Spa is the brand new, affordable spa – which apparently takes just ten minutes to set up before you can add water. It has room for four adults and is portable - it can therefore be used at home, at a friends house, camping or wherever else you fancy. Once out of the box, you simply need to attach the pump to a standard UK socket, add water and set to the desired temperature. Within 12 hours the Lay-z-Spa inflatable hot tub is ready to be enjoyed. For £499 (or less if you look around), I know where I’ll be spending my winter …
I love this new pearl pink Nokia N72 phone; it’s both sleek and stylish and has some great built in features. The phone consists of a 2 megapixel (1600 x 1200 pixels) camera with 20x digital zoom and an integrated music player. You can easily record tunes onto your N72 from CD’s and then make your own play lists using the Music Manager Tool. The hot swap memory card (sold separately) allows space for hundreds of songs and if that’s still not enough room you can use the phone’s FM visual radio.
The camera on this phone is really good and there are loads of tools for you to print, store and share both your photographs and videos. You can print pictures using Nokia Xpress Print or store them on your computer using the Nokia PC Suite. A beginners Photoshop package is included with the pack to help you edit and touch up your photos and All Nokia N Series customers are offered a Lifeblog for free! You can turn the phone into a digital camera by sliding the lens cover across, the picture is fantastic due to the 2.1 inch high def display.
The N72 also includes SMS, MMS, instant messaging, email, calendar, organizer, Internet browser, Bluetooth wireless technology, USB cable and is available in this pearl pink or in gloss black.
Who’d have thought Noel Edmonds would have made such a come back? Apparently his success on the new hit show ‘Deal Or No Deal’ is all thanks to The Cosmic Ordering Service. After reading the self-help manual, The Cosmic Ordering Service: A Guide to Realising Your Dreams, Noel has made it back to the top – and after just six months of wishing for a ‘new challenge’. Basically Cosmic Ordering claims to grant your heart’s desire if you write down what it is you want. Great for our lazy generation – you simply ask for what you want and then reap the benefits. Noel Edmonds apparently asked for a home in a sunny place and a new challenge in his life (among other requests which he’s not admitting to). And what do you know, he gets his house in the South of France and lands a new presenting spot on the popular Channel 4 show.
I’m not sure what to make of all this yet – obviously I have written my own wish list ‘just in case’ so will let you know how that turns out! Cosmic Ordering has been referred to as a mail-order service – in which you place an order for what you want with the Universe. The self-help manual was writen by German writer Bärbel Mohr who says it heped her to gain her a dream job, the ideal man, money, health and a castle. For the time it takes to write down an ‘order’ with the Universe, it’s definitely worth a shot …watch this space!
After writing about my love of Lost, Big Brother and Film4, I realised my life has started to sound dull. So I thought I’d have a look to see what the rest of the populaion are up to when I’m curled up with my favourite TV shows and I discovered this great website dontstayin.com. I have to admit to not being much of a clubber these days (after leaving University I had to allow my liver to recover), but I do venture out on the odd occasion to relive my past. This website is great – I wish I’d known about it sooner. You can search for the local clubs in your area and leave comments or photos about a particular event. I had a browse through the gallery and was surprised to find loads of photos of people I know – clearly they haven’t given up on the clubbing yet! I ended up spending a good half hour just laughing at all the drunken fools – I never thought there was evidence of these nights out but I was obviously wrong!
Although predicted for launch earlier this year, Kelis’ new album entitled ‘Kelis Was Here’ is now due to be released on 28th August. The album will feature her latest single ‘Bossy’ and will also include a number of guest appearances such as Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas and Cee-Lo from Gnarls Barkley. This is Kelis’ fourth album release after Kaleidoscope (1999) Wanderland (2001) and Tasty (2003). After a three-year absence it’s great to have Kelis back in the charts. Available to buy via Amazon for £8.99.
These fantastic CityScape Coat Hangers really caught my eye. Designed by the new company Sixixis, they depict the five major fashion/design cities of the world – London, Paris, New York, Tokyo and Milan. Sixixis was created by three graduates and their concept is refreshing; they transform locally available unseasoned wood into amazing objects using their own inventions and ideas. Browsing their website I was really impressed at what I found. Yes the items are expensive but I think this represents the quality and time put into each design. Saying that, personally I couldn’t justify spending £245 on five coat hangers, but I’m sure there are loads of people who would love to know about these new designs and be more than willing to pay the price. The coat hangers are laser cut, hand finished and varnished and made from multi-laminate Birch ply. Sixixis are a young company but their future looks promising – they have already won an award (the inaugural Laurent-Perrier Design Talent Award) and their fresh approach to quality, innovation and design is remarkable.
This is definitely a must-have this summer. The beer bucket inflates in a few minutes and holds up to 8 bottles of wine or 24 large beer cans – perfect for a BBQ in the garden or even a picnic in the park. It’s also great if you want an alcohol free picnic with the kids; you can fill it with fizzy drinks or ice lollies to save some pennies if you’re using it away from home!
This unique interactive world is full of fun and strange characters who will keep you entertained for hours. When you play for the first time you are taken to your town via taxi and introduced to your new home and the other animals in the neighbourhood. Each character will talk and interact with you in their own little manner; some are very polite and chatty and some are a bit weird but there are loads of animals for you to talk to.
Although predicted for launch earlier this year, Kelis’ new album entitled ‘Kelis Was Here’ is now due to be released on 28th August. The album will feature her latest single ‘Bossy’ and will also include a number of guest appearances such as Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas and Cee-Lo from Gnarls Barkley. This is Kelis’ fourth album release after Kaleidoscope (1999) Wanderland (2001) and Tasty (2003). After a three-year absence it’s great to have Kelis back in the charts. Available to buy via 