Author Archives: Frostie

Rally For The Rainforest At Online Celebrity Auction

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Want to shop and do good? Of course you do.

‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, the RFUK’s fabulous and exclusive public auction of one-off gifts donated by celebrities, luxury labels and esteemed Foundation friends, returns for a fourth year. Open to everyone through an RFUK pop-up shop on eBay, the 12 day auction, running from November 20 to December 1, will offer various gleaming goodies for every savvy shopper ready to raise funds to protect the world’s rainforests.

James Bates - collage in a white box frame

James Bates – collage in a white box frame.

The auction can be found at www.ebay.co.uk/12days

 

As well as countless surprises to be announced in the lead up to the auction launch, lots currently include: A catered day out at the Wiltshire Lakehouse Estate home from Sting and Trudie Styler, VIP autographed guest tickets to the filming of QI from Stephen Fry, signed goodies from Sir Bruce Forsyth and Mark Rylance, signed sporting goods from members of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspurs FCs, Tea for Four in Parliament with The Rt Hon Zac Goldsmith MP, many course meals with wine from the OXO Tower Restaurant, Terre a Terre and the Michelin-starred Quilon, tickets for award winning London shows including Spamalot, Woman In Black  and The English National Ballet’s Le Corsaire, exclusive London Fashion Week items from Volcom, Emma J Shipley, Eda London and Begg Scotland, a stunning bracelet from Zoe & Morgan plus limited edition signed art from Rob Ryan, Kid Acne, Ben Frost, Eelus, Rosie Emerson, Russell Marshall, Graham Carter and a very rare 1 of 3 paint on canvas from acclaimed artist Fin DAC worth over £1,000 (kindly donated by art concept store Beautiful Crime) and much, much more! This is just a sample of what is available at what will no doubt be a spectacular fourth year for the 12 Days of Christmas event. More lots to be announced soon via @RFUK, Facebook and the RFUK website.

Russia: Disclose Whereabouts of Missing Pussy Riot Member. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Still Missing

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Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riots, Russia, missingConcern grows for missing Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.

Amnesty International has condemned the continuing refusal to disclose the whereabouts of a member of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot, who is rumoured to be in transfer to a prison colony in Siberia, saying it is clearly yet another attempt to silence her.

Denis Krivosheev Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director at Amnesty International said:
“Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has publicly complained of threats she received from prison officials. We are concerned that she now may be being punished for this and for speaking out about deplorable prison conditions.

“The Russian authorities must immediately tell her family where she is and allow her access to a lawyer. She is a prisoner of conscience who should have never been taken to jail in the first place. Refusing to say where she is simply fuels rumours of the worst case scenario.
“If reports are true, transferring her to a prison colony thousands of kilometres from Moscow would make it almost impossible for her relatives and lawyers to see her. This would be a violation of her human rights and of Russia’s own laws.”

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s whereabouts have been unknown since 22 October when she was reportedly taken from the penal colony where she was serving a two-year prison sentence. It is believed she is being transferred to another place, but the destination has not been revealed.
Her husband has now said a penitentiary administration source informed him of the possible move to a prison colony in Siberia.

Amnesty has made Nadezhda Tolokonnikova the subject of an urgent action campaign, calling on the authorities in Russia to disclose her location immediately.

Entertainment for Lazy Weekends

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It’s a cold, wet Friday night in winter. You’ve been fending off anxious clients and reassuring harassed colleagues all week. Like everyone else in the city, you’ve been getting up, and going home, in the dark.

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You listen to the beautiful “clunk” of the front door closing as you step inside the house. You decide that, if possible, it’ll be the last time you hear that sound this weekend.

 

Home alone. Fantastic! It’s going to be a properly lazy weekend – but how are you going to keep yourself entertained?

 

 

What’s On Telly?

 

Fifteen years ago you’d have been circling things you wanted to watch in the Radio Times with a red biro. With broadband and Freeview, your options are almost limitless. You won’t get through every episode of Breaking Bad this weekend, but you could make a start. If it gets a bit grim (which – spoiler alert – it does) try interspersing it with episodes of Modern Family. Or Bagpuss.

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No need to traipse down to the video store anymore either. How about a World War Z / This Is The End / Frances Ha marathon? World War Z was supposed to be terrible – it isn’t.

 

 

Games

 

When all that drama gets too much for you (Bagpuss can be quite draining), there’s a huge number of online games to consider. They’re not going to play themselves, you know! Everything’s available, from MMORPG’s like the free-to-play Pandora Saga to online versions of the nations favourite game, Bingo. The hardest part will be deciding what to play.

 

 

Read

 

At some point you may feel the need to step away from the screen. Maybe just swapping to a smaller one – like a Kindle – would do the trick? That Morrissey out of The Smiths has a book out, you know. We’ve also heard rumours of some kind of Bridget Jones follow-up. There may even be an actual book on the shelves to read!

 

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Listen

 

Now we’re going retro. Is there a forlorn-looking pile of vinyl LP’s in the cupboard? A decent record player in the attic? If you’ve spent the last decade listening to MP3’s, and you have a reasonably good system, you might just amaze yourself with the upgrade in quality. There’s a reason people are still releasing vinyl records!
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Eat, Play, Sleep

 

Once you’ve located the Billie Holiday LP, why not try cooking something you’ve never tried before out of that Rick Stein book that Auntie Beryl got you for Christmas? And when you’re done, you could hoist the dusty old guitar out of the basement and take a lesson on YouTube!

 

Or maybe it’s time for a nap. Whatever you decide to do on your Lazy Weekend, remember that catching up on sleep is never something to feel guilty about!

 

 

 

(Images courtesy of awsmblog.com, thesundaytimes.co.uk, wikipedia, wikipedia)

Chelsea Named as Britain’s No 1 Mistress Hotspot

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If you are a newly wed then don’t move to Chelsea, it is where single women prowl for married men to have affairs with.

And ‘staid’ Tunbridge Wells comes second

Chelsea is the no 1 hotspot for single women seeking affairs with married men, according to new research from AshleyMadison.com.  The world’s leading dating site for extra-marital affairs has found that 43.96% of its women members who are seeking affairs with married men in Chelsea are actually single.

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Noel Biderman, AshleyMadison.com founder and CEO says: “Chelsea is part of London’s richest borough and home to some of the capital’s wealthiest men. Single women are drawn to status, to men who have made something of themselves, even if that includes having a wife and family. As Oscar Wilde said and James Goldsmith famously paraphrased, “When a man marries his mistress he creates a vacancy.” It’s no accident that so many mistresses live in Chelsea and our female members such as Lady Catherine and Rosetti Lover are looking for their own Jimmy Goldsmith.’

At Mistress Hotspot no 2, Tunbridge Wells has a more conservative image with its prep schools, Georgian architecture and spa heritage. Yet 42.04% of the women there are single and actively seeking an affair with a married man.

Noel Biderman says: ‘Does ‘Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells’ have an alter ego as Ashley Madison’s HardAsRock or RugbyJunky? There are a lot of well heeled, successful men there, however staid they may or may not be. A Tunbridge Wells man obviously holds promise as a lover, even if he is married.’

St Albans is 3rd on the list for would-be mistresses and Loughborough comes 4th.

With Oxford bottom of the list, it seems that while the single women of the city are inclined to stick to their studies, the academic world is not immune to passion.

Mistress Hotspots: % of female members who are single:

Chelsea, London          42.04%

Tunbridge Wells           42.04%

St Albans                      41.01%

Loughborough              39.17%

Dartford                        38.91%

Hemel Hempstead       38.36%

Chester                         36.94%

Newcastle upon Tyne  36.55%

Bristol                           35.70%

Oxford                          35.45%

Are you going to avoid these areas?

The Buckley Poppy Now Available in Support of The Royal British Legion

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In support of the Royal British Legion, QVC has introduced the beautiful Buckley Poppy to mark Remembrance Day on 11th of November. These great accessories are available as cufflinks, key-rings, bracelets and brooches. QVC has raised £378,000 so far, help them to raise more by splashing out.

300167 Buckley Crystal Poppy Brooch £21.00 B1077 BT747 KR007Available from QVC.co.uk

 

Have Your Moment Of Calm This Christmas With Goldie Hawn And Max Benjamin

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Goldie Hawn, Max Benjamin, candle, relax, calm, Christmas is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation, but for many it can be a massive source of stress and anxiety. Make sure you take some time out of your hectic Christmas schedule to indulge in a moment of calm with the help of this gorgeous candle from Max Benjamin.

The “Calm” candle in collaboration with Goldie Hawn and The Hawn Foundation features a blend of soothing Lavender oils with natural wax and three wicks. The Lavender fragrance was chosen by Goldie and Max Benjamin because Lavender aromatherapy is great for reducing stress and is widely used in aromatherapy treatment for its calming and relaxing properties. In clinical trials Cortisol, a stress hormone produced by the body, was shown to have a great reduction in the measured levels within 5 minutes of the patient smelling real Lavender.

The Hawn Foundation is a charitable organisation that aims to reduce stress and anxiety in children, allowing them to thrive and lead healthier, more resilient lives. It was set up nearly a decade ago by Goldie after she was appalled by the alarming increase in stress, anxiety and depression in young people.

Goldie says… “I created this candle to give something beautiful to people. I chose the name ‘Calm’ because a calm environment means less stress and anxiety. Knowing that scents have powerful effects on the brain, I chose Lavender for the sense of well-being it engenders. Together the name and the scent of this wonderful candle convey our essential message to children and parents alike; that their well-being, their sense of calm and confidence is of the utmost importance!”

Available from www.maxbenjamin.co.uk for £30

Get Trashed At Car Boot Disco: Swapping And Customisation Party at Ministry of Sound

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What:                   vInspired presents Car Boot Disco
A clothes-swapping and customisation party for young people, launching the Get Trashed campaign to save 10,000 clothing items from landfill
Where:          Ministry of Sound, 103 Gaunt St., London, SE1 6DP
When:         Sunday 24th November, 2013 3pm-7pm
Who:                  The event will feature DJ sets from the best in UK dance music talent, and customisation from the most cutting edge young people in London’s fashion communities
Tickets:         Free – Register at vInspired.com/gettrashed

Campaign Image Small

London’s iconic Ministry of Sound will play host to the first ever Car Boot Disco on 24th November. The Sunday afternoon Ministry party combines music, fashion and swapping to encourage young people to update their wardrobe by exchanging and customising clothes instead of spending on fast fashion.

The event launches vInspired’s Get Trashed campaign to save over 10,000 clothes from landfill before the end of the year. It will create a tribe of young people dedicated to re-using, recycling and having fun – whilst looking good at the same time. Young people will feel part of a movement, putting the issue of waste front of mind – empowering them to run their own events and spread the message via the Do Something channels, social media and word-of-mouth.

This free party is aimed at young people in London who are bored with their wardrobes and want a fresh update, but without the cost. vInspired is inviting anyone with swap-able clothes to come along to the event and take home something that is new to them but unwanted by someone else.

Rising fashion designers will be on hand, hosting special areas of the super-club to provide unique professional customisation like studding, badging and ripping – ‘pimping’ up tired looking items. Fashion scouts will be attending the Ministry of Sound event, looking for potential models who can rock any outfit – old or new – making this the perfect chance to showcase individual style.

Spinning the perfect soundtrack to for a Sunday afternoon session will be some of the very best DJs from the UK’s dance music scene who will be hitting the decks for the duration of the event. Remixing music alongside the remixed fashion.

Tickets to the event are free; for more information please visit www.vinspired.com/gettrashed <http://www.vinspired.com/gettrashed>   

Psychologies Reveals The New Year Resolutions We’re Already Planning To Break

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Anti Gravity yoga , Anti-Gravity Yoga and Ballet Barre Conditioning at The London Dance Academy, barrel ballet, conditioning. fitness, sport… And why the New Year is the worst time to make them

I have given up making New Year Resolutions. Instead I reevaluate my life when I have a birthday, making lists of goals and plans. It seems that other people are not good with resolutions either. In fact, my resolution last year was not to make a resolution.

Nationwide research by UK lifestyle magazine, Psychologies, has revealed that a surprising 70% of us will already be thinking about the opportunity that the New Year presents to make changes in our lives, by the first week of November. The findings indicate that we’re holding out for January 1st, despite the fact that one in five of us admit that we’re currently ‘desperate’ to make a change – and that we’re also almost certainly doomed to fail.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of the UK makes New Year resolutions, but the majority of us admit that we’ve failed to succeed in the past, with a staggering 68% giving up within the month of January itself. It’s not surprising, then, that only a depressing 11% of us believe that we’re very likely to stick to the changes that we’re already planning for 2014.

Life coach and editor of Psychologies, Suzy Greaves, believes that the problem lies with the New Year tradition itself and is urging her readers to boycott January resolutions and just start right now, instead, “It’s not just the post-festivity blues, empty wallets and grim weather that make January a bad time to make positive changes. The January 1st tradition focuses us on one huge goal, like ‘being healthy’ and we feel that we should be able to magically transform our behaviour overnight, rather than implementing smaller changes that work towards the bigger goal, over a realistic time period.

“When we fail to meet this inflated demand, feelings of ‘failure’ negatively reinforce our behaviour to the extent that, as our research has found, over a third of us (39%) don’t try again for another year. Simply put, January 1st creates a vicious loop when it comes to making important – and often vital – changes in our lives. My advice as a life coach is simply to forget January and start now – our current issue has a special report to help readers ditch bad habits and take up good ones by making tiny changes that deliver huge results.”

The Psychologies research found personal finance to be the most common area for desired change, with over half of us citing this as something we were resolving to change. But whilst a third (33%) wish to save more, only 10% want to resolve to spend less. 49% want to find a way to earn more.

Despite the focus on our finances and perhaps suggesting an over reliance on hopes for a lottery win, only a quarter of us are considering making a change within our careers. Of these people, 39% are hoping to initiate promotion, 26% are wishing to change career paths entirely and 23% want to start a business.

The orthodox resolution to ‘lose weight’ was the second most popular desired change and on the minds of over half of Brits surveyed. Weight loss features again amongst those who want to improve their health with 28% acknowledging that it’s the change that’s required.  20% more women prioritised weight loss as a desired change, than men.

The Psychologies research found that when it comes to those wishing to make changes to social and family relationships, 43% want to prioritise improving the relationship and sex life that they share with their partner. Whilst that may sound gloomy at first glance, these statistics can be viewed more positively when compared to the fact that only 7% want to leave a relationship with a partner. Looking at sex lives specifically, 16% more men want to improve their sex life, than women, but an equal percentage of men and women (27%) want to improve the relationship with their partner.

 

What is your New Year Resolution?