Category Archives: Life & Style

Lovebox 2012.

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The 10th anniversary of Lovebox at Victoria Park, East London was a bloody amazing day. I went on Sunday and here are my highlights.

Chic
Nile Rodger’s is responsible for most of the greatest songs since the 1970’s and Chic had all of Victoria Park dancing and singing. At one point thousands of muddy, tipsy Londoners were all singing ‘Like a Virgin’ in unison. A moment I will always remember.

Sam Sparro
Performed with a peacock headpiece and wearing a black suit. He took the blazer off to show a corset. He was an amazing performer. Brilliant songs, great stage performance and during his rendition of his classic ‘Black & Gold’ he jumped into the crowd and rocked out to his own music. Possibly the coolest person EVER.

The Rapture
Brilliant live.They do the Misfits theme tune. You will know their songs even if you don’t know them. Everybody loved them.

Chrystal Fighters
I have never heard of this band before but they ROCKED. Search them out. They are brilliant live. When they came our and started drumming everyone was grooving.

Chaka Khan
Was amazing and had the whole crowd singing ‘I’m Every Women”. She had the most powerful amazing voice and came out singing into a gold diamante microphone. In my short-sightedness I thought it looked like an ice-cream initially.

Lana Del Rey.
I have no idea why Lana Del Rey was on the second stage. She is a stunning and original performer and pretty much everyone made their way to the stage to see her sing. She captivated the entire audience and even came off the stage to shake hands with festival goers. She is just as beautiful and stylish up close. A true superstar who has been unfairly attacked for being wooden and not being able to sing in the past: none of that is true. She has style and substance.

Grace Jones
Was Grace Jones. She gave an amazing, out of this world performance and brought the house down.

My only gripe is that you cannot bring food or drink into LoveBox with you. There is also no re-admission. The food can be quite pricey but there is everything from salads to Ostrich burgers. Lovebox is the full festival experience without the camping.

A lot of people on Twitter said that they were not at Lovebox because they couldn’t afford to. Hopefully next year the economy will pick up and all of London can experience a music festival without leaving the greatest city on earth. Luckily I won tickets at the Sure Maximum/Handpicked Media event.

I found out from this good article how LoveBox got its name.

Surfdome Festival Guide

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I went to Lovebox yesterday and I wish I had seen Surfdome’s Festival Guide first.

Online lifestyle retailer Surfdome.com‘s must-have Festival Guide for Summer 2012. Covers all the top events in the UK from urban treats to rural raves, beach party beats to the best rock ‘n’roll, the Guide also lists Surfdome’s summer festival essentials, including the best in festival fashion, camping and (of course!) wellies.

Check out the Festival Guide here: http://www.surfdome.com/lifestyle/festivals2012/

and shop Surfdome’s extensive Festival Department here: http://www.surfdome.com/Festival-586/

Jack Osbourne Reveals He Has Multiple Sclerosis

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the son of Ozzy and reality TV star, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The star was talking to Hello! magazine and said that ‘While I was waiting for the final results, I got really, really angry.

The timing was so bad. I’d just had a baby, work was going great – I kept thinking, “Why now?”

‘Then I got really sad for about two days, and after that I realised, being angry and upset is not going to do anything at this point – if anything it’s only going to make it worse.

Adapt and overcome’ is my new motto.’

The 26-year-old recently became a father for the first time and he discovered he had the disease after losing 60 per cent of vision in his right eye.

His fiance Lisa has been very supportive. Lisa gave birth to their daughter, Pearl, two months ago.

Lisa told Hello! ‘Jack will have to change his life for the better – get healthier, not get stressed.’

Sharon and Ozzy Osborne told how they are struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis.

Sharon said: ‘I keep thinking, “what did I do wrong? What did I eat or drink when I was pregnant?” I feel like it’s somehow my fault.

Father Ozzy added: ‘If it was me, you’d think: “Ozzy had a reputation and it caught up with him,” but Jack is such a good guy.’

Sister Kelly took to her Twitter page this morning to urge fans to support her sibling, writing: ‘Please support my brother @mrjacko in not only his bravery but honesty! i love you so much jack & I’m so proud of you!’

After it was made public, Jack tweeted: ‘Thank you all so much for the kind and inspirational words. It means a lot. #adaptandovercome.’

Vintage Seekers launches ‘Shop by Celebration’ for Wine & Spirits

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Vintage Seekers are a Frost Magazine favourite. We went to their amazing launch have been charting their rise ever since.

The latest thing Vintage Seekers are doing is allowing you to buy the gift of great wine, from the vintage year that matters to you

Whether it’s a 1982 Chateau Cos d’Estournel for a 30th birthday, a 2002 Dom Pérignon Rosé for a 10th wedding anniversary, or a magnum of 1991 Château Mouton Rothschild to mark a loved one’s 21st, Vintage Seekers presents a concise hand-picked selection of wine, spirits and Champagne to match all the significant birthdays and anniversaries of 2012.

Until now, gifting someone a wine from their birth year or anniversary required a directionless and time-consuming trawl on the Internet through pages of results of different merchants and wine guides.

New for spring 2012, Vintage Seekers has given the industry a luxury makeover to provide a stylish source that both satisfies the experts and makes great wine accessible for everyone. With gifts starting from just £70, Vintage Seekers aims to dispel the myth that fine and rare wines or spirits are prohibitively expensive.

On the site you’ll find a reliably curated collection to rival that of the leading luxury retailers, sourced from Vintage Seekers’ network of leading wine merchants. We see it as your little black book for the best wines in the business.

Vintage Seekers presents you with the most show-stopping offering from each vintage, comprising not just fine wines, but also Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados, Port, Madeira, Sherry, single malt whisky and prestige multi-vintage Champagne.

Finally, beyond the online range, Vintage Seekers’ concierge ‘Seeker Service’ is able to source clients specific vintages to order for no additional fee.

WIN A CANON IXUS 510

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Trial the new Canon IXUS 510 HS digital camera, and be in with a chance of winning one to take home

Five minutes of fame and Canon IXUS up for grabs, at Westfield Stratford City from this Saturday

From this Saturday, 16th June, Canon, the world-leader in imaging solutions, is inviting all photography fans to come along to Westfield Stratford City and trial the new Canon IXUS 510 HS camera, as well as be in with the chance of winning their own camera and a £100 Westfield shopping voucher.

Those who take part will be given the opportunity to take the stylish IXUS 510 HS camera along with them on their shopping trip to snap away as they shop. Each photographer will be able to take 20 photos, and will be asked to submit their best five shots to enter the competition. As soon as they are submitted back at the stand, the photos will be uploaded onto Westfield’s big FourDials screen, for everyone to enjoy.

Canon’s specialist panel will judge every photo submitted, and the winner will receive an IXUS 510 HS camera, worth over £300 (RRP) and a £100 Westfield

To register to take part, simply email reply@cuk.canon.co.uk and await more details.

The experience will be live on the following dates:

* Saturday 16th June 2012
* Sunday 17th June 2012
* Saturday 23rd June 2012
* Sunday 24th June 2012

Please note photo ID will be required in order to take part.

For further information about Canon UK please visit

http://www.canon.co.uk/

London Gets Ready For First Ever Men’s Fashion Week(end).

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London is set to host the UK’s first ever Men’s Fashion Week(end). Also known as Men’s Collections, these three days will celebrate the rise in the profile, creativity and commercial success of men’s fashion in the UK. And nowhere is this more apparent than online.

The UK’s leading fashion site ShopStyle.co.uk is used to dealing with over one million users searching for the latest designer womenswear pieces or high street must-haves but the UK online fashion leader has seen a 300% year-on-year increase in sales generated for its top 5 menswear retailers, revealing that it’s not just women who are keen to be seen in the latest looks.

Leading the charge for ShopStyle are men’s brands like Topman and Mr Porter but the fashion shopping hub has also seen a number of new retailers such as Pretty Green entering the online race, as well as unisex brands such as Ted Baker, Next and My-Wardrobe.

The company believes the uplift is driven by the increase in mobile devices and shopping apps which enable men to shop on the go or pick-up an item they may have seen on the street or in a shop window, quickly and easily via their mobile phone. ShopStyle has seen 3x increase in mobile driven searches in the same May to May period and believes that men drive a substantial percentage of these searches.

Shannon Edwards, VP for ShopStyle Europe believes that new technologies are driving men online to shop for fashion. She says: “There’s been a real focus in the UK on improving men’s fashion and that has tempted many style-aware blokes to come out of the woodwork. But for these guys the prospect of spending Saturday afternoon in the changing room leaves them cold. For them, mobile allows them to shop for the big looks without having to spend hours at their computer or in the store.”

Is China Buying The World? | Book Review

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This short book is more than food for the brain, it is fascinating, a snapshot of history. Touching on a popular subject and often asked question by the global media; Is china buying the world?

Peter Nolan’s well researched short book is full of facts and weighty political and financial debate. Nolan certainly knows his stuff, as well he should; he is Professor of Chinese Development at the University of Cambridge and is one of the leading international experts on China and the global economy.

Did you know?: China accounts for 26 percent of the total foreign holding of US debt. However Britain and Japan hold more US public debt than China. China only holds 12 per cent of total US public debt.

Everyone in business should read this book. It also has lots of fun, fascinating graphs and tables. This book gives a stunning insight into business in China, the UK, US and beyond.

Another point I got from the book is a certain racism against China. I know China has a dodgy history of human rights, but it would seem that the western world is finding it hard for anyone else to take over it’s dominance: perceived or otherwise. A point that Nolan point out is not good for peace or international relations. The book also touches on another subject “Who are We?” and are there any business which are British, or American left?

China is the world’s second biggest economy and its largest exporter. It possesses the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves and has 29 firms in the FT 500 list of the world’s largest companies. ‘China’s Rise’ preoccupies the global media, which carry regular articles suggesting that it is using its financial resources to ‘buy the world’.

Is there any truth to this idea? Or is this just scaremongering by Western commentators who have little interest in a balanced presentation of China’s role in the global political economy?

This book is a must-read. A lot of people are worrying about the ‘awakening giant’ of China, let Peter Nolan allay your fears.

You can buy Is China Buying the World? here.

The Soon to be Famous Five make a big Splash in the Great Big Monster Sea Swim

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A FIRST: Five ordinary guys in wetsuits take on a swimming relay race and attempt to cross the English channel from Guernsey in the Channel Islands to South Devon in England in 48 hours = The Great Big Monster Sea Swim.

The FIRST EVER swim relay crossing from Guernsey in the Channel Islands to South Devon in England called the Great Big Monster Sea Swim (GBMSS) is announced today. The five man team; Paul, Karl, John, Bruce and Jon will swim the non-stop relay from 27-29 August 2012 and attempt to make the crossing in only 48 hours whilst raising funds for Teenage Cancer Trust. The Great Big Monster Sea Swim is the headline event of The Sanofi 1000 Mile Challenge which centres around health and fitness activities and encourages all Sanofi Group employees in the UK and Ireland to challenge themselves to achieve over 1000 miles collectively over the next year thereby raising over £100,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Paul Irwin, GBMSS team member comments, “Training has been underway since January as we have to be seriously prepared for what we will face – anything from tankers in the dark to mental exhaustion. The team are really excited and slightly apprehensive about the challenge as there will be tough decisions to make that may hurt the individual but benefit the team”.

Six time world swimming champion and Teenage Cancer Trust supporter, Mark Foster comments, “The Sanofi 1000 Mile Challenge for Teenage Cancer Trust is a great initiative centred around promoting wellbeing and personal growth. As well as inspiring and encouraging participants to challenge themselves, they will also be raising money for an important cause.”

The GBMSS team is proud to be wearing sailfish wetsuits and Saltrock Surfwear and grateful for the support of both Enigma Charters who are providing a 72ft boat and skipper to carry the support crew and Lifedge for providing equipment.

To sponsor the Great Big Monster Sea Swim and help raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust, please go donate by going online at www.justgiving.com/GBMSS or text GBMS 81 to 70070.

To follow the swim team’s journey visit Paul Irwin’s blog here, http://sanofi-inspires.co.uk/blog/12 and also follow the team’s progress on twitter @GBMSS.