Category Archives: Life & Style

Sports Memorabilia Company Teams Up With FA And England Squad.

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SPORTS MEMORABILIA COMPANY FORMS UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FA AND ENGLAND SQUAD

Sportsrabilia has collaborated with the England football team to produce a unique and exclusive collection of memorabilia to offer fans the chance to buy a piece of football history.

Under the new deal between Sportsrabillia and The FA, limited edition pieces signed by stars such as Steven Gerrard, Ashley Young and John Terry will be available prior to Christmas 2011. There will be further collections released in the build up to and during the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine and the forthcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The product range will feature high-impact imagery, player biographies, landmark achievements, actual sections of match balls and full squad pieces and will carry the signatures and authentication of the England team.

The England Collection will be available to buy from www.sportsrabilia.com and will be competitively priced starting at £150. A selection of individual items will also be made available for auction at charity events around the UK, helping raise money for worthwhile causes.

The exclusive range will be authenticated and protected to levels previously unseen in the UK. Each piece will include a hologram, FA stamp and a certificate of authenticity signed by a member of The FA and a representative of Sportsrabilia present at the signing session. These lengths have been taken to both protect the players and The FA but most importantly the Sportsrabilia customers.

Commenting on the partnership, FA spokesperson Nicky Stanton said: “The Sportsrabilia range will give England fans a chance to buy a piece of football history and feel closer to the England team. They can also be assured that they are purchasing a fully licensed and authenticated product.’’

Danny Schindler, Chief Executive Officer of Sportsrabilia added: “We are delighted and proud to be working with the FA and the England squad. This partnership will create a unique range of items that will be ideal for collectors and make the perfect gift for football fans across the country in the run-up to Christmas.”

MONSTER-SIZED SLIPPER TO BE AUCTIONED FOR CHILDREN IN NEED

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Back in October, it made headlines across the world. Now the oversized slipper big enough to fit a man inside is to be auctioned for “big money” in aid of Children in Need.

The size 1,450 Monster Claw slipper – made following a clerical error between the manufacturer and its Hong Kong factory – is to be sold on eBay as part of the official BBC Children in Need online auction 2011.

The furry novelty footwear has been donated by British company Monster Slippers. Its dimensions are 210cm x 130cm x 65cm and it weighs 16-17 kilos. Measuring the same length as a grizzly bear or a family car, it is currently being assessed by the Guinness Book of World Records to ascertain whether it’s the world’s biggest slipper.

A spokesman for online slipper company Monster Slippers, based in Dunmow, Essex, said: “This is the biggest monster slipper of them all and every single penny raised by the auction will go towards making a positive difference to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people right here in the UK.”

To bid for the slipper and help support Children in Need visit http://tinyurl.com/monsterslippers

Eco Presents For The Ones You Love

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With all the shiny techno toys around, we’re all probably a bit geeky once in a while. But if you have the genuine article on your gift list – someone who’d camp out overnight to get the latest iPhone or who could expound at length on every minor character in the original TV Star Trek – then these snazzy gadgets could bring a teary smile to his – or her – face. Frost got the people from energyrethinking.org to give our readers some gift ideas.

Ten Top Eco Gadget Gifts For Geeks

1. Enviroplug This mobile phone energy saving adaptor fits between the charger and the powerpoint, notices when a phone is fully charged and turns off the useless “vampire drain” of power into the charger. It can save up to 90% of the energy wasted by the charger and about £50 a year.

2. Motion-Activated LED Outdoor Light Very cool, bright solar powered light only switches on when it senses someone about. So the solar charge it has built up all day lasts much longer. And what a surprise to a would be intruder. The five LED bulbs are rated for 30,000 hours.

3.Standby and Remote Starter Kit Leaving devices on standby wastes money, and contributes to carbon emissions. But sometimes, the on off switch at the wall socket is difficult to get to – hidden behind furniture or under beds. Plug in up to 3W worth of devices to this clever standby socket and then turn the power completely off or on by remote control.

4. Ecobutton You’re on the computer and you get an important phone call, or get up to make a cup of tea, or to accept a package for a neighbour. While you’re away from your desk, your computer is still eating up electricity and pumping CO2 into the environment. With this handy USB device, you can put your computer into sleep mode with the touch of a button. And when you wake it up, the Ecobutton software tells you how much money and CO2 you’ve saved, today and to date. Have a look to see how it works:

5. Solar Briefcase It’s called trickle charging. This solar charger looks like a briefcase, but open it up and it’s a generouse sized, two panel solar charger that can produce enough power to top up a car battery while you’re off on holiday, or provide winter maintenance power for a boat or caravan.

6. H2O long life Atomic Clock We love this water powered atomic alarm clock. It runs on water, with perhaps a dash of salt – something to do with electrolytic activity. It displays date, day and temperature, as well as time and is adjusted to the Atomic Radio Signal every day. It’s rated for a refill (a splash from the tap) every two weeks, but some users have reported it still runs perfectly at least a month after filling.

7. H2O Shower Radio The water rushing through your shower powers this H2O radio. And in case you get carried away and take a longer shower than you should, it has a shower timer that fits in line with the showerhead to remind you when enough is enough. And you can still keep singing along because it builds up a charge and continues to run for quite a while. If you want to wait until next year, they’re planning a model that will tell you exactly how much you are spending on your shower.

8. Ventus Spin EcoMedia Player Wind up technology just keeps getting better. Your favorite geeks can listed to all their favourite music, watch dazzling movie clips, tune in to popular FM radio stations, thumb through photo albums, and read text files for up to 45 minutes on the charge from one minute of winding. Plus it will charge a mobile phone. For a longer charge, plug it into a USB computer port for 55 hours of play time.

9. Solar Powered Digital Tyre Pressure Gauge The PowerPlus Pelican Solar Powered Digital Tyre Pressue Gauge helps you maintain correct tyre pressure – essential for safe and fuel efficient driving – even in the dark. It includes a tyre tread depth gauge and a back up battery for a brighter read out at night.

10. Stirling Engine Kit A Stirling engine uses low temperature heat differentials on a volume of gas in an enclosed space. That’s the science part; your Geek will get it. This Stirling Engine kit comes flat packed and it’s almost entirely made of cardboard, except for some laser-cut aluminium and a few PVC ball bearings. It’s fiddly to assemble but will run on a cup of tea or a glass full of melting snow. A really interesting example of engine power without internal combustion.

Eco Christmas Presents for Him http://www.energyrethinking.org/lifestyle-leisure/10-eco-gift-ideas-for-him/ and Her http://www.energyrethinking.org/lifestyle-leisure/10-holiday-eco-gifts-for-her/


10 Green Festive Tips for Christmas

It's Christmas time- there's no need to be afraid.

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I’ve just seen an ad for Littlewoods, or copses as they should be known. It’s your usual fare. Loads of cute kids on stage at a school and the proud parents beaming from the fold-up chairs below. It’s not a nativity of course, god forbid, it’s a singing tribute to how wonderful mums are. Nice? Well not really no, because the song- and there’s even a rap in there to keep it ‘street’, is all about how mum is wonderful for buying just about every consumer electrical gizmo you could imagine that doesn’t begin with an ‘i’.

There’s a laptop and an HTC Android phone. The first kid proudly holds up his X-Box Kinect unit like it’s the ‘fragrances that are also useful in scrabble’ shop’s entire stock of Myrrh.

It ends with a little girl, her ruby cheeks poking out from between the just-closed curtains, reminding us that the mark of a wonderful mum is the quality, measured in expenditure, of her gifts. And that we should, therefore, measure our own maternal love by that scale alone.
The add stops short of having Santa flying overhead trailing a banner from his sleigh that reads, “MONEY = LOVE, don’t forget kids!” But that mantra is sewn, inextricably, into the underpants of every precious, seasonal second.

I’m not against Christmas, contrary to the view of the parent of a child that approached me once and asked if I was Santa’s sister because his mum has said I was ‘Aunty Christmas.’ I love Christmas. I come over all Jimmy Stewart as soon as Summer’s over and I can’t hear the opening bars of ‘Silent Night’ without bursting into tears and wanting to join the Sally Army. I just hate this unnecessary and inexplicable extortion every year.

I don’t have kids, and I’m sure some of you are thinking, “If your wife’s as tight as you are, you never will!” But my sister does. My sister is a single mum with two sons. The eldest is 22 now so his festive focus has fully relocated from under the tree to under the table but his kid brother is 14. Old enough to want everything but too young to care what it costs.

When his mates are all tweeting photos of their new PS3 on their new ipads and running round to his house in their new trainers to make sure he got it because he hasn’t ‘RT’d’ yet, he’s going to hide his market versions- the ‘iPhone’ and the ‘Games Centre Play Console- with 7 game cartridges included!’ And look at my poor sister like she’s picking the last of Santa’s gonads from between her teeth just because she couldn’t get herself into deep enough debt to avoid the emotional scarring a shit present can have on a teenager.

He won’t really because he’s a good kid. He’ll do what I used to do and pretend it’s just as good as the thing you really wanted then find a way to hide it long enough to casually mention you played with it so much it broke, and suffering the inevitable comeback, “That doesn’t just apply to toys you know!”

I still remember desperately faking happiness when the ‘Evil Knievel action figure with interchangeable costumes and multi-trick stunt bike’ I’d asked for turned out to be a small plastic moulded ‘figure-on-bike’ with a big glued seam running down the middle that you revved up and watched career in a short curve into the nearest skirting board. Not to mention picking the stitching from the fourth stripe on my ‘same as Adidas’ trainers before I got to school only to be told by my jeering fellow students, as I knelt down for assembly, that they had different coloured soles- not from genuine Adidas trainers but from each other.

That was nearly 30 years ago. The pressure’s ten times worse now.

Why? Where did this law that you have to spend a couple of hundred quid on gifts come from?
Not the Nativity, that’s for sure. Its been sacked by Littlewoods in favour of ‘Grange Hill does the Ludovico Technique.’ (Google anyone?) And I’m sure Jesus would be spinning in his shroud, if he was still dead, at the thought of his birthday being hijacked by everyone else. Imagine if everyone got presents on your birthday. It’d certainly take the sheen off it I’ll bet, and that’s my point really. Birthdays are personal and they only involve one person.
Mark Twain said, “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” I agree with the first part, although the day I heard my mum say, “by the time I realized it wasn’t wind it was too late,” doesn’t even make my top 100, but you get my point. Presents on birthdays make sense! Let’s just do that shall we?

Here’s what I think we should do: Everyone, at the same time, stand up and say, “There won’t be any presents this Christmas.” Then enjoy a huge sigh of relief and start, for the first time in a long time, to really look forward to the holidays.

It’s important that everyone does it at the same time and sticks to it, which will be hard to organize and even harder to check, and there will be mass disappointment for every child in England but it will pass when they all realize they’re in the same boat and they’re not missing out.

Now imagine the Christmases that will follow. Everyone can just work until the holidays start and then enjoy time with their friends and families. Boyfriends and husbands won’t have to reduce themselves to asking the teenage assistant behind the perfume counter for suggestions because they’ve forgotten what their wife’s favorite is called and EVERYTHING just smells of perfume!

It can feel like a real holiday for a change and, once it’s all over, there won’t be a national depression as everyone spends January skint, cold and about as festive as Scrooge’s warts. Better still, single parents or families that have little or no income won’t have to worry that their kids will hate them and/or get bullied at school. Loan sharks, feeding on the poor and vulnerable in in the less affluent areas of the country, will have to find other ways to ‘help people out till pay day’.

A weight of unnecessary obligation would be lifted from everyone and we would all be no less festive for it.

As for Christmas morning? Imagine getting up (whenever you like- you’re on holiday remember) and strolling downstairs to greet your family with a hearty breakfast and a mulled wine and hugs all round. Elders can talk to youngsters while the crisp winter morning air draws the first flame from the Yule log. Christians can take a moment for silent reflection while the rest of us slap a bit of Slade on and work up an appetite for the largest and best meal of the year. Happy in the knowledge that it’s cost you no more than all the good will and genuine Christmas cheer you can muster.

Sounds great to me.

Guide To The Perfect Secret Santa Gift

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It’s that time of the year. Yes, the one where you have to somehow buy people presents that they won’t hate.

This is even harder, and far more treacherous, when buying for someone at work who you don’t really know. Getting Secret Santa gifts can be a minefield. So here are a few tips and tricks.

1) Do your research.

Think about the personality of the person you are buying for. Are they girlie? Sporty? Metrosexual? Don’t buy Shirley, who loves pink and teddy bears, a war DVD.

2) Go edible.

The best presents are usually edible. No re-gifting, no fake thank you’s, just eating. Hmm, what more could you want? Try and find out if anyone has any allergies or dislikes. Chocolate is a good bet. Or bubble bath.

3) Watch out for allergies or religious beliefs.

Rule out anything offensive or jokey. You never know how someone will take it and you need to work with these people all year. If you don’t get fired.

4) Play it safe.

Scented candles, bath oils, chocolate, a good book. Go for things everyone likes.

5) Be generous.

Don’t be known as the cheap person in the office. It’s always worth spending a few extra pounds and showing some class.

6) But not too generous.

You don’t want to embarrass people, or make the feel they have to reciprocate with something equally expensive. Or worse, think that you fancy them!

And more importantly, have fun!

Pregnancy Rumours Dog Duke And Duchess On UNICEF Visit

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were dogged by pregnancy rumours on their visit to the UNICEF Supply Centre in Copenhagen.

The couple were there to highlight the desperate plight of children in East Africa, but the rumour mills went into overdrive suggesting Kate is pregnant after she refused to eat peanut paste on the Denmark trip.

According to eyewitnesses, Kate gave her husband Prince William ‘a knowing look’ as he tucked in. ABC news reported that Buckingham Palace ‘went out of their way to stress that she has no nut allergy whatsoever.’ The Palace denied Kate was pregnant saying that they would have announced it and ‘not some gossip magazine’.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made a special visit to the UNICEF global supply centre ito help maintain the world’s attention on the humanitarian crisis in East Africa, which has left more than 320,000 children so severely malnourished that they are at imminent risk of death unless they get urgent help.

UNICEF’s Copenhagen supply centre includes a warehouse the size of three football pitches where essential supplies for children around the globe are sourced, packed and distributed. These include food, water, special nutritional supplies for the most malnourished children, vaccines, education materials and emergency medical kits.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were accompanied on the visit by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark and were welcomed by Shanelle Hall, Director of UNICEF’s Supply Centre. The Duchess and Crown Princess were given flowers by Amanda Kofoed and Maryam Abdullah, both 10 years old, who are children of UNICEF staff.

Both couples then received a briefing on the desperate situation in the region from Peter Hailey, Chief of Nutrition for UNICEF in Somalia. He told them about the reality for many children and their parents, who often have to walk for 25 days to find food.

They met four packing staff who showed them how different medical provisions – including essential medicines and emergency surgical equipment – are packed. Both Royal couples joined the staff on the production line and helped to pack boxes of emergency health kits, each of which will provide life-saving supplies to over 1,000 people.

Both couples then toured the warehouse, seeing the huge variety of supplies that are sent to emergencies around the world, including ready-to-use therapeutic food for severely malnourished children under five years old and supplementary food to support-families, emergency health kits, vaccines and water supplies including water purification tablets.

At the end of their visit, the Duke of Cambridge said: “An incredible amount is being done. UNICEF is leading the way and doing a fantastic job, but sadly there’s lots more still to do, and that’s why we’re here today.”

The Duchess talked more about the purpose of their visit, saying: “We really hope to put the spotlight back on this crisis.” The Duke then added a heartfelt appeal: “Anyone who can do anything to help, please do.”

Both went on to Copenhagen Airport to see the supplies being loaded onto flights provided by British Airways and UPS, bound for Nairobi.

Since the visit of both Royal couples to UNICEF’s Supply Centre was announced on 26 October, UNICEF has already seen a huge response to the appeal for donations to the emergency.

Shanelle Hall commented: “It has been wonderful to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark to UNICEF’s Supply Centre and to show them the scale of the vital operation delivering supplies to malnourished children and their families. Their visit has already helped to draw the world’s attention back to the scale of the current crisis and we hope it will help us to raise the resources needed to continue our work in the region.”

To respond to the remaining needs of children in East Africa for 2011, UNICEF still requires US$40 million. The financial needs for 2012 are US$402.8 million, including US$300 million for UNICEF Somalia, to ensure that provision of life-saving therapeutic and supplementary feeding can continue.

To donate to the East Africa Appeal please visit www.eastafricacrisis.org or, in the UK, text ‘LIFE’ to 70800 to make a £10 donation or call 0800 037 9797

An Alternative To Ebay?

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Ebay may have a stonghold, but now there are other ways to turn your old CDs, DVDs and games into cash.

TurnIntoCash.com is a new, free to use website that allows users to get cash for old unwanted discs without the hassle of an auction.

The Manchester-based company was founded by Rob Fox and Pete Petrondas, the team that developed the first ever cash for old mobiles website over eight years ago. It aims to give users the highest possible quality of service, while being more convenient to use than traditional auction websites.

Those looking to sell old CDs, DVDs and games simply enter the item barcode into the TurnIntoCash.com website for an instant valuation. When they have built up their trade (10 items) they are emailed Freepost labels or if they have 45 or more items, offered a free courier collection service. Payment for the old items is sent within seven days of receipt.

The TurnIntoCash.com system has been developed to provide a valuation for hundreds of thousands of CDs, DVDs and games including newer Blu Ray discs.

There is no limit on the number of items a user can trade-in and the amount offered ranges from 30p up to £10 depending on a number of factors including type, age, popularity and demand of the items. Old discs collected through TurnIntoCash.com are refurbished with new disc cases or by polishing out damage prior to resale worldwide. Items that cannot be resold are recycled responsibly.

“Users are always looking for ease, convenience and the highest possible quality of service, so we have made sure that quality is at the heart of our unique valuation and trade tracking system, “ commented Fox. “Our system regularly communicates with the user telling them what stage their trade-in is at, and, as our system tracks each item of their trade individually, we can tell them exactly the status of each item ensuring they receive their payment as quickly as possible with no delays.”

“If people want to sell their old CDs, DVDs and games they have a number of choices from car boot sales to auction websites, but because we have considered the user from day one, we think TurnintoCash.com will be first on their list in the future, “ concluded Fox.

 

 

Collars & Coats gala ball To Celebrate 151 Years Of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

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Collars & Coats gala ball

This year to celebrate the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home 151st anniversary, some of the biggest names in fashion have come out in force to show their support for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and its prestigious annual fundraising event The Collars & Coats Gala Ball, taking place on 11th November 2011 at Battersea Evolution.

Prada, Mui Mui, Oliver Goldsmith, Grace Woodward and Matthew Williamson are just some of the designers who are in support of this glamorous event and have donated exclusive gifts for the auction prizes. Items such as beautiful handbags, sunglasses, boots, exotic holidays and spa treatments will be up for grabs at one of the biggest events in the London calendar.

Please find information below for the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home’s prestigious annual event COLLARS & COATS GALA BALL 2011:

EVENT: Collars & Coats Gala Ball

DATE: Friday, 11th of November, 2011

VENUE: Battersea Evolution, Chelsea Bridge Entrance, Battersea Park, London, SW11 4NJ

ABOUT: The Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is organizing its prestigious annual fundraising event the COLLARS & COATS GALA BALL in the presence of the Home’s President, HRH Prince Michael of Kent GCVO.

This spectacular night of glitz, glamour and high octane entertainment will, once again, be one of the biggest events in London’s calendar, supported by a high end national press and broadcast campaign and media attendance. In line with the stature of the event, the Collars & Coats Gala Ball attracts an extremely distinguished and influential list of guests, spanning ultra-high net worth individuals, British Aristocrats, Royalty, FTSE 100 corporates, VIPs and socialites, public figures and A-List international celebrities from film, music, art, literature, popular culture and sports, making the event an excellent corporate hospitality and networking occasion.

Last year Catherine Tate, Amanda Holden, Alexandra Burke, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, GCVO, Roger Daltrey CBE, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Patti Russo, Craig Revel Horwood, Jeremy Hackett, and Mark Foster were among the high profile guests who helped to raise vital funds to help the home continue it’s work with stray, abandoned and neglected animals(please see attached images). Previous attendee’s and supporters include Simon Cowell and Dame Judy Dench.

Limited tables and bespoke brand sponsorship opportunities available.

TICKET/TABLES: Silver Package: £3500 for a table of 10. (individual tickets at £350)

Gold Package: £5000 for a table of 10. (Individual tickets at £500)

Platinum Package: £10000 for a table of 10. (Individual tickets at £1000)

TO BOOK: Sterling Media: Tel: 020 7801 0077. Email: natasha@sterlingmedia.co.uk