Love and Facebook

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Heartbroken men take four weeks to change their Facebook status following a break-up – while women do so almost straight away, it has emerged.

The majority of fellas (63 per cent) “prolong the misery” of updating their profile from ‘In a Relationship’ to ‘Single’ for a month or more, while some (eight per cent) fail to do so at all.

If and when they do, only a third admits if they were dumped – and even fewer (15 per cent) reveal the reasons why.

Women, on the other hand, tend to ‘go public’ within a few days, often with a new description and photograph to reflect their “happy single” status.

The study by new dating site ALovingSpace.com was based on a survey of 1,000 unmarried 18-65 year-old male and female members across the UK.

It found that male respondents generally coped with splits far worse than women, and were more likely to bottle-up their emotions and “present a tougher front” to pals.

Almost 20 per cent of female respondents, on the other hand, admitted they had or would change their social media profiles immediately – often in order to hurt or humiliate their ex-partners.

A spokesman for ALovingSpace.com said he was “not surprised” about the results, which appear to overturn the widespread assumption that women are more vulnerable after a break-up.

“On the face of it, men are the tough talkers and the ones who present a tougher front but that is just societal conditioning. Behind the façade they hurt just like women, but because they suppress their emotions it ends up hurting even more,” he said.

“Our research appears to suggest that men are hit the hardest by relationship break-ups and, as a result, prolong the misery of telling the world about it on social media platforms such as Facebook.

“Women, on the other hand, seem to see things in a more positive light, viewing a break-up as an opportunity to move on and find someone who they are more compatible with.”

Earlier this year, disagreements about money was named as one of the biggest causes of relationship breakdowns in the UK.

Figures showed that just under 60 per cent of single people blamed money for the split, compared to 21 per cent for infidelity.

Some 17 per cent said they had fallen out of love, and 15 per cent said work had got in the way of their relationship.

A spokesman for AlovingSpace.com – which adapts ancient and modern wisdom, including psychological astrology, to help members find a partner and become more self-aware – said a “significant proportion” of relationships break down because couples enter into “shallow” partnerships based purely on looks and “compatibility”.

He added: “Don’t get me wrong, compatibility is nice because it provides a measure of comfort. It’s a component we consider carefully when matching our members. However, it really has very little to do with self-awareness and good relating. Lots of people are completely compatible on paper but when it comes to being in a partnership it doesn’t actually help them at all.

“There is no question that relationship breakdowns cause an immense amount of heartache for all involved. The purpose of ALovingSpace.com is to minimise this heartache by making it incredibly simple for people to meet a new partner and giving them the tools to help them better understand themselves and each other.”

The Sitter Film Review

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I love Johan Hill. It doesn’t really matter what he is saying, but the way he says it. I think he is a comedic genius. He very much deserves this lead role.

 

Hill plays a lovable loser. He is in love with a girl who uses him, and still lives at home with his mum. He has failed in life but his heart is in the right place. He agrees to babysit three spoilt children, each with their own problems, so his mother can go on a date. This isn’t a film to watch with your parents (the opening alone is not for a child’s eyes). It is quite adult but kooky and funny enough for me not to get upset when it was a little rude or crude (something I’m not a fan of). Hill also plays subtle drama well, the scene where he goes to visit the father who left the family home for a younger women and had another family is played perfectly.

 

Sam Rockwell is great in everything he does, and in this he plays a psycho drug dealer. The three kids in the movie are great too. The acting and the script are all good.

 

I really liked this film and I’m giving it four stars. I dare you to go see it and not laugh.

 

Women reassured with safe alternative to breast implants

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Externally worn breast forms are never dangerous, says world leader in breast care

 

Women concerned about the recent health scares over the controversial PIP breast implants can rest assured that the silicone used to manufacture its externally worn prostheses will never pose any danger to health, says world-leading manufacturer of prosthetic breast forms, Amoena.

 

Amoena manufactures silicone breast forms, a globally recognised medical device worn in the cup of a bra to replace a woman’s breast once she has undergone breast cancer surgery.

 

In the UK, around 48,000 new incidences of breast cancer are diagnosed each year*, with most women undergoing breast surgery as part of their treatment.  Many use a prosthetic breast to restore their appearance and provide the balance that helps prevent postural problems, although surgical solutions, such as breast reconstruction, are on the increase.

 

However, while women may be concerned about possible risks associated with surgical procedures, there is never any danger of health scares if women use an externally worn prosthesis.

Amoena invented the externally worn silicone breast form in 1975, revolutionising the level of post-operative care that was offered to women following breast cancer surgery.

 

“Since then we have dedicated ourselves to research and development,” explains Helmut Wild, vice president of research and development at Amoena, “working closely with medical specialists and breast-operated women to ensure that we incorporate the latest technology into our designs.  The result is innovative breast forms of the highest quality.”

 

One of these innovations offers women a realistic alternative to breast reconstruction.  The Amoena Contact breast form adheres directly to a woman’s chest wall and stays securely in place all day long.  “Contact looks, feels and behaves just like a real breast,” says Wild.  “It offers women the freedom of movement and the choice in clothes and lingerie that they had before surgery.  We’ve had feedback from thousands of delighted customers, telling us that it has quite literally changed their lives.”

 

Over the decades Amoena has established manufacturing processes that produce the most durable, skin-friendly, lifelike breast forms in the industry.  “For a woman who has suffered the trauma of breast cancer, our breast forms are the closest thing to a real breast,” says Wild.  “And our state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and patented processes ensure that her safety is paramount and her peace of mind is assured.”

 

As long ago as 1992, Amoena was the first breast prosthesis manufacturer in the world to set up a certified quality management system that conformed to BS5750/2, the internationally recognised quality standard at the time.

 

“Today’s standard for medical device manufacturing is ISO13485, and our rigorous quality management process ensures that we remain fully compliant today,” continues Wild.

 

“Each Amoena breast form is certified as a medical device globally, which requires biocompatibility testing according to international standards, to ensure that materials coming into contact with the skin are completely safe, non-toxic and non-irritant.”

 

“Only the very best materials are considered after passing our intensive testing in production conditions and fulfilling all biocompatibility requirements. Amoena has the widest experience in producing silicone breast forms, the highest number of product and process patents and we have developed our own bespoke production technology that ensures rigorous end-to-end quality control.”

Wild concludes:  “I think it’s important to emphasise that no external breast form poses any health risk whatsoever to the women who wear them.  For women who have suffered the trauma of a breast cancer diagnosis, and who do not want to undergo further surgery, we are pleased to be able to provide a solution that is totally safe and of the very highest quality.  It’s a reassuring and realistic solution at what is undoubtedly a very stressful time in any woman’s life.”

 

* Based on figures for 2008, published by Cancer Research UK – www.cancerresearchuk.org

A Tribute to Adonis

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First U.K solo exhibition of art works by great Syrian poet

3 February – 30 March 2012                                                          

The Mosaic Rooms, 226 Cromwell Road, London, SW5 0SW

 

‘His vision is extraordinary. His poetry sublime… He is for me a master of our times’ V.S. Naipaul

 

The Mosaic Rooms is delighted to announce for 2012 a tribute to the Arab world’s greatest living poet, Adonis. From February to March 2012, the Mosaic Rooms will host an exhibition of Adonis’ exquisite drawings alongside a series of literary events celebrating his life, poetry and criticism. This is the first solo exhibition of Adonis’ artwork in the United Kingdom.

 

Adonis, who is now in his eighties, has been painting and creating works of art for the past 12 years. His pictorial pieces are beautiful collages, made up of rags, yarn, fabric, documents, ancient papyri, used cans, and other found objects that have inspired him. By unifying these materials which belong to different cultures, Adonis aims to give sense to objects that have previously had no significance.

 

Each collage has a background of Arabic writing, not only used because it is Adonis’ native language, but also because he considers the language to have an exceptional graphic quality. Through his art work Adonis demonstrates the beauty of the Arabic language, both in its musicality and also in its literal written form. ‘The written word’, he says, ‘is a picture in itself’.

 

The Italian artist Marco Nereo Rotelli has previously described Adonis’ artworks as being ‘like a short story told in an instant.’ Adonis himself considers the pieces to be an extension of his poetry, defining his art work as poems but in a different form.

 

Winner of the 2011 Goethe Prize and a favourite for last year’s Nobel Prize for Literature, Adonis is recognised as the man who led the modernist movement in the Arabic literary scene in the past 50 years and brought Arabic poetry the international recognition it deserved. He is also famous for his critical views on Arab culture, politics and current affairs and even today, at 81years of age, he retains his fresh and critical outlook on the events in his homeland, attracting controversy and debate because of his cautionary and critical worlds on the Arab Spring.

ADONIS: A BIOGRAPHY

 

Adonis was born Ali Ahmad Said Esber near the city of Latakia, western Syria, in 1930. He had no formal education for most of his childhood, learning the Quran at the local mosque school and memorising classical Arabic poetry, to which he was introduced by his father. His formal education began after he impressed the then President of Syria as a teenager by reciting one of his poems. He was given a scholarship to a French lycée and went on to study philosophy at Damascus University.

 

In 1956, he was forced to leave Syria after being imprisoned following his involvement with the Syrian National Socialist Party. He moved to Beirut, Lebanon, and, together with Yusuf al-Khal, set up the legendary Shi’r (Poetry) magazine, one of the Arab world’s most influential literary journals. Adonis then studied in Paris before returning to Beirut and taking up a post teaching Arabic Literature. In 1982, he and his family relocated to Paris as a result of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and they have remained there until this day.

 

Adonis’ work includes over 50 books of poetry, criticism and translation in his native Arabic. His multi-volume anthology of Arabic poetry (Diwan al-shi’r al-‘arabi) covers almost two millennia of verse. He has also translated a number of works into Arabic, including the first complete Arabic translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (2002). He has won several awards, including the Goethe Prize in 2011, and has been shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Literature a number of times.

 

Frost's Guide to Twitter

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In the past few years twitter has entrenched itself into our everyday lives. It is how I found out Kate Middleton was to marry Prince William, and that Christopher Hitchens had died. Twitter is now how most people get their news. It is also a brilliant marketing tool. No matter what you do with your life, you can improve your career and be in contact with people from all around the world. So here is a guide to getting and keeping followers, with a few facts thrown in.

Go for quality, not quantity.

Some people may have thousands of followers, but they may be spammers or may have paid for them. (Buying followers is against twitters terms and conditions.)

Try to not get upset when people unfollow you

It is usually not personal. Maybe you retweet too much, maybe they are just following too many people. It has nothing to do with you as a person. Just unfollow them back, unless they are incredibly interesting.

Add your photo and professional details to twitter. People are more likely to follow you if they know a bit about you.Brevity is the soul of wit and even more important on Twitter. You only have 140 characters to get your point across. It is a good skill to have.

Twitter has more than 100 million global active users according to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo

Think of all of those people you can be connected too! The internet has made the world more democratic, and twitter has played it’s part in that.

Hash tags

Which is this: # (to get a hash tag on a Mac Alt + 3 = #) This creates, in twitters words, a ‘global conversation’ that everyone can follow.

Put a follow button on your blog or website

Remember, you can only direct message people who follow you, and they can only do the same if you are following them.

    • Interact with people.
    • Follow people. They might follow you back. You can follow 2,000 people initially, more if you have over 2000 followers.
    • Be worth following.
    • Have a good avatar. A picture of yourself is good.
    • Have a good bio. Keep it short and interesting.
    • Post interesting stories. Add links to articles you enjoyed reading.
    • Add yourself to directories like Wefollow.com
    • Get your friends to follow you.
    • Add your twitter to the signature in your email.
    • Don’t worry if it seems to be taking a while. You’re twitter will grow.
    • Be interesting- That is the most important thing. If you are interesting people will follow you.
    • Have a niche; tweet about a specific thing. You can grow your business and become an expert in your field.
    • Join Klout.
    • Don’t buy twitter followers. This might look good but what you want is engaged followers.
    • Don’t constantly retweet.
    • Don’t tweet all the time. If you clog up someone else’s feed then they will probably unfollow you.
    • Don’t be offensive. Have your opinion but respect other peoples.
    • Respond to people.
    • Follow other people in your field.
    • Tweet regularly. Three times a day is fine.
    • Remember that things came across differently in print. Sarcasm and humour can be taken seriously.
    • Watch out for spam. Change your password and don’t click on links from people you don’t know.
    • Be relevant.
    • Don’t try to please everyone. You have to have an opinion or you will not be interesting.

Of the 100 million global active users, half of them log in daily. “We had 30% of our monthly active users login in every day at the beginning of the year. Now it’s over 50%,” Costolo revealed.
200 million tweets a day in June 2011.
There are one million registered twitter apps. 750,000 developers
People who joined Twitter in 2011 include Nelson Mandela, Joe Biden, Zac Goldsmith, Salman Rushdie, Rupert Murdoch and the Pope.

  • Thirty-five global heads of state use Twitter
  • In 2011 Twitter had 65 million Tweets a day. They have over 200 million Tweets per day.
  • Twitter accounts are rarely hacked but Twitter advises the following for security of your account;
  • Use a strong password with at least 10 characters and a combination of letters, numbers and other characters for your Twitter account. And use a unique password for each website you use (email, banking, etc.); that way, if one account gets compromised, the rest are safe. A personal email account that’s compromised is the second most likely way an intruder gains access to Twitter accounts.
  • Use HTTPS for improved security on Twitter.
  • We recommend linking your phone to your Twitter account. Doing this could save your account if you lose control of your personal email and/or password. Here’s how to do it.
  • If you think your account has been compromised, visit our help page for compromised accounts to find out how to fix it quickly.
  • Twitter post regularly about safety and security at @safety.
  • Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said Twitter has 100 million global active users, of those 100 million global active users, half of them log in daily. “We had 30% of our monthly active users login in every day at the beginning of the year. Now it’s over 50%,” Costolo revealed.
  • Twitter had 200 million tweets a day in June 2011.
  • Do not unfollow people right after you follow them. Wait five days or Twitter might think you are a spammer.
  • Half of Twitter users log in every day.
  • 55% of Twitter users are mobile users.

Forty percent of Twitter users do not Tweet, or haven’t Tweeted in the past 30 days.

Frost’s Top People to Follow

Salman Rushdie

Jack of Kent

Zac Goldsmith

Mark Hillary

Alain De Botton

Frost Magazine, Obviously.

Me!

Movie Scope

Hillsborough Documentary Maker

Nancy Bishop

Rupert Murdoch

 

London Fashion Week Casting

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Fashion Models of ALL Nationalities Needed for London Fashion Week Show

Fashions Finest Season 3 official off schedule London Fashion Week show will be taking place on the 18 & 19 February. FF LFW are looking for high fashion catwalk/runway models to participate during these special Olympic year shows.

Show Requirements:

· MUST be able to model for BOTH days (18 & 19 February) and will be required for two full days

· This is an UNPAID role, models will be fed, provided with pictures (by email), participate in a London Fashion Week show for international designers

· Women – minimum height is 5.8 and for men minimum height is 5.11

CASTING INFORMATION:

· Casting Date: Friday 20 January

· Casting Time: is at 7 pm sharp

· Casting Address: Sewing Room, Rag Factory, 16 Heneage Street London E1 5LJ

· Models (male & female): must wear blue or black jeans and a tight fitting white T shirt or shirt

· Female models must wear or bring high BLACK stiletto heels (no boots or wedges

· Must bring a picture that they will leave behind (it will not be returned) and they will be required to complete a form which means you must know your accurate statistics

To confirm your attendance please like our Fashions Finest Facebook page

Further Information:
Learn all about the fashion world with the Guide to Online Schools.

Kate Adjike launches scheme to help young London gang members out of crime

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Kidulthood actress, model and singer Kate Adjike launches UK’s first scheme to help young London gang members out of crime through performing arts.

Gang members from across the Capital are being offered the “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to escape a life of crime…and appear on the Big Screen.

From today, troubled teens will be offered free lessons in singing and performance arts as part of a new charitable initiative.

They will receive 10 hour-long sessions with trained professionals where they can hone their dancing, singing and acting skills.

The most promising students will be promoted to the UK’s TV and film industry, and to theatre producers in the West End.

No qualifications are needed, but students must show a “willingness to learn and a passion for acting”.

The pioneering scheme – the first of its kind in the world – launches at Battersea-based performance arts centre, The Kate Academy, next month.

Its owner Kate Ajike hopes to help youngsters escape a life of “violence, crime and despair” by introducing them to the “beautiful arts”.

Speaking yesterday Ajike, the star of 2006 British film Kidulthood, said: “This scheme is about helping some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

“I am not for a moment condoning their behaviour, but I do understand how incredibly desperate many of these young people are.

“The vast majority do not have a way out of a life of crime, despite a genuine desire to do something with their lives.”

Ajike, a philanthropist who launched Kate Academy in 2007, added: “It is my hope that we can help a small proportion of these people – the diamonds in the rough, so to speak – and catapult them into a good, honest life in the arts.”

The scheme is open to all youngsters in London aged between 16 and 25 – including those responsible for the August riots – but only five places will be available each year.

Ajike said she hopes to help up to 500 gang members in the next few years, adding: “This is a last-chance saloon – the once-in-a-lifetime chance for gang members to escape a life of violence, drugs and street crime.”

To apply to The Kate Academy visit www.kateacademy.org.uk/apply, email hello@kateacademy.org.uk, or call 0203 4896574/ 07983 734668.

Londoner's LIfe 21 – By Phil Ryan

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The big sleep is over and now we begin to take stock of the year ahead. And for Londoners the hardest thing to come to immediate terms with are the usual high price rises on the tubes, trains and buses. It now being cheaper to travel in London by car! Honestly I worked it out. 2 people in a car popping across to say Camberwell (not of course via the congestion charge zone that’s only for the super-rich and white van drivers). Not very green I’ll grant you but very nice. Comfortable and clean. You get to listen to your own music and not the tinny wasp farting noises from the headphones of the JB sports clad gimp in the hoodie glaring at his iphone from a seat saying for pregnant ladies and the elderly. In an average sized car you shouldn’t use more than a fivers worth of fuel per trip. Cheaper than two Oyster card worth of trips. Of course there are a few drawbacks to this concept. Thanks to Camden and Westminster Councils whose Chief Executive Officers are more like Afghan warlords than public servants nowadays you can’t stop easily. Not without facing the ludicrous parking charges and restrictions they so delight in inflicting on us AFTER public consultations. Where are these public consultations? We had one in Camden once about the greatest con trick of all – the dreaded Residents Permits (or a tax to use your own street every year). The Council sent out a questionnaire using hysterically loaded questions. DO YOU WANT STRANGERS FILLING YOUR STREETS AND RAPING YOUR FAMILY? Tick A or B. You know the sort of lies they use. A bit like the new green re-cycling madness. I now have SIX bins. I’m not making this up. Everyday some trucks trundle up and down my street taking away stuff. It’s getting very specific. I saw a bin by a bus stop that said only suitable for 18th century manuscript paper with a picture of Jane Austen on it for the hard of hearing.

But in an Olympic year my favourite new London game is spotting the very tenuous Olympic links everyone is using to push prices up. Of course top of the charts are those soulless parasites the London estate agents. Every borough I’ve been in recently apparently is perfect to access the Olympic stadium from according to estate agents boards and ads. Including far flung spots like Barnet, Roehampton and Ilford presumably viewing the Olympic Park by radio telescope. Of course there are those local areas directly around the stadiums who are also twinned with Helmand Province in the safety stakes which they handily fail to point out! I’ve also realised the prices going up now will presumably not fall afterwards despite the fools and suckers buying an overpriced flat to see a waste of money that only lasts a month. That’s property in London I guess. But many new terrorized folk will at least be able to shuffle around the Stratford Westfield shopping centre or take in the empty velodrome. The great legacy is getting vaguer. But the areas are certainly being built up. Mainly ‘so called ‘luxury’ apartments with names like The Point, The Wave and The Shoe Box (I made the last one up) But take a wander around Canning Town station to see the ghastly rabbit hutches being thrown up left right and centre. With ceiling heights too low for the average hobbit and walls thinner than a cream cracker these ‘architect designed’ monstrosities will presumably fill up quicker than Cheryl Cole at her next sacking. And bizarrely they all have tiny balconies allowing them to see other people on their tiny balconies. Just a sample of the new examples of the wonderful ‘design’ we can expect over the coming property developers feeding frenzy Olympic year.

And on the subject of London’s ever changing design I have to say the new layouts around Exhibition Road in South Kensington are just very surreal. Apparently it’s all based on a Dutch concept of ‘space sharing’. In plain speak it means ripping up the pavement, covering the surfaces of the roads and streets with curious red and white flat cobblestones and then letting pedestrians ‘share’ the road space with cars. It’s akin to the way that South Africans ‘share’ the coast line with Great White Sharks. I was having tea in Le Pain Quotidien amusing myself by watching baffled tourists soiling themselves as various Buses and cars apparently mounted the side streets they were walking along and chased them. Window shopping suddenly stopped being ‘charming’ instead becoming a kind of game of chicken. It’s a very nice concept. A bit like socialism. But in practice it turns a quiet stroll into a dice with death. Very exhilarating I’m sure but not great for the terminally nervous. And as for the locals do they like it. No not really I was told. But did they care? No not really. It’s a London thing.