“Silver White Winters That Melt Into Springs”

…these are a few of my favourite things. In a week where Britain’s icy climes have finally been blessed with some blue skies and (dare I mention it) sunshine, we have seen the Oscars (Jean Dujardin, you look even better in colour) and a leap year that left many males quaking in their boots (favourite quote from the 29th goes to my friend’s boyfriend: “I’m not speaking to you today because it’s a leap year and you’re rather rash”). Charming! Please read on for a selection of the bizarre and the brilliant over the past seven days…

@AngiesRightLeg

Oscars week always garners a lot of column inches, but it’s fairly safe to assume that the majority of these will be assigned to the usual suspects; award-winning films, plunging necklines, appalling gags from a beleaguered host and the annual awkward tearful speech. But this year the press had their headlines before the awards even started: enter Angelina Jolie’s infamous right leg…

Hysteria on this level has not been witnessed since Pippa Middleton’s backside slinked up the steps of Westminster Abbey triggering a global jaw-drop. At the time of writing, “the leg” has a Twitter following of over 47,000 and, having beaten off stiff competition from Bradley Cooper’s moustache (@CoopersMustache) and Jennifer Lopez’s nipple (@JLosNipple), is living out its fifteen minutes of fame.

It’s only a matter of time before the left leg experiences it’s own share of the success…

It’s Human-Nature

Do trees that multitask as streetlights sound utterly ridiculous? Well, they’re not. Scientists in Taiwan have developed technology that allow leaves to emit a luminescent glow. (For those of you who speak science, this involves infusing the Bacopa Caroliniana plant with gold nanoparticles, causing the chlorophyll to produce a reddish luminescence which creates a phenomenon known as bio-LED.) The project’s supporters argue that this could actually protect the environment as the glowing trees reduce light pollution, save energy and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 24 hours a day. Winner.

If that captures your attention then maybe you’ll also be interested in the multi-coloured tulip and tattooed goldfish? The latter is in high demand in countries such as China where prices are sky rocketing.

Galaxy Playdough

I spent many a childhood afternoon using playdough to make everything from smiley faces to spaghetti. Times have changed; enter Galaxy Playdough. Craft blog Fairy Dust Teaching recommends adding black and blue food colouring along with a spattering of glitter to your homemade mixture to create a magical, starry effect that will have kids entertained for hours.

Trailer For Every Oscar-Winning Movie Ever

Ever wondered what it takes to sweep the board at the Oscars? If you’re a budding writer/director/producer/actor, the folks at BriTANicK.com have done all the hard work for you and compiled a showcase of what it takes, admittedly with their tongues firmly in their cheeks. From the “introduction of a character suffering from the most topical disability of the present year” to the “inspiring final lines of a speech that douche-bags will quote in their Facebook profiles”, this trailer covers every base. Don’t forget to “laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh”…

 And Finally…

… I challenge you not to be cheered by these:

“Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String”

…”These are a few of my favourite things.”  If you’ve landed on this page seeking procrastination, then please read on for a pick ‘n’ mix from the worlds of culture, news, fashion and food over the past week.

Food On My Dog 

The latest blog to capture the imagination of the blogosphere has to be Food On My Dog. The concept is all in the title and the pictures are hysterical. Tiger, the star of the show, is a staffordshire bull terrior, who specialises in balancing a variety of culinary delights on his head. Thanks to his owner Andrew Small’s daily offerings, Tiger is fast becoming an internet sensation after receiving over half a million hits and, should you have a desire to witness your favourite snack photographed, you can even send in a request. Any fears that Tiger is being unfairly treated are swiftly dismissed by his owner who insists “he hasn’t complained yet.” By the look of things he’s having a great time…

DID YOU KNOW Mugs

Whoever thought to combine facts and tea is a genius. This range of six ‘Did You Know’ mugs, each priced at £7.99, provides interesting facts to brighten up your tea breaks. DID YOU KNOW that dogs, like humans, are either right or left handed? Bet you didn’t.

Luminescent Waves at La Jolla Beach, San Diego

You may look at this image and assume it’s been photoshopped, that waves glowing an electric blue is simply not possible, but scroll down to the video below and you’ll realise that this phenomenon is 100% natural. La Jolla beach in San Diego is one of several coastlines around the world that host a phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum, causing an algae bloom known locally as “Red Tide” due to the reddish-brown appearance of the water during the day. Maybe not ideal for sunseekers but, come nightfall, visitors are treated to a spectacular light show as crashing waves are illuminated a vivid blue, attracting photographers, surfers (see below) and tourists from around the world.

Sweet and Salt Popcorn

I’m admittedly a little slow on the uptake with this one. For anyone who’s ever struggled with the decision between sweet and salted popcorn, try Pret A Manger’s ingenious fusion of both flavours for a treat that is guaranteed to get your tastebuds tingling. And to top it off they’re only 123 calories, allowing you to snack away guilt-free.

Prada’s Hot Rod Heels

I do not pretend to be an authority on fashion but these are something pretty special. Prada’s S/S 2012 range of “hot rod” heels turn American tailfin cars – 1950s eat your heart out – into a thing of beauty. From the collection’s bold Cadillac-based colours  to the shoes’ flame-sculpted instep and exhaust pipe heels, throw on your leather jacket and channel the T-Birds for a spot of Grease Lightning (if you can afford the hefty price tag…)

Massaging Slippers

For £70 these may be a little self-indulgent but the idea of an inbuilt foot massager in a pair of slippers sounds rather perfect to me. Magnetic insoles work to sooth and gently massage the base of your foot, aiding circulation and relaxing your body at the end of a hard working day. The slippers are made by Holistic Silk and come in a variety of colours and patterns for both male and female wearers.

Les Mis: The Movie

Everyone is talking about director Tom Hooper’s upcoming adaptation of the classic Victor Hugo novel Les Miserables. The story of Jean Valjean has already garnered fame as a musical thanks to its 26 year run in the West End and with filming due to start in March 2012, and a release date set for December 7th, it has cemented its place as one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year. The latest twist in the tale is the casting of West End star Samantha Barks. Her fairytale success story recently made headlines when the film’s producer, Cameron Mackintosh, surprised her during the curtain call of her nationwide tour of Oliver! to confirm that she had been cast as Eponine, beating off competition from Hollywood heavyweights Taylor Swift, Lea Michelle and Scarlett Johansson. I think this picture says it all…

And Finally…

Meet Stephen Fry’s nephew, George, who has learnt the hard way never to fall asleep at the table.

DID YOU KNOW… 22 of the best facts EVER. Fact.

I have a firm belief in the power of the fact. Many a close friend, in a time of need (or boredom), has been subjected to an often lengthy text packed full of the very best of my factual repertoire. A nugget of irrelevant information may not aid revision or quicken a mind-numbing car journey but it does have the ability to absorb one’s attention, to even capture one’s imagination, for a few crucial minutes. In a time of sadness or strife, a moment’s distraction can provide a welcome respite; who doesn’t get a fleeting enjoyment from the fact that Wayne Allwine, the actor who voiced Micky Mouse for over 30 years, was married to Russi Taylor, the actress who played Minnie! So in homage to my love of facts, here are a few of my favourites to brighten up your day:

DID YOU KNOW…

Elton John does not own a mobile phone. (?)

The average Briton suffers 726 hangovers in a lifetime. (?)

 There are only two beret factories left in France. (?)

 More than 90% of UK schoolchildren study Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck. (?)

Apple has more cash to spend than the United States government. (?)

 The US only got its first roundabout in 1990, in Nevada. (?)

Singing sparrows are actually trading insults. (?)

 The Queen’s swans get flu jabs. (?) 

 A rare version of God Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols is the most valuable record of all time. (?)

Letters addressed to Kabul include directions – there are few street names and numbers, and no postcodes. (?)

Rival rugby teams face a fine if they stray over the half-way line while the All Blacks perform the haka. (?)

Jimmy Savile and Margaret Thatcher spent New Year’s Eve together eleven years in a row. (?)

The girl on the classic British road sign ‘children going to or from school’ is based on a school photo of its designer Margaret Calvert. (?)

CDs were designed to be 12cm (4.8 inches) in diameter, because it provided sufficient capacity at 75 minutes to store all of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. (?)

Red-haired donors are being turned away by the world’s largest sperm bank because there is a lack of demand for their ‘product’. (?)

Meerkats have family ‘traditions’ that are passed down through generations. (?)

Twenty babies born in the UK since World War II have been named Adolf. (?)

 Houmous comes in pizza, peanut butter and chocolate mousse flavours in the US. (?)

 There are 16 amateur superheroes patrolling UK streets at night. (?)

 The penguin on Penguin books was named Frostie after one of the editors at the publishing house. (?)

 David Beckham’s wife Victoria is named ‘Posh’ in his mobile phone. (?)

Each of us has at least 100 new mutations in our DNA. (?)

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What To Expect In 2012…

2011 – in the words of the BBC, “The Year When A Lot Happened“. Few would have predicted the domino-effect in the Arab world, the deaths of Bin Laden and Gaddafi were not without surprise, and Amy Winehouse’s tragic demise, whilst long prophesied was still a shock to her legion of fans. A summer of rioting against the backdrop of a looming ‘double-dip’ recession were not the dizzying heights many of us hoped our country would reach this past year. So to lighten the mood here are a string of cultural treats to look forward to in 2012…

The Year of the Bard

To coincide with this year’s Olympics, the World Shakespeare Festival launches on April 23rd (the anniversary of the great man’s birth AND death), continuing into September and including a series of new adaptions of some of his classics (check out hot-to-trot Douglas Booth and Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick in Romeo and Juliet). You can also look forward to each of his 38 plays performed in a different language, so if you fancy hearing companies from around the world reciting The Taming of the Shrew in Urdu or Titus Andronicus in Cantonese then head to The Globe theatre for a celebration of everything Shakespeare.

The Olympics

The event the world will be talking about – the culmination of seven years of planning and London’s opportunity to strut its stuff on the global stage. Despite a dodgy start – a debatable logo (is that really meant to say 2012?) and a 376 foot sculpture that no one really understands – this is our chance to prove the athletic prowess that repeatedly eludes us, as well as show the world how London stages a major sporting event. Any event that brings together 205 nations, 300 events, 10,500 athletes, 27,500 broadcasters, photographers and journalists, £8billion in public funding, 8,000 torchbearers, 2,000km of electrical cables and 8.8 million tickets is certainly worth a mention!

Titanic’s Centenary

It isn’t often that the anniversary of 1,517 deaths is given such cultural recognition but the sinking of the Titanic has continued to capture the public’s imagination since that fateful day in 1912. On 6th April, the iconic Kate/Leo sob-fest will be re-released in 3D in cinemas across the country alongside a new 4 part ITV series penned by Downton-Don Julian Fellowes. And if you feel like going all-out then do as the Americans do and join the Titanic Memorial Cruise,  mapping a reversed route from New York to Southampton and offering a historical overload of lectures, period costume, themed entertainment, tailored menus and a rather dubious cemetary visit thrown in.

Diamond’s Are Forever

This year our sovereign marks 60 years on the throne. Diamonds may not last forever but at a respectable 85 years of age she’s certainly putting in a good innings. To celebrate, the country will enjoy another FOUR day bank holiday, no doubt accompanied by numerous street parties, strings of bunting and commemorative crockery. A royal concert has also been added to the bill and the royal family are partaking in high profile tours of the Commonwealth, touring territories from Mozambique to Montserrat to Malaysia. If you thought 2011 was the year for British royalty then think again!

Beyoncé’s Bey-by

From British royalty to pop royalty, any offspring of Beyoncé and Jay Z instantly inherits some serious clout. At this year’s VMA’s ‘the bump’s’ first sighting broke Twitter records, prompting a frenzy of  8,868 tweets per second and setting up the most hotly anticipated birth of 2012.

Step-tacular

It’s been ‘5,6,7,8’…9, TEN years since H and Clare put a stop to the hugely successful Steps juggernaut. To include their reunion tour in a list of 2012’s cultural events may be an act of personal indulgence but in my opinion no amount of reality TV has filled the hole that their unique brand of nasal pop left in the industry. A twelve date tour has already been extended by an extra six nights due to popular demand as their legions of (slightly older) fans wait with baited breath for  the next round of glitzy costumes, catchy melodies and iconic dance routines.

Time To Get ‘Gazebo-ed’ Again! 

 

Britain’s favourite jolly face, Michael McIntyre, is back on the road this year for an autumn arena tour throughout the UK and Ireland. His biggest tour to date will reward his loyal fans with some long-awaited new material just in time for a Christmas DVD stocking filler – it’s set to be a lucrative year for Mr McIntyre!  So for any fans of the infamous ‘man drawer’, he of ‘five spice’ fame is providing our 2012 mood-lightener amidst all this economic doom and gloom.

The End Of The World?

According to the Mayans, the world is due to end on December 21st 2012. Their ancient Long Count Calendar works in ‘great cycles’, a period of 1,872,000 consecutive days or 5,125 years, that comes to an end on this year’s winter solstice. Some historians have led us to believe that this occasion equates to an impending apocalypse, with the (often far-fetched) theories to support our predicted demise ranging from meteor collision to magnetic pole reversal to a passing encounter with a black hole – I like to think that if our Earth was thus doomed, the men with telescopes might be able to give us a bit more forewarning!

Ones To Watch

Does that face look familiar? That’s because it belongs to Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister of the all-star Olsen twins of TV/movie/fashion fame. Since a brief encounter with acting aged 4, Elizabeth has taken her time in following in her sisters’ famous footsteps but 2012 is set to be her year. Her movie debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene has earned her a slew of nominations and with thriller Red Lights alongside Robert de Niro and comedy Liberal Arts with Zac Efron both slated for release later this year, Elizabeth’s star is steadily on the rise.

When you’re handpicked out of nowhere by Steven Spielberg to play the protagonist in a major Hollywood blockbuster you know your star is set to skyrocket. Jeremy Irvine may have got his big break in 2011, but with Spielberg’s screen adaption of War Horse set to hit UK cinemas on January 13th, his profile will now be firmly on our radar. Add to his CV the role of Pip in Great Expectations (with a stellar cast of Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane, not to mention a screenplay by 2011’s runaway success David Nicholls) as well as a rumoured role alongside Colin Firth in a re-make of The Railway Children and you have yourself a bonafide filmstar. Watch this space…

From one Great Expectation to another, Douglas Booth marked his place in the nation’s conscious with his take on Pip in the BBC’s Christmas adaption of Dickens’ classic tale. Booth got his initial taste of fame starring alongside Emma Watson and Lily Donaldson in several Burberry campaigns before landing his first big role portraying Boy George in Worried About The Boy. Film moguls have capitalised on the boyish good looks that have sent a generation of teenage girls into a swoon, casting him opposite Hailee Steinfeld in the upcoming Romeo and Juliet not to mention his first foray into Hollywood with the June release of LOL, starring Miley Cyrus, Ashley Greene and Demi Moore.

Relatively unknown when she first appeared alongside Ed Westwick in Chalet Girl, Felicity Jones has been billed for critical acclaim in 2012 with new film Like Crazy. Depicting a transatlantic love story with an entirely improvised dialogue, the film won Jones the prestigious Special Jury Prize at 2011’s Sundance Film Festival. Add to that a starring role in Burberry’s A/W campaign and a string of upcoming movie releases, the 28 year old Oxford graduate’s career is set to go from strength to strength this coming year.

What is a list of 2012’s budding stars without a sporting hero? Arguably Britain’s best hope for a medal at this year’s Olympics, Jessica Ennis is likely to be one of the country’s most talked about figures over the coming months. Alongside her intensive preparations to compete for gold in the heptathlon, Ennis has transformed into the poster girl for the games, gracing the cover of February’s Marie Claire as well as countless other media campaigns. Her credentials certainly match the hype – she has held the World Heptathlon Title, World Indoor Pentathlon title and has been World and European champion in her discipline – so fingers crossed Ennis will strike gold in 2012.

Films To See

2012 is the year of the superhero with four (yes, four!) Hollywood blockbusters hitting our screens in the coming year. A lifetime of comic book Christmases come at once as the megastars appear in their masses in The Amazing Spider-man, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and Ghostrider. So whether Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s sizzling chemistry in the Spider-man prequel tickles your fancy, or Christian Bale’s third turn as Batman alongside Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman in Dark Knight captures your eye, this year is set to be super.

 The film itself may have garnered lukewarm reviews but Meryl Streep’s Oscar-tipped turn in The Iron Lady is certainly one of the performances of 2012. The British biopic narrates Margaret Thatcher’s leadership using a series of flashbacks and prompted a blaze of publicity in late 2011. Having already won Streep a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress and a nomination at 2012’s Golden Globes, its 6th January release date couldn’t come soon enough!

When Harvey Weinstein told his brother and business partner he’d just spent “a lot of millions” on black and white (mostly) silent movie The Artist, he was told he was crazy, but fastforward to 2012 and Weinstein is laughing all the way to the bank. The film tells the story of silent star George Valentin who, like many young actors at the end of the 1920s, fails to make the transition into talkies unlike the flourishing career of his love interest Peppy Miller. Directed by Michel Hazanavicius and set for the most part to background music, the (once) underdog is riding a wave of hype and is surely destined to pack some punches come awards season.

Glenn Close plays Albert Nobbs, the titular role of a woman who spends thirty years donning men’s clothes in order to work and survive in nineteenth century Ireland. The film she’s spent fifteen years trying to make finally went into production in December 2010 with Mia Wasikowska and Aaron Johnson co-starring. Although reviews have been mixed, Close’s performance has wowed the critics, earning her a nomination in the prestigious Best Actress category at 2012’s Golden Globes.

And the award for most-hyped film of 2012 surely goes to The Great Gatsby? Baz Lurhman’s adaption of Fitzgerald’s 1920s novel is slated for release on Christmas Day, sending scores of filmgoers into a flurry. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire, this blockbuster certainly has the momentum to be the film of 2012.

And Finally…

Michigan’s Lake Superior State University has produced its annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness. Based on tens of thousands of nominations, the 37th annual list of ‘banned’ words for 2012 includes ‘baby bump’, ‘occupy’, ‘amazing’ and ‘ginormous’. Admittedly past rulings have failed to act universally ( ‘fail’ and ‘viral’ appeared on last year’s list…) so only time will tell if ‘mancave’ and ‘shared sacrifice’ can withstand the university’s stringency.

Happy New Year!

“She’s Behind You!” – The Invisible Victorian Mother

To continue the nineteenth century theme, here’s a dilemma: when faced with this…

…in front of this…

…what would you do? Screaming child + camera lens = every parent’s nightmare. The modern solution usually involves a bag of chocolate buttons but two centuries ago they had better ideas. In an age where appearance was everything, the Victorians took decorum to new levels.

At first glance this may look like an ordinary photo of a ruddy-cheeked young chap.

But take a closer look behind the scenes and you can trace the shadow of a second figure: the mother herself, closely resembling a human-shaped, draped chair and clutching her troublesome child; an ingenuous solution to fidgeting. Admittedly some are less subtle than others…

…but the principle is always the same. Try and ‘spot the mother’ in the rest of these shots.

They certainly had the right idea, didn’t they? Check out the rest of the collection right HERE!

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Photoshop!

We live in a digital age where seeing is not necessarily believing. Two years ago ‘Avatar-fever’ swept the nation, reaching new heights of computer generation by creating a 3D world in which the viewer can partake (at the risk of a pair of fairly ridiculous glasses!) Nowadays we skew reality to our own satisfaction, measuring our happiness against that of our favourite flawless leading lady. Our endless idolatry demands various tools: botox, dumbbells, spanx… But the real irony lies behind the ideal we’re aspiring to. That sleek actress dripping in diamonds with heavenly curves that look like they’ve been sculpted by Michelangelo himself is as much an illusion as Madonna’s youth. And the secret behind these goddesses we place upon pedestals? Photoshop. Yes, that’s right, young girls worldwide worry their way through their teens, aspiring to a fake ideal that doesn’t even exist; an image that is the product of hours of digital mastery. In fact, so much of the material we view has been smoothed, shadowed and ‘beautified’, that when presented with the natural wonders of the world we inhabit our knee jerk reaction is cynicism. What a shame that we are no longer able to appreciate true beauty when we see it. Sometimes a fresh dose of reality itself is all the medicine needed to remind us of what our world was capable of long before we saw it through a computer screen. These ’21 images you won’t believe aren’t photoshopped’ are that very reminder. At first glance they may beggar belief but have a browse through the evidence and you will see that when it comes to natural beauty, our digital aid is obsolete.

The Mountain Range with the Dragon Tattoo

Surely the work of some computer whizz cashing in on the success of Sweden’s favourite crime trilogy? Believe it or not this is an actual lake in Portugal, formed many moons before the creation of the species that invented the computers.

A White Christmas

Britain may wince at a few measley flakes of snow but the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in Japan receives up to a whopping twenty metres a year! If not for a very impressive snow-balancing-act, every day would be a snow day.

Seriously?

Yes, seriously. Well according to National Geographic, at least. This snap, taken by Robert B. Haas in the Gulf of Mexico, captures the moment a travelling group of flamingos unwittingly created a photographer’s dream.

My Favourite

Unfortunately the laws of science dictate that wood does not act like cement as this picture might have you believe. Instead, these footprints were moulded by a monk who stood in this very same spot to pray every day for twenty years.

For the rest of this mighty collection of ‘photoshop-defying’ photos click right HERE.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Love. A concept pondered by many a great thinker, philosopher and all round know-it-all. Type ‘love’ into Google and you’re greeted with a wealth of material ranging from the poppy to the soppy; everybody has an opinion.

The Beatles told us “all you need is love”. Dr Seuss’s revered wisdom states “you know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” Sophocles wades into the debate, declaring “one word frees us from all the weight and pain of life: that word is love.” Endless wedding congregations have been reminded of the infamous words of 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-7: “Love is patient, love is kind…” I could go on.

If you’re feeling particularly brave you can try and make some sense of Woody Allen: “To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness.”

Now your brain probably hurts as much as mine, so maybe you’ll agree that four-year-old Terri’s nine word offering – “love is what makes you smile when you’re tired” – hits the nail on the head. We can philosophize all we want but nothing quite beats the black-and-white understanding of a child.

Keep reading and it all starts to make so much sense…

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” Elaine – age 5

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy – age 6

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl – age 5

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” Lauren – age 4

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” Jessica – age 8

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” Chris – age 7

And to view even more youthful wisdom, check out the rest of the collection right HERE.

The Mother of all Huggers

Meet Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī, better know as ‘Amma‘, or ‘the hugging saint’.

This woman has reportedly hugged a phenomenal 31 million people! Her powers of envelopment are so famed that her followers queue for hours just to enjoy a few seconds nestled within the folds of her indefatigable arms.

Born into a family of fishermen in Kerala in 1953, from an early age Amma used her powers of embrace to comfort those in need. Within her community it was not deemed suitable for a young teenage girl to have such close contact with strangers yet the hugging continued. Decades later and Amma is annually touring the world offering her open arms to anyone who wants them. And they flock in their thousands. At a rate of 3-hugs-a-minute, do the maths and a 20 hour queue is often the hefty price paid for a mere 20 second hug.

You may find yourself asking what all the fuss is about. Well, that question can be fielded to her millions of devotees. Dante Sawyer first met Amma in 1998 and has since dedicated his life to her work. He recalls, “You really experience a love that’s given completely, selflessly – it’s just like sunlight pouring out; it’s a love that doesn’t have demands of you.” American Stephen Parr simply adds, “once she hugs, you know.”

Cryptic? Yes. But maybe to locate the source of Amma’s popularity one need look no further than the action itself. A hug: “to clasp tightly in the arms, especially with affection”, “to cherish”, “to embrace”. The act of hugging is a universal source of comfort and Amma represents the pinacle of its abilities. The millions who journey across the world for a few moments in her presence seek the Usain Bolt of the hugging world. Amma’s embraces may have broken records of their own but strip back the slick website, the logo, and the army of followers and it boils down to where it all started: a hug. It really is that simple…

Burgers and Nails

Beauty and fast food are not often seen hand in hand… that is, until Burgers and Nails became the the blog of the moment amongst those who (seem to) know. The concept is simple: 1 x burger + 1 x pair of decorated fingernails. The rules are equally simple. Take a photo of yourself with both your burger-of-choice and your imaginative nail art and submit to the site listing the colour and varnish used and details of the burger, including an all-important score out of ten. The site’s unprecedented popularity may be puzzling but wait until you, like many, find yourself falling victim to hours spent browsing the latest in nail stencils and deep fried beef.  Be warned of the potential for a serious burgers and nails addiction…

 

Rise and Shine!

It’s 6.30am and you’re shaken from the blissful realms of sleep by an incessant bleeping far too close to your ear. You reach out, bleary-eyed, and pound your fist down on what you hope is the snooze button – anything to remain within the confines of your all-too-cozy bed. You slip back into dreamy unconsciousness and the next thing you know it’s 7.30 and you are LATE. Cue a 30 second shower, an assortment of mismatched clothing and a caffeine-deprived commute, all easily blamed upon the damned alarm clock. Surely a familiar scenario for many? Well, a few business-savvy individuals identified this gap in the market and each designed their own ‘lie-in-proof’ alternative to the standard alarm. Here are a few of the better ones…

“Houston, we have a problem”

Instead of using noise to shake off your drowsiness, this model uses a rocket! At a set time a rocket is fired (yes, fired!) into your room and continues to sound until it is returned to the ‘launch pad’. Complete with a countdown and flashing lights, this contraption certainly makes for an interesting start to the morning.

The Classic ‘Hide and Seek’

Instead of giving you a guaranteed extra ten minutes, snoozing this alarm triggers a game of hide-and-seek, causing it to scurry away into a corner of your room and omit a sleep-shattering noise until you retrieve it.

ATTEEEENNTTIONNN!

Meet your drill sergeant, the face you’ll be greeted with first thing in the morning as he bellows instructions at you from your bedside table. After starting your day with a rousing rendition of ‘Reveille’ your personalised drill sergeant will bark orders in your direction, motivating you to ‘prepare for battle’. Possibly the most annoying alarm clock you will EVER own but also rather entertaining…

Countdown…

Channel your inner Jack Bauer with this model which emits a shrill sound until you identify and disconnect the correct wire. Diffuse the ‘bomb’ successfully and the alarm stops; choose the wrong wire and you are greeted by an even more unpleasant sound. Demanding enough brain power to kickstart your day, this alarm promises an adrenalin-filled wake-up call.

You can check out the rest of the selection of alarm clocks right HERE.