Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2011 in
beauty,
books,
Celebrity,
lists,
news,
random The Royal Wedding is almost upon us and Kate Middleton will soon be exchanging her surname for ‘Windsor’ or Mr and Mrs Prince William. Whether you’re a staunch royalist or find the whole things a waste of time, there’s one thing you won’t be able to avoid. Well, two things actually if you count people’s opinions on the subject.
The second unavoidable occurrence of this wedding is the HUGE amount of tat that will be sold in conjunction, with everyone eager to make sure they have got their eBay fill worth of products. Coaster, tea towels, all the usual tat will be rolled out, but amongst those spectacularly undesirable pieces of merchandise (Kate and William coaster anyone?) is the truly overwhelming in terms of relevance to the subject matter. You can’t blame companies for wanting to get some of the moolah that will be floating around, but these Royal Wedding tie ins are truly embarrassing.
Kate the Royal Wedding Fairy
This is a book about a fairy called Kate, who is a royal wedding fairy was created by Daisy Meadows. It’s the latest in the line of Fairy books she has written, but though the words ‘sell out;’ are never mentioned, this particular fairy isn’t quite the same as ‘Emma the Easter fairy’ or her ‘Florence the Friendship fairy’ books.
The story descriptions is as follows: ‘Kate the Royal Wedding Fairy makes sure that all weddings are happy and magical! But when mean Jack Frost steals the True Love Crown, the Fairyland royal wedding is sure to be a disaster. Can Kirsty and Rachel find the crown so the royal couple will live happily ever after…? I wonder what the name of the Royal Prince is?
Kiss Me Kate Beer
Castle Rock Brewery have created a limited edition Royal Wedding beer called ‘Kiss me Kate. I actually find this idea rather cute, as we Brits do love our booze, I just find the pink label and hearts decorating it a little sickly. It will be available on draught and from Morrisons stores during April. The head brewer says, ‘Kiss Me Kate will be elegant, tasteful and British to the core. It’ll be brewed to 5%, pale in colour and, we’re sure it’ll be the ideal way to toast the couple’s future happiness’. Not that Ms Middleton would ever drink beer though, I reckon she’s a white wine spritzer kind of girl. Find out more from Castle Rock Brewery here. Read more…
Tags: Crown Jewels condoms, Kate Middleton, Lydia Leith, Prince William, Royal Wedding, Royal Wedding novelty souvenir, Royal Wedding souvenir
Posted by admin on Dec 7, 2010 in
books,
lists 
September and October seem an age away now. I was going through a transitional work period so read slightly less than usual, and a tad more eclectically. You know the drill by now- book title and review excerpt below.
Mister Roberts by Alexei Sayle
This is the first book by Sayle I’ve ever read, and it won’t be the last. The storyline is pure science fiction, but the characters are so recognizable that you soon forget we’re talking about aliens wearing human suits as a disguise. A young boy discovers a discarded human ‘suit’ left by aliens and enjoys wearing it to scare people. His mother nicknames it ‘Mister Roberts’ and treats it as a person- and a money making scheme. Set in Spain the novels delves into the ex-pat relationships the close mindedness of small towns, and just how messed up the parent-child dynamic can be. Touching and funny, this book was devoured very quickly.
Aphrodite’s Workshop for Reluctant Lovers by Marika Cobbold
The title kind of says it all doesn’t it? A read that’s pretty much a letdown from the word go, where the story line is blah, the book is blah- do you see the general blahness that I’m sharing with you?Romance novelist has fallen out of love with love and Aphrodite needs to step in. Cue lots of Greek god shenanigans, a rather paltry love story and a sulky Eros. Yesss, exactly. Don’t waste your time.
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
I’m glad I’m vegetarian. If I wasn’t a veggie reading this book would make me one. I never really think that much about how food gets onto plates, but this book reveals all, in horrific gory detail. The worst part is that it’s not even trying to be that gory, the bare facts are enough to have you forswearing meat forever- like when you learn that fecal matter on chickens is called a ‘cosmetic blemish’ to allow them to sell it. Eww. It exposes what organic and free range actually mean, and it’s not good, not good at all. The book is a little long and can be a bit tedious at times, but the subject mater is very engrossing and the research seems immaculate- especially as a quarter of the book is footnotes that quote the various sources used. Read more…
Tags: Douglas Coupland, George Orwell, Terry Pratchett, The Little Prince
