Shiny Shiny have a run down of some of their favourite gadgets for Halloween and webstores like IWantOneOfThose and Firebox can always be counted on to provide something fitting - I particularly like the Crawling Zombie and the Zombie Brain Jelly Mould:

Of course, if you’ve left it until now to start looking those aren’t going to be able to help you today! There are plenty of real world shops you could try but if you’re being economic - or lazy, or avoiding the cold - perhaps you need a DIY option. Now, I’m a big fan of halloween DIYs - I’m vegetarian, fussy about what I wear and generally too finickity to rely solely on shop items. There are some corkers out there, but a lot of stuff you can do yourself, if the urge takes you.

I’ve noticed several sites offering assistance to those who might want to DIY but not know how to this Halloween - Cravendale have free downloadable Halloween masks (Zombie Pirate, Mummified Cow! Whatever will the next ads look like?) on their site, there’s tips from the ever mindful of costs chaps at Fool and Yahoo! Answers probably has some very good ideas too - in fact a quick search will find tonnes of them I’m sure!

But what you may really need is a bit of inspiration so if you’re stuck for a costume why not check out these homemade costumes or these Zombies who took to the streets of London last weekend and for decorations Wired have some ambitious pumpkins you could try to match up to!

Whatever you end up doing, have a Happy Halloween!

There’s been a bit of fuss over an interview LG’s marketing director gave the other day, talking about our “Life’s Good” tagline and how “life actually isn’t that good right now”. And as a result all kinds of rumours have sparked off in the blogosphere about how we’re going to be dropping the tagline as a result.

The world economy downturn this year poses a challenge not just for us but every major brand in the world. But downturns are temporary and the economy usually comes out of them stronger than before, and the challenges we’ll be facing in the next few years will act as an extra spur to innovation. So we can put to bed the rumours we’re dropping “Life’s Good” as a tagline - all we’ll be doing is making sure we’re sensitive to economic conditions and understand people’s circumstances in our marketing and advertising. To do otherwise would be taking our customers for granted and we would never want to do that.

So “Life’s Good” is here to stay - we recently updated our logo (above) as part of a brand revamp and it’s very much part of it. That said, having seen some of the discussion on other blogs and on Twitter, I did like some of the alternative suggestions like “Lovely Gadgets” - although I don’t think “Lolly? Give It!” will be happening any time soon (it doesn’t scan, for starters).

I’m very pleased to have discovered that B Never to Busy to Be Beautiful have implemented the Supplier Specific Boycott Policy - don’t make, sell or use any ingredients or products tested on animals. This is not necessarily news, I have no idea when they did this, I’ve just gotten into my routine of only shopping at Body Shop and being annoyed at the sometimes limited range I find there - it’s perfect for all my day to day needs but god help you if you get a craving for some electric blue or neon colours, because dear old Body Shop won’t be able to!

I can be pretty useless at actually finding alternatives though, it’s very rare I get such cravings so I just shrug them off and soon forget about it again. Fortunately for me though, B have just opened a brand new shop on Oxford Street with a swanky coctail/make up bar which Sarah of Or False Glitter got a couple of cheeky pics of for those of us who haven’t been in yet. It looks great, does amazing ranges of colours and like my favourites Body Shop and BNTBTBB’s ’sister shop’ Lush I can shop with confidence that I’m not injuring anyone or anything in my attempts to look prettier. So some night in the next few weeks, when the weathers pants and I’ve had a long day in the office which provides reasons for pampering/rewards I shall be popping to Oxford St to see the beauty for myself.

If teamed with my (soon to be found I hope!) non-leather winter boots, the only danger is I’ll be too smug to bear… You have been warned!

Today I thought we’d take a closer look at the LG 32PG6000. It is the world’s first production 32″ plasma screen television, and it’s an ideal size for more traditional style of houses and flats which have alcoves and nooks in which a larger television might not fit, or as a second plasma in your house in a smaller room. Plasmas with their richer blacks and fast response times are ideal for movies and sports, and while it may be small in size, it doesn’t compromise on style or quality

The 32PG6000 features a frameless screen with invisible speakers, which emits sound all around and not just downwards like most TV speakers. It’s certified by the Energy Saving Trust so you don’t have to worry for the environment, and it features a wide range of ports (HDMI, RGB, Component and USB) to allow for maximum connectivity. Here’s Ed, one of our TV trainers, to tell you a bit more about it:

It’s not even November yet but I’ve been getting emails about Christmas shopping and party planning for at least two months already. Personally, I’m not religious so all the overt commercialism doesn’t spoil anything for me but even so it’s daunting, an ever present reminder that I need to start planning and cutting down on the money I spend on me so I have enough money to spend on presents and traditions.

I don’t mean to go all Scrooge here, I love the excuse to meet up with friends and loved ones and exchange gifts, etc, but the older I get the more I wish it didn’t have to be something we needed an excuse for - and especially not something we need bullying into by retailers, restaurants/whoever. About a third of the emails I’ve deleted this morning were christmas party/shopping related - all of them automated, of course.

I think the Atheist Bus (although Chris pointed out it’s actually an agnostic bus, because it says there is ‘probably no God’, rather than stating a definite) may have put me in this frame of mind but it’s probably also just because I’d quite like to spurge and spoil myself with some new winter boots - the veggie shoe quest continues and I’m tempted to go all out on some expensive stylish ones, maybe Stella McCartney, although her heels are a bit too high for me..

Any stylish but practical veggie boots you can recommend?

I came across this blog post about Polish film posters the other day, there are some gorgeous visuals (and some interesting politics being debated in the comments!) and I really enjoyed thinking about a fairly overlooked medium in a new light - I never really stop to think about movie posters or consider most of them as works of art. I don’t know why as some of the classics with iconic posters like Antonioni’s Blow-up, below, which I adore:

But for the main part I see movie posters in completely different light to other art - they are an advertising tool and I rarely look at them as anything more than this.

It’s incredibly hard to choose a favourite from these posters, I love the imagery and style of some while find the interpretations/seeming lack of connection to the film in some of the others fascinating. I’ve had this page bookmarked for a week or so and have been back to ponder them all several times.. Here’s a couple to whet your appetite:

Willow

Rosemary’s Baby

(kinda)

According to TechCrunch the team at YouTube have a great sense of humour:

YouTube commentors are now presented with a button asking if they’d like to hear their comments read aloud before they are posted, in the hopes of preventing instances of accidental stupidity.

The feature is apparently in response to this XKCD comic -

I really hope this is true, and we can highly recommend XKCD if you’re unfamiliar with it - in fact if you want to make Chris your new best friend, buying him one of the Tshirts would probably be a good place to start!

Hats off to the YouTube guys & gals for this, I would be interested to see the effects on existing software such as Comment Snob - will some of us still feel the need to block out the… less desired comments or will the “Audio Preview” feature prove effective? I can’t help thinking that a lot of the “instances of accidental stupidity”, as TC so kindly put it, are due to people not taking the time to re-read their comment before posting it and I doubt they’ll take the time to listen to it before posting either. I love XKCD & their readers’s own take on this too,

SalsaShark Says:  Oh man. Idiocy recursion. This is a slippery slope, people.

It’s the comic that just keeps on giving!

With the release of the Renoir KC910 nearly upon us, we thought we’d revisit the bloggers event we held for it a couple of weeks ago. Here you can see John Barton, LG’s UK sales and marketing director, presenting the Renoir, followed by Jonathan Jowitt, Senior Technical Marketing Manager, Mobile of Dolby and Andy Glasson Sales Manager for Northern Europe from DivX. It’s a bit dark at times but you can still get a good idea of things:

Be sure to check out the Q&A videos on our YouTube channel, and if you like the look of it, be sure to add yourself to the official LG KC910 Facebook fan page.

UPDATE: you can now see the presentation from the event on our SlideShare ‘Slidespace’.

Over at Phones Review today I found this interesting article:

According to a new survey released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, technology in the form of cell phones and computers is keeping families closer than ever. The survey was conducted with 2,252 adults to see what type of impact technology had on their lives. What they found was that all of that time on cell phones and computers is actually keeping families close.

It’s refreshing to see the research bears out what I’ve long thought - that by giving people more means to communicate with each other brings them closer together and helps their relationships with others. Some have claimed mobiles (and internet and social networking) turns us into isolated people but this study shows the evidence is to the contrary. Of course, you can have too much of a good thing and I’m not saying families should just use mobile phones to stay in touch. But it’s interesting to see what you can find out when you look beyond the usual scaremongering.

Do you find the same in your own experience? Or do you disagree with the report’s findings? Let us know in the comments

Have you heard about the new music studio in Sheffield? It’s a state of the art building in the Sheffield University campus and it’s big talking point is it’s completely enveloped in black rubber.

It’s called the ‘Soundhouse’ & was constructed by Kier… I can’t decide if I like it or not - every time I look at it I change my mind! According to World Architecture News it’s the UK’s first rubber-clad venue and ‘the rubber membrane was placed under tension similar to the skin on a drum, fixed and then decorated with 100mm diameter stainless steel studs.’ I like the musical link there, I’d love to know if it was deliberate or just necessary.

Covering 450m², the building’s unique black cube structure is set to become a landmark on the university campus, with the bold and simple design reflecting the existing inventiveness of the Portobello area.

Professor Keith Burnett, vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said the new addition would allow students to “nurture and develop their passion for music in a modern and creative environment.”

Mike Harris, director at Carey Jones architects, said the overall aesthetic of the black rubber quilt was intended as “a literal translation of the need to acoustically contain the building’s use contained within.”

The pioneering “music box” design creates he said, “a stunning piece of architecture that sits well as part of the dynamic urban fabric, respecting important existing and new buildings in the surrounding area.”.

Via Building

This Lace bag, by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, retails at $1975 making it far beyond my means, but it’s one of my favourite uses of lace this season - along with the brand new Buddist Punk lace skulls dress on ASOS (the cut on the top is not 100% to my liking but the skulls make it interesting & I like that).

While on the subject of bags and this seasons trends, here’s my new love - I mean bag:

I love everything about this bag - it lets me get involved with the tartan trend without having to commit to anything as big as a coat or a skirt - I don’t do litty bitty skirts (if only I had Queen Michelle’s legs!) so the tartan rar-rars ad minis are a complete no-no. But it’s not just the tartan, the shape plays with the oversized trend - applying it to a purse rather than a clutch, and more practical to my mind. I also really like the detailing - with a bold tartan I think the tendancy is to play safe - you don’t want to overdo it and make it messy or overly busy, but one little ruffle along the top and the flower on the corner - both in the same fabric - lift the bag but don’t distract or overwhelm. I’m utterly in love with this bag, could you tell?

But… While it’s a cutey, it’s not necessarily the most weather-proof choice for a A/W bag, any suggestions for improving it’s survivial in the rain? I had considered a DIY effort to try and make a transparent PVC/plastic bag to put it in but I’d have no idea how to do it (and also lack access to the materials or the tools needed!) and I’m a little worried that if I did overcome all of that the end result might look like some odd bag prophylactic! Any thoughts..?

… hits shops around the UK very soon. Here’s a video with more information on the phone, which seems to be getting the thumbs up from preview reviewers everywhere!

We hope you’ll like it too:

A George Carlin quote to start the week, but what would he have made of Shuellas - AKA shoe umbrellas? They are plastic booties to pull on over your shoes should it suddenly rain, and they fold up into a neat pouch so you can carry them with you just in case:

(I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t have worn the pink ones..!)

They’re designed by Rebecca Miller and can be ordered online from her Shuella website.

SHUELLA came about because I was frustrated that every time it would rain or there was inclement weather, I had nothing fashionable and functional to wear that would protect my shoes. I looked everywhere and when I could not find anything suitable, I designed and created them myself.

$49.95 a pair seems a bit much to me but I do like the idea, as a Londoner who has experienced the problems of unexpected downpours while wearing flip flops - gorgeous yellow ones which got mucky and then went grey and sadly could not be salvaged.

I don’t know if I’d trust them in heels though - they come with a slip-free sole but walking in heels in the rain is in itself a bit of a challenge at times, having my heels inside a pair of these doesn’t sound the most stable footing to me.

I’d experiment but $50 is a bit steep for curiousity. Anyone got a pair, any advice?

Last night I caught the first episode of the Beeb’s new series ‘British Style Genius‘ I, like Susie at Style Bubble & I’m sure many more of the stylish bloggers out there, was really looking forward to a show with the focus on distinct British style, past & present, and not just another ‘What to not wear while looking younger &/or naked’-type show.

I rarely watch fashion/clothes shows on TV - I’m limited to Freeview/terrestial channels and most of the shows on offer don’t feel very relevant to me, although Trinny & Susanna and Gok have on occasion bestowed a new rule/guideline into my memory but I’ve never liked the idea of having your entire wardrobe imposed upon you by someone else - no matter who or how well dressed they are!

I caught an episode of ITV’s Fashion Show at the weekend and was unimpressed so I was a bit worried the Beeb wouldn’t live up to expectation either but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised last night and enjoyed the show. I even learnt a thing or two and came away with a craving for old skool Biba and Celia Birtwell prints (I somehow missed her collection for TopShop a few years ago and was kicking myself as I watched last night!) Did you see it, what did you think?

I’m pretty impressed with BBC’s sudden interest in Fashion shows -Twiggy’s Frock Exchange
has just launched too and there is also the new (to me) ‘What We Wore’ BBC Archive

In collaboration with the BBC’s British Fashion season, we bring you this unusual collection of programmes which reveal what it took to be stylish through over 250 years of British history.

Included here is the first colour series made by the BBC. Pre-dating colour TV by a decade, this is the first time it has been available to view as it was intended. It also features some surprising live models.

Witness the gradual democratisation of fashion through the ages and see how clothes began to throw off the shackles of class from the 1960s onwards.

It’s nice to see fashion being discussed and presented in a more grown up light again. They also have a monthly online fashion magazine called Thread which is ‘dedicated to bringing you the latest in eco-fabulous style’ & is really rather nice too. Good work Beeb!

The LG Renoir KC910 is due in a phone shop near you later this month and the GSMarena team managed to get hold of a rare pre-release handset last week. They are, I’m pleased but not surprised to say, impressed:

LG KC910 Renoir represents the latest and greatest of the cameraphone breed. ….
Just to give you a size perspective, the LG Renoir is about the same size as the LG KU990 Viewty, but about 5mm taller. They even weigh pretty much the same.
The LG Renoir is building on the Viewty cameraphone popularity and adds a number of innovations to the equation thus separating from its roots. The design, feel and overall experience is different - and much better - with the LG Renoir.

You can read the full review on GSMarena. We hope you’ll like it too, for more information on the phone check out our post outlining the technical specifications of the handset or why not check out or Flickr channel for some more photos of the pretty, slick new thing - maybe move your keyboard out of drooling range first. In case you can’t wait long enough for a click through to Flickr, heres a couple of photos to keep you going. More news on this lovely piece of kit soon so watch this space!

Sounds like a slightly trippy start to the week, doesn’t it?

Rocio from the Spanish LG Blog brought Workshopped to my attention today - Workshopped is an Australian site championing Aussie design talent, it caught Rocio’s eye thanks to the ‘Twist Bench’ by Kenan Wang:

I always want to design furniture which has beautiful surface and nice transformed shape. Finally, Twist bench series gave me the opportunity to realise my idea. They will provide a different interactive experience being on a bench.

But there is plenty of other work on the site worthy of attention, sadly a lot of the designs come with no information to contextualise them or the designers process but there are some gems to be found with a bit of rooting around. I think my favourite so far - although Wang’s is great (& the Plie Shoe is cute) - is the Swirl Light by Luiza Milewicz:

What’s yours?

I may be slow on the uptake here(?) but I’ve just come across Yearbook Yourself a great little site where you upload a photo of yourself for a chance to see what you would look like in yearbook photos from the 1950’s through to the ‘noughties’. It’s been a real distraction in our office this morning, possibly in part because we poor Brits are rather neglected when it comes to yearbooks - the closest comparison I have is a uniform blouse which everyone in my class scrawled all over on the last day of school, most of it illegible because I was still wearing it at the time.

To showcase this fun timewaster, here is my cat, circa 1994 Cherry Creek yearbook:

Be warned, this is addictive and not necessarily flattering - hence my resorting to animal testing to protect my delicate self image!

Oh dear - as I  type a new distraction has arrived: Fantastic Contraption, a cute little physics puzzle game created by Colin Northway with the design/art provided by Sarah Collins.

I’ve played it for a few minutes (purely for research you understand) and am already completely hooked and frustrated in equal measure - I can’t work out how to make my machines jump gaps..  Ooh, how about if I move that wheel to a lower angel and increase the hypotenuse..?

How do we ever get any work done!?

Oh, one last thing while we’re being gamers - does anyone have a good reason for why you might need a camera on your DS?!