I like Sushi. I like Art. Therefore I like Bento Box Art. No, I love it. In fact I am becoming a little bit obsessed with it and this post is the first step in admitting that I have a problem.
I am addicted to raw fish and rice being moulded into humorous and familiar characters and shapes. There I said it. I feel so much better now.
I ‘got into’ bento box art a few months ago via Flickr, and my hunger for it has now really started to spiral out of control. I have recently bought this book on the subject (which is amazing) and I have been toying with ordering from e-obento.com. Slightly struggling with the order process though as it is in Japanese. Note to self: Learn Japanese. Have a look through these designs - loving the dog shaped ones. If you scroll to the bottom of the page there is even a Father Christmas. How festive.

Not many things can make you feel hungry and impressed simultaneously can they?

Is there such a thing as BAA -Bento Arts Anonymous?

Ever have one of those days when you want to smash everything and everyone in sight? Do you secretly get a kick when you ‘accidentally’ smash a wine glass at a friend’s house? Just me then?

Well, if like me your anger management classes have not quite done the job, then Sarah’s Smash Shack could be the collective answer to our angry prayers.

Based in San Diego, you turn up (no doubt seething) and select things from the smash menu to pulverize in the padded ‘break rooms’.

You can also soundtrack your smashing (Rage Against The Machine anyone?) and hire a VIP room for group smashes. They even had extended hours over the US election last night. I guess so frustrated McCain fans could smash lips sticks and rue the day that Palin messed up their guys campaign.

It sounds like a smashing place.

In a few weeks I am off on a petite jaunt to Paris (cue: air punching and yelps of delight). Obviously, I am excited about the Louvre, eating obscene amounts of artisan bread and buying out the entire APC store. I have however, also found something else to be excited about -Cent Quatre. A huge new art space opened in a former funeral factory (or Pompes Funebres to the French lipped amongst you). Billed as Europe’s largest artist residency, it has had a £78 million renovation and is supposed to be a kind of ‘artist zoo’.

This basically means that sculptors, painters, musicians etc can all have a space to work in and in return visitors are allowed to get up close and personal to them as they work. All though you can’t talk to them, that costs extra. Seriously. Sounds intriguing doesn’t it?

DJ/ musician and generally V cool man Tricky has a residency there, so I am really looking to seeing his work. Wonder how much it costs to talk to him?

I was perhaps a little too over excited to discover these. Wine Wipes. Little miracles in a packet. They rub away any remnants of boozy meals, general over indulgence and particularly full bodied reds.

What a pure simple idea, with mass potential and appeal. I actually wanted to smash a wine bottle over my head for not coming up with this before them. A tad dramatic, yes, but I am amazed that these have never come to market before. Many a DIY version has been fashioned - wet tissue, nail dragged across lips, swilling with white wine (is that just me?)

Having had a bit of an explore around their site (which is largely horrendous - cheesy testimonials, bad imagery, non-impactful logo), I am really curious to see how they develop the brand and how they market it.

It feels like they don’t really have a clue what a gem of a brand they are sat on. I would LOVE to get my hands on it to develop it. Make it talk to people from my age (female, late 20’s, regularly discuss red wine ‘issues’ with pals) through to my wine swigging dad (male, early 60’s, loves a red wine booze). At the moment it is unclear who they are aiming at and what the brand is about. It has so much potential to be an iconic / cool brand.

For now I guess I will have to be content with drowning my sorrows…and then wiping the evidence away.

I have often wondered if I was a man, would I grow a moustache? Well, actually that is a total lie but I do admire a good robust one on a man. If I had to pick my all time favourite mo, it would be Daley Thompson. The facial thatch he sported in the 80’s was truly mesmerising, almost hypnotising for a young me who grew up in a clean-shaven house hold.
So, all these years later, it was a true delight to learn of a way I can show my admiration for moustaches. Meet Movember. This fantastic campaign sees men sign up to grow Moustache’s (Mo’s) for the whole of November (see what they did there?) , get loads of sponsors for their troubles and raise bundles of cash for prostate cancer charities. Even though I can’t grow a Mo (insert your own joke about females with moustaches) I am becoming a Mo Sista and have recruited the men in my company to become Mo Bros. We are even planning a Mo Town party. Who knew facial hair could be so fun?
I shall report back on all the hair-based shenanigans at the end of Movember.

Maracas, sorry Barackas, Hilary nutcrackers and Palin baby bibs. Since the race for the White House kicked off there has been no end to the weird and wacky campaign merchandise supporters can get their paws on. I am surprised that no one has created a bespoke ‘pit-bull with lipstick on’ shade for Palin fans to douse themselves in. Give it time. I am sure some soccer mom will get one out there.
Aside from all the merchandise, both official and unofficial, brands are really stepping up and claiming their piece of the political pie. My current favourite entry is 7Eleven. They have produced branded Obama and McCain coffee cups and are letting America talk with their feet (or rather mouths) to show who their winner is.
The current leader is Obama but McCain is not far behind. Shudder. I am a strictly de-caff girl but on this occasion I would totally risk the caffeine shakes to get the right man in.

I thought underwear brand Ultimo were very clever this weekend to jump on the back on the Wonderbra model story. The face (slash chest) claimed they had told her she was ‘too fat’ and asked to loose weight. Not sure how true that actually is (I hear not at all), but it provided a great opportunity for Ultimo to create an old fashioned tactical PR story. Signing up the ousted chest to the Ultimo brand and securing oodles of press coverage in the process.

Tactical stories really can be gifts from the PR gods.

There have been quite a few around in the last few weeks, in addition to the chesty one mentioned above. BA were quick out of the hanger to say they would fly BA Baracus aka Mr T over to the UK for his Snickers ‘Get on the Plane’ campaign. The reason? Mr T and his A-team alter ego are scared of flying. Simple but generated BA some well needed positive PR.

Also, Woolworth’s piggybacked the return of the Wispa into UK shops. Issuing a story saying they had hired a security guard to ensure the first batch made it safely into stores. They got wide spread press coverage that filtered down into forums and chat rooms. Driving buzz for the brand - which brand it did the most for is debatable. Nonetheless, great, simple and largely cheap. A brand managers dream.

The best thing about these types of stories in my mind is that they are truly creative. The opportunity needs to be spotted and reacted on before the moment goes. PR zeitgeist if you will.

Okay, I am off to get my (unguarded) Wipsa from the fridge.

Come across the recently launched Wordia yet? Launched by a bunch of word nuts (their words not mine) it is a new kind of dictionary. It is in fact the first ever ‘visual dictionary’. Fancy!
Its mechanic is focused around user-generated content with people encouraged to pick a word they love, record their interpretation of it on film and submit it to the site. The site has some nice entries but really loses credibility with a number of questionable celebrities giving their words.
Nonetheless, as a concept I really like it, unlike a number of the UK broadsheets that have been bashing it this week. They claim it will undermine the English language and that dictionary writing should be left to experts.
Poppycock! ( I have always looked for a time to use that word and this feels highly appropriate). Anything that gets people talking about words they love, hate, or have never heard of is good in my book. Words don’t belong to ‘experts’ surely they belong to the people that speak them? . Is it not both interesting and insightful to be able to share different peoples interpretations of words we all use? Is there not a chance that the format and channel of UGC and online will create interest in digital natives like teens who perhaps would never have really thought about words or vocabulary’?
I think the dictionary chaps and columists should pipe down and embrace this concept. It’s fun and there is no real danger a generation are going to be confused by different views of words. We all know a spade is a spade, don’t we? Okay, I am off to record my word – ‘rant’.

A bit like Dot Cotton’s wireless, the weather is on the turn. We shall all be soon making stews, getting annoyed about the large amount of bad Christmas adverts hitting every ad break and sleeping with hot water bottles (although not on the first date of course). It is also the season for hats and I think this one is perfect for keeping my boyfriends thatch snug.

The beard cap, seen in the image is made by an Icelandic design group called Vik Prjónsdóttir.Their USP is designing fun but functional items to keep people toasty. It comes in a number of colours (the model is sporting a rather fetching classic beige) and I think they are the perfect solution for keeping out the winter chill. Also good for those men out there who are desperate to try out a beard and mustache combo, before committing to growing one.

I also found this superb hat for girls. It is a Princess Leia knitted hair wig. Yes, you heard correctly a Princess Leia hair wig - iconic buns and all. The designer was comissioned to create it for Carrie Fisher’s birthday and you can now buy the pattern. I plan to buy it and knit my own. Hopefully, I will share my efforts once I am done. Until then, may the yarn be with you.

We all have some random childhood memories don’t we? Aside from spending hours perfecting my Wac-a-Wave and pretending to be drunk after eating chocolate liquors, one of mine was going out with my granny and collecting during Christian Aid Week.

I vividly remember the red envelopes and my granny talking to us about the “starving children in Africa”. It certainly made me think back then and I was nicely surprised to see that Christian Aid is still making young people think today.

Their Ctrl+Alt+Shift campaign is fantastic. Aimed at teens and young adults its taken the fundamentals of Christian Aid and made it relevant for the noughties (sorry, I hate that word to). It brings to the forefront issues facing the world’s youth including HIV, rights to education and child labour in a style they are used to receiving information via. So, with UGC and interactive elements, non-condescending tones and editorial honesty. Even the campaign’s name talks to them in a manner they will get - the pc / mac language for changing something.

Via their site and offline activities such as the booklet they have been distributing via the Don’t Panic network, they spell out their campaign story in an engaging and relevant way for the audience. I think its great and am sure if my granny were still alive (and had wi-fi) she would to.