The Consumer Category
We bring you the chic and unique, the best and most bizarre shopping offers both online and offline. We offer you tips on where to buy, and some of the less mainstream and crazy, individual and offbeat items on the internet. Anything that can be bought and sold can be featured here. And we love showcasing the best and worst art and design.
The International Drone Photography Contest
Dronestagram’s fourth annual International Drone Photography Contest didn’t feature photos of your next door neighbour’s garden, and you sunbathing in it. It actually had some pretty cool stuff, like Two Moo by LukeMaximoBell.
Spotter: International Drone Photography Contest
Posted: 9th, July 2017 | In: The Consumer | Comment
Hairy legs leggings are a hoot
Hairy leg leggings will make everyone think you have really hairy legs. The big joke is that underneath the legging you really do have hairy legs, which makes the hairy legs leggings an act of sartorial promise or threat, depending on your tastes.
Spotter: Geekologie
Posted: 7th, July 2017 | In: The Consumer | Comment
The Donald Trump buttplug to ‘Putin your butt’
With this Donald Trump buttplug you can shove the President where the sun doesn’t shine. Etsy shop Lovecrafters Toys is selling the Donald Trump buttplug – “the most tremendous thing to Putin your butt” – hand sculpted by shop owner Chae for £37 a pop.
Spotter: LoveCrafters
Posted: 5th, July 2017 | In: Politicians, The Consumer | Comment
How to open a wheel of Parmesan cheese (Video)
You can crack open a wheel of Parmesan-style Trentingrana cheese inside 7 minutes. Carlo Guffanti stars in this how-to do it video guide us through the process. It’s not easy.
Questions later.
Spotter: The Cheese Channel
Posted: 4th, July 2017 | In: Strange But True, The Consumer | Comment
How to write a Facebook headline that makes you wildly popular
How do you write a Facebook headline that makes you wildly popular? Buzzsumo looked at 100 million story headlines on Facebook and analysed how far they travelled in terms of shares and likes. This “will make you” more viral than the common cold:
In our sample the most powerful three word phrase used in a headline (by some margin) was:
“Will make you … “
This phrase “will make you” gained more than twice the number of Facebook engagements as the second most popular headline trigram. This was a surprise. When we started out looking for top trigrams, this one wasn’t even on our list.
So why does this particular trigram or three word phrase work so well? One of the interesting things is that it is a linking phrase. It doesn’t start or end a headline, rather it makes explicit the linkage between the content and the potential impact on the reader.
This headline format sets out why the reader should care about the content. It also promises that the content will have a direct impact on the reader, often an emotional reaction. The headline is clear and to the point which makes it elegant and effective.
Typical headlines include:
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24 Pictures That Will Make You Feel Better About The World
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What This Airline Did for Its Passengers Will Make You Tear Up – So Heartwarming
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6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person
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“Who Wore It Better?” Pics That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud
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13 Travel Tips That Will Make You Feel Smart
Posted: 4th, July 2017 | In: The Consumer | Comment
Frankie Doodle Dandy: All the pizazz of the Fourth of July
Frankie Doodle Dandy wishes you a happy Independence Day.
Sitting on a blanket of American cheese, he rides in on a toasted English. He’s a Swift Premium Frank. All-American. All-delicious. He’s made with delicious cuts of meat. But not a speck of filler. And all the pizazz of the Fourth of July. In Regular or Beef.
Make Frankie Doodle Dandy by splitting Swift Premium Franks. Dip into boiling water until “arm & legs” spread. Build sandwich and top with frank. Wrap in foil and grill for 10 minutes. Decorate as pictured.
Happy Independence Day!
Posted: 4th, July 2017 | In: The Consumer | Comment
Vermont maple syrups takes like urine? The advert says it does
Vermont maple syrup takes of…
Spotter: OneBakingPanda
Posted: 29th, June 2017 | In: Strange But True, The Consumer | Comment
Coins and the superstitious to be added to banned items on planes
Add coins to the list of items banned on aircraft. And you can add the superstitious, too. Because a woman boarding a China Southern Airlines Flight from Shanghai to Guangzhou thought it good luck to toss nine coins into the plane’s engine. As she boarded her flight the woman “blessed” the plane by lobbing a handful of coins into the important bits.
China Southern Airlines told reporters that passengers were reminded to comply with civil aviation laws and regulations, which prohibit behaviour that could jeopardise the safety of the flight.
Best to slip the coins into the little paper bags they pass around passengers for charity collections, or, as superstition dictates, investing in lucky heather from a woman who looks like she’s very much down her hers despite having bought armfuls of the stuff.
Spotter: SCMP
Posted: 29th, June 2017 | In: News, Strange But True, The Consumer | Comment
Teenagers put glasses on museum’s floor and people thought it was art
When we saw Brooklyn Beckham’s terrible photography being passed off as a talent for anything other than parody, we recalled another example of meaningless nonsense being passed off as art. In 2016, two pranksters placed a pair of spectacles on the floor at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art. Before long the glasses were being viewed as a telling and important piece of art.
The hoaxers, @TJCruda and @k_vinnn, would doubtless be delighted to realise that their artwork fared better than other proper arty things. Tate Britain once threw away a Gustav Metzger installation, a bag of paper and cardboard.
Meanwhile, my own artwork, Vomit In Sock, has been touring the country’s music festivals. Catch it where you can.
Is it art? Dunno. What do you care? It is if it looks like it is.
Spotter: Bored Panda
Posted: 28th, June 2017 | In: Key Posts, News, Strange But True, The Consumer | Comment
Children’s cigarette dummies are smoking’s new taboo
Richard Littler spots this warning on cigaret packets in Germany. He tweets: “My powers of judgement are totally shot. From this image, I can’t tell if smoking is a good or bad thing.”
First one to spot this in novelty gift shop, et us know.
Spotter: the excellent Richard Littler
Posted: 27th, June 2017 | In: Strange But True, The Consumer | Comment
This No Face Money box from Spirited Away is a must have
This money box based on the character No Face on the 20-01 movie Spirited Away is great.
Spotter: Kadry
Posted: 24th, June 2017 | In: Film, The Consumer | Comment
After Grenfell Tower: let’s envy the ‘victims’ in their luxury flats
After Grenfell Tower, news that displaced residents will be rehoused in “Posh New £5m Flats” (Star) at a new-build complex called Kensington Row located around a mile and a half from the disaster. The development has 68 flats, where the three-bed and four-bed flats are worth “around £5m” each. These bigger flats, says the paper, are where “a majority of the survivors” will live.
Over in the Express there’s news that only “some of the victims” will be rehoused in the new flats. I’d say none of the victims will be. They’re dead – at least 79 of them. It’s the survivors who are being rehoused because their last home was a toxic time-bomb.
The flats, secured by the City of London Corporation, are worth even more in the Express. Now homes on the plot are worth up to £8.5m. Residents have access to a “gym, swimming pool, spa, private cinema and 24-hour concierge”. Are we supposed to envy them, or just marvel at the insane London property market which keeps so many people off the property ladder?
The Mail says those survivors are living the dream
And then we learn that the City of London Corp paid around £10m (source: The Sun) for the 68 flats. That’s not £5m each is it – even if Diane Abbott is doing the maths. The majority of survivors are not living in £5m flats. It’s just under £150,000 for each, on average. Yes, I know that’s not the asking price, but the base price. The developers have “sold the properties at cost price”. But it proves that the flats’ monetary value is affected by many forces, not least of all guesswork and the legal requirement that all new complexes contain an element of low-cost housing. The government defines affordable housing as “social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market”.
The need for a decent roof over your head is not a luxury or an investor’s punt. It’s a basic human requirement.
Oddly, the Mirror makes no mention of the new flats until Page 5. Buried in the 14h paragraph of a story on how Grenfell Tower became enveloped in a “deadly cyanide cloud”, we learn that “some Grenfell residents” will be rehoused “in a £10m deal”.
The Mail leaves it to pages 20 and 21 to focus on the flats. Now the flats are in “£2bn blocks” and worth up to £13m. The flats are “the stuff of dreams”. Well, the privately owned ones next door the council flats on the same £2bn development are. The council homes will have a lower spec.
The rehoused Grenfeell Tower survivors will, the paper observes, “live near multi-millionaires”. Not everyone’s a multi-millionaire in London – yet. There are people in the city who live in social housing and do menial and blue collar jobs. Who knew?
Posted: 22nd, June 2017 | In: Money, News, Tabloids, The Consumer | Comment
Kelly LeBrock’s Weird Science jacket is on sale
Here’s your chance to own the jacket Kelly LeBrock wore as Lisa in Weird Science (1985). You’ll need at least $30,000.
Profiles in History trails the item:
Original black leather bolero-style women’s bomber jacket with short shawl lapel and hook and eye front closure. The entire jacket has been expertly studded with steel points, round stars and spikes with stud-formed symbols including spades with the number 13, crosses and diamond panels. Created by costume designer Marilyn Vance and hundreds of hours of single-studding to realize the designs’ special symbols representing luck and superstition.
With draped link chains on the back of the jacket. Interior lined with black satin. Highly visible in the beloved coming of age, Sci-Fi comedy when dream girl brought to life., “Lisa” (LeBrock) teaches the boys, “Gary” and “Wyatt” (Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith) how to be “party animals”. The only one of these jackets produced due to limited time and extreme expense. In production used fine condition. Comes with an LOA from designer Marilyn Vance.
Spotter: BoingBoing
Posted: 21st, June 2017 | In: Film, The Consumer | Comment
Barbie’s Ken’s got a manbun and cornrows
Keeping in step with the times, Mattel has unleashed a new range of Fashionistas Barbie and Ken dolls. This 40-strong platoon of dollies come in a range of shapes to reflect modern humanity’s obsession with individuality. You can buy a “slim” Ken, a “broad” Ken or an “original Ken” – “for the ultimate storytelling experience.” You can create whole worlds of narration as Ken bulks up on protein shakes and ‘roids, slims down with tape worms and stays just the way he is.
The gang also comes in 11 skintones and 28 hairstyles. Bu the picks has to be Ken’s Manbun.
Ken might not be able to talk, but he sure can issue a loud cry for help.
And look of the Cultural Approbation Ken, who sports cornrows.
Spotter: The WOW Report
Posted: 21st, June 2017 | In: Key Posts, News, The Consumer | Comment
Shopper uses great keepy-uppy skills at the supermarket
To Brazil, where a local man is demonstrating how to shop with style. Forget the 5p bag and go native. And get me a dozen eggs… Game on!
Posted: 20th, June 2017 | In: Sports, Strange But True, The Consumer | Comment
Stephen King’s recipe for successful writing
Stephen King In On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft addresses the importance of a good night’s sleep and become a better writer:
Like your bedroom, your writing room should be private, a place where you go to dream. Your schedule — in at about the same time every day, out when your thousand words are on paper or disk — exists in order to habituate yourself, to make yourself ready to dream just as you make yourself ready to sleep by going to bed at roughly the same time each night and following the same ritual as you go.
In both writing and sleeping, we learn to be physically still at the same time we are encouraging our minds to unlock from the humdrum rational thinking of our daytime lives. And as your mind and body grow accustomed to a certain amount of sleep each night — six hours, seven, maybe the recommended eight — so can you train your waking mind to sleep creatively and work out the vividly imagined waking dreams which are successful works of fiction.
How do you achieve wakeful dreams?
The space can be humble … and it really needs only one thing: A door you are willing to shut. The closed door is your way of telling the world that you mean business. . . .
If possible, there should be no telephone in your writing room, certainly no TV or videogames for you to fool around with. If there’s a window, draw the curtains or pull down the shades unless it looks out at a blank wall. For any writer, but for the beginning writer in particular, it’s wise to eliminate every possible distraction. If you continue to write, you will begin to filter out these distractions naturally, but at the start it’s best to try and take care of them before you write. … When you write, you want to get rid of the world, don’t you? Of course you do. When you’re writing, you’re creating your own worlds.
Nonsense, of course. Distraction is welcome. Although it does reduce the risk of some spilling coffee on your laptop.
Spotter: Brain Pickings
80 years of New York city side by side in this neat video
The New Yorker has created this neat video of showing how New York City has changed from 1930s until today.
Spotter: Open Culture, Flashbak,
Posted: 19th, June 2017 | In: Strange But True, Technology, The Consumer, TV & Radio | Comment
Phoenicopterus Rex: a giant pink flamingo looms over Black Rock City
The fetish for big man-made things is one of our pet loves. A trip round Australia in the 1990s introduced me to The Big… Ant, Apple, Avocado, Banana, Chook and lots, lots more big plastic landmarks. Artist Josh Zubkoff had added a Big Flamingo to the platoon of big objects. His 40-ft Phoenicopterus Rex will loom over Black Rock City.
Phoenicopterus allows flamingo enthusiasts to climb a ladder and look around inside. Naturally, the pink flamingo will be perched on a bright green lawn of fake grass and surrounded by the white picket fence.
Phoenicopterus Rex- prawn-eye view
The original pink flamingo lawn ornament was created by artist Donald Featherstone. His creation came to epitomise American suburban kitsch, an attempt at beautification in mass-produced, bright pink plastic.
The ornament’s ubiquity and inoffensiveness inspired John Waters’ to name his breakthrough film Pink Flamingos. Waters told Smithsonian:
“The only people who had them had them for real, without irony. My movie wrecked that.”
Spotter: Josh Zubkoff
Posted: 19th, June 2017 | In: News, The Consumer | Comment
