Bit steep for a car window don't you think?

Mysteries solved. Part one: pop(corn) culture.

Upon seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3D at the iMax this weekend I had one question that I desperately needed answering.

My most pressing question wasn't 'how exactly does 3D technology work?', nor was it 'how does Johnny Depp manage to pull THAT look off?', or even 'what was it that Lewis Carroll was smoking when he wrote the original?' Instead I found myself turning to my boyfriend to ask 'how did popcorn become the must-have film accompaniment?'

It raised a bit of a mystery actually, the only answer offered being 'because it doesn't make noise like crisps do...?' After looking into it, it seems the answer goes back to the Great Depression.

Here comes the science (history) bit...

In the late 1800s street vendors were selling popcorn outside theatres, making a tidy profit. Theatre owners hated popcorn and thought it a nuisance as it made a mess of their auditoriums. They also felt it distracted from the film experience, with people getting up half way through a show to purchase popcorn from the street vendor.

Fast forward a few years to 1925 and Charles Manley had perfected the first electric popcorn machine. He marketed the machine to film theatre owners, and 'ta da' one of the most successful combinations in culinary history was born. [Insert jazz hands] You could say Manley was the 'kernel' of popcorn...



During the Great Depression popcorn became an affordable treat, popular with the masses. In fact in the 1950s popcorn made more profit for the theatre owners than the films themselves. In the 1970s and '80s, the VCR was introduced alongside the microwave, seeing the trend of film plus popcorn reach new heights.

With theatre owners today able to keep 100% profit of popcorn sales, (unlike that of ticket sales), it seems popcorn and film culture's inseparable partnership is here to stay. Amen to that.

Stay tuned for more instalments of 'mysteries solved'.

Evolution sits still

As usual Sagmeister proves his worth as an iconic designer, producing this quirky (and oddly practical) chair design with 200 interchangeable covers. I like the idea that even the perforations eventually 'evolve' to form part of the design, in a head rest.

Named 'Darwin chair' my only criticism (yes, I dare to criticise the mighty Sagmeister) from looking at the final product is that there could be a neater way to contain the disused designs at the reverse of the chair. For that time you want to display the 126th design before the 80th.

Click here for more: http://www.dezeen.com/2010/06/24/darwin-chair-by-stefan-sagmeister/#more-84532

There's just no excuse for it. Have you not heard of Google?

I'm referring to bad spelling. It really winds me up how people, especially in the industry who pride themselves on being 'copywriters' cannot spell for toffee, or even the Tesco Value equivalent.

An example of this was when I met up with a potential copywriter partner recently. At a quick glance the work itself looked good, but I immediately spotted a few spelling mistakes/typos that to be honest put me off. Attention to detail is priority and I'm not comfortable working with a copywriter who can't even check through their own work for mistakes!

Now I'm not saying I'm perfect, but it's not difficult even if you can't spell in the first place to look a word up in the dictionary, ask one of your colleagues, or even simply type your effort at the word into Google. It will correct you in an instant, meaning we can all get on with living our lives happily ever after.

Is anything actually 'skin coloured'?

I myself own a lot of 'skin coloured' products. From concealers and face powders to tights, bras, knickers and even plasters, they all by reputation claim to blend into your skin tone and thus give the appearance of, well no appearance. NONE of these actually match my skin colour, yet we still buy into these products for their 'invisibility' against our skin. Are we mad? It's like buying glue that doesn't stick, or a hair dryer that doesn't dry hair.

What is it about football...

...that makes everyone so patriotic? Suddenly it's 'Go Engerrrrllaand!!' and St George's flags as far as the eye can see. If only we were all so proud to be English the rest of the time.

We can only go 'Up' from here

And sew I sew...

I've been wanting to sew for a while now, sew, this year for my birthday my lovely parents bought me a state of the art sewing machine. I am sew pleased, I can finally start creating all those fabulous summer dresses I have been dreaming up for sew long. Ok, so enough of the sewing puns. I'll just let you see what I've made sew far (sorry, couldn't resist that last one).

Shopping list reads 'don't forget the irony...'

I just witnessed a guy buying just two things - cough medicine and 10 Malboro Lights. Oh the irony.