Happy New Year All

I hope you all have a great night, have a glass of champagne on me. I'll see you all in the New Year. No go party and dance the night away, I am . . . Richard xXx

Harry And The Hendersons

Would You Buy Tequila From This Lady?

It seems you can put a famous face on just about anything these days, even dead ones. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered my beloved Frida Kahlo, Mexico's most renowned artist and flamboyant Icon, is the latest famous face to front a brand - OF TEQUILA! The thing is, Frida wasn't just known as an artist, she was also an alcoholic known to polish off a bottle of tequila a day. Maybe not the wisest of ideas plastering Frida's face, without her permission, all over a Tequila bottle then. It seems likely Frida Kahlo would have approved, at least of the contents if not the packaging. Apparently Kahlo's niece and heir authorized the use of her image. Me thinks she's just trying to cash in on her aunt's famous name. Needles to say, I still think I'll get a bottle of Frida Tequila. I wonder if the little worm at the bottom looks like Diego Rivera.

Frida Kahlo Tequila - Official WEBSITE Here

Merry Christmas Everybody

I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas today. I do hope you are all enjoying the festive spirit as much as I am. I'm gorging on mandarin oranges, candy canes and way too many chocolate, and I'm am about to open all my presents. YEAH! Santa has been. So I hope this message finds you all well, surrounded by loved ones and Christmas cheer . . . and I do hope Santa is VERY, VERY, VERY GOOD to each and every one of you. Have a wonderful day all . . . Richard xXx

Would You Wear This?

I tell you, I'm so glad I didn't get one of these for Christmas. These costumed animal characters from Japan’s new craze, ‘Kigurumi’ are popping up everywhere, from fancy dress party's, summer festivals, even the dance floors of nightclubs. Nicknamed ‘Kigu’, these costumes have only been available in Asia, but now you lucky lot can grab one online. Go on, you know you want one. Spotted on a number of celebrities including Lily Allen and Oli from the Filthy Dukes, these cute costumes are priced at £39.99 and are available in a range of breeds including a cow, tiger, dinosaur and flying squirrel. I'm holding out for the arrival of a giraffe.

Kigu Crew - Official BLOG Here

Kigu Costumes - Official WEBSITE Here

Snowed in, making mulled wine

Today I am totally snowed in, with no escape from my house. In my cupboards are all the ingredients to make a delicious pot of mulled wine. I had purchased all the necessary items last week with the intention of whipping up a marvelous batch on Christmas eve while I entertain guests. Well . . . I'm bored, thirsty and suffering from cabin fever. Sticking cloves in orange's should help pass the boredom for a bit, so out come my ingredients and pots. What I love most about making mulled wine, are the aromatic smells that fill the kitchen, drifting through the house - orange oil, cinnamon, clove, bay leaf and red wine. Delicious and delightful. I can't wait to get started. I've included the recipe that I'll be following to make my mulled wine with today. If you have any recipes of your own, variations, I'd love to hear about them below. Right then I better get started, I'll try and save you a cup.

1/2 bottle red wine
25 ml Port
25 ml Grand Marnier
1 bay leaf
1 quartered orange studded with 12 cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
1/2 star anise
1 table spoon sugar

Vladimir Tretchikoff

I've always loved Vladimir Tretchikoff's paintings. I think it's his use of color I most love, those gold and emerald greens are so rich and striking. Chinese Girl (above) and Lady From Orient (right) are MY favorite Tretchikoff paintings, his most famous works. Tretchikoff is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time. Chinese Girl is one of the best selling prints ever and has been printed on everything from mugs to pillow cases. I'm actually on the hunt for the pillow cases at the moment. I spotted some in a shop in Clapham some years ago but stupidly didn't purchase them. The retro mugs are on order and if my partner is reading this, anything with Tretchikoff's Oriental ladies on them will make me gush rainbows and glitter for days. For those of you not familiar with the works of Vladimir Tretchikoff, I've included his official website below, so you can read up on him and see more of his marvelous paintings.

Vladimir Tretchikoff - Official WEBSITE Here

A Dorothy Parker Quote A Day

"The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue" Dorothy Parker




Today I thought I'd celebrate Dorothy Parker, the peerless wit and my favorite writer. I wish I could have sat with Dorothy and her gang of writers, critics, actors and wits when they gathered for lunch and martinis at the Algonquin Hotel in New York in the early 1920's. I think I would have made fine company for Dorothy and her "The Vicious Circle" - to be a part of those conversations, to have exchanged wisecracks, wordplay and witticisms with Dorothy and her merry gang. Oh well! It's just a shame I don't have a tardis. In the meantime, a Dorothy Parker quote a day always puts a smile on my face. I hope Dorothy Parker makes you smile too?

Christmas With The Puppini Sisters

The Christmas album has always had a special place in the pantheon of pop. This season, the wonderful Puppini Sisters join the arena, rolling out their specially-themed full-length collection of festive favorites. I picked up a copy of this marvelous CD the other day and have been playing it non-stop ever since. It's currently my favorite Christmas album and has managed to knock Mariah Carey and her yuletide tunes off my player, not an easy feat. So what's so wonderful about The Puppini Sisters and their Christmas jingles? Well, quite simply, the Puppini's know how to have a good time, delivering one super FUN Christmas album. The Puppini Sisters (who aren't really sisters but best friends Marcella, Kate and Stephanie) interpret some of their favorite Christmas songs, 1940's style. The harmony perfect girls add a touch of swing to classics like - Santa Baby, Winter Wonderland and Here Comes Santa Clause, all accompanied by a big band. Even Wham's Last Christmas gets the Puppini makeover. Oh! and so does Mariah's All I Want For Christmas, quite marvelously in fact. So, why don't you spend Christmas with the Puppini Sisters this festive season? I think you'll agree, this really is the perfect Christmas dinner party album and a wonderful soundtrack with your mulled wine and Christmas pudding. Do check out the Puppini Sisters website and other information below.

The Puppini Sisters - Official WEBSITE Here

Christmas With The Puppini Sisters - Order by Amazon Here

Something PINK to cover my Ears!

This cold winter chill is really getting to me. It's a Canada freeze, here in the UK. I mean I never complain about the cold, however. There are days I walk around the city thinking my ears are about to drop off from frostbite. What I need is a pair earmuffs. I have my sights on this fluffy hot pink pair. What do you think? Hardly conspicuous, but so ME!

Harald Glööckler: Prince Of Fashion

Who is Harald Glööckler? Only Germany's biggest TV star, that's who! Harald knows fashion. He lives it, breathes it, and brands it - and the Germans love him, consuming his collections on the nations biggest teleshopping channel. Next week he'll be hitting British TV screens like a blitzkrieg, showering UK audiences with his trade mark wit and pretension - and I can't wait. In this one off documentary Harald Glööckler will parade through London's fashion week in attempt to make his mark on London's couture scene, 100% bitchiness is guaranteed. I think I might just be a little bit in love with Harald and his tattooed eyebrows. I mean really, what's not to love about a man who looks about 101, sleeps in phemaldehyde and sprays himself with mannequin paint daily. To camera, Glööckler declares, "I'm like a piece of art" and demands a chair for his designer bag. Wonderfully pompous and certainly worthy of a documentary in his honor. Oh, and If Glööckler appears familiar, that's because he inspired Sacha Baron Cohen's title character from the movie Brüno. YES! Brüno does exist. Glööckler really should be a full time celebrity on these shores, sadly we have to make do with a Chinese lady called Gok Wan and her show about making fat people look good naked. No thank you! More Glööckler PLEASE!

Harald Glööckler: Prince of Fashion
This Monday, Dec 13th on Sky/Living TV, 10pm

Harald Glööckler (Watch TRAILER Here)

Celebrity Stinks

I was wondering around Boots the other day, bored out of my mind, dragged there by my partner so he could shop for grooming products. While he shopped I played around in the perfume section, browsing over smells for women, as you do. It seems every celebrity from Katie (Jordan) Price to Kate Moss, even Kylie Minogue, have a fragrance to flog this season. Why any woman would want to smell of a signature fragrance from Katie Price is beyond me. The whole notion of fragrances endorsed by celebrities has always baffled me. Curious, I took the opportunity while my partner shopped to sample them all, starting with Kylie. I sprayed her on a little piece of paper and waved her under my nose. PHEWWW! Kylie smells, not of Aphrodite, but a compost heap. Poor Kylie, downgraded by rotting veg. Moving on, Katie Price's "Precious Love" just stunk of desperation and onions. I was soon in a spraying frenzy, filling the air with famous lady smells. YUK! Britney's "Eay De Parfum" was hardly a fun filled circus and stunk like a poop filled horse stable. I had created a haze of celebrity smells, wafting through Boots, sales assistants stared at me disapprovingly. I like spraying sample bottles, it seems to offend anyone within a one-meter radius. So, I carried on. So many famous smells still to spray, to offend - Katy Perry, Paris Hilton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Lopez all stunk, BADLY.

However, nothing could prepare me for Coleen Rooney's Pong. If you haven't heard of Coleen Rooney, all you need to know is, she's married to an English footballer and has an open relationship with him. It seems women who marry football players are very popular when it comes to selling bottled smells, as Mrs. Rooney prooves. I picked up another little piece of paper and sprayed Coleen's fragrance on it. Unfortunately no one warned me that Coleen's hole would open up and gush like a garden hose. I was chocking on Coleen's lady mist, hacking up a lung, ducking behind a counter, mortified. A sales assistant rushed over, snatched Coleen's bottle out of my hand and told me off with a single glare from her eyes. As I hurried off, embarrassed, she began to cough loudly. Clearly I wasn't the only one offended by Coleen's smell. Coleen Rooney's fragrance was by far the worse smell I have ever been hit with, a combination of old sweaty gym socks and vinegar. Her STINK stuck to me for days, I'm still scrubbing it off days later and it lingers below my nose as I type this. I don't think I'll ever spray another celebrity fragrance again. I mean god forbid Ann Widdecombe decides to launch a fragrance, a single spray could take my last breath and end my life. Maybe I should stay out of the women's fragrance department of Boots, I mean what was I doing there in the first place, they do have a mens section boasting David Beckham's new fragrance.

I Want Candy

There's one thing missing from my Christmas tree this year - Candy Canes! Hanging candy canes on your Christmas tree seems to be an American/Canadian tradition, not one practiced here in the UK. For years, I've searched high and low on these shores for those Christmas boxes of candy canes, and I just can't get them anywhere. What I miss most about them are the childhood memories. Every North American child looks forward to eating candy canes off his/her tree, sneaking one when mom and dad aren't watching. I miss having those little candy canes on my tree. My Christmas tree just doesn't look the same without candy canes on him, especially when I'm sat on the sofa biting my nails with a craving for sweets.

Twin Pleasure

I woke up this morning to Bros, remember them? Identical twins Matt and Luke Goss? SADLY, I wasn't tucked in bed with them, a twin on each side - one can dream. They were however, blasting out my radio. Heart FM! Boy did I ever love/fancy Bros back in the day. I took great pleasure in watching the hunky Goss brothers along with Craig Logan (him on drums) jump about in their music videos on MTV. They kind of set the trend for biker jackets, ripped jeans and Doc Martens, a look I emulated in my late teens, but never really got right. My biker jacket was oversized and hang off me like a carcass out to dry. I could never rip my jeans just right and ended up with so many pairs of cut off shorts instead. Years later, a friend told me I had to use a steak knife on my jeans (I was using sewing scissors) in order to get the right effect. By this time ripped jeans had gone out of fashion and so did Bros. Looking back, It's hard to believe that Bros was the biggest boy band on the planet, with 11 Top 40 singles and 3 Top 20 albums in the United Kingdom alone. The Goss brothers have since gone their separate ways. Matt is still enjoying a moderately successful solo music career, while Luke has popped up in some rather big Hollywood films, the Blade and Hellboy franchises come to mind. Unfortunately there are no plans of Bros reforming in the near future, like so many former boy bands have. They will however, be forever reunited on radio stations like Heart FM, waxing lyrical "I Owe You Nothing" and "When Will I Be Famous?" . . . Do take a moment and drool over/remember Bros, won't you?

Matt Goss - Website Here

Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber

There are many famous women that I'm convinced are men, secretly masquerading as the opposite sex. But how many famous men in the world, are secretly female? Now . . . I can not confirm, but I've often been convinced that the X-factor's Olly Murs and the fresh-faced pop midget, Justin Bieber, are ACTUALLY WOMEN . . . Lesbians. I mean, Murs and Bieber LOOK like teenage Lesbians. Even the Lesbians seem to think so, with regards to Bieber anyway. I found this adorable website called Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber. Young Lesbians visiting this site can actually submit photos of themselves looking like JB. The fun comes in trying to figure out which one is the real Bieber. Some are so convincing you'll spend hours glaring at your computer, others are just trying. The site also sells some rather cool merchandise, caps and t-shirts. Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber is a rather funny site with some very witty comments. Have a look for yourself below. Now, we just need a site for Lesbians Who Look Like Olly Murs, anyone?

Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber - Website Here