Reasons to be cheerful

We’re smack bang in the middle of the gloomiest months of the year, but here are a few things to smile about.

January and February are truly the months of the blues. January includes what is, officially, the most depressing day of the year (the third Monday after Christmas) and the interminable cold, dark days of February make the shortest month feel like the longest.

But don’t despair: there’s loads to look forward to in 2012. Here are some highlights to lift the gloom.

A bonus bank holiday
Whatever your views on the royal family, there’s no doubt Her Majesty has done us all a favour in 2012. By staying on the throne for 60 years, she’s convinced the government to do the decent thing and give us all an extra bank holiday. Happily, the extended four-day weekend at the start of June applies to monarchists and republicans alike.

So, what to do with it? Well, recent reports by the Local Government Association suggest that the number of street parties is likely to surpass the figure for the wedding of Prince William last year. Of course, if you want to avoid the celebrations, four days is pretty much perfect for a city break, whether that’s in Manchester or Madrid.

A real summer of sport
Every spring, excitable media types start talking up the ‘amazing’ summer of sport to come, but this year they won’t be exaggerating. There’s the Olympics (and Paralympics) of course. If you can’t make it to London, several of the events – like rowing, sailing and road cycling – are being held elsewhere in the country. If you’re an armchair fan but can’t catch the whole shebang, it’s worth at least catching any event featuring either Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps – arguably two of the greatest sportsmen of all time.

Oh, and experts reckon that the ‘Olympics effect’ will boost both the national mood and the national economy.

But for those who think the Olympics are an expensive celebration of hobbies most people would normally cross the road to avoid, there’s also Euro 2012. The European Football Championships will be held in Poland and Ukraine and take place between 8 June and 1 July. Both England and the Republic of Ireland have qualified.

If you don’t have tickets for either event already, avoid a lot of stress and expense and resolve to watch them at home, with your mates, while firing up the BBQ and sipping on a few cold ones.

Music, music everywhere
It may be January, but the start of Britain’s world-beating music festival season is just around the corner. And even though the biggest beast in the jungle – Glastonbury – is having a year off, there’s still plenty to look forward to.

Honeyfest – in April – based in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, is the first outdoor festival of a season that then takes in highlights like Download (9 June), Isle of Wight (22 June), T in the Park (6 July), Latitude (12 July), and Reading/Leeds (24 August), before petering out as the leaves begin to fall. And there are lots, lots more.

Barbecue weather
Yes, it’s cold and wet at the moment, but we’re in for a scorching summer. Possibly.

Predicting the weather beyond the next few days is notoriously difficult, but bona fide weatherman John Kettley has done it anyway. And the news is hot! Kettley recently told the Sun that August 2012 will be: “Very warm, occasionally hot, hot, hot. Some thundery downpours and (it’s) always more changeable for north western areas as showers reach us from the Atlantic. But overall a big thumbs up month.”

So there you have it. Pretty much a nailed on guarantee of a hot August. Maybe.

You’re (probably) flu-free
If all that spring and summer fun seems an age away, console yourself with this. You probably don’t have flu. On current trends this could be one of the healthiest winters ever in terms of seasonal flu. And unlike previous years, there have been no panics about pandemics like Sars, swine flu or bird flu.

So celebrate this good fortune by getting healthier still. Eat well and exercise and you really will have a beach body by June. Without flu to wipe out a week or two, it really is the season to be jolly.

The world won’t end
While it’s true that some people have looked at a Mayan calendar and predicted the end of the world at the end of 2012, it’s also true that experts who have looked at the Mayan calendar have predicted that the world will still be around in 2013. So the best news in 2012 is that you can still make plans for 2013.

Of course, there’s much more to be cheerful about in 2012, even while the days remain short and the wind bitter. But one thing’s for certain: it’s shaping up to be quite an extraordinary year.

Study shows how the UK workplace has changed since 1952

Fewer skilled manual workers, more managerial, professional and technical jobs and more pay inequality are just some of the changes in the workplace since the Queen came to the throne 60 years ago, according to new research.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) also found that workers are more productive and prosperous than in 1952, but stress has increased, millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost and there has been a huge increase in part-time employment. In addition, the number of company personnel jobs has increased 20-fold since the 1950s.

The number of people in work has increased by six million to 29 million, but one in four people are part-timers, compared to just 4% in the 1950s.

The value of output produced by the economy has quadrupled since 1952, but work-related stress has increased and the rapid advance of technology has led to information “overload”, said the CIPD.

The number of manufacturing jobs has fallen from 8.7 million to 2.5 million, while trade union membership has slumped by three million to 6.5 million.

John Philpott, the CIPD’s chief economic adviser, said: “In the six decades of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, work has continued to be the warp and weft of everyday life.

“Her Majesty‘s subjects may devote more of their available time and money to leisure pursuits but even though work has changed in ways that could not be imagined in 1952, the UK still shows no sign of becoming the kind of leisure society predicted by the ‘end of work’ futurologists of yesteryear.

“Although five years into the Queen’s reign as our nation was emerging from post-war austerity the then prime minister Harold MacMillan declared that Britain “had never had it so good”, the average material standard of living was very meagre compared with what in 2012 we also call ‘austerity Britain’.

“Yet in our more unequal society, with the threat of unemployment an underlying concern even during good times, people do not seem much happier about their working lives and many exhibit the symptoms of work-related stress.

“Whatever the future of work, the lesson of the past six decades is that increased productivity and prosperity isn’t enough to enhance the common good in the workplace or society in general.”

The study also showed a widening pay gap between men and women, even though more women are now in employment.

Surveys show gentlemen do not prefer blondes

A new study adds weight to the belief that British men prefer the ‘girl next door’ to platinum blonde pin-ups – unless they’re out on the town.

Research just released appears to disprove what women have long believed – that men prefer blondes. A study by the University of Westminster and recently reported by the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology suggests that men view brunettes as being more attractive and intelligent than blondes. Unless, of course, we’re out on the town.

Researchers sent a woman to three London nightclubs with her hair dyed either brunette, blond or red and observed the results. They then asked 130 men to rate pictures of her sporting all three looks. The result? She was chatted up most frequently when she had blond hair but rated higher for attractiveness and intelligence when she had the appearance of being brunette.

This appears to support the results of a survey conducted by Badoo in 2011, which revealed that British men prefer brunettes to blondes.

Badoo asked 2,000 British blokes to state the physical features they find most attractive in the opposite sex.

Contradicting the old adage that gentlemen prefer blondes, almost a third of the men polled (33.1%) said they find women with brown hair most attractive. Blondes (29.5%) edged out women with black hair (28.6%) for second place while redheads were preferred by a meagre 8.8% of the men surveyed.

For men in the UK, women with blue eyes still rule the roost with a massive 40.2% of guys preferring blue eyes over brown (29.2%), hazel (13.1%) and green (17.5%).

The survey also uncovered another slightly surprising result: 38.8% of the respondents said their perfect woman would have a dress size of 12-14. Only 10% of the guys surveyed cited sizes 6-8 as their preference, suggesting that, while skinny models fill the majority of pages in magazines, the man in the street is actually more attracted to women of average build.

After collating the results, Badoo applied their findings to the world of celebrity and, combining the physical features that scored the highest marks, deduced that Lauren Goodger, star of reality show The Only Way Is Essex, possesses all of the attributes that men in the UK said they find most attractive.

Her brown hair, blue eyes and average build give her the perfect combination for being the prototypical girl next door.

International preferences

Badoo also ran the study in France, Spain, Italy, US and Brazil with surprising results.

French men said they preferred their females skinny with all other nationalities saying they prefer average to curvy women. In all of the countries surveyed (apart from the UK), black was the most popular hair colour. The UK was also the only country that opted for blue eyes, with brown and green topping the table around the world.

Lloyd Price, from Badoo, said, “I was amazed that blond hair and size 8 did not top the list. Magazines are full of skinny blond models, so it is nice to see that in reality guys prefer the girl-next-door look. Mark Wright is clearly a lucky man in the eyes of the nation.”

Source: http://him.uk.msn.com/sex-and-dating/new-surveys-show-gentlemen-do-not-prefer-blondes

Purchased Apple iPhone 4S

I made a purchase last week in the Apple UK Store online for a iPhone 4S. It has finally been processed and I received an email today that my iPhone 4S (Black 16GB) will be arriving on Monday 14th Novemebr. First thing I will do after setting up my new mobile is create a new post on my blog. I am very excited.

Newcastle In Christmas Spirit 2010

The Gate glowing with various lights and Monument with a clear sky

Beautiful Summer & Natural Ingredients (2010)

Image via Wikipedia

I love how nice our garden is in the summer. An Apple tree that has been in our back garden for 22 years and there are various vegetables my dad grows. We have spinach, peas, mint leaves, strawberries, potatoes, coriander and many other things.

We have fresh ingredients in our garden and these are used on a regular basis in our tasty dishes. When I’ve tried food at home compared to the Asian dishes that are replicated by takeaways, restaurants and supermarkets it is clear that natural ingredients and cooking skills of an Asian person can’t be replaced by ready made junk. As Gordon Ramsey says in an episode of him travelling in India, British people eat bland food with Mango chutni and don’t realise it is not reflecting Asian culture or food at all.

Budgie also enjoyed the summer outside in the garden.