Black Farmers

Last year’s Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference in Brooklyn aimed to raise awareness of ecological and food related issues and career opportunities for the African American community. They quote some startling statistics, including: almost 50% of African Americans will suffer from diabetes heart disease and stroke in the African American community there are 30% […]

Celebrity Magazine Porkies – Don’t Believe Everything You Read

Gawker has compiled a handy analysis of which celebrity magazines are the most accurate with their stories – and conversely, which, ahem, stretch ignore the truth a little lot. Us Weekly turns out to be the most honest (or perhaps better predictors of the future pregnancies, break ups, divorces and reconciliations of famous folk). Star […]

Michaele Kors’ Put Downs

“She’s pooping fabric”; “she looks like a doormat”; “she’s like a big blue condom”; “she’s like a bridal…nurse”; “it’s like a disco straitjacket – it doesn’t make any sense”  – just some of Michael Kors’ feedback on Project Runway. See him in action in this video on Gawker.

Hollywood Heart Throbs: The Next Generation

New York Magazine has compiled a list of up-and-coming Hollywood actors who might, just might, be able to step into the shoes of George Clooney, Robert Downey Junior et al. They include: Sam Worthington, Taylor Lautner, Ryan Reynolds and Bradley Cooper. See them all here.

Rework Your Resume…and Your Face To Land That Job

It’s reported that people in Chicago have been resorting to desperate measures to land themselves a job – including getting a nose job, and other plastic surgery. Dr Steven Dayan says that pre-interview Botox is the most popular treatment, and he says that the resulting increased self esteem can help both job seekers and those […]

How Reality TV Changed My Life

Reality Matters: 19 Writers Come Clean About the Shows We Can’t Stop Watching by Anna David is a collection of essays by authors, such as James Frey, in which they reflect how they got hooked by reality TV – Big Brother, Survivor, The Real Housewives et al – and how it has shaped their lives […]

Lin Yu-chun – The New SuBo?

Lin Yu-chun is a Taiwanese soprano who is drawing comparisons to Susan Boyle.  The 24-year-old caused a YouTube sensation after appearing on the reality show Avenue to Stardom and singing Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. Read more on Yahoo or watch his performance on YouTube.

Terry Fator: Singing Ventriloquist

Singing ventriloquist Terry Fator won the second season of America’s Got Talent and now headlines at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas in a five-year $100m deal (with an option to renew on the same deal). But like most overnight successes, it took a while to find success – the 44 yr-old has been honing […]

Single Black Female

Karyn Langhorne Folan, author of Don’t Bring Home a White Boy: And Other Notions that Keep Black Women From Dating Out, suggests that single African American women need to start dating outside their race if they are to find a partner. Part of the problem is that ‘good’ black men i.e. those with college degrees […]

Gay is the New Black

Dangerous Breed is home to political T-Shirts that make you think: the slogan that is provoking  most comment at the moment is “Gay is the New Black”, which refers to the denial of gay marriage rights in the USA. Others include “Ski Iraq” (as seen on Six Feet Under), “Gaza Strip Club” and “Petrosexual”. Get […]

Eligible Men

Daily Motion has a video of found footage of dating agency videos, which shows a procession of hapless men explaining what they are looking for in love “vivacious, foxy”, “the goddess”, and why they are eligible bachelors (“I’m an executive by day and a wild man at night.” “I’m atonal.”, “I’m interested in most phases […]

Odd Cops

You don’t see this every day: A cop playing a guitar to a busker A Staffordshire bull terrier being frisked A lady cop watching a naked man do an unconventional high-wire act See more on Trendhunter

Pyjama Girls Documentary

Director Maya Derrington noticed that there was a propensity for the people of Dublin to walk around the city in their pyjamas. This observation inspired her to make Pyjama Girls, an observational documentary that focuses on a group of teenage girls who live in the Basin Street Flats in Dublin’s Inner City. The film is […]

Undercover theatre

In Washington DC, unsuspecting shoppers, diners or park goers can find themselves suddenly witnessing what appears to be a shoot out or someone being chased by federal agents, but it’s all part of a new kind of street theatre, dubbed ‘threat theatre’ in which the audience are extraneous. The point is not to entertain, but […]

Foreign Embassies

Brits are causing trouble abroad again – badgering British embassies with a litany of embarrassingly trivial complaints, ranging from the mother who wanted the British consulate in Florida to help her teenage son pack his suitcase and a traveller in Zambia who wanted the high commission to call in sick for him at work. Got […]

Spotlab

Spotlab is the Winner of NATPE’s Next TV Competition for Reality/Unscripted. It follows 15 new directors who have three months to learn how to direct their own ad. In fact they walk away with a showreel for three spots, and hopefully a new career. As part of the program they get access to industry insiders […]

Random Acts of Reality

Random Acts of Reality is a blog by Tom Reynolds, an Emergency Medical Technician (or ambulance man, but don’t let him catch you calling him that) in the London ambulance service. Recent posts include a call to a teenager who has a sore hand as a result of punching something (or someone), a rant against […]

Dr Feelgood

Slate Magazine explores why doctors end up giving celebrities too many pills: JFK, Marlene Dietrich, Elvis, Anna Nicole Smith, and now Michael Jackson. Elvis’s doctor explained that he did it “because I cared too much”, but the article  concludes that: “Like the drug-addled celebrity, Dr. Feelgood is a true addict, hooked not on OxyContin or […]

Showbizzle

Showbizzle is a new website that mixes social networking, scripted web series (x23 eps) with 40 different characters, and career advice for making it in Tinsel Town. The action focuses on Janey who hangs out with her friends who are trying to make it in the biz in Hollywood. The site also features interviews with […]

What Does the Ambassador Do?

There’s been a certain amount of harrumphing in Washington DC about the appointment of Louis Susman, retired vice chairman of Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (and Obama fundraiser of $500,000), to be ambassador to Britain. Another big fundraiser ($100-200k), former financial analyst Charles Rivkin is heading to Paris to be America’s ambassador. Biotech lawyer John […]

Exotic Pets

Need a new tiger or a replacement zebra? Texan Cheryl Morgan knows where you can get one. She’s found animals for zoos, movies and commercials. If she doesn’t have what you need roaming about her ranch, she has a global network of contacts she can call.  See what’s she’s got here.

Camping in Vogue

With money  a bit tighter than usual people are reassessing their holidays, and more are deciding that camping is not as bad as they thought. CNN have an article about families who are discovering the outdoors together and sales of camping equipment is up. Read more.

Crime Spider – for crime research

Crime Spider is an excellent and comprehensive resource for anyone researching US crime related stories. It has collated all the relevant websites into categories such as forensic antrhopology, missing persons, juvenile crime, serial killers, crime scene photos, domestic violence, behavioural profiling, gang violence, child abuse, unsolved murders and terrorism (among others).  Explore the crime scene […]

Cardstacker

34-yr-old Bryan Berg is the Cardstacker. He builds amazing, intricate houses of cards. In fact, they’re more like card cities. In 1992, aged 17, he broke the Guinness World Record for the World’s Tallest House of Cards when he built a 14 ft 6 in tower. His most recent structure topped 25 ft.  He built […]

Competitours

Bored of sitting on the beach for your vacation? Fancy taking part in a reality TV show but don’t want the exposure? Take a Competitours holiday, which is roughly based on The Amazing Race. Sign up with your team of family and friends and embark on a holiday that is packed with daily challenges. You’ll […]

Moral Dilemmas

Here are some interesting moral dilemmas to consider over your morning coffee: If a lifeboat is at risk of sinking, is it OK to push some people over the edge to drown in order to save the rest? If  a fat man gets stuck in the entrance to a cave, trapping other people inside, and […]

Pirates 2: Stagnetti’s Revenge – Feature Porn

Stagnetti’s Revenge is a feature length porn film makes heavy use of CGI and Pirates of the Caribbean… watch the trailer, and wonder at the expense (and poor acting):

Directory of Forensic Examiners

The American College of Forensic Examiners is a professional organization for forensic examiners worldwide, aiming to advance the profession and increase education. It has a useful ‘Find a Forensic Examiner’ section if you are looking for an expert. As an aside – there are forensic nurses in the directory. Now, in nursing school they never […]

Outstanding in the Field – Outdoor Dining

Outstanding in the Field is a restaurant without walls and without a place. For ten years they’ve wandered around hosting dinners for 100+ people seated at long tables in the open air. He sources food from local food artisans, who also a join the diners for dinner.  Owner Jim Denevan wants to reconnect people to […]

Scary Ideas

You might want to think twice before you get into a lift like this. The Freefall Elevator has what appears to be a glass floor that gives people the feeling of being in free-fall. It was designed as an advert for a Swiss sky diving company. Another ad for a zoo had the tagline “Come […]

I Saw You…

There seems to be a lot of romance in the air at the  moment….I was tipped off about I Saw You, which is a collection of graphic-art ‘missed you’ cartoons based on the sweet, weird and downright delusional ‘missed connections’ ads on Craigslist. The cartoonists range from Jesse Reklaw to Peter Bagge and Ken Dahl. […]

Creature Comforts by Rebecca Skloot

You’ve heard of guide dogs for the blind, but what about guide horses? Or diabetes-assistance chimps? Or a parrot that doubles as therapist and PR? Enter the wacky world of assistance animals. There’s got to be a programme in here… read more in Creature Comforts by science writer Rebecca Skloot. Rebecca’s also got an interesting […]

Google’s Project 10 to the 100th

Google’s Project 10 to the 100th recently asked people to submit their ideas to make the world a better place. They received 100,000 ideas, which they’re now shortlisting the best 100. On 17th March the public will vote for their favourite 20 ideas. A panel will then decide on the best five ideas and Google […]

TED: Cindy Gallop does Porn

Cindy Gallop, an ex- NYC ad agency chairman, has given a talk at the high-brow TED conference about porn. Her new website  Make Love Not Porn advises on the difference between porn and real-life sex. In a funny way it reminds me of TLC’s Life Lessons (but is obviously not quite as wholesome…and I’ll probably […]

Stiletto Spy School

Ladies – if you’ve always fancied James Bond, but know it’s never going to happen, you could do the next best thing: become James Bond. Stiletto Spy School (NYC and Las Vegas) will teach you hand-to-hand combat, how to play poker, shoot a gun, mix a martini and race cars and boats (although I’m not […]

101 Things to Do

101 things to do, 273 days in which to do them. One done. Miss Alex has compiled a list of things she wants to do achieve by 29 September, 2011. Taks range from drinking 100 different whiskies, cooking three things from every cook book she owns (that wouldn’t take me very long, in fact I’d […]

Trendhunter Videos – Eco

Check out the latest Trendhunter green trends, including: 30 Homes for Nature Lovers, 62 Creative Ways to Contend with Garbage, AV-Inspired Innovations, Self-Powered Tech Homes, Wooden Scooters.

Death by Computer Game

Extreme gaming has led to deaths in people who have undertaken marathon sessions, but Keith Bakker, found of the Smith & Jones Centre, Amsterdam, which is Europe’s only clinic that treats gaming addiction, suggests that addiction is rare – most compulsive gamers have social problems. The pioneering clinic aims to build their social skills by […]

World Super Hero Registry – Coming Out of the Phone Booth

The World Superhero Registry is a register of ordinary people who do good deeds or fight crime whilst wearing costume. Active superheroes include: Foxfire, patrols the streets of Michigan; Entomo, a crime-fighting environmentalist in Naples; and Ghost who fights crime in Salt Lake City, Utah. Inclusion in the register is generally by invitation only; if […]

How to Become a Millionaire in a Recession.

Back in the early 20th century, during an economic downturn in the US, a penniless and jobless writer managed to get a poorly-paid writing job, when he was asked to interview famous men about their success stories. The writer was Napoleon Hill , and his first interviewee was Andrew Carnegie.

Carnegie told Hill that anyone could be successful, but that, “it’s a shame that each new generation must find the way to success by trial and error, when the principles are really clear-cut.” Carnegie challenged Hill to interview great men and compile the secrets of their success into one book. Hill accepted the challenge and worked tirelessly on it for twenty-five years.

The result was Think and Grow Rich, first published in 1937, and is still in print, 60 million copies later. It is claimed that Hill’s book has made more millionaires and inspired more success than any other book in history. It could also inspire TV programmes in a number of genres – history, biography, business and reality. (Photo by Unhindered by Talent.)