Jubilee Breakfast

I was rather devoid of inspiration yesterday as I hunted for something to eat for lunch. I browsed the sandwich aisle in my local Sainsbury's and came face to face with the rather delicious sounding Jubilee Breakfast sandwich. Even better, it was available as part of the meal deal, so I decided to give it a try. The Jubilee Breakfast sandwich is touted as being: Eggs, smoked salmon, bucks fizz & lemon mayonnaise on oatmeal bread. It looks lovely and fresh with an appealing range of colours in its retro union jack adorned packaging. Of course, unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that this year is the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, which is what this new sandwich creation is in honour of. It's a celebration of all things British.

I took the above photo using the Instagram app and put the "1977" effect on as it makes it feel retro, harking back to the Silver Jubilee in the 70s and again, rather British and summery and feel-good. As for the sandwich itself, it was delicious. I would have preferred the egg to be scrambled, but that is a moot point really. The mayonnaise was flavoursome and not too sweet as I feared it might be. I'll definitely be indulging in a few more of these before they are withdrawn (that's the bad thing about limited editions).

Not the most novel approach, but still worth a read.

With an interest in eventually writing and getting published, I decided to give this book a try. Having been on a day's course with the NUJ, I had that experience to compare the knowledge gleaned from this book with, although I found the price of longer courses a bit prohibitive at the moment. The author is successful in her own right, with more than 100 published titles. The aim of this book isn't to guarantee you commissions from editors or a multi-million pound publishing deal with one of the top houses, but it is definitely likely to get you further than you would without reading it. The reader is asked to consider the audience, consider the product they intend to sell, and consider its USP. The points could perhaps be conveyed more succinctly in places, but still I would say that there are several worthwhile points made and things I will be doing myself from now on as a direct result of reading this book.

Not exactly the smell of success.

I absolutely love perfume, which is why I thought I'd enjoy this book. I'd love to learn more about the processes involved in creating a new fragrance. To be fair, there is a reasonable amount of information on all things olfactory, but then the book is overtaken by the "Personal story" promised in the title. For me, this was a bit too much, and didn't strike enough of a balance between what seemed to me to be a bit too much of an ego-trip for the author, and general information about how perfume is made, which was all I was really interested in.

A good starting point.

It goes without saying that music and politics influence eachother...one glaring example of this is the rise of the punk movement in the 1970s against the backdrop of an austere government and the Notting Hill riots of 1976. I chose this book partly because of the recommendation given by Keith Negus, a prominent author of Popular Music books (most notably which was really helpful to me during my time studying Popular Music at university. This book skirts around certain issues, I guess for fear of reprisal or ostracisation, and instead uses Bob Geldof as an example ad nauseum. I think the idea is a good one, and certainly there is a lack of books discussing the relationship between music and politics, but I felt this book didn't go in-depth enough and as such isn't as good as it could have been. As there are limited resources on this subject matter, though, I would recommend it nonetheless.

Better than the negative reviewers would have you believe.

Before buying this disc, I was a bit wary of the negative reviews already published. Yet, when I came to watching it myself, I really enjoyed the film. The cast is stellar and it is well cast. Whilst fully aware that this is a movie and a dramatisation, it is also not so far removed from the truth, ie what would probably happen if we ever did find ourselves in the grip of a terrible outbreak, as it's based on the SARS/HN51 outbreak a couple of years ago and the mass hysteria and general panic of the global populace. My only criticism of the film is the somewhat abrupt ending which doesn't really give any conclusions.

Wardrobe wonder.

I find it rather difficult to find clothes which (A) I like and (B) which fit me as I am on the petite side. However, I tried this dress on in a regular size and found that for once the length was perfect on me. I absolutely love this dress which I bought from Next because the shape is so flattering and feminine. They've produced a few variations of this dress over the last few seasons and it's a classic shape. The pencil skirt is a very tight fit and I admit it isn't so easy to master the stairs whilst wearing it. However, it's a high quality fabric and can be worn both day and night. The price tag of £65 is, I think, great value for money because it's so well tailored.

You can click here to buy this dress if you like it; it comes in regular, tall and petite sizes. You can also purchase the dress in an alternative pattern which I have not yet seen in store. It is also currently available in a brown felt-type material which you can see here I've had a few really lovely smart dresses from Next over the last couple of years, and they are definitely my go-to store for workwear.

Good for use with video but not with photo.

I ordered this cable assuming it would provide a connection for all mediums of AV to be connected between my iPhone and TV, but unfortunately, it is seemingly unable to display photos. Having re-read the product description, I can see that it says nothing either way about the presence (or not) of this feature, but it disappointed me enough to knock a star off its rating; it is otherwise good although it doesn't appear to be able to deliver HD video to the TV screen either. Then again, comparing the price of this cable against that of the Apple one, it's a small niggle.

Slim Pickings.

Despite being thin and compact, this deceptively sized carry case has more than enough room for your computer, its charger and all the other day to day bits and pieces you'd want to carry with you. I chose it because I already have a Wenger case for a larger laptop and thought my netbook deserved a decent mode of transport too. I wasn't disappointed. This is a high quality item, with a nice webbing texture from the cloth and it's not too heavy, unlike a cheaper one I'd used which left big red indents on my shoulders. Needless to say, it's also well padded and therefore able to protect your laptop from all manner of knocks and bumps. Highly recommended.

The prince of printers.

I chose this printer largely thanks to helpful reviews already posted on Amazon. It was a good £50 more expensive than the nearest model to it in terms of its functions but I am definitely glad I spent that extra money as it's proving to be well worth it. I was instantly surprised at just how heavy this machine is, but then again, it does have a lot of functions and as such components. I found it a little tricky figuring out just how to get A4 paper into it, but other than that, the installation and set-up process was painless and took no extra cables. However, although it was picked up on the home network immediately after being connected to our Wifi source and via the Network Magic software installed on the computers, I ended up having to install the drivers from the disc onto every single computer in the network to be able to use it with that computer, something I didn't have to do with the other main household printer, the I have printed a few test items and have been totally blown away by the quality, most notably of the photos and of the images I chose to print onto blank CD discs to make them a bit more personal. This is by far the best printer I have ever used and I would definitely recommend it over the cheaper but similar ones out there.

Master of all.

I've been using this software package for over a year now and I don't know how I ever lived without it. I'd coveted it for years but was unable to afford nearly three thousand pounds for the standard retail package, but definitely knew its worth. I jumped at the chance to buy the Master Collection at student rates when I was at university, as it meant that the package was affordable at long last. Verifying my student status was a simple process, although it took over a week to get approved because I did so in September when I imagine there were a lot of new students doing the same thing as me. I use Premier Pro for video editing, and although I always knew it was fantastic, having recently tested out other, definitely inferior video editing software options, I know how lucky I am to have the Adobe software instead. Of course, Photoshop is an invaluable tool for me, and the only software which is anywhere near as good for photo editing (or for graphic design, which I also use both it and Adobe Fireworks which is included in this package) is which I would recommend you also get if you can afford it (there are also student options available on this item to make it more affordable). I've most recently started branching out into web design, teaching myself Dreamweaver. I am by no means a computing expert, but this software has been problem free and it's intuitive and user friendly meaning it's easy to learn even with little to no prior knowledge of all things Adobe.