Thoughts from the Bus Stop

Scott & Bailey help Greater Manchester Police track down wanted boy

Gangnam Style for Joshua via YouTube

Greater Manchester Police has teamed up with the cast of cop show Scott & Bailey to help raise money for Joshua Wilson, a local boy who was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2004. Officers from the Prestwich and Whitefield Neighbourhood Policing Team, the Chief Constable and cast of Scott & Bailey demonstrate their best Gangnam dance moves in a video for the Whitefield student.

Joshua was diagnosed with his first brain tumour when he was just three years old and intrusive surgery means that he now has severe neuromuscular disabilities that require a fully adapted home. His family needs to raise £25,000 to pay for a ceiling track hoist, special building work and other basic equipment.

GMP’s film features the Chief Constable fronting a mock press conference to help track down one of GMP’s most notorious villains, none other than Joshua. Inspector Mark Kenny from the Prestwich and Whitefield Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “Joshua loves the police and when he got in touch to see if there was anything we could do to help, we were only too happy to help out.

For more information or to donate, please visit www.superjosh.org.uk

© ITV - The Red Production Company
Amelia Bullmore, Suranne Jones & Lesley Sharp in character as Gill Murray, Rachel Bailey & Janet Scott

Big Issue vendors design their own adverts

A group of Big Issue vendors have got together with ad agency M&C Saatchi and independent typographer Stephen Kenny of A Two Pipe Problem Letterpress to design and create their own adverts, using 19th century letterpress equipment.

The national print and outdoor campaign, #SupportLocalBusiness, aims to highlight the fact that Big Issue vendors are small businesses in their own right, earning their living rather than receiving charity. The video above documents the project and includes interviews with the vendor designers.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Towa Tei & Kylie Minogue - GBI (German Bold Italic) *

Designs by vendors (c) The Big Issue

Heartease for Kids Company: knit something special for deprived kids

The Heartsease project is a collaboration between R&B Handknit Designs, The UK Hand Knitting Association and the charity Kids Company (www.kidsco.org.uk). Kids Company supports 18,000 children and young people who live in exceptional poverty and have experienced chronic neglect and abuse.

Through Heartsease, knitters can extend care to children they have never met by sending them special heart-shaped bags. There are two patterns, one very simple and one slightly more advanced - you can download them from the Heartease website. You can add any trimmings you like to make them really special, and even include an encouraging note for a young person if you want to.

The bags will be used by the Kids Company team in therapy sessions with the young people they are working with. The bags will contain messages of hope and the 'pockets' can hold small keepsakes and treasures.

Heartsease runs until 14th February 2014 (Valentine's Day).

* SONG OF THE DAY: Adele - To Make You Feel My Love *

 

Images 1&3 (c) R&B Handknit Designs, Image 2 (c) Kids Company

Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children

All images (c) Save the Children 2012


Friday 14 December 2012 is Christmas Jumper Day! People up and down the country will be wearing a Christmas jumper to raise money for Save the Children's life-changing work with the world's poorest children. You can wear an old Christmas jumper, decorate a plain one to make it festive, or...

Save the Children would love you to knit your own Christmas Jumper and have unique patterns available (see below) to download from their website, when you register for Christmas Jumper Day. Wear it yourself, give it to a friend or family member in return for a donation, sell it on eBay, or donate it to a Save the Children shop to sell on.

For more ideas on how to knit for charity, visit my Knitting for UK Charities page.

   

*SONG OF THE DAY: Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews - Baby It's Cold Outside*

Knitting for new mums in Sierra Leone (Freedom from Fistula Foundation)

Mother and baby doing well thanks to the Freedom from Fistula Foundation

In Sierra Leone, the Freedom from Fistula Foundation manages The Aberdeen Women's Centre. This centre currently provides free surgeries to women injured in childbirth, runs a children's clinic, and now has a maternity clinic.

The goal of the new maternity clinic is to provide mothers in Sierra Leone with quality care during childbirth which will have the double benefit of reducing the number of childbirth injuries, as well as helping to reach the worldwide Millennium Development Goal #5 which aims to reduce maternal mortality across the developing world.

The Aberdeen Women's Centre now has the capacity to: deliver 1,500 babies each year in the maternity clinic; treat up to 500 women each year in the fistula clinic; and treat more than 6,000 children each year in the outpatient clinic.

The Freedom From Fistula Foundation has pledged to give each new baby a cardigan, jumper or blanket as a gift before they leave the hospital. They're extremely grateful for all donations in all colours* and sizes!

Completed garments can be sent to:

Freedom from Fistula Foundation
Robertson House
1 Whitefriars Crescent
Perth PH2 0PA

For more ideas on how to knit for charity, visit my Knitting for UK Charities page.

* Please avoid white, as it is associated with mourning in many African cultures.

Cycling from China to UK for Parkinson's

All images in this post (c) Paul Smith 2012

Friend-of-a-friend, Paul Smith, has been living and working in China for several years and recently decided to move back to the UK. But he hasn't bought a plane ticket... he's cycling home!

One of the reasons he's doing this is to raise funds for Parkinson's UK, the charity leading research into finding a cure for Parkinson's, a progressive neurological condition which affects about 127,000 people in the UK, including Paul's dad.

Paul has cycled over 12,000km so far and has just arrived in Kiev, Ukraine, after travelling through China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. He set off from SW China on 7 March and hopes to be home in SE England by the end of September. 

You can follow Paul's adventures on two wheels via his blog, On The Road Again.

Please give what you can to Parkinsons UK, via Paul's JustGiving page.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound *

 

Donate Your Sunglasses

Screenshot from ShadeAid website

Shade Aid are collecting sunglasses to distribute to people in developing countries. Sunglasses cost as much as a year’s salary for people in Africa. Next time you buy a new pair, why not donate an old pair for someone in need? For a list of collection points, and a postal address, visit the Shade Aid website.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Tracey Ullman - Sunglasses *

Dress A Girl Around the World: Pillowcase Dresses

These happy little girls in Malawi are showing off their new frocks. Each one was made, using a simple pattern, from a pillowcase! They were sewn by people in UK and Ireland taking part in the Dress A Girl Around The World project. Owning a new dress - the only one they may own - shows kids living in poverty in the developing world that they are special.

Dress A Girl Around The World is based in USA, but if you're in UK you can take part via the charity's UK International Partner, Louise Horler of Sew Scrumptious. In the first six months alone, Louise received and sent on over 1500 dresses made by British and Irish crafters! Some of them went to these little cuties in Goa, India.

Don't worry, the boys haven't been forgotten - you can also sew pairs of shorts for them! All details and patterns can be found on the Pillowcase Dresses section of Sew Scrumptious blog.

All images in this post are reproduced from the Sew Scumptious blog, by kind permission of Louise Horler.
 

* SONG OF THE DAY: Dolly Parton - Send Me The Pillow You Dream On *

Helping creative women flourish through microfinance

These talented ladies are the 'Esmeraldas de San Francisco' (San Francisco Emeralds), a group of embroiderers from the State of México in Mexico. They applied to Kiva, the microfinance organisation, for a loan to enable them to buy more thread and fabric to help them expand their business, producing embroidered napkins and tablecloths.

I lent them $25 (about £16) and 104 other people made loans of varying amounts, which made up the total of $3,025. Just a few weeks later, the group have repaid 5% of their loan, and eventually I'll get my $25 back and will be able to loan it to someone else who needs to borrow it.

I don't have the spare funds to *donate* much money to charity, and Kiva allows me to do a little bit to help by lending the same $25 over and over - how fantastic.

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Feeling - Sewn *

Get aboard Brighton's Woolly Bus

Image via The Woolly Bus on Facebook

A Brighton bus stop has been given a woolly makeover to launch an appeal by a Hove yarn shop to raise money for The Martlets Hospice by covering an open-top double decker bus in knitting.

The lovely folk at Cocoon Knits in George Street are asking knitters to collect sponsors and knit a minimum of three 15cm x 15cm squares. To celebrate the end of the project the bus will be driven along Brighton seafront on the 20th August with contributors and guests aboard! The minimum sponsorship amount is £25 per entry but they're aiming to raise over £40,000 for the Martlets Hospice. More details at www.cocoonknits.co.uk. After the event all blankets will be broken down and sent to Africa with the help of Knit a Square charity to help keep AIDS orphans warm.

'Knit' a bit of a petition for Macmillan Cancer Support

I've knitted my bit of Macmillan's woolly scarf petition to make sure people with cancer can keep warm without the worry. You can get knitting too.

The Poverty and Justice Bible

I bought this a while ago and never got round to blogging about it. 'The Poverty and Justice Bible', published by the Bible Society, is an edition of the Bible where any verse related to poverty or justice is highlighted in orange. This really helps you to understand how often these subjects are tackled in both the Old and New Testaments - they are really important to God, which they should be really important to Christians!

I've found them really useful when writing to persecuted Christians or their families, looking for a Bible verse to encourage them. They probably don't understand English, but they can look up the verse reference in their own Bible - it may be the only part of my letter they understand, but it will help them to know that we are family!

For more details about the P&J Bible, check out the Poverty and Justice Bible website.

Images (c) The Bible Society

 

Writing to persecuted Christians

Image (c) Open Doors

Since I've had ME/CFS I've not been able to do as much at my home church - the stuff which requires physically being there - so I've wanted to find other ways to serve. Having a lot of sofa-based time on my hands, the internet's been a Godsend (see what I did there?) and I've been able to find out how I can support fellow Christians who are being persecuted for their faith in places far from my home simply by writing them a letter (and praying for them!).

The two main organisations I support are Christianity Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and Open Doors. CSW publish 'Connect and Encourage', which is has the stories and addresses of Christians who have been persecuted (some in prison) or their families, and explains how to write to them. Their website has details of the countries they focus on. Open Doors concentrates on a few specific campaigns at a time.

Both also send out advocacy alerts by email, as and when they need you to write to people of influence who may be able to help a particular persecuted / imprisoned Christian. That could be someone in their country's government, their country's ambassdor in your own country, or your own MP/MEP/Senator/whoever represents you to your government.

Sometimes writing a letter of support to someone who has been beaten, raped, had their home burned down, been imprisoned or whose loved one has been executed because they're a Christian can seem a pathetic gesture from someone who has complete freedom to practice their faith. But don't I believe in a God who can do big things with small offerings?

CSW says, "it lets them know that someone cares about their suffering, and it can also show governments and local authorities that people around the world are taking interest in a particular case or prisoner" (which can also result in a prisoner being treated better, even if your letter doesn't reach them personally). It really is worth doing!

Other organisations which support the persecuted church are Barnabus Fund, Release International, China Aid, International Christian Concern and Voce of the Martyrs.

Image (c) CSW

Shelter's House of Cards (and... vote for me!)

Duck House (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter is running a campaign called House of Cards, to highlight the plight of thousands of people whose homes have been repossessed, and the lack of sufficient social housing.

A TV ad (below) has been produced to promote the campaign and Shelter has asked 52 artists and designers to created artwork for each card of a deck of playing cards. Their designs will be exhibited at the Haunch of Venison art gallery, and auctioned in aid of Shelter.

Shelter has run a competition to design the deck's Eight of Clubs, and this (above) is my entry. I've made the eights 'clubs' into trees, around a figure-of-eight pond, with ducks and a duck house, as a nod to the recent 'MP's expenses' furore. It's paper collage on a handknitted background. All entries are being put to a public vote online from 21 to 29 August - so if you like my design, I'd really appreciate it if you'd vote 'Love It'! :)

* SONG OF THE DAY: Orbital - I Wish I Had Duck Feet *

Donate your brain

Knitted brain by Karen Norberg, via PsicoCafé on Flickr

I've just signed up to donate my brain to the Parkinson's Disease Society's Brain Bank at Imperial College London. They don't want it just yet, but when I go to meet my Maker, they will use my brain in their work to find a cure for Parkinsons disease. (They need human brains because only humans get Parkinsons.) I reckoned that while my Donor Card gets most of me recycled, my brain was just going to go to waste.

I don't have Parkinson's disease in my family, but two of my friends do, and I do have Alzheimers in my family. Anything the Parkinson's people discover is going to be useful to everyone, isn't it? They're looking for donations from people who have Parkinson's and those who don't. Find out more about donating your brain here.

Donate your bra

Passing through Kemp Town on the bus (hence this blurry photo) I spotted this Bra Bank - pretty eh? It reminded me I'd been meaning to write a few lines about how you can recycle your old bras for charity.

This scheme is local to Brighton & Hove, but there are a few national appeals going. Breast Talk's Bra Appeal distributes old bras to charities throughout the UK and overseas (maybe to a homeless woman in the UK or living in a country where the price of a new bra is beyond their means), using them to generate cash for breast cancer research.

In the US there's Support1000 and in New Zealand they're looking for Breast Mates. Australia's Project Uplift is currently only after nursing bras, but there's another Aussie scheme which collects bras to give to women in Zimbabwe.

An honourable mention must go to Emily Duffy's Bra Ball, constructed from 18,085 bras, standing 5 feet tall and weighing more than 1,800 pounds!

 

Design a birthday card for the Prime Minister

Save The Children and I think it's unacceptable that over 9 million children die every year of preventable causes, before they reach their fifth birthday. If you do too, create a fifth birthday card and write a personal message to Gordon Brown. The more cards he gets, the more he'll have to listen.

Make Time For Tea: The Eve Appeal

 

I picked up this lovely little teapot keyring at the till in Boots. They're £2 and every penny goes to The Eve Appeal, the gynaecology cancer research fund.

March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and The Eve Appeal has launched the Make Time for TEA campaign. They're asking people throughout the UK to organise a tea party to raise crucial funds and awareness about ovarian cancer.

A recent study has shown that drinking two or more cups of green or black tea a day could lower a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer.

 

Image: www.eveappeal.org.uk

Knitting for UK charity: Teddies for Tragedies

I've just finished knitting my first Teddies for Tragedies bear. He'll be given to a child who needs comfort or something to love. Each bear is knitted to the same basic pattern so that no bear is 'better' than any other - as the website says:

"Don't deviate from the pattern, all teddies are different but none should be superior (no skirts or hats, stripes are OK in moderation, especially if you're using up duller colours). Think of it this way - we all want our teddy to be the best but do we want the child who doesn't get our teddy to be disappointed?"

The legs, body and head are knitted in one long piece (see below) and the arms are knitted onto this main piece. This is fairly quick to knit up - just follow the instructions carefully so the bears are well-made, safe and durable - you can send a sample bear to be checked for suitability if you're unsure. You'll also need to run up a simple drawing bag for the bear to live in - again, follow the instructions.

I've made a Teddies for Tragedies group on Flickr to collect photos of finished bears, and hopefully of the bears with their new owners!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Roachford - Cuddly Toy *

Knitting for UK Charity: World's Biggest Tea Cosy

 

"Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation are attempting to set a world record for the biggest ever hand knitted Tea Cosy and we need your help.

We are asking you to knit a 6” width strip, as long as you like of any colour or pattern you like and send to our friends at 'I knit London' who will make your knitted strip part of the world’s biggest tea cosy. The wool can be any colour you like and you make your strip as long as you can manage, all we ask is that it is 6” in width (approx 28 stitches), double knit yarn, and 4mm needles."

Details on the Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation website.

Knitting for UK Charity: jumpers and blankets for Feed The Children

(L-R) Babies at FTC's Abandoned Baby Centre, Kenya | Children at an orphanage in Moldova, eastern Europe (c) Feed The Children

Feed The Children (FTC) works with vulnerable children and their families in communities across the world, in situations of poverty, conflict and famine. There are loads of ways that knitters can help!

FTC need colourful jumpers for babies and children, jumpers in 'uniform' colours for school kids (free pattern here), and blankets of various sizes for babies and children. Find out more, and download the latest Knitting Knews, on the Feed The Children website.

The dinky dozen: Baby hats for Save The Children

These cuties are off to Save The Children, with their message to the Prime Minister. Next up is knitting a square or two for Oxfam's knitted petition. I've been meaning to learn how to knit with two colours (intarsia) and knit vertical stripes, so I'll teach myself as I go along.

* SONG OF THE DAY:  Goldfrapp – Lovely Head *

Christian and LEGO activists join in Kingsnorth protest

Legoactivist via YouTube.com

Both via Indymedia:

Christian Cafe Crew give Last Rites to Kingsnorth

"A group of 12 Christians who have spent the week making tea for activists at the Camp for Climate Action today prayed outside the Kingsnorth power plant as part of the "Orange Action"... Praying for forgiveness for all the damage the plant has created during its life-time, and singing simple chants, they were determined to show that Christians are waking up to the need for action to prevent Catastrophic Climate Change."

World's smallest campaigners scale Kingsnorth smokestack

"E.ON’s replica of the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station has been occupied by one inch tall climate change campaigners. The drama unfolded at the Legoland park in Windsor – sponsored by E.ON – where the Lego Kingsnorth is given pride of place next to Big Ben and Canary Wharf... Lego police are in attendance at the foot of the tower, along with a Lego police helicopter. Neither the campaigners nor the police would comment, because they’re made of Lego and therefore can’t talk."

Christian Aid: Tell the PM no new coal power! | Email E.ON Chief Executive Paul Golby
Tearfund: Say no to new coal power stations in UK | Micah Sunday, 19th October 2008

Knitting for UK charity: make a square for Oxfam's knitted petition

Oxfam are calling on knitters everywhere to turn their knitting needles into poverty fighting needles by creating a 9-inch square for their giant baby blanket - a 'visual petition' they're handing in to world leaders in September 2008, demanding that they honour their promises to make sure mums in poor countries get the maternal health care they need. They're aiming for 250,000 patches - one for every mum who should have survived pregnancy in the last six months.

"For every mum, the day her child is born should be the happiest of her life. Yet, in the world's poorest countries, many mums don't survive to look after their babies. In the next minute, lack of access to health care will claim the life of another mum. In a year, half a million mums die because of poorly equipped hospitals, or because they can't afford to pay health care fees. World leaders have promised to end this travesty by providing enough aid to deliver the medical services needed, but as things stand they're falling well short."

Enter your details on Oxfam's website, and they'll email you a copy of their foolproof knitting guide, which you can download to find out how to take part. After the giant blanket has been presented, it will be dismantled into smaller blankets and sold in Oxfam shops and at festivals. All money raised will go towards Oxfam's work to fight poverty, such as urgently needed midwife training in Yemen.

Get your squares to Oxfam's Leeds office by 31 August 2008. Check out the squares they've received so far on Flickr.

Human rights and the Olympics: Christian pastor prevented from speaking to BBC

What's going on in China away from the fireworks, dancing and flag-waving? Please take a minute or two to watch this video, where the BBC's John Simpson examines how China is handling dissent, and whether the country's attitude to personal freedom is changing.

He finds that he's unable to keep an pre-arranged appointment with a Christian pastor:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7541832.stm

For more info on what YOU can do to help Christians who live in countries where being a Christian is risky or downright dangerous, visit the websites of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Open Doors.

Knitting for UK charity: Save The Children's Knit One, Save One campaign

Save The Children are asking knitters to knit a hat for a newborn baby, and attach a message for Gordon Brown, telling him why he must act now to save newborn lives around the world. Details of the campaign, including a free baby hat pattern and a card for your message to the Prime Minister, are available on the Save The Children website.

Save The Children will ensure the card reaches Mr Brown, and the hat will go directly on to the head of a newborn baby; a baby in places that suffer high numbers of newborn deaths, like Kenya, Sierra Leone or Tibet:

"Parents do everything they can to protect their babies from cold. But the most important thing, putting a hat on the baby's head, is neglected – that’s like leaving a thermos bottle filled with hot water but without a lid."
Tashi Tsering, Save the Children’s Health Project Manager in Tibet

Bog standards

Images (c) Ecover and Nouvelle

How green is your loo? The Blonde and I are trying to green-up our toilet - so far we have:

* Switched to Ecover toilet cleaner, an eco-friendly alternative to the cleaners made with loads of manmade chemicals. Other alternatives include Bio-D, Sonnett and Eco Line toilet cleaners.
* Switched to 100% recycled toilet paper - usually Nouvelle, as the 12-packs are often on a cracking half-price offer in Somerfield.
* Made our own chemical-free air freshener - one part water to one part the cheapest vodka you can find, and a few drops of your favourite essential oil, shaken together in a pump bottle (in our case, an empty bottle from a body spray).
* Placed a cut-off 2L plastic drinks bottle in the cistern to conserve water during each flush - works on the same principle as a 'Hippo' or 'Save-A-Flush' bag.
* Agreed to apply the 'If it's yellow, let it mellow' rule when it's just the two of us in the house (and if you're letting something mellow, you leave the lid down to give the other a little advanced warning). This rule does not apply to the first pee of the day!

Switching to green electricity

Wind turbine at Swaffham, Norfolk (c) Ecotech

The Blonde and I are always trying to find ways to change the way we live for the better - ethically and environmentally. We don't have much cash, and we live in a rented flat with no garden, so compost bins and solar panels are not an option, but we're keen to make the changes which are feasible and affordable.

We'd seen lots of ads on the telly for 'green' electricity, and wanted to make the switch. However, a bit of research revealed (surprise, surprise) that most of the so-called 'green' tariffs offered by the big suppliers were often just a way for them to get good PR out of the fraction of green electricity they have to produce anyway in order to comply with the Renewables Obligation:

"The Renewables Obligation requires licensed electricity suppliers to source a specific and annually increasing percentage of the electricity they supply from renewable sources. The current level is 7.9% for 2007/08 rising to 15.4% by 2015/16."

Green Electricity Marketplace is a fantastic switching website for green electricity tariffs. It only deals with green tariffs and provides info on how 'green' each tariff really is. It's recognised as a green electricity information provider by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

We looked at three independent green electricity providers - Green Energy, Good Energy and Ecotricity, and went with Ecotricity. It was dead simple to switch and it doesn't cost any more than the big boys.

Check out Ecotricity's video of one of their wind turbines being built, or visit their Ecotech centre in Norfolk and climb up the 65-metre turbine to the viewing platform, if you like!

Lend us a tenner? Kiva - loans which change lives

This is Sharifa Rajab Ali, who lives and works in Kabul, Afghanistan.

I've just lent her a few quid so she can buy materials for her beadwork business and use her creative skills to support her family. She needs more than I'm able to lend her at the moment, but once a few other people have chipped in with their loans, Sharifa will be able to stock up.

Kiva.org came to my attention via Miss Malaprop and Crafty World. It's a simple and effective - Kiva enable you to loan your money (as little as $25 - currently less than £13 in sterling) to the working poor:

"Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified borrowers. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva.org, our partners upload their borrower profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them."

It gave me particular pleasure to be able to help a creative person like Sharifa - you can search the site by category to find people working in your area of interest - so I've loaned some money to Lolofa, a Samoan lady, to help her build up her mat weaving business. Who will you invest in?

Also:
I Love Kiva! Why Kiva is one of the best things on the Internet
Wikipedia entry for Kiva

Green Weddings

Joe Carrick and Jessica Randall, via timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill

Really interesting post on Ruth Gledhill's Times blog about vicar's daughter Jessica Randall, a trainee doctor, and church youth worker Joe Carrick, who decided to make their wedding as green as possible:

"From the outset we’ve tried to keep a global - and God’s - perspective throughout. It hasn’t been any more effort to do and we haven’t had to compromise on quality and luxury either."

This included sourcing a conflict-free engagement ring, buying a wedding dress from Oxfam, signing up for an Oxfam Unwrapped Wedding List, growing the flowers for the displays and bouquet, and serving fair trade food and booze at the reception. Good for them!

Love Your Old Clothes

"The fashion industry, for obvious reasons, is keen to promote the importance of buying new clothes. There is all that biannual bossy-boots business about the key purchases of the season, spelled out with the seriousness of the 10 Commandments...

And sometimes, if you're honest, you just get that magpie feeling where you need something - anything - new and shiny, even though you know that, as a way out of unhappiness, retail therapy is about as effective in the long term as getting really drunk. The only difference is that, instead of a hangover, you get a credit card bill...

So let's hear it for old clothes. Not vintage, which is just shopping with mothballs - your own old clothes..."

The Guardian's Jess Cartner-Morley talks common sense about loving the clothes that have loved you back.

Pink: Stupid Girls

Video for Stupid Girls by Pink

"What happened to the dreams of a girl president
She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent
They travel in packs of two or three
With their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees
Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?
Oh where, oh where could they be?"

I just love Pink's new single Stupid Girls (lyrics here), especially the video, which is a joy.

In it she appears in many guises, including parodies of Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. It's based around a little girl watching telly, with her Barbies and her Girls World on one side of her and her football and keyboard on the other, while an angel and a devil (both played by Pink) try to persuade her which she should give her attention.

It's really funny and makes a good point very well. It should be played to six-year olds in school as a learning resource. Here's what Pink says about it on her website in a letter to her fans:

"...do not misunderstand me. I will clarify that IN MY OPINION, which is exactly what all of this is, there is nothing absolutely nothing wrong with being sexy, feeling sexy or dressing sexy. My point is only this: 'SMART' and 'SEXY' are not oil and water..."

Clever girl...

Observer: Now who looks silly? Alecia Moore, aka pop singer Pink, writes about the furore over her 'Stupid Girls' video
Telegraph: A brighter shade of Pink