Merv, far right with his dad, left, and oldest son (Picture: Merv Payne)
World Cups are about memories.
Like childhood Christmases, their rarity makes them something to cherish. When watching your country in a World Cup, you’re acutely aware of the consequences of failure. That’s it, no more. Not for at least four years anyway. Four years? That’s a lifetime when you’re a child, or a fully grown football supporter. The irrational emotions of the two are almost identical.
Growing up, the World Cup held enough novelty value to even attract the fleeting interest of my football-loathing mum. Opening ceremonies and penalty shoot-outs were her favourite, but it was with Dad… Read the full story
US clothing retailer J.Crew is catering for bodies of all shapes and sizes.
J.Crew has partnered with plus-size fashion brand Universal Standard to launch a brand new collection of dresses, skirts, tops and trousers from XXS to 5X.
The clothes are supposed to feel tailored to the body of the buyer, so that women are investing in well-fitting, comfortable and high quality basics that flatter them regardless of their size.
J.Crew x Universal Standard includes soft tees, maxi and drop waist dresses, and wide legged trousers in linen, poplin, jersey and ponte.
Since 2016, the number of people booking private counselling sessions has increased by 65%, and over three-quarters of patients revealed that they went private because NHS waiting lists are too long.
The survey from online services marketplace Bark.com shows that 77% of people who booked in with a private counsellor did so because they didn’t want to be stuck on a long waiting list, while 30% of those polled said that they didn’t trust the service the NHS provides.
Only 17% said that they always book health services privately, meaning that the remaining 83% would probably have chosen the NHS if they felt more confident in… Read the full story
7% of people think mums should work full time (Photo: Getty)
Surveys can be interpreted in many different ways. Take the latest British Social Attitudes survey; one newspaper headlines it ‘Survey finds UK is abandoning traditional views of gender roles’, while the BBC leads with ‘A mother’s place is in the home’.
It is true that the survey shows 72% now disagree with the view that ‘it is a man’s job to earn money and a woman’s job to look after the home and family’, compared to 58% in 2008. But it also finds 33% of British people think mothers of young children should not work, 38% think they should only work… Read the full story
And it’s in those times that you probably need to get your hand on…the Avozilla.
It’s a massive avocado that’s now being sold in Australia. It weighs on average 1.2kg, with each fruit being four times the size of a regular avo and offering up to 20 servings.
‘The biggest one I’ve weighed is 1.73 kilos,’ says Cameron Perna, Tropical and Exotic Fruit Manager at Mercer Mooney.
Originally from South Africa, these beasts actually came to the UK back in 2013, but they’ve now gone down under and – we… Read the full story
Nando’s has added four new alcoholic drinks to its menu, and they became available yesterday, 10 July 2018.
The chicken restaurant now serves a selection of new beers, cider and sparkling wine, with the new beer menu having been mapped against the PERi-ometer to match your personal spice level.
First up is London’s Five Points XPA and Staffordshire’s Freedom Pils, which have been specially selected to join Nando’s choice of classic beers.
Brewed in Hackney east London, Five Points XPA is a ‘light and tropical extra pale ale, with a hoppy bitterness and an aroma of mango and passionfruit’.
A dad trusted his six-year-old daughter to take a tattoo gun to his arm and tattoo her nickname.
The above video shows Danielle Marie tattooing her dad’s arm. She was so excited when her dad, Tony, asked her to tattoo him that she didn’t even hesitate to start the inking.
While Tony already has his little girl’s lips tattooed on his cheeks, he thought having her nickname on his arm would be more significant.
The 35-year-old said: ‘I have several tattoos for my daughter but thought what better than to have her tattoo her… Read the full story
We’re suckers for a dupe – especially when it comes at a fraction of the price and actually looks better than the original.
Which is why we love New Look’s latest release – a watermelon bag which looks as though it was modelled off of Sensi Studio’s watermelon toquilla-straw clutch.
The original clutch costs £160, and is made using toquilla-straw.
Are you from the Bear Grylls school of hygiene, where you clean your teeth with a twig and think a skincare regime means a flannel and cold water?
Or are you more like the hyper-groomed TOWIE guys, with a bathroom cabinet bursting with products and a Botox doctor on speed-dial?
The male grooming industry has changed dramatically over the last 20 years, and it’s now far more common for men to buy and use skincare products and, yes, even go for treatments.
In fact, a quarter of men spend up to £20 a month on grooming products, according to a study by Statista – though that still isn’t a patch on women’s expenditure, which averages out at £112 per month.
By 2024, the global male grooming market is estimated to be worth about 29.14 billion US dollars.
Being an ex-rugby player you’d think I’d be more Bear Grylls than Joey Essex, but having recently become a convert to skincare, I have to admit… Read the full story
Weird teachers gifts included turtles and garden gnomes (Picture: Getty)
The end of school summer time is approaching and thoughts are turning to what to buy the teacher.
Of course, you’re the model parent, who gets something thoughtful that they will actually like (which most teachers will tell you is wine. And more wine).
But, it turns out not all parents are as good at buying gifts/wine as you are.
We spoke to a host of teachers to find out the weirdest gifts they had been given – and they didn’t let us down. Highlights included a pack… Read the full story
When it comes to gay rights, Russia fails pretty miserably.
Until 1999, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness in the country and today, it still doesn’t recognise same-sex marriage.
Hate crimes against LGBT people have been steadily rising since it introduced a law banning the spreading of ‘gay propaganda’ among minors.
In fact, Russia is so poor at looking after the interests of the LGBTQ community, that it ranks 45 out of 49 European countries for gay rights by the ILGA-Europe, a network of European LGBT groups.
Which is why a group of activists have been going around Moscow during the World Cup, spreading a little bit of gay… Read the full story
Getting bitten by a shark must be a truly horrifying experience, what with all the pain and chance of drowning.
But you’ve got to admit, there’s something beautifully poetic about the thought of someone posing amidst a school of sharks and actually getting chomped by one.
Especially when that person is an Instagram ~influencer~.
Model Katarina Zarutskie was doing it for the ‘gram, floating in the crystal clear waters of Staniel Cay in the Bahamas as her dad took some snaps.
(Picture: Tannis Toohey/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
If you’re a bit fragile this morning following England crashing out of the World Cup, McDonald’s is offering a pretty decent consolation prize.
Until the end of breakfast service this morning (10.30am for those of you who aren’t au fait with the McD’s schedule) you can get a free McMuffin on their delivery service.
You do need to make another purchase, but that can be anything of any value, so an 89p hash brown will do the trick.
It’s easy to get. All you need to do is download the McDonald’s App, register and opt in to receive offers.
There are quite a few sore heads knocking around on Thursday morning after England crashed out of the World Cup on Wednesday night.
The country got on the sauce early in the hopes of celebrating a first World Cup final since 1966, but instead they were drowning their sorrows after the extra-time loss to Croatia.
As the nation heads to work bleary eyed, many are asking how long last night’s booze stays in your system for.
It is a tough question to answer as it depends on all sorts… Read the full story
Unless you’re part of a members’ club, there are very few places in which you can rest your weary feet after a day in town.
But if you live, work or play in Birmingham, that’s about to change.
Because a new pay-per-minute cafe is set to open up in the city and it’s offering unlimited food and drink and Wi-Fi at no extra cost.
According to head of operations, Gareth Harold, Ziferblat is looking for suitable venues in Digbeth.
He tells Birmingham Live: ‘We need a lot of space – 6000 square feet. We’ve looked at places in Digbeth which could be a good location but if anyone knows… Read the full story
Last week we brought you the incredible news that someone had designed an inflatable pink coffin pool float.
Canadian designer Andrew Greenbaum and his pal Ian Felton had the idea of the float about three years ago, but they finally bit the bullet and made a sample recently.
The float has a coffin base and detachable lid, and fits a corpse -sorry – live human body comfortably.
Pics of the pink coffin float went viral, with everyone feeling it as a big summer mood, and support for the unusual float ended up being so high that Greenbaum announced he would consider crowdfunding.
As British an institution as fish and chips or the Queen’s corgi habit.
Dogging is the act of public sex in a secluded or semi-secluded location, where those engaging in it allow others to watch them and may encourage viewers to join in.
Brits love a quickie in public, with 43% of us owning up to public sex. Sex in cars is nearly as popular as al fresco loving, as 49% of people in a new survey admit to getting it on in an automobile. Only laws on speed limits are more regularly broken than those relating to public fornication.
The term ‘dogging’ supposedly comes from men telling their wives they were going to ‘walk the dog’ and then either heading to the pub or going to see if they could find couples having sex and watch them. It doesn’t refer to the women involved in dogging scenarios in a derogatory way.
Dogging has links to voyeurism, exhibitionism, swinging, cuckolding and ‘stag’ or… Read the full story
In terms of what people like to watch when they’re getting busy with themselves, as long as nobody’s getting hurt and it’s all consensual, there are no problems.
It’s always interesting to find out what gets people off, though, particularly when it’s something that differs from your own preferences.
Porn for women is often thin on the ground, especially if you don’t want to pay to watch.
That’s why more and more women are forgoing straight porn to find something that does work for them – gay porn featuring men only.
Think of farming and you might imagine a kind of Famous Five scene: the old male farmer out in the field and his jolly wife in the kitchen cooking up pies.
But you know, women are becoming increasingly part of the UK farming industry.
In fact, the National Farmers Union appointed its first-ever female president in its 110-year history earlier this year. And now, photographer Billie Charity has launched a new exhibition of hard-working female farmers.
Based in Hay-on-Wye, Billie’s photos show women from the local area.
‘I was brought up in this area, but I have had little direct experience of farm life, driving past tiny turnings off country lanes without a second thought about all the activity at the end of the tracks,’ Billie says.
‘In recent years, however, if I’ve had a spare morning, something has drawn me to the livestock markets in Hay or Hereford. I’ve had great conversations as well as uncovering unique photo opportunities. But it struck me that most of my farming photos have shown men, and I wanted to showcase all the hard-working women too.’
(Picture: Billie Charity / Barcroft Media)
(Picture: Billie Charity / Barcroft Media)
The exhibition is being held at Shepherds Parlour and includes women whose families have been farming for generations, as well as those who have come to the profession more recently.
Subjects range from 18-year-old pig farmer Courtney Gibbs, to 93-year-old Betty Smith, who gave Billie a tour of her farm on her quad bike.
‘Initially, a lot of the women were really reluctant to get involved, because they are used to staying behind the scenes,’ Billie explains.
‘But after the photoshoot, they seemed really happy to have taken part.’
The exhibition is free and will be running throughout the summer.
