Summer days are faded into dark grey clouds and light mornings are beginning to be replaced by dark gloomy ones. Yes Autumn 2016 is on its way. But, it?s not all doom and gloom as this gives us the opportunity to ditch those flip flops and short and start wearing knitwear and jackets. Rather than dreading the new season, let us celebrate it. So we have sort the advice and guidance of some of the best qualified and most respected figures in the industry, unfortunately, they weren?t available, ONLY JOKING! Lets face it these guys are so qualified at buying the right product they are employed to do it for a living ! So these figures are going to tell us what brands they are most excited about for the forthcoming season and why you should part with your hard earned cash to invest in them.

?Celebrating 20 years in the game I think Fraser and Jimmy through everything at this collection and the show. Titled ? Parallelogram ? the show erupted with piercing sounds of a guitar tuning and it was pulsating psych-rock all the way down from there. The palette was like a knackered old log cabin at dusk; charcoals, deep greens, tans, blacks and navy blocks with strings of purple and dusky pinks shining through. Denim was ripped, shredded and distressed and the trousers wide. The fringed donkey jackets and wedged clogs a nod to better times of yesteryear whilst the timeless Biker Jackets and Chelsea Boots dragged you back to present day. Stand out piece for me was the tan shearling jacket with contrast leather pockets and trim. Fedoras and Bucket Hats featured throughout with playful scarves wrapped around the models necks and the textured knits gave life to tonal looks. With so many stores seeking brands from the far east at the moment YMC gave them no reason to look further than Hanbury Street. I cant wait to get this collection in the shop and to write about the many intricacies of the collection. You Must Create? Yes you must.?

Thom Schdel, the Idel Man

?This bomber by Helmut Lang has to be the piece of the season ? subtle camouflage print in a jacquard fabric? luxe cool at its best.?

Claire Miles, Head of Bluebird.

?OAMC is a great addition to our stable of new and emerging contemporary brands. There is a real fusion of form and function; the clean silhouette references performance sportswear and the detailing has a purpose rather than as purely decoration. Whilst the silhouette is clean and functional founders Luke Meier and Arnaud Faeh have really elevated this refreshing take on modern menswear.?
Damien Paul, Head of Menswear, MATCHESFASHION.COM

?Howlin? by Morrison are based in Belgium, but are in fact experts of British and Irish knitwear, sourcing the finest fabrics from small, independent weavers and distributing it to selected retailers from their Antwerp base. We are lucky enough to be part of that chosen few, and have managed to get a hold of some quality knitwear and accessories, just in time for the start of Autumn 2016.?
Pete Parry, Steranko

?Following on from the brand relaunch of Perry Ellis last season, I am really excited to see the Americana brand develop into this new season for AW16. I particularly love the styling of this outfit. Layering a leather jacket under a long camel coat is quite unusual, but it just works; particuarly with the Perry Ellis logo tee underneath. Highlights for the season include their easy to wear logo sweatshirts and contrast cuff knitwear, a staple taken from orignal Perry Ellis archives, to all over clashing print t-shirts.?
Paul Hayes? Senior Buyer Menswear, House of Fraser

The issue of nutrition is a big issue as those we care about get older. It?s more than about simply eating right.

More than 3 million people in the UK are affected by malnutrition, which can lead to muscle loss, less mobility, slower healing, and longer and more frequent hospital stays. Nutrition has real effects for the elderly.

BritMums is working is a sponsored relationship with Abbott to be an advocate for nutritional health for the elderly.

Becoming frail old ladies for a day

BritMums and Abbott Carers got together several bloggers who care for elderly relatives to talk about their challenges with nutrition, get the facts from expert nutritionists and experience what muscle loss is like.

At the event, we put on a ?sarco-suit? ? a weighted vest along with ankle and arm weights ? that makes moving more difficult and everyday tasks more of an effort. We carried shopping, walked up stairs, put tins away in a cabinet, picked up pans and poured a cup of ?tea? (lucky for us, it was room temperature water rather than boiling liquid, as some of us had to use both hands to grip the kettle).

Emma from Emma and 3 was the first to don the suit; she admitted to breathing heavily almost immediately when trying to tackle daily tasks.  

?Everything is a struggle. Just standing up,? said Talya of Motherhood: The Real Deal.

As one person noted, our whole body language changed. We plodded and shuffled rather than walked, we eased ourselves down to pick up a bag rather than just bending, we moved slowly rather than dynamically. In short, we looked like ?little old ladies?. 

The thing is, we don?t have to associate old age with frailty. As we get older, our muscles naturally get smaller. But through nutrition and exercise ? especially by acting quickly we start to notice the signs of malnutrition by talking with a doctor and putting together a nutrition plan ? we can stop what we used to see as an inevitably slide. 

Why nutrition is an issue

As people get older, a group of factors can lead to malnutrition. 

• As we get older, we can lose our appetites. Disease can also affect taste. 
• Because appetites lessen, large portions can be unappetising or off-putting.
• Food preparation can become an issue with people who are experiencing muscle loss 

Malnutrition leads to muscle loss

Here?s a sobering fact: loss in muscle mass begins as early as age 40. That makes it even more important for the elderly.

Even a relatively short period of bed rest (10 days) can lead to 1 kilogram of muscle loss from lower limbs in an older adult. This can result in reduced strength and reduced aerobic capacity. People with lower muscle mass take longer to recover from illness.

Things you can do if you are worried about malnutrition

We learned a lot of the dangers of malnutrition. But we all agreed that we came away energised, with a feeling that there are things you can do.

• Look at the protein content of food, not just calories. Protein helps sustain muscle mass
• Use fluids as a way to introduce calories and protein into diet ? such as Ensure nutrition shakes
• Serve meals on smaller plates such as tea plates so they look more manageable
• Morning is a better time to have big meals, as older people tend to larger appetites in the morning
• If you notice signs of malnutrition ? looser clothing, not eating, etc ? don?t wait to ?see how it goes?. Make an appointment with a GP or get a referral to a dietician to discuss a nutrition plan
• Focus on meals beyond the ?tea and toast? diet that actively aid nutrition: lean meats like chicken and fish, dairy products, fruit and veg

 

Seeing the affects in real life

On the day we met Doreen, an older woman who had a fall 18 months ago, along with her son Andrew. She tripped over paving stones and luckily grabbed an artificial tree on the way down so ?I didn?t fall on my face?. Not quite so luckily, she broke her femur and spent a couple of months in hospital. 

?I do like my food,? said Doreen, but ?you don?t get a lot of food in the hospital. I didn?t like their food but you have to eat it.? 

Andrew told us she was always active ? ?24-7? ? but after the accident, she spent a year not leaving the house. There were all kinds of gaps in the system: they weren?t referred to a dietician, didn?t get physio on the weekends. He did say the protein drinks helped, especially ?if you can get your doctor to prescribe them.?

Now, a year and a half later, Doreen goes on the bus by herself and using a stick to walk (she zipped around the conference room quite adroitly). She?s still concentrating on eating right, with a few treats, naturally. ?I do like my cake,? she confided, taking a slice of lemon drizzle to nibble at lunch.

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Entertainment One

Ricky Gervais can come across a little marmite as a comedian, but that speaks more of his choice of projects than his actual skills as a funny man. He is, after all, behind some of the best TV comedies of the 21st Century, specialising in uncomfortable humour that, at its best, is all a little too relatable. The problem is that, when it comes to films, he’s also behind some of the worst.

It’s almost like there’s two men fighting for control – one moment he’s half of the greatest British writing duo since Clement and La Frenais, the next he’s gurning his way through celebrity run ins and playing a bumbling English cliché.

Of course, there’s also the third side of Gervais; in the early-eighties, he was one half of new wave duo Seona Dancing, then managed Suede for a brief stint, eventually turning to comedy when the musical world spat him out.

Those three sides come together in this week’s David Brent: Life On The Road, with The Office icon resurrected in a movie with mass commercial hopes that boast some of the most cringey mock tunes you’ve ever heard. To celebrate the film’s release, here?s five of his most awesome turns (and five that just plain sucked). Expect awkwardness. Lots and lots of awkwardness.

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In the round-up: McLaren engine supplier Honda will use its last remaining power unit development tokens as soon as they can this year.

Look out for the third and final part of the mid-season driver rankings later today on F1 Fanatic:

News on the net News Magazine

In May the LSE held an event bringing together researchers, policy-makers, parenting organisations and children?s media professionals to discuss whether parents need a new approach to ?screen time.? Here are some of the top findings.

For more you can follow Alicia and Sonia on Twitter or check out their blog summarising the latest research on families and technology.

This very moment, reading this blog, you are learning from the internet (we hope!). Via your phone, tablet or computer, you are participating in a community and gaining access to information you value.

And yet when it comes to our children and ?screen time? many parents, even those who have grown up with digital media and are digitally-savvy, become filled with fear. You may be concerned about being called a ?lazy? parent, or you might have worries about your child?s health or cyberbullying, grooming. Some of you will also have experienced real downsides from internet use yourselves ? from feeling a sense of competition, being left out or obsessively checking in to hurtful trolls or worse.

As part of our research project Parenting for a Digital Future we interviewed over 65 families, including those who share their experience of parenting through blogging, in order to find out how parents view the opportunities and risks of the digital age. We found:

1. Many parents are investing in technology, sometimes heavily and including in low-income families, to help their children learn, to connect with friends and family, and to manage the practicalities of family life.

2. When parents talk about what they think is ?good? digital parenting they immediately thought of policing and monitoring ? installing filters and making sure time limits weren?t exceeded and that enough time was spent outdoors. Only very rarely parents talk about sharing their own digital experiences ? what they had gained, enjoyed or found difficult ? with their children.

3. However, the evidence shows that technical blocks and restrictions, on their own, neither keep kids safe nor help them access the opportunities of the digital age. It is precisely those open, curious conversations with parents that can help support both.

This month we released a policy brief that calls for a new generation of ?screen time? advice for a new generation of parents. The time for a new conversation about ?screen time? is way past due. Here?s what we found:

4. Parents need more balanced advice. When we mapped current sources of guidance for parents we found that overwhelmingly risk adverse ?eSafety? messages dominated the address to parents, by a significant margin. There are few balanced sources that discuss both risks and opportunities (although there are some! For example check out Common Sense Media, Parent Zone and other resources listed on our blog). These need greater visibility.

5. Parents need more diverse advice. Most parents make decisions about how to manage their children?s media use based on their family?s particular needs, interests and resources, and their own and their children?s digital skills. One size fits all advice actually fits no one.

6. Talking about screen ?time? is misleading. Instead of obsessing about time it is much more useful to think about the context of screen use (where, how and why children are using screens), the content (what they are watching, playing, reading) and connections (who they are relating to).

Ultimately, the more parents can recognize that their children can learn, connect and create online, the more they can support them to do so safely. If you benefit from digital media, couldn?t your child?

Authors: Alicia Blum-Ross & Sonia Livingstone
Home page image: Photo credit: Brocreative via Shutterstock

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Even though many are already deeming this summer’s movie slate „the summer of disappointment“ and box office bombs have not-so-coincidentally been oddly prevalent these past few months, it’s important to remember there has been some pretty amazing moments in some of the tentpoles.

Now, not all of these movies were great or even good (hell, several of them were straight-up disappointing), but they undeniably nailed it during these sequences of intense and sustained action, admirable character work and, well, a certain member of the Pulp Fiction cast pretending to be an orangutan.

Before we transition into Oscar season very soon, it’s important to remember that not everything flopped or sucked as of late, and these scenes alone ensured summer 2016 wasn’t the trainwreck many expected (and possibly hoped) it to be.

Here are the 13 best scenes from 2016’s summer blockbusters…

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In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari has identified where it is losing out to the competition following recent races.

Here a link to it council

Following on from last months Garden Craft round up I thought I?d extend the theme and collate some of the beautiful Nature Crafts that our Britmums bloggers have been writing up. 

Natures shapes, texture and colour are fascinating to work with and the crafted pieces are often very simple to make plus of course they?re free! And if you?re kids are anything like mine you won?t be short of twigs, pebbles, shells, leaves, flowers etc to crafts with!

I love the simplicity of these Yarn wrapped sticks from Mum In The Mad House

Growing Family explains how to make nature journey sticks. If you?ve never heard of them pop over to the blog as they are brilliant entertainment for kids when you?re out and about.  

Next we have a beautiful flower mandala art from Kids Chaos.

Coffee, Cake, Kids makes some bright textured art using dandelions

 

and The Creative Pair use flowers to paint a bright flower filled canvas

The Gingerbread House uses sycamore seeds to make some cute fairies.

 

and PlayLearnEveryDay makes the most beautiful sun catcher using just nature and pva glue!

These brightly coloured stone fishes by Messy Little Monsters are adorable and perfect for using up all those beach pebbles that get collected over the summer.

You could also use stones/pebbles to make amazing pebble art work like this over at ZingZingTree

Keeping with the beach theme Crafts On Sea makes her own salt dough so she can create these serene seashell decorations 

Hopefully you?ll now be inspired to look for ways to bring nature into some of your crafts and we?ll see you next time with some more arts & crafts round up fun!

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Deus Ex: Revision [official site] is a project that overhauls ?the environments and soundtrack? of Ion Storm?s classic, and it?s out now on Steam. The release has the backing of Deus Ex?s current publishers and developers (Square Enix and Eidos Montreal), and is designed to work exclusively with the Steam release of the original.

Caustic Creative are the folks responsible and their creative director, John French, describes the project as a ?love letter to the game and its fans?.

?Revision is a complete overhaul of the original Deus Ex. We bring in new level design, new music, and new world-building detail. On top of that, we also bundle in some of the best enhancements the community has to offer: high-detail textures and models, Direct3D 9 rendering, and alternate gameplay modes.?

Three months ago, Caustic posted about their conversations with Square Enix and were hopeful they?d be able to release soon. Good to see that everything went smoothly. There was also talk of releasing the framework used for Revision to the modding community:

?[to make the changes] we started using portions of what has been named the Revision Framework (so named because we led to its creation, not because it is exclusive to the inner workings of our project), a piece of tech that makes it relatively easy to expand on the game?s content and systems. We are quietly working on RF, intending for it to be released to the DX modding community.?

Here?s a launch trailer:

If you want to join in on the fun and don?t have a Steam version of Deus Ex yet, there?s an 80% discount running through to the 16th. It?s down to £0.99.

I don?t really need to ramp up my excitement for new Deus Ex to higher levels, having been so recently won over by Eidos Montreal?s vision of the future but I?m almost definitely going to install this later tonight. I need an excuse to replay Deus Ex about as much as I need an excuse to have a beer. Beers and Denton tonight then.

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The New all purpose Gillette Styler is essentially a 3-in-1 precision grooming tool for men who style their facial hair, thank you very much and goodbye. Ohhh OK so it Combines Braun engineering and Gillette Fusion technology, it trims evenly, shaves closely and edges accurately ? allowing men the ability to craft any look without having to compromise and own their look with added confidence.

In all honesty there is a lot more to this gadget, the Styler is waterproof and shower safe, letting you trim while you shower. The All Purpose Styler lets you easily master any style with one precision tool using any Gillette Fusion cartridge. But that?s not where it stops, the styler has a Blade Stabilizer, to maintain optimal blade spacing for comfort, while allowing the blades to adjust to the contours of a man?s face. It carries a Lubrastrip infused with mineral oil and lubricating polymers, enabling the razor to move smoothly over skin even on repeat strokes.

It packs a real punch when it comes to trimming with 4 Levels of Trimming, with three exchangeable combs (2mm, 4mm, 6mm) for consistent length and contour adaptability. Plus, a Precision Trimmer, designed to create crisp, defined lines and finishing touches. The Stylish Base and Holder, conveniently stores all three Braun combs, the Fusion ProGlide attachment and the Braun trimmer ? neatly and securely and the Battery-Powered Design for easy use anytime and anywhere with no cords or charging time, is ideal for throwing into your washbag in time for your holibobs.

COMPETITION TIME

Now if that has whet your appetite, how would you like to win your very own Gillette 3 in 1 precision grooming styler courtesy of yours truly at Clothes-Make-the-Man and those wonderful people over at Gillette. All you have to do is follow us over on Instagram. YES IT?S THAT SIMPLE !

Please note the competition runs from 6am on Tuesday 19^th July until Midnight (BST) on Friday 19^th August and is only open to residents of the mainland UK, Sorry.