WikiCommons

Marilyn Manson is one of the most instantly recognizable figures in the music business. For years he?s been sporting an iconic look: thick, snowy foundation and shadowy eye make-up, oil-black hair and a massive array of gothic clothing. Not only is Manson?s style distinct, it?s also proven problematic, collecting a range of misconceptions and negative societal stigmas.

It?s fairly obvious by now that that?s the whole point ? to celebrate duality and complexity. His stage name is one such example, taken from two very different sources: Marilyn Monroe ? the famous model and actress ? and Charles Manson ? the infamous cult leader and murderer. It?s the perfect summation of everything for which the musician stands.

Manson is living, breathing proof of the dangers of judging based on appearance. While the world has conjured up one version of Marilyn Manson in its mind, fans know a totally different side to the prolific rocker. Whereas most people see nothing more than what they want to see, Manson has been quietly proving people wrong since the very inception of his career as an artist?

Blog – News

The eagle eyed among you will notice that the domain name of my website, formerly agirlcalledjack.com, has changed. It was inevitable, following my recent coming-out, although truth be told I had been considering it for a while anyway. At 27 years old I would have taken umbridge at being addressed as ?a girl? by a stranger, so why continue to do it to myself every day?

I have tried many, many options on for size, to find with dismay that my name was taken by some scoundrel, unsurprising as there are many ?Jack Monroe?s out there, including a Nomad comic book character otherwise known as ?Bucky?. I get his Google alerts for comic book conventions and some rather eyebrow-raising fan fiction from time to time.

I quite liked ?MxJack?, and it was almost the contender, but the Twitter and Instagram handles were taken and I didn?t fancy the unnecessary confusion. 
Jack At A Pinch works for me ? not least for the cooking connotations, and the implication of slight annoyance that my political musings occasionally bring. A bit of research shows that in the early 1800s a ?Jack-at-a-pinch? was a poor hackney parson, and the term grew to mean someone who was useful in an emergency, which also suits me quite nicely ? from evacuating a club in London last month when I walked in to a midnight fire alarm from the boiler room, to answering emails from readers with a fiver in their bank account and a few sparse bits in their kitchen cupboard, to my previous incarnation in the Control room in the Fire Service ? Jack At A Pinch will take some getting used to, but like a trusty white shirt, it fits rather well straight from the hanger.

And for the forgetful among us, myself included, if you type http://www.agirlcalledjack.com into your toolbar, it will automatically bring you here.

?Rebranding?, for want of a less horrendous word, is always a bit of a struggle, and I hope this doesn?t cause you, my dear readers, any upset or inconvenience. I am a one-person outfit, I do my own blog, emails, social media, with help with contracts and complex events from the brilliant Ed, Aoife and Rosemary at United Agents. I haven?t got a ?social media strategy?, and should I ever even utter those words again please feel free to yell at me about how disappointed you are. I get things wrong, I lose my temper, I fluff up, and I do things because they feel right and true and necessary. So here we are. As I said before, I am proud of A Girl Called Jack, of that gorgeous book that still flies off shelves and into university dorms and food banks and through letter boxes around the world, I am proud of what it does and continues to do, but I needed to change my website. Fingers crossed for an easy ride, and now I can bear to look at it again, you can look forward to a host of new recipes.

Love and light and thankyou for your good wishes and understanding over the last few weeks,

Jack Monroe.

Twitter: @DrJackMonroe  Instagram: @MxJackMonroe

I know what you?re thinking. Yes, I?m not John from Dadbloguk and yes, I know that is a huge disappointment. But, before you hang me out to dry and demand your usual daddy blogger back, all I ask is for a few minutes?

You see, there are going to be a few little changes around here. Much like D?Artagnan discovered when he met the Three Musketeers, a combined effort far outweighs that of the individual. So, from now on, the dad blogger roundup will continue to be written by John (Dadbloguk), but he will be flanked by Tim (Slouching Towards Thatcham) and myself (The DADventurer), with us taking it in turns each month to share the latest daddy blogger posts.

Just think of it as a buy one dad, get two free. Happy? Good. Now let?s begin?

I?ve been blogging for about 15 months now and still consider myself to be a relative newbie to the parent blogging world. I?ve recently realised though that this isn?t the case, particularly with quite a few rookie dad bloggers on the scene. I therefore thought that I?d focus my first roundup on those newcomers who are starting to share their fatherhood journey with the world through their keystrokes.

First up is Neil (@plumsnet), who recently wrote about the pressures of trying to get your partner pregnant in the geniusly titled Missionary Impossible. As he explains in his witty tone, even when you?ve decided as a couple that the time is right to put a bun in the oven, it?s not always as easy as anticipated. Let?s just say he knows how to paint a pretty clear picture about what they tried!

This is something that Matt (@TheNewDadsDiary) is currently going through too as him and his missus try for a baby. Despite nine months of trying to conceive and plenty of disappointments, it?s great to read that the pressure to knock up his wife isn?t getting to him. I particularly liked his panic-stricken post about what happened when his wife sent him an ambiguous photo but then failed to reply in Pick Up The Phone Woman!!!.

Another blog I enjoyed reading was by Choco (@DadFuture) who is due to become a dad for the first time in early 2016. The post that caught my eye was his story about finding out that his wife was expecting in Finding Out You?re Pregnant, which recounts the tail of trying for a baby whilst on honeymoon and why he bought ear buds with a pregnancy test!

Next up is Mat (@MatchooDAD), who?s post on Becoming A Parent provides a great insight into how fatherhood can change you. A self-confessed ?party boy? before meeting his wife, Mat?s post takes you on a journey of his thoughts and feelings during conception, pregnancy, birth and becoming a dad.

These are just four of the many new dad bloggers sharing their experiences in the parent blogging community. Go check them out, pop by to say ?Hi? and give them a follow. Until next time!

another blog with news

more gadgets on the Internet

Jenson Button met Kaiser Chiefs front man Ricky Wilson at the McLaren Technology Centre recently.

Can you come up with the best caption for this picture? Post your funniest suggestion in the comments below.

A selection of the best will feature in a future edition of the F1 Fanatic Round-up.

Caption Competition

Browse all Caption Competitions

more news

Dear Daily Mail,

I don?t know how you generally kickstart your working week, but at 6am on a Monday morning I?m just about hanging in to my last REM cycle before being woken up by a 5 year old, to begin the email flails and checklists that have gathered in my inbox from the last midnight-on-Sunday clearout.

I get up, meditate, do some morning yoga, lift some weights and pop a fat scoop of protein shake, a slug of coconut cream, peanut butter and two shots of coffee in my blender ? adept by now at making whey protein taste like something remotely palatable. It?s like a peanut butter mocha. You?re welcome.

This morning I woke up at 0515 to a flurry of emails ? Google alerts and missives from concerned friends and readers ? and I groaned as I clicked the link, mentally steeling myself for the staggering lies and inaccuracies I knew would be on the other side. It seems your ?deputy diary editor? Richard Eden, who impertinently emailed me on a Sunday lunchtime to try to link my personal life with my transition, doesn?t actually speak to the ?diary person?, Seb Shakespeare. How very odd. So, for the avoidance of any doubt, I enclose the email conversation that looks like it wasn?t passed along the amoeba chain. (#NotAllAmoeba)

And so, blow by blow, here?s all the shit you managed to get wrong in a surprisingly short diary piece. Some of my readers will ask why I?m bothering to do this. Because someone cannot lie about me with impunity on a public platform, and expect not to be called out on it. And absolutely cannot lie about someone I love, and expect not to be called a shitbag for it. For avoidance of doubt, Richard Eden and Seb Shakespeare, you are shitbags. Fetid rumour-mongering turdy little trolls festering in the gangrenous gossip-column scrotum of the internet.

1.The headline. ? Foodie Jack Monroe splits from chef ? as she announces she is transgender? is a complete lie. The eagle eyed among you will notice that I moved to Southend five months before I came out as transgender. By eagle-eyed, I mean, it?s all over my blog and Instagram and doesn?t take a genius to work out why I suddenly need to restock an entire kitchen and am instagramming pics of my rather delicious but sadly single bed. A five month gap would tell anyone but the most salacious gossipy pricks that these two events are unrelated. In between the two I have been to Vegas, yet no ?Jack Monroe jets to Vegas as they announce they are transgender? headline. I have had three tattoos, yet no ?Jack Monroe gets three tattoos as they announce they are transgender? headline. I have gained a stone (mostly muscle, thankyou), yet no ?Jack Monroe gains a stone as they announce they are transgender? headline. I have done a poo (or 150), yet no ?Jack Monroe takes a dump as they announce they are transgender? headline. You get me?

2. ?She?. See here for media guidance around pronouns:

?and see here for where I explicitly pointed that out to your journalist. No excuses.

3. ?She is?? should be ?They are??

4. ?Sainsbury?s former pin-up girl?. Having never bent over with my bum in the air, nor donned a pair of stockings for them, I?m not sure the term pin-up girl is entirely accurate.

This is a pin up girl.

This is not.

5&6: ?Jack Monroe has seen things go off the boil in her love life.? Er, nope. And ?their love life?. It?s not that hard.

7. ?The tattooed 27-year-old?s engagement has been called off.? As much the tattoos fault as the trans-outing fault, I suppose, but you never miss an opportunity to remind your pearl-clutching readership that I am a Tattooed Person. I expect all future stories about Samantha Cameron to refer to her as ?The tattooed Prime Ministers wife? in the interests of balanced reporting.

8. ??the latest set-back for Jack? ? Firstly, ?setback? is all one word, and my transition is not a setback, it is an enormous amount of freedom.

9&10. ? who was reportedly dropped by Sainsbury?s after she accused David Cameron?? ? Reported by you, which was a lie. Quelle suprise. I filmed a television advert in October 2013 for Sainsburys along with 3 other food bloggers. It aired for 6 weeks from December 2013 to February 2014, and that was that. In November 2014 you reported that they had dropped me ?over? my comments re Cameron and the NHS. This was and still is a lie. I made one advert, one year before, and we had no ongoing relationship beyond me still shopping there occasionally. Ugh you suck. Also ?she? should be ?they?.

11. Again: ?She?? should be ?They??

12. ??has considered breast removal?? BECAUSE SURGERY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF ALL OF THIS BECAUSE TITS AND COCKS AND COCKS AND TITS. It?s so puerile. If you care a jot about accuracy, I am currently training for a marathon in April so will see how my body shape changes naturally with running and weight training before making any snap decisions about surgical procedures. The preferred term is ?chest reduction? rather than ?breast removal? BTW. As for any other surgical speculation, I already have bigger balls than your entire newspaper, to say nothing of my cock collection, and we?ll leave that there.

13. ??as part of her?? = ??as part of their??

14. ??sex change?? Not a term that is okay to use. See this handy infographic for details. (Apparently you helped All About Trans make this?)

15. ?but one ex-fiancee ?hit the roof? at the idea, telling her?? Again, telling THEM.

16. ?She adds? should be ?They added?.

17. ? ?When someone tells you that the core of your relationship is your bra size, you hightail it and run.? I?m being picky now but the end of my tether is a pedantic place to be ? the original quote didn?t have the ?it? shoehorned in. In terms of writing content and quality, I hate to call rank on Seb Shakespeare with the ?number one bestseller? card, but don?t mangle my words to fit your shite gossip column. Thanks.

18. Dat pic. It?s a very happy one, granted, and I look good, but if you really wanted to rile your readers why not go for the full on masculine tats out and a Marlboro red job? A missed opportunity, I feel.

19. But at least you had the good sense not to insert my deadname into this article, which is a first. Less ?good sense? and more ?bored of paying my legal fees? though, isn?t it?

20. As warned in our correspondence yesterday, my lawyer will be in touch. (Let?s cut out all the middlemen and see if your other columnist, of the last legal wrangle, will foot your bill?)

With my VERY best wishes and an awful lot of red pen,

Jack Monroe. (F. See me after class.)

Now, protein shake and a bloody hard run. I once promised myself to do 15 reps of either press ups, sit ups or weights for every time I responded to trolls. Someday soon I?ll have the body of a Chippendale, and Seb Shakespeare will still be writing in his angsty little diary. I?ll send y?all a signed pic to say thanks for your contribution. Ooft.

PPS, courtesy of Brian Bilson, and thank?s H for the reminder:

The Hallow is written and directed by Corin Hardy, who has long been attached to the seemingly constantly in flux remake of The Crow, and stars Joseph Mawle (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and Bojana Novokovic (Devil).

The Hitchens family: husband Adam (Mawle), wife Clare (Novokovic), and their dog and newborn baby, move into an old Irish mill house just shy of some woods in the middle of nowhere. Adam is eyeing up the trees for a deforestation company so is immediately unpopular with the locals.

When things start to go bump, and windows start to go smash, in the night, Adam and Clare automatically assume that the country folk are messing with them in an effort to get them to leave. The local Garda cop (Michael Smiley ? Spaced, Kill List) and his implausible theories for the disturbances seem to reinforce this, and also imply he?s in on it.

Spooky and superstitious neighbour Mr. Donnelly appears to be the prime suspect: frequently breaking into their home and leaving strange books about fairies, and spouting cryptic warnings to stay clear of the woods with the baby. That Donnelly is also played by Michael McElhatton ? the nefarious Roose Bolton from Game of Thrones ? makes it easy to believe he?s behind it and untrustworthy.

HOWEVER, The Hitchens?s have more to worry about than psycho locals. The forest is full of frightening folkloric creatures, called ?the hallow?, that are mad at Adam for sticking his nose into their trees, and have taken an interest in the baby. With these beasties coming for their kid, and the family cut off from any assistance, our heroes must batten down the hatches and try and survive until dawn. This, of course, does not go as planned.

Smiley and McElhatton are excellent, and it would have been nice for them to remain involved when ?the hallow? start to come out of the woodwork, but the creatures themselves are so well done that the human antagonists are swiftly forgotten. Seemingly done almost entirely through animatronics and prosthetics, ?the hallow? constantly deliver balls-shrivelling scares. They are kept in the shadows or out of focus for the first half, but when they fully emerge in a heart-stopping sequence to surround Adam and Clare they do not disappoint.

Mawle?s Adam is a logical and brave hero and gets to battle not just the monsters, but also to retain his own humanity. Supplied with an immensely vulnerable young family to protect, Mawle?s performance, and Adam?s actions, create some iconic moments ? with a descent into a tentacle-y hell with nothing but a flaming scythe sure to linger long in the memory. Clare is mostly underserved and predominantly useless ? always making the wrong call, and disrupting Adam?s efforts. The sole female role being this rubbery is a shame, but her one saving grace is in instantly believing in the creatures, and getting on the same page so we can crack straight on.

Corin Hardy has a great eye for unforgettable imagery, so you can certainly see why he is being tapped up for The Crow. Regardless of whether or not that actually ever happens, The Hallow is macabre and mysterious. It makes great use of atmosphere and music, spins recognisable tropes into something new and bizarre, and ?the hallow? are some of the creepiest and coolest original movie monsters to hit the screen in a while.

Click here to bid

In the round-up: Red Bull are expected to continue using Renault engines in 2016 but with their own hybrid system developed by Mario Illien,

Click >> <<

> To the article

Autumn has come to a close, the clocks have gone back an hour and to quote everyone?s favourite house of Stark catchphrase ?Winter is coming?. Yes cold winter days are fast approaching, and keeping warm is one of the top priorities, all the way from your the top of your head to the tips of your toes, it?s important to look like the part whilst trying to prevent yourself from getting frostbite. Footwear are essential, the best boots keeps our feet warm and cozy when the two bar heater is just not cooperating. Here are our top 10 Boots you should purchase for coming winter.

clear information on