Picture Yourself There

Apple launches iPhone in UK - 9 November

Without wishing to sound like an old codger, it seems like five minutes ago that mobile phones were the size of a shoebox, weighed as much as a small television set and had those awful monotone ringtone melodies. Well, thanks to contributors to the industry such as the Crazy Frog, the ringtones are no less irritating – but now mobiles can do just about everything except tile your bathroom for you. And perhaps the most anticipated mobile phone in history is set to launch in the UK on 9th November: yes, the iPhone is making its merry way across the pond, much to the delight of technophiles across the land.

With the best screen and internet browser you’re likely to find on a mobile, as well as a great camera and (of course) music functionality, Apple has gone and done it again. If you’re keen to head down and grab yourself this cracking gadget on 9th November, prepare to brave some queues…

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World Vegan Day / Black Pudding Festival

Prepare to feel like a lesser person on November 1st, when World Vegan Day reminds you that you should really do something about your Big Mac habit and start eating a bit more healthily. Around the world, vegans will be celebrating their glowing complexions, slimline physiques and smug self-restraint.

However, they won’t exactly be thrilled to hear that a culinary creation has appeared on the BBC website that will wilt your curly kale. Black pudding flavoured ice-cream, a shameless extravagance of seemingly incompatible meat and dairy produce, has been unveiled in a daring Blackburn dairy by the adventurous master chef Tom Bridge.

The dish will be officially unveiled at the Black Pudding Festival - yes, really, and don’t bother asking where the lentil bar is. Feeling adventurous? Get the NavPix here…

Punkin Chunkin

Fans of The Office will remember a particularly cringeworthy episode in which, following a competitive and volatile pub quiz, the odious Chris Finch throws Tim’s shoe over a building. When Tim protests, he is challenged: ‘He’s thrown a shoe over a pub. What have you done?’

And so sums up the attitude of many to ‘throwing stuff’. And one competition has taken it to the next level – the World Championship Punkin Chunkin takes place between 2nd and 4th November, and will see competitors battling it out to see who can lob their orange ammo the furthest. However, this competition does not rely on man power alone. Click here for the official website, to see the cannons and catapults that have been constructed in the name of Chunkin. A perfect and potty way to get into the Halloween spirit.

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MTV Europe Awards

What happened to the days of chirpy, bubblegum pop? One look at MTV’s Europe Music Awards, and you’ll see that Kylie and Jason this ain’t. If nominees are anything to go by, the industry seems to have taken a decidedly dark turn, with potential winners ranging from the outraged youth to the tortured genius.

Vying for the Best Band Award are the ever-angry Linkin Park, up against the ‘emo’-flavoured Fall Out Boy and the goth-lite My Chemical Romance. The talented but somehow shambolic Amy Winehouse surely deserves to scoop a few too. However, most depressing of all, Rihanna’s Umbrella is a contender for the Most Addictive Track…

The awards will take place in Munich, and you can cast your votes until 30th November through the official website. Get the NavPix here…

World's Biggest Liar competition, Cumbria

James A. Garfield once commented: ‘The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable’. Well, why bring yourself down? Enjoy some whopping porkies at the World’s Biggest Liar competition, which takes place every November at the Bridge Inn in Cumbria.

The competition commemorates Will Ritson, a 19th Century publican and resident of Wasdale in the English Lake District who could have made Baron Munchausen look like a trustworthy sort. Will regaled his customers with fantastical tales, including a story about how the turnips in the area were so large that they were frequently used as sheds for the local sheep.

The winner of the competition will not only be crowned official Master of the Universe, but will also win a trip to the moon and their own body weight in meat pies. See you tomorrow for more NavPix, when we’ll be blogging directly from Buckingham Palace after a spot of lunch with the Queen.

(For details about the competition, click here. Honest.)

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It's half term - Go Ape!

A frightening prospect has been hanging over mums and dads across the land recently, filling them with no little trepidation. No, it’s not time for parents’ evening, and it’s ages until the school’s three-hour Christmas bonanza (featuring the obligatory performance from the beginners’ violin group). No, if you’ve got a youngster running riot - or moping, depending on age - around your house you’ll all know by now that half term has arrived, and you’ll probably be racking your brains as to how to keep them occupied and out of trouble for the next week.

Well, you could keep the little monkeys amused with Go Ape!, which takes place at a number of forest locations all over Britain. Devised by an ex-army officer and his wife, kids can tire themselves out in treetop escapades with rope ladders, bridges and zip slides, all up to 40 feet above the ground. This is an unusual and exhilarating day out which is also very popular – so booking in advance is essential. Choose from locations such as Thetford Forest in East Anglia to Sherwood Pines in Notts: full details here.

And get the NavPix here…

Baggy Trousers ban, Opalocka

If your fashion sense is somewhat casual, you’d better smarten up before taking a trip to Opalocka in Florida. News this week, it was reported that this is one of at least eight states in the US where officials are placing a legal ban on saggy pants. The reason? Well, just as in the UK hoodies are clearly responsible for teens turning to a life of crime, slack, erm, slacks are to blame for rising crime rates in these areas of the states. Obviously.

Tim Holmes, councillor, explains: ‘Kids going around wearing pants below their butts is not decent. It frightens pensioners’. While we at Picture Yourself There aren’t sure that pants are entirely to blame for the wider social implications, we do know one good reason to ban them anyway: they look stupid.

Crime caused by baggy trousers? That’s just Madness.

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Fashion Rocks, Royal Albert Hall

OK. If you grew up in the seventies or eighties, the concept of fashion and music existing side by side is not an easy one to swallow. Take Abba, for instance. Cracking harmonies – shocking threads (and, boys and girls, those dodgy barnets didn’t help). In the decades that brought you everything from Adam Ant to David Bowie, you may look back and think that while the music was great, the outfits left a little to be desired.

But times are changing, and for all you music-loving fashionistas out there, Thursday sees the Swarovski Fashion Rocks take place at the Royal Albert Hall. With weird and wonderful pairings between designers and musicians (Joss Stone and Calvin Klein, Johnny Borrell’s Razorlight and Burberry, Iggy Pop and Versace), this mix of concert and catwalk will showcase cutting edge clothing with a super-sharp soundtrack.

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Fiesta de la Hispanidad

Get our your castanets and your dancing shoes – because it’s time for a fiesta. This Friday, Spain will be celebrating their national day and, unlike in the UK - where most people don’t even know when St George’s Day is, let alone what to do when it rolls round – the Spanish will be getting ready to party like it’s 1492.

On 12th October, Spain honours Columbus’s discovery of the New World with National Day celebrations in Madrid’s Plaza de Colon. The day also remembers Spanish soldiers killed in war, and it is tradition that the monarch of Spain receives a bayleaf laurel from veteran soldiers. They’ll also be painting the town – and the sky – red, when aeronautical displays create the colours of the Spanish flag in the clouds.

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New Orleans Film Festival

New Orleans is truly legendary for its food, its music, its partying, its spirit. We’re massive fans of the city and anyone embarking on a road trip across America would do well to stop there for a night or four. Even though the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina is still fresh in the minds of every New Orleans citizen, they stand fast, and the slow but steady regeneration of the city is gradually bringing it back to its former glories.

The richness of art and culture is what makes the city so alive and one of the main events is next weekend’s annual celebration of film. The 18th Annual Film Festival showcases the best new American and international films, including major features and short works, plus many from local upcoming filmmakers, with a multitude of directors, actors and other film luminaries in attendance. For those ‘VIPs’, then look no further than the Gala Host event; a $300 ticket includes free valet parking and an ‘all access’ pass so you might get to meet stars such as Jude Law, rumoured to be there. Eek!

Get more information here…