To cheer up the crowd at a one of Spain’s very full unemployment offices, radio show Carne Cruda 2.0 organised a flash mob of musicians to pop-up and play the Beatles classic “Here Comes the Sun.”
Jordan Weissmann from The Atlantic comments ’ I’m not sure if this video is more heartbreaking or heartwarming, but it pretty well captures what’s going on in Europe’s economy right now. While the day-to-day drama of the continent’s debt crisis has subsided, painful austerity measures have helped leave huge swaths of the population jobless. In Spain, unemployment is at 25 percent.’
(via The Atlantic)
![Monopoly maker Hasbro is holding a Facebook contest to eliminate one of their eight classic tokens that identify the players and introduce a new one.
Possible new tokens include a cat, diamond ring, guitar, toy robot and helicopter.
It’s the latest effort by the toymaker to jazz up the game which debuted almost eight decades ago. In recent years Hasbro introduced a version that replaces paper money with an electronic bank and another that incorporates an iPad.
Up for elimination: all eight current tokens including a battleship, iron, racecar, Scottie dog, shoe, thimble, top hat and wheelbarrow.
Most tokens were introduced with the first Parker Brothers iteration of the game in 1935, and the Scottie dog and wheelbarrow were added in the early 1950s.
Eric Nyman, global brand leader for Hasbro gaming, told News Day that the impetus for the contest came from chatter on Facebook, where Monopoly has over 10 million fans.
“We’re constantly interacting with those fans and we’re always getting suggestions from fans about what tokens they would love to see,” Nyman said. They took five of the top suggestions from Facebook for the contest.
[Screenshot from Mail Online]
In other news…
If the January blues are proving too much, then maybe a career change is in order.
First Choice Holidays are advertising for a full time water slide tester!
The tester will be paid for the privilege – £20,000 for the six-month contract.
The Daily Mirror reports that the position will see the successful applicant travelling to 20 Splash World resorts in countries such as Turkey and Europe.
Applications will be processed via the First Choice Facebook page.
[@rfljones87]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/c781baf581abcf9547cadeae42e11212/tumblr_mgeiqd5CJY1rn91iwo1_500.png)
Monopoly maker Hasbro is holding a Facebook contest to eliminate one of their eight classic tokens that identify the players and introduce a new one.
Possible new tokens include a cat, diamond ring, guitar, toy robot and helicopter.
It’s the latest effort by the toymaker to jazz up the game which debuted almost eight decades ago. In recent years Hasbro introduced a version that replaces paper money with an electronic bank and another that incorporates an iPad.
Up for elimination: all eight current tokens including a battleship, iron, racecar, Scottie dog, shoe, thimble, top hat and wheelbarrow.
Most tokens were introduced with the first Parker Brothers iteration of the game in 1935, and the Scottie dog and wheelbarrow were added in the early 1950s.
Eric Nyman, global brand leader for Hasbro gaming, told News Day that the impetus for the contest came from chatter on Facebook, where Monopoly has over 10 million fans.
“We’re constantly interacting with those fans and we’re always getting suggestions from fans about what tokens they would love to see,” Nyman said. They took five of the top suggestions from Facebook for the contest.
[Screenshot from Mail Online]
In other news…
If the January blues are proving too much, then maybe a career change is in order.
First Choice Holidays are advertising for a full time water slide tester!
The tester will be paid for the privilege – £20,000 for the six-month contract.
The Daily Mirror reports that the position will see the successful applicant travelling to 20 Splash World resorts in countries such as Turkey and Europe.
Applications will be processed via the First Choice Facebook page.
[@rfljones87]
Once upon a time celebrities used to invite OK and Hello along to their weddings in a bid to raise their fame. Now they’re producing viral videos for release on their own YouTube channels.
Here’s Tom ‘McFly’ Fletcher’s wedding speech - which has already chalked up 2 Million views in just a couple of days.
![If you’re heading to Washington for the presidential inauguration, don’t forget to book your ‘social-media butler’ to follow you around and chronicle your adventures on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
D.C’s Madison Hotel is offering to provide one for free to high-flyers who book their $47,000 4 day package.
CNBC reports “you don’t have to reach for your iPhone. You can just call on your butler to snap the shot and tweet it out.”
In other news…
David Bowie celebrated his 66th birthday yesterday by releasing a new single, Where Are We Now?
His first new music in 10 years, there was not a whisper of its release to the public before it went on sale on iTunes and prompted a flurry of praise on Twitter from celebrity fans and music critics alike.
BBC News reports the pop star’s press representative, acknowledging the stealthy release of the single, said in a statement: “Throwing shadows and avoiding the industry treadmill is very David Bowie”
The single will be followed by a new album in March.
[@claireahowes]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/2b635d654ae1352b0fa7ef3cab44a9c9/tumblr_mgcnqeYsmc1rn91iwo1_500.jpg)
If you’re heading to Washington for the presidential inauguration, don’t forget to book your ‘social-media butler’ to follow you around and chronicle your adventures on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
D.C’s Madison Hotel is offering to provide one for free to high-flyers who book their $47,000 4 day package.
CNBC reports “you don’t have to reach for your iPhone. You can just call on your butler to snap the shot and tweet it out.”
In other news…
David Bowie celebrated his 66th birthday yesterday by releasing a new single, Where Are We Now?
His first new music in 10 years, there was not a whisper of its release to the public before it went on sale on iTunes and prompted a flurry of praise on Twitter from celebrity fans and music critics alike.
BBC News reports the pop star’s press representative, acknowledging the stealthy release of the single, said in a statement: “Throwing shadows and avoiding the industry treadmill is very David Bowie”
The single will be followed by a new album in March.
[@claireahowes]
A futuristic highway that can save energy and improve road safety is set to be installed in the Netherlands by mid-2013.
Two companies, Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure, came up with the highway, which includes: glow-in-the-dark road markings.
![Mills & Boon to offer free workshops in Erotic Fiction writing.
With sales in erotic fiction still surging after E. L. James’s success with 50 Shades of Grey, Mills & Boon are offering a series of free workshops to encourage budding writers in this flourishing genre.
Those hoping to be Britain’s next big success story in erotica can join Anna Boatman (Mills & Boon Spice editor) at selected venues across the UK for a special, tutorial in the craft of erotic fiction.
By the end of their session, participants will know how to make their sex scenes “sizzle, not fizzle.”
Will you discover the 51st Shade?
Story via Metro. Picture: Getty
[@TobyLeston]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/dd5d925f764ea0c7f627c95070b05ae1/tumblr_mg9862e4h01rn91iwo1_500.jpg)
Mills & Boon to offer free workshops in Erotic Fiction writing.
With sales in erotic fiction still surging after E. L. James’s success with 50 Shades of Grey, Mills & Boon are offering a series of free workshops to encourage budding writers in this flourishing genre.
Those hoping to be Britain’s next big success story in erotica can join Anna Boatman (Mills & Boon Spice editor) at selected venues across the UK for a special, tutorial in the craft of erotic fiction.
By the end of their session, participants will know how to make their sex scenes “sizzle, not fizzle.”
Will you discover the 51st Shade?
Story via Metro. Picture: Getty
[@TobyLeston]
‘London Zoo opens gates to colony of snappers for annual animal census’ reports The Guardian.
Yes it’s inventory time at the London Zoo as managers begin their annual stocktake of its residents. From owls to otters, penguins to pythons, there are more than 17,500 creatures to count.
A brilliantly simple photo opp for media to fill those early January pages full of photogenic animals. The Times splashed it (above).
‘An unemployed graduate hoping for a career in media blew his last £500 erecting a billboard plea for a job.
Adam Pacitti, 24, has yet to find work despite a first-class degree in media production followed by countless job applications and inquiries.
So he launched an ambitious effort yet to attract an employer – with this huge hoarding in Shoreditch plugging his video appeal at employadam.com.’
Adam, from the Isle of Wight, told The Sun ”The response was crazy. I haven’t had any firm offers yet, but there’s been a lot of support,” he added.
How Madonna and Sean Penn handled paparazzi intrusion to their wedding in 1985.
