As I mentioned last Monday, I’m starting a new recurring feature covering girly laptop bag reviews and the first bag I got to try out was one of Crumpler’s latest additions: the Russian King . It’s a gorgeous bag and I was completely psyched to get the opportunity to try it out.

The Russian King is one of the three laptop handbags that Crumpler has to offer (the Russian King , the Daggy Kate and the Dentist’s Wife … I love Crumpler’s names for their bags). They are all practically identical with a couple of small differences. The Daggy Kate is the standard handbag and comes in 2 different sizes (S for up to 13″ laptops and L for up to “15 laptops) and 4 different colours (dull black, black grey, dusty khaki and grey white). The Russian King is the same bag, but is the prettier leather version, again in 4 different colours (black, off white, bordeaux red and dark chocolate). Then there is the Dentist’s Wife, which again is pretty much the same bag, but it’s part of Crumpler’s luggage range. This means it comes in colours that match their trolleys, has a bit more padding and a different layout of pockets.

The one I got to try out was a small leather Russian King which will fit laptops up to 13″. It’s a beautiful bag, half leather and half Crumpler’s usual Tex fabric. The bag has two main compartments for all your stuff, with an integrated laptop sleeve in the middle. All 4 inside ‘walls’ (the 2 around the laptop sleeve and the actual two inner walls) have pockets, giving you tons of ways to organize your things. Two of the pockets can be closed with a zipper, two with velcro and then there are 2 open pockets for cards, papers and other flatter stuff. Finally there are two open pockets on the outside that are easily accessible.

I could easily fit two books, a notepad, my wallet, tons of smaller gadgets (2 phones, 2 chargers, headphones, and a Nintendo DS), girly stuff (sunglasses, lipstick, mirror) and still had space left. And with all the different pockets it’s so easy to organize all your stuff, giving everything its own special place. I couldn’t my bulky Nikon D4o camera, while the laptop was in the bag too, but any smaller normal camera could easily fit. I liked that there were outside pockets; they’re perfect for your oyster card and other stuff you want to reach quickly, but nothing too valuable that could fall (or be taken) out.

As much as I like the inside of the Russian King, it wasn’t as comfortable as I expected it to be. With handbags like these, you want the straps/handles to fit perfectly onto your shoulder. With me it didn’t. One strap would fit comfortably, but the second one just felt awkward. The straps have been designed to be nice and sturdy, but they are on a bit of a weird angle and are just too wide to fit comfortably. The bag also comes with an adjustable and removable shoulder strap. I tried it out, but again it didn’t really work for me; any way I wore it the actual handles were in the way. If you’re interested in this bag, I’d suggest stopping by the Crumpler store and trying out the bag for yourself. It didn’t fit on my shoulder, but it’s worth checking with this bag if it fits you.

The Russian King is a good sturdy laptop bag with tons of pockets to organize your gadgets. At £189 it’s on the pricey side, but not as pricey as some other leather laptop bags out there, and it is type of bag that will last you for years. If you find the leather unnecessary, you can also go for the Daggy Kate (£119) or the Dentist’s Wife (£109).

Russian King
Brand: Crumpler
Sizes: Small (for up to 13″ laptops) and Large (for up to 15″ laptops)
Colours: Black, Off White, Bordeaux Red and Dark Chocolate

Last November I did a blog post on how Threadless and Griffin had started working together to make iPhone cases. I was a bit disappointed with the 2 designs they decided to produce first, but since then they’ve released more, including one of which I already the tee of.

In total there are now 10 different designs that are available on the Griffin site. My favourites are The Gaming Revolution and Fail:

Take a look at the Griffin site for the other designs, they’re all pretty cool!

Last week I got an email with an invite from J2O for an exclusive lunch that would “send you sky high”. I didn’t think much of it, you know, just believing it was over-the-top marketing speak. But when I got there I discovered this:

Yep, they literally meant sky high. The lunch was for the launch of J2O’s two newest blends: Red Grape and Blackcurrent and White Grape and Kiwi . They had invited celebrity Simon Rimmer to create two dishes that would complement the two new blends. So up we went…

It was pretty amazing. We got strapped into out chairs, similar to a roller coaster ride, and got lifted into the air. The view was awesome! I’m not exactly scared of heights (more like ‘scared of being an idiot and stumbling off a cliff’ or something like that), but I did get a little queasy spinning my chair and looking down.

The food was brilliant too. First we got panzanella, an Italian salad with bread, tomatoes, peppers and a basil/vinegar sauce. This was matched with the white grape and kiwi drink, which was nice and light. After that we got the chef’s take on bangers and mash, with venison sausages, mustard mash and an onion ring. I really liked this one, and again it fit spot on with the accompanying drink of red grape and blackcurrant.

Weirdly enough I was trying to find something different to drink when at events and meetups, and I think these new blends are great for that. I’m not really much of a wine drinker (and you can’t really order cocktails when networking), plus I’m not allowed to have that many fizzy drinks anymore, cause of the braces. But these J2O blends are perfect! If you like your wine, there’s no way in hell this will replace that, but if you’re looking for a simple alternative, try it out.

Cristiano and I gave into temptation yesterday afternoon and bought a shiny new iPad to share between the two of us. When the iPad was announced a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t expecting it would be something that I’d consider getting. But then I got to try one…

For me it’s perfect for reading papers for my research. It’s much more comfortable reading stuff from the iPad and taking notes next to it, then sitting behind my laptop and attempting the same. Plus I don’t get distracted by incoming emails, tweets and whatever else is happening on my screen. I haven’t played enough with it yet to see if it could actually replace my day to day browsing and feed reading, but for my research it’s brilliant.

I still don’t think I need an iPad of my own. I’m sharing it now with Cristiano who is using it during “non-work” hours, while I get it during the day for work. It’s nice for reading your emails, tweets and feeds, but I don’t prefer it over just using my laptop. I’m still blogging this from my laptop, and seeing as how most of my web reading is tied up into what I eventually blog about, I don’t think the iPad would fit in that work flow (or should I say blog flow?).

It is a gorgeous device though, and I do think this would be perfect for my mum. So dear readers, what do you think of the iPad? Wantz, Haz, Avoid?

I knew it was going to be busy at the MCM Expo last Saturday, but I never imagined it to be sooo massively packed! About 41000 people visited during the entire weekend… And tons of people were dressed up; some outfits were amazing to see (and some admittingly not so amazing). I’ve never cosplayed before in my life, but if I’d go next year, I think I might join in… I could pull off Catwoman, couldn’t I?

Here are photos that me and Cristiano took that day:

A second trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs The World came out this morning and it looks awesome! It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, with a bit too many video game and comic references, but I love the look of it.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is coming out in the UK on August 6th and in the US on August 13th.

I love these photos from Amusement featuring game consoles as buildings:

Cool, right? I wish they’d make more of these. Like can you imagine how a GameBoy building would like? Or an Xbox building? Check out the Amusement site for larger versions of these photos.

I just received a review copy of this book! It looks awesome, and once I’ve finished the book I’m currently reading I’m so going to pick this one up.

The description on Amazon:

Shale is the lowest of the low-an outcast from a poor village in the heart of the desert. In the desert water is life, and currency, and Shale has none. But he has a secret. It’s the one thing that keeps him alive and may save all the cities of the Quartern in the days to come. If it doesn’t get him killed first…

Terelle is a slave fleeing a life as a courtesan. She finds shelter in the home of an elderly painter but as she learns the strange and powerful secrets of his art she fears she may have traded a life of servitude for something far more perilous…

The Stormlord is dying in his tower and there is no one, by accident or design, to take his place. He brings the rain from the distant seas to his people. Without a Stormlord, the cities of the Quartern will wither and die.

Their civilization is at the brink of disaster. If Shale and Terelle can find a way to save themselves, they may just save them all. Water is life and the wells are running dry…

The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke is available on Amazon.co.uk for £5.58 and on Amazon.com for $7.99 .

Episode 177: “I really liked Lost, but I guess I still have a few questions about it”

If you haven’t seen the last episode of Lost yet:

beware

SPOILERS!

Last weekend I finally got around to watching this season of Lost, having to catch up on 15 episodes before being able to watch the finale! I know not everyone was happy with how it concluded, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was a fitting ending. Since the 3rd season, I was more invested in the characters than in the mysteries anyway, and it’s each character’s story that they ended up completing. I have to admit there were quite some questions left unanswered, but none that really bugged me. And unlike with BSG it all left me with a much more satisfied feeling.

As I said though, not every question was answered and I wasn’t the only one to realize that:

So what did you think of the end of Lost?

Video game movies… the bane of every video game geek. So many turn out to be terrible movies and they fail to capture what people loved about the games in the first place. The latest gamble is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time based on the 2003 game of the same name.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan, the titular prince. Dastan was originally an orphan, growing up on the streets and rooftops of the empire’s capital city, until one day after standing up for a friend on the marketplace, the king notices him and takes him in. Years later Dastan and his brothers are sent to the holy city of Alamut, ruled by the stubborn princess Tamina ( Gemma Arterton ). After being blamed for a crime he didn’t commit, Dastan is forced to flee the city with Tamina and prove his innocence.

I really enjoyed Prince of Persia, although it’s not without its faults. From the trailers, I was expecting a fun entertaining action movie, similar in vein to Pirates of the Caribbean or The Mummy (if you haven’t seen the trailer, check it out here ). And it pretty much lived up to those expectations. If you didn’t like either of those movies, chances are you’re going to hate Prince of Persia too. If you loved those movies (which I did), I think you’ll be in for a treat.

Jake Gyllenhaal is great as prince Dastan. I had my doubts about him when his casting was announced, but he was exactly what I had imagined the prince to be. Charming, but at the same time rough and mischievous. Gemma Arterton is much better here than in Clash of the Titans, showing that with a decent script she can actually deliver. I loved the banter between her and Dastan!

The story is similar to the Sands of Time video game with Dastan finding a dagger with which he can travel a few seconds back into time. While not used frequently within the movie, it gives us a couple of gorgeous scenes where Dastan falls apart into sand while ‘traveling’ back. The rest of the plot is pretty okay, although a little bit on the predictable side and at times not as polished as it could have been (like bad guys suddenly appearing without any explanation). I like that they added the orphan backstory, giving a reason to why a prince would be jumping from ledges and rooftops.

And those action scenes where Dastan is jumping all over the place are fantastic. Both Gyllenhaal and the kid that played the younger Dastan did most of their stunts themselves, having trained closely with Parkours legend David Belle. I didn’t like the way most of these were filmed though: an overuse of slow-mo and angles that didn’t really work for me. Still the stunts were amazing to watch!

Is it a good video game to movie adaption? Yeah, I think it is. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a fun summer action movie with great action sequences that harken back to the video game. The plot is a bit simple, but it’s a good 2 hours of fun entertainment. And want to bet we’ll get a sequel soon?