We7 will rock you!

Music for free, no strings attached? Surely not.

Well, believe it!

When one of my work colleagues told me about We7.com I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard of this site sooner! We7 has thousands and thousands of songs and albums ready and waiting for your perusal, and yes it doesn't cost a penny to listen to them.

So how can this possibly be free? Well, We7 manage to pay the artist you're listening to by placing short adverts at the beginning of songs, but to be honest they aren't really that intrusive at all and the best thing is that the more music you listen to, the more ad-free days they'll give to you. So it's a winning situation for all concerned!

Another great feature of We7 is that users are able to create multiple playlists that can be shared with friends via email, instant messenger and social networking sites. Speaking of which... I've had a go at putting together a (pretty random) playlist for JuJu Loves so why not check it out here :)

For those of you who'd prefer to download the music to your MP3 player most of the songs are also available for download at a small fee.

This site has kept me entertained for hours while working on the JuJu Loves store and it's great to have the freedom to listen to any song I like without the guilt of illegal downloading.

Let's see what playlists you can come up with... on your marks... get set... GO!!!

JuJu Loves online store

I think it's definitely time for a JuJu Loves progress report and I'm happy to say that I'm finally getting somewhere with the online store designs :)
I've been using the software provided by Wix.com and so far, so good!

Wix is a company that offers free and easy to build websites using Flash (animated) elements that even a novice web designer could get on with. They offer ready to use templates which can be customised or if you are a bit more confident with your skills then you are also able to start with a blank canvas.

As well as the basic sites that they offer for free they also have a range of paid for packages with more advanced features and extra storage space. As a starting point for my shop I've chosen to go with one of the premium packages so that I could build an e-commerce website and link to my Paypal account. This only costs me £12 a month which in my opinion is a pretty great deal!

I've still got a lot to do before I can officially launch the store but I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far and I hope to be able to give you another update soon!

Please help those in need

'A devastating earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale has struck Haiti causing an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Children have been killed and injured — many are in desperate need of clean water, shelter and medical help.' - Unicef UK.

If you can, please click on this link and give generously to help aid getting to those in need. Thank you.

www.unicef.org.uk

Bobby Long 13.01.10 Gig Review

Who: Bobby Long, with support from The Spivs. Unfortunately due to bad weather conditions Flipron were unable to make this gig.
Where: Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, London

Making his return to the London stage Bobby Long is looking a bit worn out after almost a year on tour but jet lag and 12 o' clock shadow aside he still manages to pull off a top performance.

His confidence in his guitar playing and in himself has increased tenfold since the first time I saw him playing in the back streets of Whitechapel back in January 2009 and I'd put money on the fact that his name will be one of the ones to watch in 2010.

Where can you see him next? Bobby is already back on the road and embarking on a tour of Europe so check out his MySpace page to see where he'll pop up next!

Please check out our YouTube channel for videos of Bobby Long and The Spivs.

Feast your eyes on this!

One of the things I hope to achieve with JuJu Loves is to bring attention to all the hidden gems in London (and hopefully even the whole of the UK... heck... why not the world?!)

So when I happened to come across a photo of one of the most delectable looking cupcakes on Flickr the other day, I knew I had to track down the maker of such goodness and let you all know how to get your mitts on the tastiness too :)

I present to you Crumbs and Doilies... A small business run by boyfriend-girlfriend duo Sam and Jemma, and of course not forgetting Ken (the pink gorilla) who is in charge of 'sprinkle' control'!

Set up in April 2006 Crumbs and Doilies has become a successful business operating from market stalls in both Covent Garden and Chelsea as well as their main digs in Wandsworth. They have a wide variety of cupcakes on sale in such tantalising flavours as Earl Grey, Vanilla Rose, Lemon and Chocolate, complete with fancy sprinkles of all shapes and sizes! But if you can't find what you're looking for they are also more than happy to take custom orders for any theme you have in mind.

Individual cupcakes are only available at the market stalls but you can order in batches over the internet (minimum of 1 dozen big, 2 dozen mini or 1 combination box) and have them delivered to your door from as little as £5 if you live in Central or SW London. Larger orders of cakes can be shipped by courier to any part of the UK. So with prices starting at just £12 for a box of a dozen mini cakes, what are you waiting for? Dig in!

For more information and to place an order please visit www.crumbsanddoilies.co.uk

'It Might Get Loud' on Blu-Ray and DVD 18.01.10

Title: It Might Get Loud

Starring: Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White

Director: Davis Guggenheim

UK release date: 18 January 2010

Available on: Blu-Ray and DVD

Visit the official website

My daily commute to and from work takes me past the Hammersmith Apollo and it's become a bit of a habit now to try and see what act will be on stage that night. So as usual, one evening in December, I was trying to make out the name on the billboard through the fogged up bus windows when I noticed that the Apollo was playing host to a movie premiere that night. While we were stuck in traffic I decided to Google the title 'It Might Get Loud'. When the names Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White came up I immediately knew that this was a movie I HAD to see!

The movie was introduced by Jimmy Page and director Davis Guggenheim to a full house of avid music fans. In the opening sequence we see Jack White creating an electric guitar out of nothing more than a block of wood, an empty cola bottle and some wire nailed in place... genius!

The documentary takes three of the worlds most respected guitarists from three generations of rock and puts them into one room to see them share their stories and playing techniques. It also follows the back story of each artist to reveal how they came up with their distinct sound.

This movie is definitely a must see for any music fan and if you didn't get around to seeing it at the cinema I highly recommend buying a copy of it when it comes out on the 18th of January!

For pics of the premiere please visit the JuJu Loves Flickr page.

Bobby Long at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen 13.01.10

If you live in the London area, and even if you don't, you really have no excuse to miss this gig!

After a successful tour of the USA, Bobby Long is returning home and gracing us with his presence for a gig at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen this coming Wednesday the 13th of January. He'll also be joined by support acts The Spivs and Flipron.

Tickets for this gig are not available in advance but will be available at the door so get there early to avoid disappointment!

How to describe Bobby's sound? A review by R.J. Carter at the-trades.com sums it up quite well... 'Picture yourself in a dark coffeehouse. Tom Waites is the barista, and Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan are in a back corner taking nips of absinthe when nobody is looking. The music you hear in this imagined environment is Bobby Long's, the young man on the stage with the mic and acoustic guitar. There's an essence of the protest song in his tunes, a certainty that there's a gravitas in the dense and obtuse lyrics, and you nod affirmation as you sip your coffee (unless Bob and Lenny have passed you some of their nectar) while the notes wash over you.'

Bobby Long is an up-and coming singer/songwriter who originally hails from Calne, South West England. He moved to London 3 years ago to pursue a career in music and is now mostly known for his contribution to the über successful Twilight soundtrack. The track 'Let Me Sign' (performed by Robert Pattinson) was co-written by Bobby and fellow muso pal Marcus Foster and has proven to be a fan favourite on the compilation album.

Bobby has released 2 EPs that are usually available at his gigs and he is currently recording his first full album which is tentatively due for release in May this year. After his London gig on the 13th Bobby will embark on a tour of Europe so please visit his myspace page to see when he'll be in a town near you.

I personally cannot wait to get a copy of his new album, hope to see you all at the gig on Wednesday ;)

Getting a 'moove' on

Once I'd decided to start my own business I knew I'd have to find little ways to promote it... and that's when I fell in love with a cow. WHAT?!

Haha! No, but in all seriousness I couldn't wait to start designing all my promotional bits and bobs and I knew straight away where I wanted to get my business cards printed.

Moo.com is by far one of my favourite online printers. They have such a great range of products, from greeting cards to postcards, and the best thing is that they are all completely customisable :)

Once I'd designed the front and back of my 'mini' cards I uploaded the jpegs to their site and was guided through the steps by their easy to use software. A great thing about printing with Moo is that each and every card that you print can be different from the next one. So out of 100 mini cards each and every one could have a different design. For the purpose of my business however I stuck with just the one design, and for a box of 100 cards it only cost me £11.99, bargain :) They were also really prompt with printing and delivery. I ordered mine over Christmas and it still only took them 3 days to arrive in my impatient little hands.

Well, what I'm trying to say is go check them out!! Moo.com

JuJu Who?

It's never easy to land the job of your dreams, so if you can't get it why not just create it? Well, that was my thought process anyway!

I've always been a big dreamer and as a child I truly believed that anything was possible and that one day I'd own a shop like Harrods... quite ambitious for a girl growing up in the suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa! But my father always said that I should dream big and set goals so that even if I got half way to reaching my goal then that would be better than never having tried at all.

For years I had been writing down little business plans and scouring the internet for ideas but having my own business (especially a shop) was always just a dream. Instead I decided to follow my other dream and went to college to study design. I had a short career as a multimedia designer in Cape Town but my head and heart were somewhere else... I really wanted to move to a bigger, buzzier city and so I packed up and moved to England. After a bit of a round about trip I ended up in London and fell in love. There's so much to see, so much to do and best of all so much inspiration!

This city caters to my love of shopping and culture very well... Shops and markets overflowing with choice and a seemlingly never-ending list of things to do in my spare time... museums, gigs, eating out, theatre, art exhibitions... the list goes on!

My dream now is to combine my love of shopping and design by creating 'JuJu Loves' - an online shop that supports small businesses and up-and-coming artists. I hope to be able to showcase the works of these talented people on my blog and generate an interest in their products and hopefully in time I'll be able to market and sell these products in my online store too. So no, not quite Harrods but I've dreamt big and now I hope to land somewhere in the middle :)