Please contain me, let me stay...

Advantages: If you like a challenge, only 70 minutes long!!
Disadvantages: A little too experimental for me

...When considering whether to watch a film, I alter from wanting to know how it is generally perceived by others, alternatively I avoid finding out anything. I can get bothered by the preconception. Lukas Moodysson, the swedish director of the film Container, is someone I only became aware of after watching one of his earlier films, "Lilja 4-ever", recommended to me by a friend. A tragic, hard-hitting story that affected me in a way that only a select few films truly have done. I began to look at other films directed by the same man in the hope that I'd find some other cinematic gems. I now realise that it was at this point that my expectations had been raised too high. I find Container difficult to describe. There is no apparent plot, no real structure or sense of direction to the film. It is experimental in its approach...

tumblewheel 10.12.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Container (DVD)

How High Are You in the League Table? (May Contain Nuts)

Advantages: entertaining, funny, relevant to current culture
Disadvantages: disappointing sweet ending, social diagnosis replaced by psychobably one, second part weaker

...Just to get the obvious out of the way, 'May Contain Nuts' is a very funny, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny book. It starts out very promisingly: as a farce, really, an almost (but not quite, as not to alienate the potential readership) vicious satire on ridiculously competitive urban upper middle class parents hot-housing their children into Prokofiev appreciation and contract bridge; children scheduled, tutored and stimulated; never left alone to do 'whatever', never let go. Satire on paranoid parenting with mothers checking every label of every foodstuff and not allowing an 11 year old to walk down the road to a newsagent, never mind travel on a bus to school. Satire on public (private) education system of preparatory schools and secondary colleges thriving on pretence, snobbery and unshakeable belief that children who don't get...

magdadh 16.04.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of May Contain Nuts - John O'Farrell

Produce from Containers

Advantages: Fresh food from your home, in your home.
Disadvantages: None.

...were happy bunnies. You will be forgiven for thinking that growing an edible garden, even in the centre of London, is an impossibility. Not true. For there are a wide range of vegetables that will thrive in containers, and I guess I don’t even need to mention that almost all herbs are happy pot-dwellers. This doesn’t even need to cost you much more than the price of some good compost in some cases, as dried seeds from your own kitchen can be planted, as well as cadging herb cuttings from your friends and neighbours will be adequate. Also, long planters are a dime a dozen, and if you can’t find them abandoned about the neighbourhood, buying a few will not break the bank. Water can be had from anywhere, and it will not make much of a difference to your utility bill if it is indeed you who pays the bill. But if...

Spacecat 22.08.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Container vegetables

It definitely contains some nuts!

Advantages: It will make you chuckle out loud
Disadvantages: It will make you question your own parenting!

...I was browsing the book sale list of Politico's Books website a few weeks back, and spotted this novel by John O'Farrell. The blurb seemed quite encouraging, and so I ordered it to have a read. The hardback cost me £9.99 as there was £3 off during their autumn sale. May Contain Nuts is a comedy, and follows the fortunes of a family with three children (elder daughter and two younger boys). Already the clue is there, as she has had more than two children. Unbeknown to her, she is already diversifying from the norm. I think the title is great, as along with all the other things that a parent has to worry about these days (and I mean these days, as I am sure I must have been a very neglectful mother as I was totally unaware of the dangers that I put my four spawn into when I was bringing them up!!) that it is of utmost...

orlando 29.12.2005 (30.12.2005) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of May Contain Nuts - John O'Farrell

Anti-Bacterial Products containing Triclosan

Advantages: Kills Bacteria in the short term
Disadvantages: Strengthens Bacteria in the long term

...Following a number of requests to provide a list of products that contain the anti-bacteria compound Triclosan I've decided to do a little investigation and publish the list here. I'm not looking for ratings for this though if you wish to make a comment then obviously I'd love to read them but please no ratings as this is essentially a follow-up from my previous review. Of course if you haven't already rated my previous review then I'd like to know your opinion and it can be seen here: http://www.ciao.co.uk/AntiBacterialproductsReview5541047 What suprised me in compiling this list is the number of 'plastics' that include the compound Triclosan. e.g toothbrushes, childrens toys. Theres even a computer keyboard and mouse that contains it. Surely thats got to be overkill. The list below in broken down into sections. The First...

Soundsexciting 19.11.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Anti-Bacterial Products containing Triclosan

May contain nuts.

Advantages: Easy unchallenging and sometimes funny writing.
Disadvantages: Cliched, repetitive and you may suspect you've heard it all before.

...It was only really because I'd so enjoyed John O'Farrell's non-fiction book "Things can only get better" that I'd persuaded myself to try a couple of his fiction offerings "The best a man can get" and this one "May Contain Nuts". Not believing myself to be a big fan of the multitude of "thirty-somethings relationship type books" which have dominated the book shelves of the local bookshops for the past few years I put off reading "May Contain Nuts" for some time as not only was it a "thirty-somethings relationship type book" but it was also written from the perspective of a woman and I really thought I might have to struggle through it all. Alice is what John O'Farrell would have you believe is your typical middle class mother, over fretful and worried about her children, their safety and their educational successes. She's the sort...

etala 03.07.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of May Contain Nuts - John O'Farrell

The edible container garden

Advantages: An inspiring guide to organic kitchen gardening in small spaces
Disadvantages: The author's garden is a hard act to follow

...The Edible Container Garden is written for people who want to grow their own healthy fruit and vegetables, but only have a small space in which to do so. It's written by a man, Michael Guerra, who has done just that - and you can see exactly how because the author has included photos of his suburban garden, a plan and a description of how the garden evolved over the first few years. This is a book about organic gardening. Chapter 1 takes you through the basics of looking at the possibilities of your space and making a proper design for the garden. Next there is everything you need to know about soil and compost, water and containers. Hard landscaping is also covered and there's advice on keeping your garden as low maintenance as possible. Chapter 2 is more eclectic, with sections on tools, pruning and supporting structures, but...

ciaofluffymuppet 07.12.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Edible Container Garden: Fresh Food from Tiny Spaces - Michael Guerra

The premier container.

Advantages: Seals tight to stop food or liquids running out.
Disadvantages: You will find they are little more expensive.

...This tub as mentioned earlier holds 0.7l of whatever it is you wish to ?contain?. The tub itself is around 4 ½? long, 3 ½ wide and around 2 - 3? deep, this is an ample size for a portion suitable for a 7 year old. When purchasing I recognised the ?Addis? name immediately, and compared to many of the other tubs available alongside this one, this outshone the others by miles. The container is made from rigid opaque plastic, with the lid being as thick but in a blue colour. When the lid is clicked in place the rim forms a tight seal around the top, unlike some others available I have complete confidence that this tub will not be leaking into my daughters backpack and ruin her vital coursework that can also be translated as random pieces of ?crap? that she always seems to be carrying with her! Although the lid is extremely secure it...

sarahbarrow 23.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Addis Seal Tight Tub

Contains Superfruit!!!!!`

Advantages: tastes lovely
Disadvantages: doesnt really contribute towards your five a day

...fruit ~ some exotic and rare fruits are referred to as Super fruits because they contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants. Pomegranate ~ A pomegranate is an exotic fruit which falls in to the Super fruits Category because it contains quite a lot of an adults recommended daily allowances of vitamins. The vitamins which a pomegranate provides us with are Vitamin C and Vitamin B. Blueberry ~ Blueberries are small blue berries funnily enough which contain high amounts of antioxidants which can help to reduce the risks of some diseases. Acai ~ an Acai is a small round dark purple fruit which is the same size as a grape. The Acai is grown in Acai Palm trees in the Amazon region of Brazil, the Acai fruit is rich in fatty acids and has a greasy oily feeling. The Acai fruit also contains vitamin B, protein...

just.bcoz 16.02.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Tesco Super Fruit Smoothie, Pomegranate, Bluberry + Acai

Food for thought.

Advantages: It's possible to grow quality food free from chemicals and to be able to eat them fresh.
Disadvantages: Requires regular watering

...First it was goosegog pie. Then the potatoes were ready. Before too long the courgettes were cropping, the strawberries are still in flower and fruiting in mid September. The blackcurrants cropped quite well, but it was their first year so I can expect more next year. It was the first year for the redcurrant as well, but I?ve had enough for a couple of jars of redcurrant jelly and there?s still some fruit in the freezer. ?Wrong category?, you?re thinking. Nope, sorry; you see they?re all grown in containers, and not particularly elegant ones at that. They all came free. Let me explain. A few years ago I was in the village greengrocer?s. He also does a nice line in fresh flowers, and was bemoaning the fact that the flowers came in some rather smart black tubs, about 18 inches high, and 15 inches by 9. Yes, I know I should...

SueMagee 17.09.2001 (18.11.2004) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Container vegetables