We love a bit of no-nonsense chat here at Dollymix. So it's probably no surprise that we love Mary Portas. Her various shows, where she uses her experience of retail success on small shops who are struggling to make a profit, is as entertaining as it is informative. Despite the owners often protesting, Mary usually wins them round with a mix of charm, straight talking and real results.

In fact, she's gone on to revamp the entire charity shop sector. From my own experiences, I've noticed many charity shops making more of an effort to make their shops more enticing to customers. Many people have suggested that Mary's series on charity shop revamps has led to an increase in prices. And they're right. But personally I think as a charity they have to make money, and if raising prices slightly (so that they're still discounted from new items) is the way to do it, then that's possibly the only option.

Like us, Mary is a big fan of buying local, and it's great to see a public figure not only encouraging this, but promoting small businesses that do it.

Mary Portas is an icon because of her take life by the ball outlook, her assertiveness, and her ability to be a career woman without going all Katie Price on us.

Frozen Planet is his latest project, focussing on (funnily enough) the polar regions of the earth. The first episode aired last night, and it was as fascinating as it was beautiful. The clip detailing the creation of snowflakes was strangely captivating. There was also a memorable scene where the shadow of a seal appeared in the waves, creeping up on a crowd of unsuspecting penguins. Sadly there's no clip of that online yet, so it's worth popping over to iPlayer to catch it again if you missed it.

Still not convinced? Watch this clip.

Someone took it to the next level.

The structure contains a supportive back frame, which attaches to the air vent below. It also come with noise-cancelling earphones, shades and an umbrella for if it rains.

The guy in the picture is Jamie O'Shea, the inventor and guinea pig. He actually managed to sleep for 40 minutes in the middle of New York with the vertical bed. 

So, Yay or Nay?

Don't get me wrong, I like that couples can express their feelings for each other. What I don't get, is why they need to throw things like this out into the public arena:

This is not cool people. Not cool at all.

The thing is, this is what Facebook messaging, texting and IMing is for - expressing your love for each other in a private manner. Let's be honest, your mum, your nan and your boss don't really want to read that. 

I guess I don't understand why people do it. Part of me wonders whether it's either a) a way of telling everyone you're together or b) a smug married action.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely cold-hearted. I send lovey dovey texts to the boyfriend, and love seeing happy statuses on Facebook about the engagements, weddings and babies of friends and family. 

But I'll gag a little if you tell me how happy you are tucked up in bed with your snookums

What do you think? Are you a fan of Facebook PDAs?

Want to know what the Aigua Media team have been up to this week?

• Catwalk Queen have been behind the scenes with BINTM winner Jade at her New! Magazine shoot.
• Shoewawa rounds up the best jewel tones for the festive season.
• The Bag Lady shares their winter sun finds, and where to source the right accessories out of season.
• Crafty Crafty shows us how to make a steampunk pumpkin.
• OSOYOU looks behind the scenes of Breaking Dawn.
• Trashionista discusses book covers and chick-lit.
• Kiss and Make Up compares the Urban Decay and MUA palettes

According to the study, published in the journal proceedings of the Royal Society B, women taking the contraceptive pill tend to choose reliable and caring men instead of dashing, adventurous lotharios. This is due to the hormones the pill attributes, it steers away women away from men who may not stick around, instead favouring sensitive types who are better suited for fatherhood in the long run.

The research questioned 2,519 women about how happy they were in their relationships. Women on the pill reported less sexual satisfaction than the women not taking the pill. They also said they found their partners less attractive and exciting in the bedroom.

However, the study was not all doom and gloom. Although women did say they found their lovers unexciting between the sheets, they rated them highly in other areas, seeing them as faithful, supportive and overall better providers. Plus the relationships lasted a whole two years longer than those not on the pill.

Why is this though? 

Image via Wikipedia

This week's Yay or Nay is all about the C-word - Christmas.

If you've popped into town in the last few weeks, you might have noticed the odd Christmas chocolate display in the supermarket, a Christmas section in a department store or a full-blown window display in some of the high street stores.

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? Personally, I like to start my Christmas shopping early, and spread the cost across a few months. That said, I think festive music should be left until December, and I can do without having Santa thrust in my face every time I pop into the shops for a new dress.

What do you think? When should the shops go Christmas crazy?

On Sunday, I was wasting time researching for future posts on Twitter when I spotted @Sarah_Scribble tweet about a podcast she loved. Her actual words were:

"New FAVE thing on a Sunday: Blogging, cuppa tea, whilst listening to the AMMAZING  @TheHighTeaCast podcasts........Bliss much?!"

And you know what? She's bloody right. 

The High Tea Cast is a "UK Female Lifestyle & Podcast Blog", starring the sassy Sam Sparrow and the lovely Lea Rice. It's a bit like listening to your best mates chat about all your favourite things. In the first episode alone, they chatted about tea, cakes, Caitlin Moran, embarrassing incidents and Drink, Shop, Do.

Each podcast is around an hour an a half long (perfect for Sunday afternoons or for your commute to and from work), and is themed around a particular topic, like fashion, bodies or embarrassing moments. 

The thing I love about The High Tea Cast, is that it proves that you can be a feminist and still love cake (Check out Sian's post on The Great Feminist Food Fight for more on this particular debate). 

So why not take Sarah's lead, pour yourself a cup of tea and enjoy an hour and a half of debate, interviews, cake chat and giggles.

You can download The High Tea Cast through iTunes for free. Go check out their blog too for some behind the scenes videos. 

There are also a few events coming up too from The High Tea Cast team:

The Aigua Media ladies have been a busy bunch this week!

• Jess had a TOWIE makeover over on OSOBLOG
• Gemma tried out Gok Wan's new range from Tu at Sainsbury's for Catwalk Queen
• Abi rounded up the best fetish shoes for Shoewawa.
• Deadlyknitshade discovered a Tardis corset in CraftyCrafty.
• Abi rounded up her favourite elegant hats on TheBagLady
• Steph debated the dip-dye look on Kiss And Make Up.
• Elle is running a competition to win tickets to the Festival of Romance on Trashionista.

Image by hdzimmermann via Flickr

BT, Virgin Media, Sky and Talk Talk are planning to ask new customers if they'd like to 'opt in' for adult content.

So, um, they're asking customers if they want access to porn. Which won't be an awkward conversation at all...

The purpose of this opt in process is to limit children's access to unsuitable websites. It's part of a series of moves by the government to stop the sexualisation of childhood. 

Other moves include a new website called ParentPort for parents to report unsuitable websites, and a reduction in the number of billboards with sexual images, placed near places like schools.

But what do you think? Is this a responsible move? Or should parents implement their own security measures?