Adorable Videos

Here are a couple of songs we want to share with you today in video form. The first is a song called "Be Gentle with Me" by an indie group called The Boy Least Likely To. Love the use of the cute puppets to convey the soft, touchy-feely message. An added bonus is that actress Rashida Jones, who stars as the whip-smart Karen in The Office, is featured in this video showing a lot of chemistry with one of the puppets. The second song is "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor. This just captures the vibe that we want all our customers to feel each time they see/hug one of our toys =)

Video: "Young Folks" by Peter, Bjorn & John

One of the most innovative pop songs we've heard in a while. The whistling is just so hauntingly catchy. Romantic and strange just the way we like 'em.

Bad Monkeys

Here's a preview of a toy design that we plan on releasing next year just in time for all you crazy-in-love couples looking for something devilishly flirty to give on Valentine's.

We Heart Tara McPherson

A lot of our work these days is being inspired by Tara McPherson's art. Go through her website where she generously displays all her stuff for free viewing. Last time we checked, there was still a copy of her book, "Lonely Heart: The Art of Tara McPherson", at the Bonifacio High Street branch of Fully Booked. Most of the contents are already in the website though so get your previews there before you decide to let go of Php1,050 for the book.

What we love about Tara is that she's influenced in equal measure by heartbreak, animation and rock music. It really shows too. Her concert posters are held in equally high regard as her gallery and graphic novel work. Tara's art is a sparkling cocktail of dreamy bittersweetness that will make your own personal heartbreak go down a little easier.

Forever Friends Bear

These are such inspired works of cuteness =)

Kiss - The best bloopers are here


Miss You! - Funny blooper videos are here

Video: "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat

Now this is just one of those songs that you put on when you wake up in the morning feeling totally in love.

Chocolate Museum

The Nestle chocolate factory in Mexico had the inspired idea of creating a "chocolate museum" beside the production facility. Now, visitors can get a stylish mouth-watering view of sweet treats in the making. Find out more at Cool Hunter. Whoever thought they'd ever make a factory you can bring a date to? Manufacturing never looked so romantic.

Music: Jose Gonzalez

We're counting down the days when we can finally listen to a new album by one of our favorite musicians, Jose Gonzalez. The new album is going to be called "In Our Nature" and we encourage anyone who likes smooth acoustic music with a twist to try and get a copy. Jose and his guitar just has a special way of making the atmosphere brighter and heart-achingly sweeter. Watch the video below featuring the songs "Heartbeats" and "Hand on Your Heart" if you don't believe us.

Movie: Across the Universe

We're really intrigued by this movie. It's a musical love story (yeah, we seem to be really into musicals these days) based on a collection of songs by the legendary band The Beatles.

Video: "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

This is a live performance of the song "Falling Slowly" from the sweet little acoustic rock musical movie "Once". The two performers Glen and Marketa (who also wrote all the songs together) actually fell in love in real life while shooting the movie. That's how powerful the songs are =)

myCrush

This cool little flirty feature is a new incentive for people to join Facebook.com. myCrush allows Facebook users to mark the hotties that they have a crush on within their network. If two users both mark each other, then both are alerted that there's a mutual attraction between them. They can then choose to do what they wish with this information =)

Best Love Songs Ever

Entertainment Weekly has compiled their list for Best Love Songs Ever. See who made it from 50-26 and from 25 to #1 on two separate lists.

Our favorite on this list is the classic "Wild Horses", which is originally by the Rolling Stones. However, we much prefer the bittersweet modern version done by the Sundays (see video below). Guaranteed tears and fuzzy feelings after you listen to this.

Dating Trends for the Future

What will the future of romance look like? Yahoo! has compiled a diverse collection of answers to this question. Here are some of our favorites (love the anonymous phone line idea!):

"Safety will be on the minds of online daters in 2007," says Jeff Cohen. "In an effort to protect identities as long as possible, more and more singles will turn to anonymous phone numbers. Companies like AliasLine now offer anonymous numbers that automatically redirect to your home, business or cell number." -- Cohen is the author of "Dating, Inc.: Recruit, Select, and Retain the Right Man for a Relationship" and is About.com's Guide to Dating.

"With the competition for dates rising online, singles will need to be bolder in their profiles to invite more responses," says Liz Kelly. "Watch for more creative headlines, interesting short stories and funny photographs. More singles will also post voice and video greetings online as this technology takes off in 2007. " -- Kelly is a dating coach and author of "Smart Man Hunting" who also helps people with profile makeovers. smartmanhunting.com

"In 2007 more and more people will look online for love -- searching everywhere from social networking sites to alumni sites to online dating services," predicts Susan Mernit. "For the most casual daters, social networks will continue to be great spots to meet friends of friends, but social networks will start to 'graduate' to more focused online dating sites as social network users -- and younger daters -- hone in on finding longer-term relationships." -- Mernit is Yahoo! Personals' relationship expert. personals.yahoo.com

"Women will be taking more of the lead in dating and relationships," says Toni Coleman. "More women will be asking men out, making the plans, picking up the tab and proposing marriage. New services and products will cater to this new trend -- engagement gifts for men (rings?), first date tokens of affection, male-oriented venues for proposal weekend getaways, and more books and classes designed to teach women the how-to of courting and romancing their guy." -- Coleman is a licensed psychotherapist and dating/relationship coach. consum-mate.com

"Immediate gratification is where it's at in '07. First it was speed dating, then it was fast tech (cell phone dating, anyone?) and now it's REALLY fast, as in, 'Are you free...in five?' I-dating is going to branch out into handheld services and specialized Web sites where users can find mates for 'right now,' no chatting/courting/deciding time required. Get that IM loaded up and ready to go: Chances are, there's someone trying to page you." -- Gemini and Scorpio are co-authors of Gemini and Scorpio's Fabulous Guide to Online Dating.

"The honeymoon period with Internet dating and social networking is ending and people are becoming turned off by the safety concerns as well as the disingenuous nature of 'friending' hundreds of people you may never meet in person," says Sharon Gaffney. "In 2007 people will embrace the idea of using the Internet to make plans to meet new people while hanging out with friends -- groups of friends meeting other groups of friends." -- Gaffney is the co-founder of LetsMeetOut.com.

Senior Online Dating

Check out this site called LavaLife Prime. Even the generation of our parents are into online dating these days! Amazing!

Match.com reports that online dating for the baby boomer generation (aged 42 to 61) has grown 340% since the year 2000.

Video: "I Will Follow You into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie

If heaven and hell decide
that they both are satisfied
illuminate the "no"s
on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
when your soul embarks
then I'll follow you into the dark

Warning Signs for Relationships

A lot of relationships end unexpectedly because the warning signs sometimes can be so subtle that there won't seem to be anything seriously wrong for one partner while the other is already about to breakup. Author Elina Furman (pictured above) has an article on Yahoo! that lists five behaviors to look out for that signal your relationship is in danger. If you spot them soon enough, you might be able to save you both from a lot of heartbreak. Note that it usually takes a combination of these five behaviors to determine for sure whether your relationship is in trouble. Here are those freaky five:

1. Picking fights over small issues (your partner's looking for an excuse to end it).
2. Forgetting to call (feeling about you has changed).
3. Changing their stripes/having a major makeover (your partner may be preparing to be single again).
4. An increase in criticism (your partner is less tolerant of you).
5. Losing sexual interest.

BBC's Relationship Section

The BBC has a great online relationship guide which provides a broad overview on the many issues a couple may face over a lifetime. Our favorite section for couples is the seven secrets of successful relationships feature, which honestly lays down the basic essentials for love that lasts. We were surprised to see "Argue Well" as one of the seven secrets, but it did make a lot of sense. Here's a sample cut:

Couples who argue well don't have to worry about not always agreeing. A good argument is an opportunity to share your feelings and strengthen your bond by reaching a decision you're both happy with.

We also love the oh-so-scientific explanation for secret #6, "Touch Every Day":

Touching is a vital human need. Studies have shown that without touching, many animals - including humans - will die in childhood. Being caressed also lowers blood pressure and releases natural opiates in the brain, as well as the chemical oxytocin, which is essential for human pair-bonding.

For singles, our favorite section is the flirting and body language feature. The hardest part in trying to start a relationship is lighting that first spark and writer Tracey Cox provides a major assist with this one. We discover that words have a very minor role in making that first impression:

Fifty-five per cent of the impression we get from someone comes through our body language

Thirty-eight per cent is from the tone, speed and inflection of our voice

and a mere seven per cent is from what we're actually saying!

The most amusing secret flirting signal for us is "Pointing" because of how unconsciously people do it and how easy it is to catch once we know how to spot it:

Pointing. Sneak a peek at what their feet and hands are doing - we tend to point toward the person we're interested in. If we find someone attractive, we'll often point at them subconsciously with our hands arms, feet, legs, toes.

Finally, this flirty feature ends with a useful safety tip list for cyberdaters. We found the last tip the most practical:

Give the details of your date to several friends - where you'll be, the time you'll meet, the person's name, phone number and address. Get them to phone you an hour into the date to check you're OK; you phone them a few hours later to report in again.

Video: "I See You, You See Me" by The Magic Numbers

We just really love this song. It puts us in such a good mushy mood =)

Moms Heart Sons' Girlfriends

We had an interesting meeting with the sales team yesterday. It appears that we have a lot of customers who are mothers buying gifts for girls on behalf of their sons. These purchases also represent a way for mothers to express their approval for the girlfriends/potential daughter-in-laws. It should be noted that moms tend to buy bigger and more pricier items as boyfriend proxies compared to when the boyfriends themselves are buying. So more power to you moms! Heaven knows guys need as much help as they can =)

Fashionably Late for a Relationship

There's an interesting article in the New York Times about a project called "Fashionably Late for a Relationship". The production doubles as a live performance piece and as a film since it is being shot in the middle of Manhattan for all pedestrians to see. The concept is that a girl (actress Lian Amaris Sifuentes) is going through the ritual of preparing for a date but is going at a speed much slower than the world around her. For example, live in real time, the actress takes seven hours to drink a single glass of wine. In the film version, everything will be sped up to make it look as if the actress is going at normal speed while the rest of the world is rushing past her.

It's a great statement on how the pace of the world is becoming too fast for a lot of us to establish meaningful relationships with people. For any chance of real connection with another person, we have to rebel against this tyrannical speed set by the modern workplace and media overload. To bring the point home, the props and the set of the actress is intentionally old-fashioned so that even the girl's room joins in her rebellion.