Goodies from Fauchon, one of France's finest purveyors of speciality foods and rare champagnes, are now available in Ireland. Gift boxes can be ordered online at www.planit.ie/fauchon, or by phone from 01-280 5795/295 7522. Eimear McKeith
ADDICTED TO THE CORSET
Forget Balenciaga-inspired bubbles and egg-shaped silhouettes - the release of Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette proves that the waist-cinching, bosom-boosting corset never loses its appeal. Susan Dempsey of Peekaboo in Temple Bar, Dublin 2 has specialised in corsetry for more than 10 years, making corsets for theatre, brides and debutantes alike. Her shop is rococo-gothic with a chintz-covered sofa, velvet curtains, and a gargoyle overseeing events. A rose-pink boned bodice hangs alongside a beaded ivory corset, perfect for a bride. "The corsets are popular because they are comfortable to wear and very versatile," says Dempsey. "You can wear them to the pub with jeans, or dress them up with a long skirt for evening wear."
The corsets can be bought off-the-peg, but Dempsey recommends her made-to-order service to ensure the perfect fit. Her clients are all ages and sizes. "Usually my customer will start out as a 16-year-old going to her debs. She'll return when she's attending the Trinity Ball and then come back for her wedding outfit - women get addicted to the corset."
The corsets are handmade by Dempsey in her Crow Street studio and take approximately two weeks to complete. Prices vary depending on embellishment and fabric but start at around €220. She uses luxurious, opulent fabrics such as silks, satins, velvets and brocades, and synthetic or metal boning to achieve the structure. Peekaboo, Unit 7, Crow Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, 01-6703253. Ruth O'Connor
THE FUTURE OF BOOKS
You should always be cautious when IT folk tell you that their latest gadget will mark the end of some existing way of doing things. We were told back in the early 1990s that the internet would kill off the newspaper, which clearly didn't happen.
Then, around the turn of the millennium, IT soothsayers told us that downloadable books would account for the majority of book sales by 2010. Big names in publishing fell over themselves to release downloadable content. And then? Nothing happened. People stuck with paper, and the idea of e-books went off with its tail between its legs.
The problem with reading books on a laptop is that they just aren't portable enough. They need constant recharging, have to be booted up before you start reading, and your eyes will start to go after 20 minutes. Let's face it, the regular paper book is tough to beat.
But the arrival of e-book devices may just change that, and two in particular are creating something of a stir. One is the E-Reader from iRex Technologies, and the other is the Sony Reader. Both devices are lightweight and about the size of a small paperback. The Sony device only uses power when you are scrolling between pages, so you can apparently get through The Da Vinci Code 16 times (as some sort of sadistic punishment perhaps) on a single charge. And since it's not guzzling juice when idle, you don't need to power it down at all.
Here's where it gets interesting: the devices can store up to 80 books (dead handy for the holidays - no need to pack five or six chunky hardbacks) and has a new screen technology (called e-ink) which mimics the appearance of ink on paper, therefore making it easier on tired eyes. You can also read in sunlight, something you can not do with a laptop.
All this technology comes with a hefty price tag - $350 is currently quoted on Sony's US website (the product is not available in Europe until next year). The iRex E-Reader is even more expensive at €650. But, like all new technologies, competition will force the price down eventually.
Geeky gadget blogs are currently abuzz with rumours that books retailing giant Amazon is close to releasing a device of its own. To check out the specifications see www.sony.com/ reader and www.irex technologies.com. Michael Kelly
MR GILL: ONE OF THE SMITHS
Seamus Gill's great great grandmother was an Irish silversmith; today he is Ireland's leading artist working in silver, who in 2004 won the award for excellence in metals at the Philadelphia Museum of Art craft show. A major new exhibition of his work, entitled 25 Years On, will be hosted by Design Yard in Cow's Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 from November 3rd to 24th. The solo show, celebrating a quarter of a century's silversmithing, comprises 25 new pieces, all of which have been made by cutting a shape from a flat sheet of silver, then moving, stretching and compressing the metal into 3D shapes with the skilful use of hammers. At a time when silver produced in large quantities for daily use in previous centuries is now fetching high prices in antique shops "pieces handmade by silversmiths such as Seamus Gill are fewer and even more valuable today", maintains Albert Le Bas, Assay Master for Ireland. Deirdre McQuillan
SPINE-CHILLING STORYTELLING
To get the family into the spirit of Halloween, the National Museum of Ireland is hosting a series of fun events for kids over the coming week. Tomorrow, storyteller Aideen McBride will tell spine-chilling tales at the Museum of Decorative Arts and History, Collins Barracks, from 3-4pm. And what better way to spend the day itself: Tuesday, October 31st, than at the Dead Zoo, aka the Natural History museum, where kids will learn all about creepy animals during the Howling Tales tour (11.30-12.30pm; repeated on November 1st and 2nd). In the afternoon, from 2-3pm, head to the Museum of Archaeology and History, where the Halfway to the Otherworld tour will investigate the belief that you can travel between worlds during Samhain (repeated on November 1st).
It's not just for kids: the Natural History museum will give an adult tour on Friday November 3rd at 2pm, examining Halloween's natural history. See www.museum.ie, call 01-6777444 or lo-call 1890-687386.
If museums aren't their thing, book the kids into a Halloween cookery course running from October 31st until November 4th at Rathdown School, Glenageary, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Tina Dunne is the instructor and you can book places at www.tinadunne.com. Eimear McKeith
FLUENT FFRENCH
In 1972, the Irish ceramic artist John ffrench and his wife Primm designed and silkscreen- printed a calendar from their studio in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for distribution among their friends. It consisted of 12 prints, in vibrant graphics and colours, one for each month, and the following year each of their three children was given a page to design. Thus began a family enterprise that continues to this day. From an initial print run of 150 copies, it grew to 600 within five years, and the most recent printing, for 2006, was of 1,200 copies. The ffrench calendars now include contributions from their grandchildren, a third generation to inherit the family artistic skills. ffrench's recent exhibition in Galway was a sellout, and he is the subject both of a forthcoming RTÉ documentary by David Shaw Smith, to be shown this winter, and a solo retrospective at the Crafts Council Gallery in Kilkenny. A limited number of calendars for 2007 can be had from Keane on Ceramics in Kinsale (021-4774553), priced at €60 each. Postage and packing costs extra. Deirdre McQuillan
COME FEEL THE NOISE
Who said that conceptual art can't be fun? For the past two weeks, Belfast gallery Catalyst Arts has been hosting Bring the Noise, an experimental project involving artists, musicians and "noise practitioners" from all over the world. Participants have been treated to everything from Polynesian body percussion workshops to a communist sing-along. As part of the event, even the toilet has been turned into a bijou bingo hall. And it's definitely a hands-on experience - why not take a tootle on a trombone, or try a sneaky twiddle on the knobs of DJ David Holmes' vintage analogue synthesiser?
The good news is that there's still time to join the musical mayhem. This weekend, the cacophony comes to a suitably ear-splitting climax tonight with Noise Club, where idiosyncratic Dublin-based artist-musicians Nina Canell and Robin Watkins will perform a live set. Then tomorrow, from 3-7pm, there's the Bring Your Own - instrument that is. No clarinet? If you can get a sweet note out of your kazoo, head down to Catalyst and join in with the artist-led, freestyle jam sessions. You know you want to. Catalyst Arts, 5 College Court , Belfast, 028-90313303. Fionola Meredith