Cosmo is loving Natalie Imbruglia at the moment, who’s most famous for trying to be an AOR-ish Kylie Minogue having left Neighbours to become a pop star and creating the anthemic Torn, which I thought was okay. Now I had it my head that that success had gone to her head and that record company bosses (who we hear so much about) had opted not to pay her obscene amounts of money. But maybe that’s rubbish.

Shiver, which isn’t due for release for a very long time (well 21 March) but is already dominating Smash! Hits TV at the gym, is a return to Torn-type form. According to the official site that’s, ‘a cross between Alanis Morissette and Kylie Minogue’, an idea that I guess will cause many a shiver. But I’m wondering why the video stops so suddenly part way through for a manic car chase. It’s quite a good car chase, but why does a hippy chick, who talks to Cosmo about being ‘in the same head space’ when she means she agrees with someone, want to rip up the streets of Paris – and her own little love song – with all that unrelated violence?

Scrawl graffiti over this »

Amazon’s not the only business to have established a subsidiary in Jersey to avoid UK tax (e.g. VAT) on DVDs and suchlike; Tesco and Boots quickly followed suit. And it appears that in Jersey, offshore really does mean offshore: some stuff just sits in a ship docked just long enough to be naturalized before heading off to the UK. More than £200m has been knocked off sales as a result: mostly DVDs, CDs and electricals and there’s little doubt this is a loophole that’s going to be closed soon. As long as any single order is less than £18, it shouldn’t attract any UK tax or duty, but best read Amazon’s guide here. (There’s no VAT on books in the UK anyway, so they’re not included.)

Interestingly, each of the big three Jersey tax and VAT free retailers has approached it differently. Tesco is most upfront: here’s a direct link to them, but Boots has simply done a deal with TheHut.com, which was already trading from the island. Boots entertainment is little more than TheHut with a different logo.

Meanwhile Amazon’s effort is harder to find. Their new arm doesn’t have its own website, but occasionally appears under the ‘Ready to buy?’ box on Amazon.co.uk. To buy from Amazon Jersey: follow this link to Amazon.co.uk and find what you want in the usual way. If it’s available tax-free, an Amazon Jersey price will appear under the Ready to buy? box on the left hand side.
Amazon Jersey: Tax Free Shopping……Amazon DVD Rental

Scrawl graffiti over this »

…and your lover’s bone at that. Genetic scientists are going all gooey just weeks too late for valentines by offering lovers the opportunity to have wedding rings grown from cultures of each others’ bone. ‘It’s for people who want to give a bit of their body to each other,’ says jewellery designer Nikki Stott. Government grants are available and they’re taking orders over here