Paper Monitor
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
In times of austerity, it becomes prudent to adopt a policy of make do and mend.
It's a motto that practitioners and fans of even the more expensive art forms appear to understand.
The Guardian's G2 runs a feature on a blog called Remake/Submissions in which famous paintings are recreated by enthusiasts,
It's certainly a cost-effective alternative to shelling out for one's own Caravaggio, and art critic Jonathan Jones approves. "Great art does goad the onlooker to copy poses, costumes, lighting," he writes.
To prove it, feature writer Tim Dowling is tasked with with the aid of "my wife's coat, a borrowed hat and some bandages from the first-aid kit".
Paper Monitor is not convinced that Dowling, best known for his whimsical columns about family life, entirely recreates the spirit of the tortured artist. But full marks for effort.
Somewhat less highbrow, but, if anything, more spirited is the Daily Mirror's response to the news that the new James Bond film will be shot partly in Bognor Regis after plans to use a series of glamorous overseas locations were shelved on cost grounds.
Reporter Steve Myall is despatched with his tuxedo to the West Sussex town to provide
"I went searching for champagne and caviar for two - no dice - and ended up with chips and tea at the Beach Restaurant," Myall writes forlornly.
In the wake of an expensive festive period, Paper Monitor's social life is much the same.