Earlier this month it was announce that Glee star Lea Michele was named the new spokeswoman for the Candies Spring 2012 campaign, following in the footsteps of past spokeswomen such as Britney Spears, Fergie and Vanessa Hudgens.

Candies is such an iconic brand and I am so happy to be working with them, she says.

The trendy clothing amp; footwear firms new campaign is called, Hangin At Home, and Lea explains the idea behind the new ads.

She says, The concept for the new Candies at Kohls campaign is about enjoying being at home, feeling relaxed, comfortable and happy.

The new ads feature Lea in her own environment and gives fans and consumes an idea of her every day life with photos of her hanging by the pool, relaxing in bed and causing more than a little stir in the kitchen.

Lea, when asked which one of the past campaigns was her favorite, reveals, Britney Spears is definitely my favorite past Candies girl, her campaigns were gorgeous.

Candies shoes are sold exclusively at Kohls Department Stores across the US; and Leas new ads will start rolling out in the March issues of such magazines as Seventeen, Cosmo and Teen Vogue.

Check out the full Candies Collection at Kohls.com!

Check out more pics of Lea from her Candies campaign after the behind-the-scenes video from her photoshoot.

I used to be the sort of mom who strung Mylar balloons with ribbon strings for my sons birthday parties. For each of his eight years, I handed out goody bags stuffed with candy and 99 Cents Only Store toys. I bought cakes topped with plastic decorations. I served junk food and Capri Suns. I was oblivious to the mounds of waste I was generating. I just wanted to throw the perfect party.

This year, I decided on something different. For my sons ninth, trash was the enemy. The goal: a party that generates zero garbage. There would be no Slinkies or wax candy mustaches. And Mylar? That was definitely out.

Throwing a zero-waste party was a challenge. Im not going to lie. Certain items just werent possible to eliminate, and the party needed to seem just as fun and normal as any of the previous birthday blowouts Ive thrown. Its one thing to live environmentally conscious myself. Its another thing to ask parents I didnt know well to be part of the experiment, or to include my son, who splits his time between my house and his dads, where recycling isnt as big a priority.

The party was a two-parter. The first half was at Go Kart World in Carson, followed by an all-you-can-eat feast at my house. Invitations were sent electronically via Evite.com. I declined the print invitations offered by Go Kart World, as well as the goody bags that were part of a party package that included race-track rides, arcade tokens, pizza lunch and cake.

Oh Big Bang Theory, I love ya. Can I just say right off the top how hilarious the Sheldon/Amy Fun with Flags videos were? Particularly at the end, when they were in costume; Amy as the pretzel just cracked me right up. This is the kind of Amy I can get behind. She still had her comments about Pennys beauty and love, but it was a bit more restrained and a lot less creepy. I really appreciated Amy more in this episode.

What a great storyline this week for Raj. Hats off to the writers for finally giving him more to do. We were also able to get a glimpse of classic Raj and Howard and their weird sexual undertones when they both removed the plastic from Rajs phone. It reminded me off the episode where they both make out with the webcam microphones Howard invented. Also, a most welcome (however quick) appearance from Kripke demonstrating Siris inability to understand him was also hilarious. Kripke somehow manages to be beloved while extremely creepy at the same time.

Of course, we could all see where the relationship between Raj and Siri was headed, but I loved watching it unfold. When he had Siri refer to him as sexy, I was shaking my head but laughing at the same time. I was hoping this Siri could be a starting point for him to actually talk to women, because weve been waiting a long time to see him talk to women while sober (at least I have). The date night sequence with Howard and Bernadette and Rajs rambling on about Siri as a real person started to make me wonder how long this relationship was going to carry on. Luckily my fears were put to rest when we got to the dream sequence. But I really think Raj is ready for a real woman and a real relationship. I hope we get to see that happen soon. Maybe he can have his chance with Leslie Winkle? Itd be a nice excuse to bring Sara Gilberts clever but cutting character back. However I dont know how well Raj would fair with her, especially when he revealed that Cher, Madonna and Adele rock his world. I appreciated this comment in particular as Adele rocks my world as well.

While all of the Raj/Siri magic was unfolding, Leonard and Penny were continuing to explore their rekindled relationship at a slow pace. I like that they are taking their time, hopefully it will improve this new relationship and have longer lasting success. That said, Leonards suggestion of reporting each others bugs and giving Penny his particularly long list made me groan. Will he ever learn? Luckily Penny had the sense to use it against him in a mocking fashion rather than get actually angry with him. I also liked the included detail that Leonard called Pennys dad to get an activity from her childhood for a date idea. It renews the previously storyline with Pennys dad and his preference of Leonard for his daughter, while showing that Leonard is still thoughtful and nice, despite his long bug list. The gun range was a cute exchange between them and things started to be going better for them, until Leonard accidentally shot his shoe and hurt his pinky toe. Classic Leonard if you think about it. Its the motorcycle injury all over again.

I also liked Sheldon in the background at the office spewing random flag facts. Theres nothing that makes Sheldon happier than citing random knowledge that no one really cares about it. I hope we see more installments of Fun with Flags or any other subject at all, really.

The promo for next week is quite curious; it appears the roommate agreement will be no longer. How can that be? What happens between Leonard and Sheldon to sever their friendship? How long do you think it will last?

Haunt, Microsoft Xbox 360, Microsoft Studios / NanaOn-Sha. Rated E, MSRP 800 Microsoft Points. Kinect Required.

I recently celebrated my 36th birthday so perhaps it was senility setting in when I not only dipped into the Xbox Live Marketplace again for a game to review but also strayed once more toward a game leaning on the supernatural in the wake of my ghastly experience with AMY. AMY, reviewed last week, is a horror-themed game that is just plain horrible.

Haunt is definitely no AMY, however not only is it a kid-friendly ghoulish adventure and not some hopeless attempt at the grotesque, but Haunt lives within its means, uses the Kinect about as well as you could hope for, and offers a few genuinely entertaining hours of gameplay for the same price as the train wreck that is AMY.

This game is Kinect Required, so everyone who tries it out will already be used to acting like a fool in front of their TVs (and possibly onlookers as well).

Good thing too, as Haunt expertly milks the motion-capturing technology to control everything from movement via walking in place to shining a flashlight around with your hand.

Other more instinctual actions like ducking ghostly attacks and covering your ears from a banshees wails are also well within the Kinects tolerances and, for the most part, it registers each motion control deftly.

Youll occasionally find it hard to hit an apparition properly with your light or swear you ducked at the right time and still got hit, but thats the nature of this beast and such moments are few and far between.

The storyline a G-rated tale about a departed individual trapped within the paintings hanging about his former residence wont earn any writing accolades but provides the right motivation for players to tromp about this eerie mansion in search of flasks, puzzle solutions and the occasional spectral baddie.

Haunt teases players with the idea that you can basically take off and run about the mansion at will, but like a classic Scooby-Doo phantasm its all an illusion as the game gently guides you back to where you need to go and you soon realize youre basically on rails for the most part.

The ghosts and spirits in the mansion come in a few basic varieties.

All are G-rated but their sometimes sudden appearance on the screen is good for a couple of jumpy scares. Its nothing gamers five and up cant handle.

Visually the game doesnt crowd the screen with too much going on but what is here is done well.

The atmosphere is the perfect blend of creepy and cartoony at the same time.

Sound work is also well done, especially some of the catchier musical numbers; I expected nothing less from the developers who also gave the world PaRappa The Rapper.

Perhaps the most pointed complaint I have about this game is that you can tip-toe and ghost-bust your way through it in a single gaming session, depending on your zeal for puzzle solving and dispatching the paranormal.

That might not seem like a great value for older gamers, but since this clocks in at about $10 in real money and understanding that kids have no problem revisiting games like this ad nauseum, it suddenly seems like a far more attractive bargain.

Haunt surprised me enough that I think Id rank it alongside Child of Eden as a Kinect game that harnesses what the Kinect controls can do in almost a perfect way while keeping the gameplay simple, accessible and fun.

If youre looking for a Kinect title to enjoy with younger gamers or maybe just to appeal to the younger gamer in us all, Haunt will scare up the fun at a price that wont terrify you.

UPSIDE: Nice use of Kinect controls, fun for whole family. Looks and sounds great, nice bang for the buck.

DOWNSIDE: Perhaps a little too simple, not very long to finish. Illusion of freedom when youre actually on rails.

BOTTOM LINE: Haunt puts the super in supernatural.

Neil MacFarlane is a Halifax video game enthusiast.

( nmacfarlane@herald.ca)