The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and O’Neill/Ross present

Friday 9th – Sunday 25th June 2017

At locations across Kensington and Chelsea

InTRANSIT will once again take over the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with its experimental programme of site-responsive art and performance. With this year’s theme of ‘Island Life’, InTRANSIT brings together responses from a diverse selection of artists looking at the contrasts of urban isolation and connectivity, celebrating community and the principle that ‘no man is an island’.

Pop-up ‘Island’ installations create an arts-archipelago across the borough, with the Portobello Pavilion – InTRANSIT’s hub of practical activity and discussion – at its centre. Highlights include: a series of large-scale, playful sandcastles produced in conjunction with the Museum of Architecture; an immersive exploration of JG Ballard’s novel Concrete Island; an electro-folk opera at the Print Room; an art exhibition in a secret subterranean space at Notting Hill Gate station; and a day of dance and participation from Polynesia and Melanesia.

InTRANSIT 2017 highlights include:

Portobello Pavilion – Friday 9th June to Sunday 25th June, Powis Square, W11

A striking temporary structure situated in historic Powis Square, the Portobello Pavilion offers a serene landing place within the wider context of the programme. Sandcastles – Friday 9th June to Sunday 25th June, various locations

The Museum of Architecture presents a series of large-scale sandcastles, each up to 2.5 metres tall, designed by leading UK architects. Located outside the Design Museum, in Duke of York Square, and at Portobello Market, these iconic structures will unite InTRANSIT’s ‘Island Life’ with the London Festival of Architecture’s theme of ‘Memory’.

Concrete Island – From Thursday 15th June

Charlie Warde returns JG Ballard’s classic novel Concrete Island to its site of origin in this immersive adaptation. Our protagonist, Robert Maitland, a contemporary Robinson Crusoe, plunges through the matrix of modern life and becomes marooned on a section of wasteland earmarked for development under London’s busiest road. Escape Artists – Friday 9th June to Wednesday 14th June

Collaborating with course directors and emerging artists from Central St Martin’s, Royal College of Music and the Cass School of Art, Escape Artists uses the issue of decreasing academic space as an opportunity for established colleges to break with tradition and take their practice off-site.

Remnants – From Monday 12th June

Performed by four singers and dancers, Remnants is an electro-folk opera, re-arranging traditional Balkan vocal music and combining it with contemporary electronics.

These are just a taste of all that’s on offer. Have a look to see what else:

www.intransitfestival.co.uk.

Most are free of charge but some require pre-booking.

It seems to me that minds turn to crisp cool gin as summer approaches, add to that the thought that Father’s Day is galloping towards us  and here we have the answer… not least because mum can have some too.

Greenall’s have launched a really swish brand new bottle design in both the Original and Wild Berry flavours and it’s on the shelves now.

Greenall’s The Original London Dry Gin has a rich British heritage. Established in 1761, and originally created by the forefather of gin, Thomas Dakin, Greenall’s is Britain’s first and original London Dry style gin and celebrates over 250 years of Great British history.

Greenall’s has featured in gin palaces – such an evocative image – right through to today’s supermarkets and gin bars which are thriving. The new bottle’s shape hints at the 1700’s look and features an embossing of the spirit’s birth date – 1761- the signature of Edward Greenall and the Greenall’s crest. To symbolize the craftsmanship that goes into the brand there is a print of a hand-stitched Union Jack on the back.

The original recipe remains unchanged, a recipe that has only been known by 7 Master Distillers since launched all those years ago. Joanne Moore Greenall’s 7^th Master Distiller is the current guardian and one of the first female gin masters – my mum would be thrilled. I find this continuity and history enhances everything about Greenhall’s and highlights its award winning success. It should be designated a national treasure.

What’s more, what a great product, and one that is constantly improving its image. A masterstroke.

RRP £21.00 – 1Ltr   ABV: 37.5%

RRP £16.00 – 70cl.   ABV: 37.5%

RRP:   £9.00  – 35cl.   ABV: 37.5%

www:greenallsgin.com

I read in the newspapers that touch typing lessons are to be taught to students – yer what? I had no idea it wasn’t. In this day of ipads, laptops and lord knows what – how could this have happened? Anyway, with my thoughts concentrated on this most useful of skills  I was really pleased to try the Penclic Mini Keyboard KB3.

Is it as good as it looks – because it does look slick doesn’t it?

Yes. The whole case is made of metal and the buttons  feel definite to type on, crisp and no nonsense too. The keyboard works for win, ios and android and connects via bluetooth or you can switch to corded connection if you prefer that.

The battery capacity is 250mAh and sleep saving mode activates after 30 minutes – press any button. The wireless reach is 10 meters and height 10.25 mm. Weight: 284 grams. Cable length: 150 cm.

I have another Mini Bluetooth Keyboard but will be using this Penclic in future. It’s lighter (such a boon), crisper and altogether superior. Have I made it sound like a pastry? I hope not because it’s a great tool. I just have to go and prize it out of the hands of ‘him indoors’ and being an IT buff, he’s no slouch when it comes to knowing what’s what, so it will be a tug of war.

A good looking practical product. Maybe it will encourage all those ‘learner’ touch types out there?

http://www.penclic.se/shop/

RRP: £79.99

At O2 CENTRE, LONDON

A long time ago (40 years to be precise) in a galaxy far, far away (Leeds in Yorkshire) I was a teenager seeking inspiration and hope. Manchester United had just beaten Liverpool in the FA Cup Final, the country was preparing itself for street parties due to the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and the UK, as hosts, had just finished second in the Eurovision Song Contest with Lyndsey de Paul & Mike Moran’s Rock Bottom. What more could I possibly need?

Then I went to the cinema and I fell in love with the genius of George Lucas. It’s an on-off affair I have had ever since. I’m a fan, but not one that goes to conventions or buys the gadgets, posters, figurines, etc. No. Just a fan who simply doesn’t mind Jar-Jar Binks, quite likes the Ewoks and is level-headed enough not to claim my religion as ‘Jedi’.

[The infamous logo]

Yet the film and its sequels and prequels have always given me a slight flutter of excitement. I ask a few people what Star Wars brought to them – off the top of their heads – and they say Darth Vader, Millennium Falcon, the Death Star, scrolling text, lightsabers, music. Ah, the music. My one true hobby. The scores of John Williams have entranced me ever since.

All these things are iconic. Lucas not only changed film-making, raising the bar for others around him, but the world. He introduced us to concepts previously unheard of – not just loveable droids and Wookies, but global merchandising and the feeling of being a part of something new and important.

Every generation has had (and will have) their own version – in terms of escapist entertainment it is currently Game Of Thrones. But franchises today owe so much to Luke and Vader, to C-3PO and R2-D2, to catchphrases like May the Force be with you, I am your Father and The Force is strong with this one.

The stories, although simple good versus evil, reach out and we can empathise with the heroes in their search for identity, love and peace. The creator Lucas himself said “Since Star Wars takes place in a fantasy world, the characters need to be identifiable so that the audience can connect to them. These larger-than-life characters come complete with friends, enemies, values and beliefs.”

I’ve just visited the magnificent O2 and STAR WARS™ Identities: The Exhibition, which is now open.

Produced by X3 Productions and made possible by Lucasfilm Ltd., the exhibition is on a world tour visiting 12 cities in all. It is an exploration of the nature of human identity through the magic of the Star Wars™ universe and its legendary characters. As Lucas confirms, “This exhibition examines how the Star Wars characters are like us, what we may have in common, and what makes up our individual identities.”

I was given a wristband that must be activated by touching various panels throughout the exhibition. From this I can create my own universal character, either keeping it real or going into fantasy. Amidst all the costumes any objects from the films, I learn what it is to be human, based on the latest scientific research.

STAR WARS Identities has divided its study of human identity into three major themes, each presented in a separate zone within the exhibition: my character’s origins, the influences that shaped them, and the personal choices that altered my life. Within these three themes, ten components of human identity are explored: species, origins, parents, culture, mentors, friends, occupation, marking events, personality and values. Science-based video clips explain how each component influences my identity. Here I am…

I even got a full biography of my creature – my alternate ‘human’ identity. Interesting stuff.

The idea behind this is quite serious and amidst the fun of the franchise, there is quite a lot to think about. The exhibition itself was quiet, perhaps a midweek evening is a good time to go to avoid the crowds. I would imagine it’s mayhem at weekends and bank holidays. Certainly a good laugh to go with your friends.

For complete schedule and box office information, visit www.theo2.co.uk/starwars.

Open until September 3rd 2017.

Visitors can begin their adventure in the world of identity at: starwarsidentities.com.

Paul Vates.

And here we all are scratching our heads wondering what on earth to get ‘him indoors’ that isn’t the same old thing yet again. Socks or tie?

Well, we can’t turn him into James Bond (and anyway he thinks he already is). Neither can we buy him a car with an ejector seat and all else, but something not to be missed is the 3^rd in the Folio Society’s glorious James Bond series

Dr No   Ian Fleming Illustrated by Fay Dalton

The Spectator said: ‘Fleming, by reason of his plausibility, sense of pace, brilliant descriptive powers and superb imagination, provides sheer entertainment’

And this edition proves that he, and Fay Dalton deliver in spades.  Because Dr No features the talents of Fay Dalton, who has provided seven images and a stunning slipcase portraying the unforgettable Honeychile Rider.

With a torture-loving villain, a feisty female lead and death-defying feats including a battle with a giant squid, Dr No sees Fleming revelling in the dramatic appeal of his indestructible hero. Having recently recovered from his near-fatal poisoning at the end of From Russia with Love, Bond is sent to Jamaica for a working holiday. To his annoyance, his mission– to investigate the disappearance of two fellow mi6 operatives  – sounds ‘rather like the soft life’.

But the elegant Strangways and his pretty young colleague have not eloped, as M believes. Dispatched by sinister assassins, their bodies lie in a single coffin at the bottom of the Mona Reservoir. And so Bond enters an exotic and perilous world, manipulated by the sadistic Dr Julius No from the desolate Crab Key island.

The Bond novels were born in Jamaica. Returning from a wartime conference there in 1943, Fleming declared: ‘When we’ve won this blasted war, I’m going to live in Jamaica. Just live in Jamaica and lap it up, and swim in the sea and write books.’ True to his word, he built Goldeneye,a clifftop estate on the north coast, and wrote his novels there. Dr No is scattered with evocative descriptions of ‘one of the most fertile islands in the world’, its ‘stuffy, velvet heat’, ‘night-scented  jasmine’ and ‘violet shadows’ bringing the island to vivid life as the setting for one of Fleming’s most revered novels.

Dr No Folio Society  Bound in blocked cloth. Set in Miller Text. 256 pages. 7 full-page colour illustrations. Pictorial slipcase. 9″x 6¼”.  The Folio Society

UK £34.95  US $59.95  Can $74.95  Aus $76.95

Also available in this series are Casino Royale and From Russia with Love.

From Russia with Love  Ian Fleming   Illustrated by Fay Dalton

RRP: £34.95 from The Folio Society

Casino Royale Ian Fleming   Introduced by John Banville    Illustrated by Fay Dalton

RRP: £34.95 from The Folio Society