Tag Archives: Berlin

Exclusive Paddy Ashdown Interview: On His Books

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Paddy Ashdown has been a Royal Marine, the leader of the Liberal Democrats for eleven years, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is a life peer in the House of Lords. On top of that he has written 8 books, with the 8th coming out on the 5th of June. I can’t wait as I have loved all of his other books. I interviewed him about his books and politics. Here is part one.

Did you get the idea for A Brilliant Little Operation: The Cockleshell Heroes and the Most Courageous Raid of World War 2 while you were a member of the Royal Marines elite Special Boot Squadron?

No, my publisher approached me and said ‘it’s the 70th anniversary how about writing the book’. Which is my seventh book. I am just about to produce my 8th so it was a natural subject really.

What is your 8th book about?

The 8th book is about the largest resistance battle with the Germans in the Second World War. It is called A Terrible Victory, about the Vercors plateau on June 1944 and it was the biggest resistance German battle in Western Europe. [Learn more about the book here. It is about the chronicle of the French Resistance during World War Two]

That sounds fascinating. You have written quite a lot of books. Do you have a favourite?

I think the one I am working on now is always my favourite. I love writing books and whatever you’re working on consumes your mind so it is always the one you are most thinking about.

You’re books are very good. They are always very factual and have lots of history in them. How do you go about writing them. What is your writing schedule?

Writing The Brilliant Little Operation, and the one I am going to produce, Harper Collins will publish it on the 5th of June, takes me about three years of research. I mean, I start writing before then and overall I don’t like writing unless I have all of the research it is possible to get. Normally the whole process will take my three and a half to four years. Of which three years is spent on research. Going to the wonderful archive museum in Britain, the National Archives in Britain. In the case of both of my most recent books, to the Château de Vincennes in Paris, In France there are three key archives you have to go to. And also the Bauhaus-Archiv in Germany.

I spend a lot of time in archives. In writing my present book I have read sixty other books on the subject, all of them in French. In writing a Brilliant Little Operation I have read four books before and a lot of research. So research is very important.

You can really tell that when you read your books.

Thank you, that’s kind. That’s very generous.

Tomorrow: The Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, Nick Clegg, Labour and the NHS: Exclusive interview.

 

Urbanista Launches its Stylish Berlin Wireless Earphones

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berlinwirelessheadphones

urbanistaearphones

The iPhone 7 created demand for wireless earphones like never before and brands have not disappointed. One of our favourites is the Berlin wireless earphones from Swedish lifestyle brand, Urbanista. They have a simplistic, easy to use design, but they are also gorgeous. They are a beautiful pair of earphones which are well made and comfortable. They have a microphone and volume control. They work with iOS, Android and Windows. These great bluetooth earphones gives you control without having to pick up your phone. They are so handy, allowing complete freedom. We love them in Rose Gold, the top trending colour of 2016.

 

Swedish lifestyle brand, Urbanista, today launches the new Berlin range, the latest in its beautifully designed portfolio of Bluetooth wireless earphones. With a sleek Scandinavian design and comfortable fit, the Berlin is the ideal choice for those looking for an easy to use earphone to fit in with their busy lifestyle.
good wireless earphones

Available in white, black, rose gold and blue petroleum, the Berlin has a unique construction with soft silicon ear buds and a flat cable which gives users an ergonomic and tangle free fit. The earphones offer a playtime of up to 4 hours and the hands-free microphone means users can easily take phone calls without having to reach for their phone.

Whether it’s between meetings, relaxing on a plane or commuting on a crowded bus or train, the Berlin earphones are the perfect everyday companion. Compact, easy to use and easy to enjoy!

Berlin is available in stores and at www.urbanista.com now for £39

Urbanista Berlin Wireless Headphones are available here.

Leonino Naked Tunes | Music Profile

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Leonino "Naked Tunes" (Album) (Hueso Records)Band/Artist: Leonino (aka Jorge González)
Location: Berlin, Germany / Santiago, Chile
Styles: Pop
Similar to/RIYL: Scott Walker, Kate Bush, Dolly Parton, The Blue Nile, Serge Gainsbourg
CD: Naked Tunes
Release date: September 15, 2014

Accolades:
– Amnesty tour 1988 with Sting , Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman,
Bruce Springteen.
– Bogotá en Armonia festival 1988 with Jose Feliciano, Miguel
Mateos, Toreros Muertos .
– Estadio Nacional de Chile 2003 , 2 nights 80.000 people each one
as the only act. Estadio el Campin de Bogotá 2003 2 shows 70.000
people each night with no support. Same thing in Medellin,
Bucaramanga and Cali.
– Shows in 10 towns in Colombia, 11 in Peru, 4 in Bolivia, 10 in the
USA including a festival on Staples Center in L.A., 7 towns in
Ecuador and more than 30 in Chile.
-Albums: Records sold with Los Prisioneros and solo efforts,
around 2 million units sold.
– The Chilean society of songwriting rights , SCD gave to Jorge
Gonzalez in 1997 an award as the best pop songwriter of the
decade.
– Chile: winner “best song, best album, best act ” both in 1986 and
1990.

Production:
All songs are produced by Leonino at Krossener Studios, Berlin, mixed and mastered by Tobias Freund (except There Is a Light, mixed by Matthew Styles-Harris).

Bio:
As leader/vocalist of Los Prisioneros–the most iconic Chilean rock band ever and front-runners of a new musical resistance to Pinochet’s dictatorship that burst through in the mid 80’s – Jorge González became idol and voice for an entire generation of oppressed youth, reaching the pinnacle of fame not only in Chile but throughout Latin America. Never afraid of stating his opinions with sarcastic humor and raw talent, he guided the trio through a series of best-selling albums full of bile and discordance. It was a journey that began with the disenchantment of straight-forward punk-a-billy and meandered through different song structures, including an occasional excursion into ballads and other cross-genres, and the use of samples, keyboards and electronic sounds.

After the first four albums – and with them having conquered a transversal fan base–González ventured into a prolific and eclectic solo career, which once again consecrated him as an innovator and a genius composer, raising his signature tell-it-like-it-is lyrics and his particular crooning style to new levels of adoration. With an incipient electronic scene rapidly developing in Santiago in the early 90’s, he was involved in several releases progressively exploring into dance music (Gonzalo Martínez y Sus Congas Pensantes, Los Updates, Los Sampler…) and eventually moved to Germany in the 00’s, where he has continued working in close circle with a group of notorious musicians from Chile and abroad.

Jorge González is now back again as Leonino, with an intimate set of new songs accompanied guitar (in English) featuring collaborations by brothers Pier and Juan Pablo Bucci, Mariano Scopel, Argenis Brito, Martin Schopf, Tobias Freund and Miguel Toro. All songs are produced by Leonino at Krossener Studios, Berlin, mixed and mastered by Tobias Freund (except There Is a Light, mixed by Matthew Styles-Harris). This album is for Gia. Published by HR in an edition of 500 copies.

 

 

Ada Zanditon shows her SS14 collection to great acclaim at Berlin Fashion Week

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Ada Zanditon has just returned from successfully showing her collection in Berlin, where she wowed press and buyers with her colourful, signature prints and  dramatic silhouettes.

adazanditon

The SS14 collection ‘Aqualibrium’ is inspired by Zanditon’s visit to two Sea Turtle conservation projects in Sri Lanka. The turtles fascinated Zanditon for their long nomadic lives and oceanic journeys,  continuously adapting their existence on earth for over 100 million years, since the time of the dinosaurs.  Now due to human activity, all remaining seven species of turtles are either endangered or critically endangered. The shapes, textures and colours of the prints and surface inspirations come from Zanditon’s photographs and videos, from which she created drawings and watercolour paintings of the Sea Turtles and their habitats, both as newly hatchlings and as juvenile adults.

 

There are two palettes in the collection, the monochrome palette which focuses more on contrasting textures of black and the colour palette which takes inspiration from the Sea Turtles habitats from birth to maturity, bright citrus colours, white and cream sand, lavender, lilac and marine colours from sea grass beds to coral reefs.

 

Rather than change silhouette each season, Zanditon chooses to evolve signature shapes and silhouettes with classic items such as the Galaxia Trench making a welcome return. Other key items including the structural outerwear have evolved into sculptural biker jackets and summer weight capes. Inspiration in the collection also comes from forms of tribaldress from various island nations – Samoa, Tonga & Tuvalu.

 

Materials and collaborations

The collection is made from luxurious textiles including: organic cotton handwoven denim from India; Fairtrade organic cotton corduroy from India; Swiss woven organic cotton sateen; Newlife Ottoman weave recycled PET from Italy; silks chiffon & satin from Italy& India; veg tan leather from Italy; organic cotton digital print from India; silk digital print from India; upcycled Burberry raincoating from England; wool jersey woven in England; bamboo jersey woven in Belgium; upcycled linen. All dyeing processes are either natural, closed loop and/or azo free.

 

Collaborations for SS14

The swimwear collaboration Ada Zanditon x Auria London. The swimwear is made from recycled PET woven in Italy which is sourced by Auria London. Zanditon created the prints for the range whilst Auria London designed the silhouette and detailing.

 

The screen printed jeans collaboration with Monkee Genes, whose jeans are created using soil association & Gots certified organic cotton and their policy is ‘no blood, no sweat, no tears, no slave labour, no child labour.’ Monkee Genes also have a range of jeans that are made in England.

 

‘A Case Of’  upcycled accessories by Ada Zanditon & phannatiq – any usable waste fabric from Ada Zanditon and phannatiq’s studios is saved and used to create a collaborative range of unique and beautiful accessories – their signature item being a clutch bag that also functions as an ipad/tablet device case.

 

Shoes by Julian Hakes

Jewellery by Modular Minds

Sunglasses by Cutler & Gross

 

Artist Stirrups Horsemeat Controversy.

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A piece of art shocked commuters in the capital yesterday as graphic artist, Patrick Thomas, debuted his latest provocative piece, ‘Moo’, to the public, making more than a subtle nod to the current horse-meat scandal.

 

Ahead of the Affordable Art Fair which takes place early next month, the Berlin-based artist, known for creating powerful messages through the use of iconic images, previewed ‘Moo’ at Leicester Square where the artwork was aired across the tube station throughout the day.

The piece attracted plenty of attention with many commuters posing next to the displays and tweeting their amusement. However, some remained oblivious as they tucked into their burgers and strolled past the art with their weekly shopping.

Artist, Patrick Thomas, who created the piece said “It is the job of an artist to be witness to his time in history and art should have a social function and be an intrinsic part of everyday life. Art can be a powerful weapon and although this print is intentionally humorous; in the context of the horsemeat scandal currently dominating the UK press – it conceals a darker message.”

Patrick Thomas is one of thousands of contemporary artists showing at the Affordable Art Fair this March and can be found at Outline Editions’ gallery stand. The ‘Moo’ silkscreen print is an edition of 100, priced at £145 each.

The Affordable Art Fair is London’s friendliest and most welcoming art fair, with all art priced from £40 – £4,000, the fair runs at the Battersea Evolution building in Battersea Park from 7 – 10 March.

Yasmin Müller, Copia : Modern disbelief

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Yasmin Müller

Copia : Modern disbelief

Exhibition dates: 5th October – 10th November, 2012
Opening hours: Tue – Fri 11-6, Sat 11-3 or by appointment

Maria Stenfors is proud to present ‘Copia: Modern disbelief’, Yasmin Müller’s second solo presentation at the gallery. The installation is embodied in the title word copia, meaning a mass, copiousness, and also a wealth of knowledge and ideas.

Like an expanse of open ocean, constantly shifting in shape and unquantifiable, multiple abstract light patterns fill the volume of the room, continuously moving focus from artwork to room. A confusing and disorientating space, that is darkened and unknown, illuminated in passing moments. These light shapes create an endless moving mass, a copious pattern that conducts the perception.

Central in the space are two geometrically shaped sculptures, erected like columns. These columns and piercings of light are Müller’s reconfiguration of razzle dazzle, a pattern created by Norman Wilkinson and utilised by 20th century warfare engineering. Designed not so much to camouflage but to disorientate, it blurs the perception of depth, contour and edge. it doesn’t hide, but is more of a visual disruption, making it impossible to estimate size and shape.

Placed throughout the installation are objects of pictorial chaos plucked from the everyday images of modern life and cultural trends, copies of copies, an evolution of the original, and all framed and constrained by hard minimalist shapes: exquisitely angled diamonds and sharp edged lightboxes. Familiar patterns merge with common place fashion styles confined by geometrically perfect dimensions, as seen in the clothing of the figurative lightbox images, and visual emblems like the parrot, featured on multiple canvases, each copy being an evolution, a mutation of the former, allowing the copy to perhaps stand stronger than the original.

Yasmin Muller was born in 1977, studied at the Staatliche Akademie der bildenden Künste Karlsruhe, and lives and works in Berlin.

Maria Stenfors, Unit 10, 21 Wren Street, London WC1 0HF

Berlin Offers Best Value For Fashionistas On A Budget

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Berlin is Best Value

German capital is most affordable whilst New York’s cut-price clothing couldn’t offset its pricey hotels

 

Berlin was the most affordable shopping destination of the top ten fashion cities in the world, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®). The iconic style capital, New York was ranked as the most expensive despite its popularity amongst retail tourists for securing brands on a budget.

 

The Index, now in itseighth year, chronicles the actual prices paid by travellers in 2011 in more than 142,000 hotels around the world.

 

As the pound continued to strengthen against the Euro, the German capital provided the best value forboth the cost of its hotels and its fashion. The average cost of a hotel room was only £73, allowing British shoppers to make the most of their budget in the popular Berlin style scene.

 

Tokyo (£102) and Barcelona (£104) were the second and third lowest priced cities providing spendthrift style alternatives for savvy shopping tourists. The retail tourist’s staple destination, New York, was undeniably the most expensive at an average of £173 per night, despite providing some of the most affordable shopping.

 

City Country

Average room rate in 2011

Average room rate in 2010

 % Rise or fall
New York United States of America

£173

£166

4%
Singapore Singapore

£136

£123

11%
Paris France

£125

£122

3%
Hong Kong China

£119

£101

18%
Rome Italy

£116

£114

2%
London United Kingdom

£115

£114

1%
Los Angeles United States of America

£111

£104

7%
Barcelona Spain & Canary Islands

£104

£96

8%
Tokyo Japan

£102

£103

-2%
Berlin Germany

£73

£75

-3%

 

Rooftop Runners | Music Profiles

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Artist: Rooftop Runners
From: Berlin, Germany
Album: We Are Here EP
Style: Alternative / Indie / Trip pop
Members: Benedikt & Tobias MacIsaac
Production: Angela Seserman
Tracklisting: Streets, Energize, Bang Bang, She Devil
Website: www.rooftoprunners.com, www.facebook.com/rooftoprunners
Highlights: 2012 European tour successfully completed, performed at Club NME
Music Video for “Streets”: http://vimeo.com/34965015, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay3ZfvwKCJc
“Streets” electronic remix:http://soundcloud.com/eltrain05/streets-el-train-ndoth-remix
Sounds Like: Jeff Buckley, James Blake, Radiohead, Massive Attack
Bio: “Crippled in my youth, crippled in my youth, crippled in my youth and I’m trying to breathe”

The music of Rooftop Runners ripples positively original pop waves through far darker lyrics than you’d expect from your typical indie fair: a seething concoction of trippy electro beats and spine-shattering bass lines is equalized by soulful falsetto vocals and folksy, dissonant guitars, making for a sobering but enjoyable listen.

Forging a mix of menacing mood and moving melody out of their adopted city of Berlin, Germany, RTR are Canadian singer-songwriter brother duo Benedikt and Tobias MacIsaac. An internationally accomplished choreographer and dancer respectively, the brothers are no strangers to performing-arts success, having toured and performed extensively with world class troupes in Europe.

Rooftop Runners’ new 4 song EP “We Are Here” will be released April 3, 2012, and it’s meant as both an affirmation and a promise that “RTR has arrived and they are here to stay.” With fervent response from local music media and a rapidly growing fan-base, a European Tour completed and an eagerly-anticipated full length debut album also due in 2012, the siblings seem set to drop their pioneer strand of Trip-Pop at us from rooftops the world over before long. The EP “We Are Here” is just an introduction.