Yes Please By Amy Poehler Book Review

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Yes Please is Amy Poehler‘s first book, and what a corker it is. I loved this book. I mean, really loved it. Yes, I know this review is starting to look like a gushing fan letter and not a proper review but a woman like Amy Poehler can do that to you. I loved her on Saturday Night Live and Parks And Recreations. The book starts off with Poehler talking about how hard writing a book is:

“Everyone lies about writing. They lie about how easy it is or how hard it was…No one tells the truth about writing a book…the truth is, writing a book is this: hard and boring and occasionally great but usually not. Even I have lied about writing. I have told people that writing this book has been like brushing away dirt from a fossil. What a load of shit. It has been like hacking away at a freezer with a screwdriver.”

She goes on to talk about how she wrote the book on set, when her children were sleep, at airports and even on the notes section on her iPhone. It is a corking start and everyone who has ever written a book will relate to it. Poehler goes on to talk about improvisation, sexism, marriage, divorce, pregnancy and motherhood. She is a hard-working, talented woman who has gone for what she wants and knows that she is worth it. Amy Poehler leaned in. Amy Poehler is the coolest woman in the world. Well, she may have to share her crown with best friend Tina Fey but you get the point.

The book is split into three parts: Say Whatever You Want, Do Whatever You Like and Be Whoever You Are. A lot of the book is advice like ‘treat your career like a bad boyfriend’ but all of the book is well-written and funny. I rushed through the book and nothing else mattered while I was reading it. Hence why I did not go to sleep that night until 4am. This book is a must read for both men and women. There is definitely a reason it is on the Amazon Bestseller List: it rocks.

After reading this book I felt inspired, happy and thoroughly entertained. This is the non-fiction book of the year. I love, love, love it. I am pretty sure you will to. You can buy it here.

Not That Kind of Girl By Lena Dunham Book Review

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Where to start? I guess with the fact that this book is not what I thought it would be. It’s not bad, it’s just not what I expected. Let’s get the controversy out of the way: I don’t believe Lena molested her sister. The passage about ‘spreading open her vagina’ makes for very uncomfortable reading but, in my opinion, is very different from sexual abuse. Same gender curiosity in young children is different from sexual abuse, many have said that if this book was written by a male things would be different, but not if the male did what Lena did to his brother. Young children don’t even know what sex is. So, end of.

The thing is, I don’t relate to Lena Dunham. Or at least I thought I did until I read this book. I don’t get the drug use, I am very anti-drugs and always have been. I don’t even care if I come across as boring but mentioning casual drug use as if it is not a thing to me is irresponsible. Many people think drug use is ‘cool’ and ‘artistic’ but it’s not. Drugs ruin lives and society. Now go ahead and judge me for my controversial view: I don’t care. The book is full of sex: masturbation and sexual encounters. This also makes for uncomfortable reading. Not bad reading, just uncomfortable. Dunham seems to want to punish herself with jerks and bad sexual encounters. It’s a version of self-loathing and it made me want to pick her up and hug her. Then of course there is the fact that Dunham was raped. Rape is never fun to read about, but Dunham’s courage in telling her story is commendable. The book is full of brutal honesty.

I know that in many ways this review will seem like a bad review, it’s not. I still think Dunham is talented, amazing, brilliant: a trail blazer. We are similar in age and I also made a web series about young twenty-somethings struggling to find their way in life, though with less success than the juggernaut that is Girls. We are both writer/producers/actors/directors and I always thought that Dunham was so together. I think she is now and that is what is interesting about this book. After all of the self-loathing, punishing herself dating/having sex with men who treated her terribly and other self-destructive behaviour the book comes beautifully full circle: she no longer runs away from people and herself, she in many ways, becomes a grown up. She finally stops causing herself pain. While I related more to Amy Poehler and her awesome book, Yes Please, there is something here to learn. Dunham is unvarnished, naked, almost embarrassing in her honesty. Dunham has been called the voice of her generation many times. Truth is, she doesn’t speak for me or many people that I know. But the thing is: it doesn’t matter. She is still paving the way for women, still creating waves in the film and TV industry, still making progress in a brutal, sexist industry. It doesn’t matter that I don’t 100% relate to her: she is still awesome. I may not write endlessly about my vagina the way Dunham does but then, maybe my vagina just isn’t that interesting. There is a lot of stories of bad sex in this book, and I hope that other women who read it don’t think this is par for the course. It shouldn’t be.

This book is certainly worth a read. It really made me think and feel. This is essentially a collection of autobiographical essays which Dunham was paid £2.3m for by Random House. It is not as good as it could have been, and Dunham could have done with more editing, but she is certainly a talented writer and I am sure there will be more to come. As Dunham says in the book: “There is nothing gutsier to me than a person announcing that their story is one that deserves to be told, especially if that person is a woman,”

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned is available here.

Imitation Game Film Review

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Mark Strong

I was very excited about seeing this film. The cracking of the enigma code is one of Britain’s greatest accomplishments, saving millions of lives and ending a war. Alan Turing is one of the most underrated and greatest Britons that ever lived. Played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Cumberbatch does an excellent job of portraying the man who essentially invented the computer. He could have just done another Sherlock-type performance but his performance is astounding, believable and as good as expected from an actor who is fast becoming one of our true greats. It is just subtle enough. The script is great, the entire film just works very well. Strong performances are given from the rest of the cast too and Keira Knightley’s performance gives Joan Clarke, a woman who did great work and contributed to history when too many were never given the chance, the credit she deserves.

Whilst I watched this film, myself and the rest of the audience were engaged and laughed many times. But the overwhelming feeling at the end was of injustice. The injustice of homosexuality ever being illegal, the injustice of one of our greatest, who helped stop a war and saved tens of millions of lives. is hard to take. Forced to take pills that chemically castrated him. Turing ended his life when he was only 41 after being forced to take these pills or face prison. His ‘crime’ was his sexuality and being caught with a young man. No one helped him or stopped the appalling behaviour. It wasn’t until 2013 that he was posthumously pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II. This film is a must watch. It tells an essential part of our history, but it also says far too much about the brutality of injustice and hate.

Based on the real life story of Alan Turing, who is credited with cracking the German Enigma code, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team at Britain’s top-secret code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. Turing, whose contributions and genius significantly shortened the war, saving thousands of lives, was the eventual victim of an unenlightened British Establishment, but his work and legacy live on.

The Imitation Game is out now.

The Miss Polly Rae Show

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

The stunning Burlesque star Miss Polly Rae dazzles, sparkles and lights up the Soho Burlesque Club. She intimately invites you into her very own little Boudoir for a highly entertaining laugh out loud saucy evening filled with tantalising and funny performances.

This truly brilliant cabaret act had us in stitches from the very start. We give you Miss Polly Rae the only way we know best…..Pictures.

Its too good to spoil telling you too much about what happens. Just be safe in the knowledge you will leave with a big grin on your face, a belly that hurts from laughing so much and be in awe at the beautiful dancers. Provocative, yes…But done in such a truly stylish way it will impress you beyond belief.

The sensational act is supported by Kitty Bang Bang, Betsy Rose, Reuben Kaye and the very agile acrobat from the Boom bang circus.

The show is held every week at 8pm for those of you that don’t want to see too much flesh! Then again at 11pm for the little more risqué version. Tickets from are from £15. Burlesque star Miss Polly Rae delights the Matcham Room Theatre every week with the amazing team of entertainers and we totally loved every drop of this cabaret. Book your tickets here.

week with

We where totally mesmerised and we are totally coming back to see the Boon bang circus very soon and you just might get to see that in pictures too!

Check out their website for show times and other amazing evenings to be had at the Hippodrome Casino London.

Hit TV Shows Spark Baby Name Boom

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Frostie

There’s no doubt that TV has a massive impact on our culture. It affects the music we listen to, it can change our ideas of what we may perceive as what is right or wrong, it influences how we dress and can even change our attitudes towards certain issues. There is no greater testament to the power of TV however, than its ability to dictate how parents’ name their children.

Of course, TV isn’t unique in this sense but the prevalence of blockbuster TV shows such as Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and True Blood mean that TV is now right up there with movies and celebrity culture when it comes to influencing parents’ naming choices..

With is in mind, below are some of the biggest shows that have influenced baby names over the last few years.

Game of Thrones

The hugely popular HBO series has captured the public’s imagination like nothing else that’s currently on television. Its mix of fantasy, drama and violence which makes it a unique offering and given its popularity, it’s no surprise that there have been a growing number of babies named after its main characters.

Tyrion and Theon both made it onto the 2013 list of baby names. Apparently the names were given to 3 or more boys, with 6 Tyrions and 11 Theons making the list. Whilst relatively speaking these are quite small numbers, given how obscure these names are, it’s very difficult to deny the influence due to the popularity of Game of Thrones.

It’s not just boys’ names that the show has affected though. In 2011, Arya was 711th in the top 1000 baby names in the US. The following year however, it jumped all the way up to 413th, representing a huge leap in popularity. The name is similarly popular in the UK, with 187 girls named Arya in 2013. There were also 50 baby girls named Khaleesi last year, the same number of babies named Peggy. The popularity of the name is doubtless inspired by the character of Daenerys Targaryen.

The fantasy epic wrapped up its fourth season this year and with the fifth soon to follow, there’s no doubt that it will continue to have an impact on how parents name their babies over the coming years.

Breaking Bad

Coming to a close last year, Breaking Bad enjoyed both great critical acclaim and immense popularity with audiences around the world. Whilst it had a cult following for its first few seasons, the more intense the show became, the more people loved it and by the time it reached its fifth and final season it had become a phenomenon.

As you would expect, the names Walter and Skyler have both seen surges in popularity thanks to the show. Last year there were 58 boys named Walter and 72 girls named Skyler. The fact that Walter would previously have been considered to be a fairly old-fashioned name shows how much a TV show can change peoples’ perceptions in regards to names.

How much influence does TV have?

Whilst TV shows certainly have an impact on how parents name their children, it’s important not to overstate the influence it has. If you look at the most popular names for both boys and girls it’s clear that in general, parents stick with safe and traditionally popular names, regardless of how trendy a certain name might be at any one time.

It’s no surprise when you think about it – Just because a particular name might be in vogue at the moment, doesn’t mean that will always be the case. Names that are particularly obscure often put parents off. Of course there are also some parents who take the opposite approach however and feel that giving their child a unique name will help them to stand out. These parents are usually the ones who are most likely to give their children offbeat names that are inspired by popular TV shows such as Game of Thrones.

It’s also worth mentioning that it’s sometimes hard to quantify how much of an influence TV shows have, especially when it comes to common names that are generally popular anyway. However as can be seen by the evidence here there really are clear cases where the surge in popularity of a name is down to the influence of a TV show.

What’s Next for Britain’s Got Talent?

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Aidan

Since launching in 2007, Britain’s Got Talent has gone through some ups and downs that, truthfully, are to be expected. When a TV program achieves what feels like flash-in-the-pan success, it can be difficult to continue on at that same level. That’s particularly the case with talent shows like BGT, whose livelihoods hinge on the whether or not a contestant wins over the audience (both during and after their appearance on the program).

For BGT, they’re obviously hoping to recapture the magic of previous series by looking forward to 2015. They recently put out a call for applications and auditions through ITV. Would-be superstars have the chance to try out for a spot on the show through the middle of December. Given that this year’s series began in April, it’s likely that the next one will launch at a similar time in 2015.

What’s been frustrating for fans of the show and the team behind it is the following: Both the popularity of the program and its winners have been on the decline over the past few years. In 2012, for example, the planned live, touring version of BGT was axed because of lower-than-expected ticket sales, as reported by The Sun.

Additionally, the winners have had a difficult time pushing their debut albums to listeners. No one has had quite the success of Susan Boyle (a runner-up in Series 3) and Paul Potts (the Series 1 winner), though that’s not to say the others have done terribly. Considering the fact that album sales are not quite what they used to be, it’s commendable that some finalists and contestants have moved at least 100,000 copies of their first albums.

Those same stronger years—the Potts-to-Boyle era, if you will—also led to increased revenue for BGT in other outlets. Namely, they branched out to and found success in merchandising. Among the products released, there were a few that are especially enjoyable as they double-down as games and not just, say, a buzzer from the judge’s panel (yes, that’s a real piece of merch). As you can see on Betfair, the online gaming platform teamed up with BGT to create a gaming experience that utilises music, sound effects, and images from the show to create a unique experience for players. It’s worth noting that similar talent shows (The X Factor) and generic game shows (Deal or No Deal) have also found a new life on this platform.

Similarly, the BGT empire was expanded to board games back in 2009 with an electronic board game. The only downside in that case, though, is that the reviews don’t seem too hot for the game. According to Amazon, players either love or hate it—perhaps an update or new version is in order, then, to coincide with the upcoming series.

All this being said, could the next series of BGT be what the show needs to regain the attention of its once huge audience? We’ll have to wait and see if those taking on the call of the show’s producers have what it takes to be the next Susan Boyle, though no one’s holding his or her breath.

Music Cube at Westfield

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

Music Cube at Westfield was an amazing event and is set to change the way we all experience live music. Bands and music artists performing live in a clear soundproof glass cube with LED lights, sub woofers built into the flooring so you not only can see, hear but feel the performance. Listening to this via state of the art Sennheiser headphones! Now we where invited and you can experience this thought the medium I know best!….Pictures!

We drank cocktails and Champagne and ate delightful canapés

Kiss FMs DJ Melvyn Francis was there creating a fantastic atmosphere.

The most incredible band called Canvas Wall supported Professor Green. They are simply brilliant and we loved their set. We are hopping to cover more from them soon. So keep your eyes on my articles and pictures.

Then it was time for Processor Green to take to the stage and the entire place silently erupted. The oddest part of the evening was as soon as you took off the headphones it felt like an ordinary shopping centre. People gassed down on all these loonies dancing about with not a single note to be heard! Utterly brilliant and we loved every minute!!!

Green rocked and performed not only the 2 scheduled songs he was meant to perform but 5 tracks live in cube. He loved it that much!

Now you guys can experience this for yourself Westfield Stratford City from 31 October until 2 November. Head over to the website to see the lineup.

Bubba Gump Comes To London

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

We where invited to the first UK’s first Bubba Gump restaurant last night and we have to say it was oh so very good! The staff where totally brilliant, very helpful and extremely attentive.

The American novelty fast food chain is best known for taking its inspiration from Forrest Gump and has over 30 restaurants around the world. They have a memorabilia shop on the ground floor for all the kids among us! Get ready for a rather picture packed article as we really needed to do this place justice. Here we go….Are you guys ready for possibly the best new dining experience to hit London in a very long time.

This quirky themed restaurant has shrimp as the main part of the menu with over 20 different styles to be precise. They do offer fish, steak, chicken, ribs, salads as alternatives for those of you that don’t really like a good old prawn. We indulged in so many different dishes and all had perfect and delectable flavours.

The menu consists of Coconut Shrimp, I’m not normally a huge fan of coconut but by golly was it good. They do Lobster Linguine, Dixie Style Baby Back Ribs. The most mouthwatering chicken that you will ever have. You will never want any other chicken dish anywhere else! No really it’s seriously so good and knocks spots off anywhere we have been in a long time.

We spent the entire evening indulging in shrimp, chicken, chips and dips. I can’t tell you how utterly impressed we where with this amazing place. You need to get ya running shoes on Forest style and head there very soon.

When we were served the huge portion of creamed mash 2 breasts of the best breaded chicken and an entire corn on the cob with perfect chicken gravy I nearly died and went to heaven. I kid you not when I say I have woken up this morning dreaming of my next visit!!

There was also appetisers like Mama Gump’s Garlic Bread Basket. Crab Stuffed Mushrooms and the Shrimper’s Net Catch!! We didn’t see any ‘Peas n Carrots’ sadly but expect they could well rustle some up for you if you had the whim!!

Oh did I mention the puddings…..

With plenty of Forrest Gump references all over the restaurant! It’s a fun foodies place to try out. Pictures, posters, quotes and memorabilia adorn every scrap of space. It’s a sight the behold and such a great night out you will long to watch the film and remember how wonderful life is. Well it’s like a box of chocolates isn’t it but here at Bubba Gump you know what your gona get… Darn amazing food and wicked cocktails that will have you coming back time and time again!!

It seats 400 over two floors, open seven days a week, 11.30am until late.

Bubba Gump in London is situated on 13 Coventry St, Piccadilly Circus, London W1D 7DH. Strictly walk-ins only. Now you can call an hour ahead but be warned this place is set to rock London so best get your Forest trainers at the ready as you might be standing around for a few blocks!! To get on the queue list and possibly save you some time, call 020 3763 5288. They can’t guarantee it will be really fast but you can be sure that the food is out of this world once yup get in there!!

That’s all I have to say about that!!

Apart from Follow them on Twitter @bubbagumpuk1

Follow me on twitter @sarahbacchus

Frost Magazine

Books and Lifestyle

Tag Archives: Entertainment

Yes Please By Amy Poehler Book Review

Not That Kind of Girl By Lena Dunham Book Review

Imitation Game Film Review

The Miss Polly Rae Show

Hit TV Shows Spark Baby Name Boom

What’s Next for Britain’s Got Talent?

Bubba Gump Comes To London

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