On the video, Matthew quickly runs through a series of comparison tests with a PlayBook and iPad (running iOS 3.2.2), which demonstrate three things: the speed of the PlayBook Browser, its support for rich Flash content, and the performance of open web standards like HTML 5 on the PlayBook.
Possibly the happiest video I’ve ever seen. This cute Jack Russell Jesse does tricks and useful things around the house for our amusement. Jesse’s a screen dog and has appeared in commercials and even on Letterman and his owner Heather trains him with positive click reinforcement. The track on the video is called Coffee by Josh Woodward and amazingly he wants you to download it for free!
It seems the world is going animal art crazy and the following two pieces are possibly the most unusual.
This giant passed out monkey is made entirely of flip flops. Built in Sao Paulo Brazin to celebrate the Pixel Show (an international art and design conference). Obviously if anything represents art then it’s a gigantic drunk monkey.
An if you’re looking for something to give you nightmares tonight then here it is…
Plush mutant rabbits by Zoe Williams. Not only does she trap the unusual weird little woodland creatures in frames, she also has a collection of mutant red peacocks and rams among other animals.
While Leicester Square was mobbed by screaming Harry Potter fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars arriving for the film’s premiere, two Hollywood A-listers slipped un-noticed past the crowds of autograph seekers into the cinema next door. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway were there to screen their new film ‘Love and Other Drugs’ and I was lucky enough to be invited along to watch it.
The film, directed by Edward Zwick is based on the non-fiction book ‘Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman’ by Jamie Reidy. Gyllenhaal plays Jamie Randall, a womanizing Viagra salesman. Exuding confidence and charm he’s the object of desire of the women he encounters and the envy of every man including his richer, more successful, less aesthetically blessed younger brother. Despite the bravado, Jamie is deeply insecure, his need to prove himself to his parents deriving from unfulfilled potential due to having ADD. Gyllenhaal found the part difficult to research as the world of pharmaceutical sales is incredibly secretive. He says “I played a CIA agent in a movie and it was easier to research that than researching the world of pharmaceutical sales.”
“When people are going through difficult times some people run towards others while there are some who push people in the other direction isolating themselves.”
Hathaway plays Maggie Murdock. At first Maggie, an artist, appears to be an alluring free spirit with an insatiable libido who won’t let anyone tie her down but her behaviour stems from a deep rooted fear of being rejected due to having an incurable degenerative disease. Hathaway’s clearly invested alot of energy into the part admitting that she found it difficult to leave behind. Insight-fully she remarks “When people are going through difficult times some people run towards others while there are some who push people in the other direction isolating themselves.”
Parkinson’s features heavily in this film and Ed Zwick commented: “We wanted to create a juxtaposition of the character of Jamie and his pill for everything and Maggie with an incurable disease”
Now this makes me feel old…the film’s classed as a period piece. Set in the 90’s, it opens in a second hand electronics store and there are plenty of gadgets to spot for those keen on nostalgia.
a delicate study into the nature of the psychology of love and the constant battle between wants and needs…based on a book about Viagra
There are funny moments, but it’s not a rom-com in the typical sense of the word. They director worked with the cast improvising scenes to steer the film away from the rom-com stereotype. For the cheese like-rs, there’s still a few cheesy moments but if you hated all cheesy moments all the time then possibly you have a heart of stone. Rather than a rom-com, the film’s a delicate study into the nature of the psychology of love and the constant battle between wants and needs…based on a book about Viagra.
Opens in the USA 24th November 2010 and the UK 29th December 2010
The week before Armistice Day seems a fitting time to be reminded of the suffering caused during times of conflict.
‘And Then They Came For Me’ is one of the most widely produced new plays, yet the performance on the 7th November 2010 at the Garrick Theatre had something special about it. It’s not often such an extraordinary true life story is told when its inspiration is sitting in the audience. The play is a unique multimedia experience which combined video taped interviews of Holocaust Survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss with live actors recreating scenes from their lives and experiences during World War II. Ed (Michael Gamarano) and Eva’s (Alexandra Vevers) story are tied together by the infamous Anne Frank. Ed was Anne Frank’s first boyfriend and Eva, who was the same age as Anne when she went into hiding and like Anne, she and her family were betrayed. In this story however, the young diary writer Anne plays a cameo role.
The harrowing tales of the promise of youth cut short by the horrors of the Holocaust see the story take us from the beginnings of the Hitler Youth, through oppression and escalating to the horrific recounting of their experiences in concentration camps. One thing is clear. Even though the war is over, the trauma of what happened is still with the survivors. Numbers are easy to deal with as they are separate to our emotions, but when you hear the harrowing story of just one person, trying to relate that experience to every single one of the millions who suffered becomes a difficult concept.
The charity chosen for the performance’s wasn’t a war related one, but the Pakistan Floods Appeal. Sadly, it’s easy to forget why, every year, we wear a poppy on our lapels and even sadder that it’s often referred to as ‘Poppy Day’ as though the nation has forgotten to remember Remembrance Day.
This particular performance included a special performance by Frost’s other Editor Catherine Balavage as Ed Silverberg’s Mother. If you get the chance to catch ‘And Then They Came For Me’, you should.
In my eternal search for a sport that I’ll enjoy and can keep me interested, this week I tried my hand at climbing. I don’t know at which point I thought it would be a good idea, but I definitely know the exact point I realised it was a bad idea. That point was half way up a wall in London’s Westway Centre attached only by a rope and gripping hand holds with my slowly slipping hands and weakening muscles.
The instructor tied all the knots so that there was absolutely no chance of us falling to our deaths.
I have only good things to say about the centre itself, the facilities were spotless, comprehensive and vast. The instructor was very understanding and managed to stifle his laughing…mostly. We had one instructor between two of us and climbed and belayed (held the rope) in turn. The instructor tied all the knots so that there was absolutely no chance of us falling to our deaths. If you’re planning to have a go yourself…you’re very safe.
If you’re thinking thoughts like “ooh, this must be how mountain goats feel” it means you’re not thinking about where your hands should be.
This didn’t stop three of our party from chickening out. I don’t judge them…climbing’s not for everyone. There are a few groups of people who probably wouldn’t become great climbers…the first is those who suffer from vertigo (I fall into this category). There’s one mantra that every vertigo suffer repeats when they’re at a significant height…“Don’t look down”. When you’re climbing, this isn’t an option as putting your feet in the right place is half the challenge. The second is the easily distracted (I fall into this category also). When you’re five meters off the ground, concentration is key. If you’re thinking thoughts like “ooh, this must be how mountain goats feel” it means you’re not thinking about where your hands should be.
Although I personally won’t be giving climbing another go, I heartily recommend it, especially if you don’t suffer from vertigo and a short concentration span. Where better to go that London’s Westway Climbing Centre.
There’s a new TV show to get addicted to and it’s just started on VIVA! The nail-biting guilty pleasure of a drama that is Pretty Little Liars is about four teenagers with a BIG secret. When Queen Bee Alison disappears, her four friends believe their secrets are safe forever. It’s never that simple in the world of a teenage TV drama as they soon find out. A year later their lives are turned upside down when they start to receive threatening text messages and it seems somebody out there knows the truth…
Set one year after the disappearance of Alison, the manipulative and vindictive queen bee, the drama revolves around four 16-year-old girlfriends — Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily – who have lost touch since Alison went missing. Linked by their former bond and the terror the enigmatic text messages cause, the friends are suddenly reunited. Each of them has their own secrets, secrets they don’t want anyone to know…
Filled with mystery, scandal, intrigue and suspense, Pretty Little Liars stars Trojan Bellisario (Quantum Leap, JAG), Ashley Benson (Eastwick, Bring It On: In It to Win It), Lucy Hale (Privileged, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2), Shay Mitchell (Rookie Blue) and Sasha Pieterse (Without a Trace).
Like Desperate Housewives meets Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars is set to be the next big thing, tune into VIVA! Thursdays at 8pm
Halloween is almost upon us and Londoners are looking for ways to shed the rainy s.a.d.s.
Here’s just a few ideas of things to do and see. It doesn’t cover everything in this massive city but if you know of anything that we’ve missed, leave us a comment.
Outdoors for the brave:
Dance of the Dead – Strangework’s parade in honour of the dead starts at Hoxton Sq on the 30th at 7pm and makes it’s way up to Gillet Sq in Dalston. There’s also an official dance to learn (video below), I say dance, it’s 7 easy moves. Free.
If that’s far too trendy for you, South-East London Folklore Society are organising walks through the spookiest spots of London. A different location every day – Westminster (Thur £5), Farringdon (Fri £5) and Peckham (Sun £4).
Paranormal Parties
The 8th Annual Scary Costume Mash-up from Drop East on Commercial Street will be on Saturday 30th from 8pm. Entry is free.
The ‘Lost Souls Party’ is the place to go if you want to count the Captain Jack Sparrows. Being held at the London Aquarium on Saturday, expect “stonking house”, a cash bar and fish. £15-£20.
“Live” Performances
Watch a seance. Billed as an “extreme live action walkthrough horror experience”, The 13th Seance runs from 28th – 31st October, £8.
For spooky singing, sinister games and dressing to scare the bejaysus out of each other, The Choir With No Name (London’s homeless choir) and The CHC Jammers will be performing at 93 Feet East on Thursday 28th. £8 entrance fee goes to homeless charities.
Freaky Food
Eat Your Heart Out (& the Pretox Potion) – From the people that brought you Cake Britain comes the worlds first 18+ cake shop. Containing horrifying and extreme Halloween edibles. Located in the basement of Maiden and runs fron 29th – 31st October. I always knew cake was evil really.
Boo at Bermondsey Square is a Halloween Fair starting from 10am on Saturday 30th. If apple bobbing, pumpkin carving and a hot hog roast arn’t enough to tempt you, then stay for the free open air screening of Tim Burton’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ at 6.30.
Scary Screenings
For those with the stamina and inclination, Electric Cinema have a Horror All-Nighter from 12pm 30th Oct. Showing The Thing, Re-Animator, Evil Dead 2 and Poltergeist, your £27 gets you a 4 films, breakfast bap, fries, blanket and tea/coffee.
If it’s a night of 3d horror you’re hankering after, the BFI IMAX has one on Saturday 30th. Starts at 11.30pm and showing The Hole, Piranha, Resident Evil: Afterlife, My Bloody Valentine and The Final Destination all of course in 3d.
