Tag Archives: London

Win Some Jimmy Choo Heels!

Posted on by

BAG YOURSELF SOME BROWNIE POINTS

Coffee brand is giving the chance to win ‘it’ bag or heels

Lyons’ coffee is giving football fans the chance to bag themselves some serious brownie points by directing their other halves to its unique competition, running throughout the European Football Championships. The coffee company is giving all football widows the chance to win either a Mulberry handbag or a pair of Jimmy Choo heels.

The British brand is asking ladies to make a tricky decision and vote for what they’d rather win – handbag or heels. Whichever gets the most votes will be given to one lucky winner, chosen at random.

The competition, which launches to coincide with England’s first match against France on 11 June, will run on the brand’s Facebook page throughout the EURO Championships. So send your other half to www.facebook.com/lyonscoffee for her chance to win.

Founded in 1904 by J Lyons & Co, the hugely successful catering business was responsible for Lyons Corner Houses which were once a popular sight in London.

Gluten Free Ice Cream | Things To Do

Posted on by

From 1 June until the 30 September 2012, a retro ice cream cart will be parked outside Island Grill, opposite Hyde Park, selling Jude’s eco-friendly, gluten-free ice cream, every day from 11am-7pm. The Salted Caramel ice cream is bound to be a hit.

Jude’s uses fresh, natural ingredients, sourced from local producers. Jude’s is undoubtedly the cream of the ice cream crop, supplying world class chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Raymond Blanc.

Adele Parks Whatever it Takes | Book Review

Posted on by

I got through Adele Parks new book Whatever it Takes as quickly as my schedule allowed. It is a wonderfully paced book, full of flawed characters and brilliant observations. Some of the characters are not likable, and become less so further on, I like that. The book captivates.

As a Londoner the story of Elosie Hamilton, who moves to Dartmouth for her husband after living her whole life in London is interesting to me, and the book even made me long for the seaside and a large country house. Well, for a while anyway.

Whatever it Takes is a story of family, friendship and marriage. It is also a story of fertility. Sara is almost driven mad for her longing for a child. She becomes bitter and difficult to be around. While Sara is childless, Eloise has three children. Eloise is nice, far too nice. She tries to be perfect and have a perfect life as one thing after another nearly makes her world, and her families implode.

Spoiler Alert

Another thing about the book is that I also found it painful to read. The reason being is how well Parks writes about the character, Margaret descending into dementia. My grandfather had Alzheimer’s and the the book is so well written that I knew this was happening to the character before it was revealed. I recognised my own grandfather in the character of Margaret, all of the little things she does and that happen to her; painful to read but it does not make the book less enjoyable to read.

The characters sometimes make you want to shake them or slap them, love them or hug them. This book is a triumph for Adele Parks. She should be very proud.

You can buy Whatever It Takes here

Let’s Claim Back The Union Jack.

Posted on by

The BNP can be blamed for a lot of things, but the main reason I hate them is what they have done to the Union Jack flag {or the Union Flag). Some people now see the Union Jack as racist, it’s not. It is the most inclusive flag you can think of. It is the flag of the United Kingdom; It has the St Andrews Cross (Scotland), St George Cross (England) and St Patrick’s Cross (Ireland). Wales was not a Kingdom but a Principality so it could not be included on the flag. which is made up like this:

  • The red St. George’s Cross width is 1⁄5 of the flag’s height with a 1⁄15 flag height fimbriation
  • The white diagonal St. Andrew’s Cross width is 1⁄15 of the flag’s height and the broader white diagonal’s width is 1⁄10 of the flag’s height
  • The red diagonal St. Patrick’s Cross width is 1⁄15 of the flag’s height and the narrow white diagonal’s width is 1⁄30 of the flag’s height

As all of the bunting went up in London I had an Irish friend ask if I found it offensive. Offensive? Why would I? “It’s racist”, she said, “to us”. By ‘us’ she meant that I am Scottish and she is Irish. To be honest it was her question I found offensive. I may be Scottish, but I am also British and I have lived in London for over five years. My flag is in the Union Jack and no-one, not a racist and certainly no one ignorant will ever take it away from me. I am proud to be British and I love my flag. Both of them.

Anna Calvi talks art at the Tate in new video | Music News

Posted on by

 

Über cool London-born singer Anna Calvi has unveiled a new video of her playing some songs and talking about her favourite pieces in the Tate Britain gallery. Have a watch of the rather great video here:

 

 

As announced in Frost Anna plays the Summer Series at London’s Somerset House on 12th July and is also playing select festivals across Europe this summer including Luzern’s Blue Balls Festival in Switzerland.

Eugene McGuinness unveils new video | Music News

Posted on by

 

London-born singer Eugene McGuinness has unveiled the video for his splendid cover of Lana Del Rey’s song ‘Blue Jeans’. The video is directed by London-based (via Melbourne and Montréal) filmmaker Tim Kelly and comes ahead of the release of his album ‘The Invitation to the Voyage’, due to be released on 6th August.

Following his tour as special guest to Miles Kane, Eugene McGuinness will be performing live in the UK over the next few months with headline London shows at Koko on 8th June and The Lexington on 3rd July.

Check out the video for ‘Blue Jeans’ below:

 

And Action! The Making of Prose & Cons.

Posted on by

So we finished with the first location for Prose & Cons. We have 53 scenes in the bag. 53 scenes. That’s 50% of our movie. Almost. The most surprising thing was how easy it was. Not that it wasn’t hard, it was. It just took me so long to make a film that I guess I thought it would be nearly impossible. It was hard work, but if you work hard it’s no biggie.

Steve McAleavy and Catherine Balavage direct Prose & Cons

Steve was amazing. We are filming on a Canon 60D and Steve is operating it. Steve is the producer/editor/co-director and all-round great guy. Steve and I both have equipment but we mostly used his. He has a lot of Phillip Bloom stuff, and a Fig rig. I haven’t asked how much it all costs and I don’t think he wants me to; adding all of that up will only be painful.

The first actor to turn up is Lynn Howes. Lynn is not only talented but very professional. She knows the script inside out, is good with continuity and thinks of the little things that no-one else does. Jack Bowman plays her boyfriend in the film. Jack is perfect as Jamie. He is very talented and Jack is also fun.

Next up is Bo Wilson. Bo plays her part beautifully. She has a day job as an editor at the Evening Standard, gets up at 5am but still manages to get to Kingston in the evening and give a brilliant performance.

We filmed in Kingston, a beautiful area. We didn’t do too many takes and the actors were professional. Although I feel that because I cast some of my friends they don’t show the proper amount of respect for me as the director. I try to be firm and tell myself; hey, at least they turned up.

Clea Myers came and played my aunt. Clea is in a poignant scene in the film and she is an incredibly giving actress. In acting it matters to act opposite someone else who is talented. The better the actor the better you will be. Clea is obviously a film actress of note. She is one of the most talented people I have ever worked with. Acting on film is thinking, but thinking hard. I read that in Mel Churcher’s book, and it is spot on.

Before we start filming I realise that our of all of the scenes we are filming I am in about 90% of them. That is a lot of lines. Directing and acting is not necessarily hard. As long as you watch the footage back and change if it is not working.

One of the actors drop out at the last minute and we have to deal with the stress of casting while we are dealing with the stress of filming. Fun. Luckily, after a few calls the wonderful Monty Burgess stepped into the breach. He gave a wonderful performance and I cannot imagine anyone else doing the part.

Steve doesn’t have any crew but still manages to do brilliant shots. Steve says that the next time he wants crew and at one point says he doesn’t know why he indulged me: “We should have made a short”. he says. He’s joking. I think.

We had a brilliant time. When you make a film you become like a family. Few things went wrong apart from a broken lens cover (not the lens, thank god), a broken HDMI cable and a parking ticket.

I am very excited about filming the rest of Prose & Cons. I will keep you all updated and get Steve to write something to.

John Lewis: The Best of British?

Posted on by

Never knowingly undersold. That’s the motto, but is it true? Well, that is the point of the article. In a world were people are quick to complain, tweet and generally point out the bad, I wanted to say; yes, it is. In fact, I think that John Lewis is one of the best thing’s about Britain. It is quite high praise and here is why;

They care about their customers. If something is faulty and you need to take it back, you will get a refund. They care about their customers and want to keep them. They are smart enough to know that if you sell quality stuff and have excellent costumer service people will keep coming back. The first John Lewis store was opened in 1864 in Oxford Street, London. They have lasted the distance and for good reason. Buying something from John Lewis is a guarantee that you will not be screwed over, something that many other companies could learn from.

This is why I vote John Lewis as one of the best British things. Congratulations John Lewis and long may you continue.