Author Archives: Frostie

Beefeater 24 Quintessentially British Edition Review

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Beefeater 24 'Quintessentially British Edition' 2

We get sent a lot of stuff to review at Frost so it takes a lot to bowl us over. The Beefeater 24 Quintessentially British Edition definitely managed it. The packaging, by talented illustrator Glenn Hin, is in a world of its own. It even pops out in a very fun way. All of that before we even get to the actual gin, which is first-class, first-rate stunning. This gorgeous bottle also came with a so-fashionable-it-hurts glass teacup and the best tea I have ever tasted in my life: My Cup of Tea Breakfast Tea. Sigh. Tea? With Gin? Yes, this is for the Beefeater 24 Gin & Tea cocktail which features on the ‘gates’ of the limited edition pack. Infused with English Breakfast tea which compliments Beefeater 24’s unique blend of rare Japanese Senchea and Chinese teas, the Gin & Tea is a refreshing modern interpretation of the classic Iced Tea, making it the perfect drink this summer. This is a limited edition so get your hands on one as soon as possible.


Toast ‘Distinguished British Country Chic’ this summer

Introducing the latest from Beefeater 24 – the ‘Beefeater 24 Quintessentially British Edition’. The limited edition collectible gift pack showcases a multi-dimensional design by talented illustrator Glenn Hin and was selected as the winner of a competition held by the brand inviting artists to capture ‘Distinguished British Country Chic’. To be released selectively worldwide, Hin’s pack design evokes images of British secret gardens and sophisticated summer parties.

The Beefeater 24 Quintessentially British Edition design centres around an imposing, fine country house hidden in the British countryside, which theatrically releases a pair of beautifully manicured shrubs on opening the pack. On closer inspection the elegant illustration reveals details that hint at a Quintessentially British summer garden party; cocktail glasses, tennis rackets and botanicals found in Beefeater 24 all float magically around the grand estate.

JC Iglesias, Global Brand Director of Beefeater 24 said “Beefeater 24 asked artists to draw inspiration from the theme ‘Distinguished British Country Chic’, as we were seeking designs that celebrated our elegant, British traditions but in a romantic and contemporary way. Glenn Hin captured this beautifully with exacting detail referencing a glamorous garden party. Beefeater 24 is the perfect accompaniment for such an occasion so the design really grabbed the imagination of the judges.”

As an ode to Hin’s design and the Quintessentially British garden party, the Beefeater 24 Gin & Tea cocktail features on the ‘gates’ of the limited edition pack. Infused with English Breakfast tea which compliments Beefeater 24’s unique blend of rare Japanese Senchea and Chinese teas, the Gin & Tea is a refreshing modern interpretation of the classic Iced Tea, making it the perfect drink this summer.

To accompany a selection of Beefeater 24 cocktails, the brand has also teamed with prestigious British chef Mark Hix’s newest venue HIXTER to create a selection of delicious canapés that can be created at home.

Ensuring that guests are treated to the full Quintessentially British garden party experience, hosts have the opportunity to share a piece of Glenn Hin’s work as an elegant invitation or thank you card featuring a vignette from the one-off design. Available to download from www.beefeatergin.com/24

Created in 2008 by Master Distiller, Desmond Payne, Beefeater 24 is a traditional gin with a modern twist, capturing the essence of contemporary British life and is the perfect accompaniment for the inspired Quintessentially British garden party this summer.

 

 

 

 

Dog Versus Cat: (Big) Cat Wins

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We love cats at Frost and thought this cute video of dogs getting freaked out by a lion cub was super cute.

It has had over 3.5million views since Shaun Swingle uploaded it.

The video apparently comes from Union Pictures which is a training company that trains animals to appear on film. Pretty cool.

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Basement Jaxx Headline RBMA Notting Hill Carnival Party

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Basement Jaxx headline RBMA Notting Hill Carnival party – 25 August 2014

As the Out-of-Offices start tumbling in, and the sounds of summer swell with the chorus of late night hedonism, the August bank holiday rolls ever nearer, and with it the promise of carnival. Red Bull Music Academy Sound System, a stalwart on the carnival circuit, returns with its vibe-infused miscellany of stomach-crunching bass, cocktails, and jerk delights.

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Storming the headline slot with a special DJ set – the frenetic, rabble-rousing antics of UK party house revolutionaries Basement Jaxx, dropping their hotly anticipated new album the very same day. Normally found topping the bill at the likes of the best festivals and best and biggest arenas around the world, catching a DJ set in more intimate confines is a chance not to be missed. With two BRIT Awards under their belts and shows that have become near-mythologised for their heady rambunctiousness, this will be a carnival show-down to remember.

They’re joined by a host of acts who’ll be blessing the carnival crowd with their UK debut: Jamaican reggae/dub cohorts Protoje & Yaardcore, Tropkillaz, blending trap and tropical bass with the pelvic rhythms of their native Brazil, and RBMA alumnus Kalbata & Mixmonster, who’s newly released album Congo Beat The Drum – recorded between their studio in Israel and Kingston, Jamaica – sliced through the blogosphere to high critical kudos. They’ll also welcome first-generation dancehall MC Clapper Priest as part of their set. Soca-fuelled riddim fanatics Jus Now, fresh from repping their hometown at the RBMA x St Paul’s Carnival Sound System, are back and bass-laden for the Notting Hill edition, whilst Mixpak Records, home to the sun-summoning likes of Dre Skull, Popcaan, Vybz, and Jubilee, bring their sonic powerhouse Mixpak Soundsystem to the fray. Finally, feverous bashment crew The Heatwave complete this year’s line-up, bringing the spirit of the Caribbean to the concrete jungle.

Tickets will be free and available via ballot system, with hopeful entrants able to apply from Monday 11th August until Friday 15th August via redbull.co.uk/rbmacarnival

In anticipation of the annual Notting Hill Carnival, a diverse cast of Londoners attempt to master a selection of must-have carnival dance moves including the Big N Nasty, Tempa Wine, Bruk It Down and Willie Bounce in this Carnival Dance Guide set to GotSome x Jus Now’s ‘Run Di Dance’. Check it out below:

Rival Empire “Self-Titled” | Music News

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Band/Artist: Rival Empire
Location: Chicago, IL
Styles: Alternative Pop/Rock, Synth-Pop, Electronic Dance-Rock, New Wave
Similar to/RIYL: Duran Duran, Cut Copy, The Killers, Friendly Fires
CD: (Self-Titled): Rival Empire
Members/Instruments: Steve Rivera – (Riv): All Electronic Instruments: Drums, Bass, Guitar,
Piano, Synths, MIDI, and Vocals.
Matt Koliopoulos – (MFK): Lead Vocals.
Tim Franz – (Frantana): Rhythm & Lead Guitar.

Production: Steve Rivera: Producer, Recording & Mixing Engineer
Primary Recording & Mixing took place in: Home Studio, as well as, “The
Bunker” on Paulina / 35th Street Studios in Chicago, IL.
Final Stem Mix/Mastering Completed By: Crazy Daisy Productions in
Beaverton, Oregon.

Bio: The Rival Empire is an idea, born out of randomness and captured in the moment. The Album came from the most simple of beginnings. Two old college buddies, lets call them Matt & Steve, were hanging out one summer night when Matt said, “Hey, let write some songs.” Steve’s response, “For sure.” A few months down the road our two old friends met a new gentlemen along the way, lets call him Tim, and said “Hey Tim, we’re writing some tunes”. Tim’s response, “I’m in.” And so there were three, and so they wrote…

After writing their first three songs they realized that each of the songs were very different from one another, radically different in fact. They had started off by writing a dance song, a reggae song, and electronic rock song. At this point they probably should have questioned what in the hell it was that they were trying to accomplish. But that question never arose, and an idea did instead. That idea was the Rival Empire.

The Rival Empire was from then on not meant to be about writing a single genre album with a common style. However, the album was not necessarily meant to be about genre chaos either. They simply wanted it to be free from the more familiar structures of the “mainstream” album. Once you give the album a good listen you will clearly see that they still wanted to capture the essence of several popular genres, with the “Theme” serving as the main commonality and unifying factor. The principal theme here is an introspective and often satirical look into oneself, society, and pop/mainstream culture. Interestingly enough, throughout the writing
process, sometimes the best way to convey that theme was through the combination of genres within a single song, ie. Casino. Also, taking it a step further they also found that integrating key portions of popular songs into there own work added the artistic and satirical punctuation necessary to deliver their intended message, i.e. Reagan’s Rancho Del Cielo, Cameo Crush, Casino.

(Rival Empire would like to take a moment here in advance to respectfully thank: Phil Collins, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan, Christie Brinkley and their corresponding Publishers/Rights Owners, for their understanding of Rival Empire’s artistic use of repurposed lyrics and minor compositional melodies from: One More Night, Little Lies, Billie Jean, Ronald Reagan’s excerpts, and Ms. Brinkley’s namesake, respectively. All of the above uses were designed carefully to
fall under the fair use protection of section 107 of the Copyright Act. The uses of these works are clearly transformative and parodic, intended to serve as comment and social criticism. The key factor here being social criticism and commentary, as there is no intention of malice toward the above-mentioned persons.)

Beyond taking the above-mentioned artistic liberties, our friends at the Rival Empire, simply wanted to write songs that they enjoyed and that hopefully provide some meaning to you as the listener. This is a crucial element, because the Rival Empire isn’t only about the creation of what might seem to be at times, outlandish music. It’s also about we as people and viewing ourselves from a different perspective. Creative expression, social criticism, plain old fun, and free thinking is part of the essence of who we are as people. So if we all for a moment can step out of our collective structures and into the randomness, we can rise as a Rival Empire.

4 in 10 admit they go online to seek health and wellbeing advice

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Where Do You Go For Reliable Health Advice?

New research has revealed the growing trend of people taking important health and well-being advice from unreliable sources.

health advice online. Almost 4 in 10 people would choose to go online to seek advice on their own health and wellbeing and around 1 in 20 Brits have admitted they would turn to social media sites like Facebook or Twitter for advice on health issues.

While there are many reliable sites offering health and nutritional information, it can be easy to take the wrong advice.

The research, commissioned by Viridian Nutrition, also revealed that more than 1 in 3 people surveyed said they would go to their doctor for medical advice, only 1 in 4 claimed they would take advice from their local specialist health food store.

Jeff Martin is Managing Director of As Nature Intended, and he said health food stores are good sources of reliable health information, ‘People coming into health food stores and asking for health advice is a cornerstone of what we’re about. If people came in and saw me earlier they would have got a resolution to whatever problem they had a lot quicker’.

A further survey from the Health Food Manufacturer’s Association also revealed that, of the 10,000 adults questioned, 40% said they don’t think they have access to enough information on vitamin supplements.

The research also revealed that around 55% of the UKs population now take food supplements (a 9% rise over the past two years) and that almost 1 in 4 people get the majority of their information about vitamin supplements from the box or packaging they come in.

We also spoke to Nutritionist and Lecturer Ben Brown, ‘In terms of the reliability of health information there are a number of different potential consequences. One of the more obvious ones is misdiagnosis – you may have something that seems like a garden variety headache but it could be more serious and the same is true for diet and nutrition information.

‘You could be following something that’s potentially misguided and unhealthy in the long term. If you’re looking for general diet and lifestyle advice and in particular advice on natural products, it’s much better to get off the internet and get into your local independent health food store and speak to someone there’.

Recipe For Giovanni Rana’s Mozzarella, Tomatoes And Olives Ravioli

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Packing every bite with the finest ingredients, Giovanni Rana has been recognised as a symbol of good taste and quality products, creating fresh pasta for people to enjoy at home for more than 50 years.
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Join Giovanni Rana in the Italian kingdom of pleasure, the kitchen, to discover the perfect pairing between prince of the condiments, the olive oil, and queen of the kitchen, the pasta. With such unique simplicity, the fundamental balance between the two will enhance your whole dining experience.

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If you have the luxury of time, why not try Mr Giovanni Rana’s unique recipe for these traditional Italian treasures: Mozeralla, tomato and olive ravioli with pesto Genovese, using his short film and the recipe below.

Preparation

Pasta preparation: 30 mins

Cooking: 4 minutes

Serves: 2-3


What you will need:

For the Pasta Dough

140g All purpose flour

2 eggs

For the Mozzarella, Tomatoes & Olives Filling

55g Ricotta

30gr mozzarella, chopped

4 cherry tomatoes, chopped

10 olives, chopped

15g Parmigiano cheese

Pinch of oregano

Pinch of salt and pepper

For the sauce – Pesto Genovese

50g basil

25g Parmigiano cheese

5 soup spoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ cloves of garlic

50g pine nuts

Pinch of salt

Method

1. Put the flour with the salt in a large bowl.

2. Make a well in the middle then crack the eggs into the well, one at a time. Using your fingertips, mix well and begin to knead the fresh mixture into fresh dough.

3. Put the dough on a table and knead well with both hands until the dough is smooth and elastic, rolling it out using a rolling pin if needed.

4. Now for your filling; mix the ricotta, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, olives and Parmesan, adding a pinch of oregano, salt and pepper.

5. For the sauce: inside a mixer put the ingredients in the following order: basil, extra virgin oil, Parmigiano, salt and garlic. Mix all until the ingredients turn into a creamy and minced sauce.

6. Toast the pine nuts for about 5 – 10

7. Roll the pasta to as thin as possible and using a pasta cutter or a knife, gently cut into squares.

8. Spoon out a teaspoon of the filling into the centre of each pasta square.

9. Now for the ravioli; carefully fold each pasta square diagonally and pinch the edges until closed. Then bring the corners together with your fingers and squeeze together.

10. Cook the ravioli in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water and simmer gently for 4 minutes, avoiding overcooking.

11. Drain the ravioli thoroughly and finish by serving with the pesto sauce on top. Finally add the toasted pine nuts.

Cook’s tip: If you don’t have all of the fresh ingredients available, why not try Giovanni Rana’s Simply Italian fresh filled pasta range, available in six delicious varieties including chicken & mozzarella, spinach & ricotta and Italian cheeses. Based on homemade Italian family recipes, they are simple and quick to prepare in less than 5 minutes. RRP £1.99.

Angelina Jolie On Meeting Louis Zamperini & Unbroken Trailer

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One of the films we are most excited about is Angelina Jolie’s second directorial film, Unbroken. The film is about the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II. Angelina told Australia’s TV Week Magazine about meeting Zamperini just before he died.

“I brought him the film on my laptop in the hospital and it was amazing seeing someone at the end of their life watching their life unfold again, at the same time their body was shutting down,

He wanted me to make the movie to show something hopeful about the strength of the human spirit that can pull us through. He reminded me to have my surgery in the year that I did and he reminded me to appreciate every day of my life.”

Watch the trailer and let us know what you think.

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