Author Archives: Catherine Balavage

Emma Watson Speech for HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10

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She used to just be that annoying character in Harry Potter but now Emma Watson has a brand new bag: standing up for gender equality as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. Here is her speech for HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 Program at the World Economic Forum 2015. It is another great speech and it will hopefully make a difference.


UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson, delivered another speech encouraging world and corporate leaders to take action for gender equality during the kickoff of a HeForShe program launch at the World Economic Forum at Davos on January 23rd, 2015.

Emma WatsonReady to take action? Make your commitment at www.HeForShe.org.

What do you think?

 

 

Spiralizer Review: Is This The Coolest Kitchen Gadget?

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Spiralizer review

vegan bolognese courgette pastaI never thought I would be the type to write about a kitchen gadget but here it is: my love for my Westmark Spiromat 11332260 Spiralizer. My spiralizer was actually a birthday present from my brother. Even weirder for me, to ask for something domestic for my birthday. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not domestic. But if anything will turn anyone into a (one-time) domestic goddess it is the spiralizer. I made vegan bolognese with it. (Above picture)

So what does it do? Well it turns vegetables into noodles and pasta. Yes, that’s it. Why so good? Well it’s fun to use and instead of having carbs you can have courgette pasta. Which is absolutely delicious and very healthy.Frankly I am obsessed and I am not the only one. Blogger Deliciously Ella featured the spiralizer on her blog and it sold out on Amazon.

Although the Spiralizer looks hard to clean, you can just pop it in the dishwasher. It comes with a few different attachments for variety and it is very easy to use. Because it is fun to use you use it more, therefore you eat more healthy. I should stop now as it is ruining my street cred to gush so much about a kitchen appliance but I really do love it. Vegetable noodles and pasta are great and less stodgy than the real thing. I still love pasta but I do find it heavier and more filling. This gadget is also perfect for the gluten intolerant.

 

You can buy a spiralizer here.

 

 

Why The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Acting Career Is To Quit

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acting tips, acting career, acting, advice, book, how to be a successful actor, quit, Catherine BalavageI know what you are thinking: what? That makes no sense. But bear with me. I have been acting for a long time. Since I was a teenager and in that time I have had some amazing parts, met amazing people and worked on projects that I was proud of. Also in that time I worked with a lot of jerks, had some terrible auditions, worked on awful projects and had some really awful experiences. My hair was always in a state of recovery because some over-zealous make up person had gone to town on it, my breasts were always being taped down by gaffer tape because costume people ‘didn’t know what to do with them’ and I was working too damn hard in an industry where the pay had not only not risen, but was actually the lowest in fourteen years. I kept almost getting the life-changing parts but lost out at the final hurdle. To put it frankly, I had had enough.

The last straw was working on a film on which I sustained a serious back injury. I damaged a disc and also had nerve damage. Over a year of painful physiotherapy followed. It was a nightmare. It was the last straw. ‘I quit’ I told my husband. ‘I just can’t do this anymore’. But it was only then the moment of clarity came; ‘Don’t quit’, my husband said, ‘You are too talented and have too much to offer. Take a break and then go back to it’. Cue the previously mentioned moment of clarity. He was right. Quit, but then go back.

The truth was, I just wasn’t into it anymore. I hated auditions, I hated working, I hated all of the BS that came with acting. So I quit, wrote my acting book, and by the time I was ready to go back I was in love with acting again. I wanted to make films again. I wanted to be on a television set. The break gave me the distance needed to realise why I had become an actor in the first place. I rediscovered all of the things I loved about working in the entertainment industry, which is the only way you can deal with all of the stuff you don’t love about it.

When your heart isn’t in something it comes across. You just have to take a break and go do something else for a while. Get a good-paying job and build up your bank account, travel, learn a new skill. Do anything but quit acting. It just might be the best thing for your acting career that you ever do.

 

If you are an actor then check out my book How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It is available in print and in all eBook formats on both Smashwords and Amazon. 

 

 

One In Eight British Adults Are Now Vegetarian

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Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe Vegetarian FoodcookingSomething is afoot. A change in our eating habits which has become more than a trend. Sparked by people becoming more environmentally conscious and not wanting to contribute to the damage that cheap meat causes. More people are becoming vegan, pescetarian (eats fish but no meat), vegetarian and flexitarian (has a mostly plant based diet but occasionally eats meat. I would put myself at the end. I have tried vegetarianism before but it never worked out. The first time I got really ill and when I started eating meat again I always made sure it was organic, free-range meat and that the animal had had a good life). To be honest the thing that most put me off vegetarianism was, and is, aggressive vegetarians. There are few things worse in life than an aggressive vegetarian who is always getting on their high horse and telling everyone else what to eat and how to live their life. Debate is fine, not lecturing. My husband is now mostly pescetarian, we eat mostly vegetables at home. This has been a learning curve when cooking meals and has also been a trial whilst pregnant and constantly craving meat. My husband and I are not alone however.

According to Mintel, around 12 per cent of people now follow vegetarian or vegan diets – rising to 20 per cent of those aged between 16 and 24. Millions more are flexitarian. A staggering one in eight British adults are now vegetarian. The truth is, we are all eating less meat. The meat-free market is now worth £625million a year and growing all the time.

That is quite something. We will be doing more vegetarian recipes on Frost and will also be doing a lot of cooking videos on our YouTube channel. So watch out for both and let us know what you think.

The Stages of Writing a Book

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writing, the stages of writing a book, writing, writer, author, self publishing, writer, despair, first draft.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am in the process of writing my third book. Three-quarter of the way to be more precise. Which puts me at number 7 on this list. Writing and publishing a book is amazing. The feeling when you have your published book in your hands is like no other. You did it. It is not easy however. It took me years to get my first book published. Mostly due to procrastination. My next one was finished and published within five months. Not bad for someone with acute morning sickness. My third has so far taken seven days to get three-quarters of the way through the first draft. Which is not bad. You can check out the first two here. I will get into how tedious and hard it is writing a book with my list of the stages below, but before we get to the list I will leave you with this amazing quote from Amy Poehler in her amazing book Yes, Please.

“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.”

The Stages of Writing a Book

 

  1. Hopefulness.
  2. Excitement.
  3. Despair.
  4. First quarter done. Glimmer of light.
  5. Despair.
  6. Epic melt down. Tell everyone you give up and would burn the book if it wasn’t on your computer.
  7. Resignation, decide that since you started you should finish.
  8. Wonder what breathing in fresh air is like.
  9. Get into the flow of it, it might be okay after all.
  10. Finish first draft. realise it is only the first draft. Cry.
  11. Read first draft. It’s awful. Cry some more.
  12. Despair.
  13. Start editing. Ignore the boredom and the fact there are so many more fun things to do than this.
  14. Realise that it’s not actually that bad.
  15. Finish editing first draft.
  16. Hope
  17. Happiness
  18. The possibility of it all being over soon
  19. Get draft back from proof reader.
  20. Despair
  21. Try to ignore the amount of grammar and spelling mistakes you made.
  22. Final edit, go through all suggestions and edit accordingly.
  23. Finish book: go on week-long champagne binge.
  24. Get cover back from designer. Has spelling error. Cry.
  25. Get cover fixed.
  26. Get book formatted for the different eBook and print versions.
  27. Despair.
  28. Finally see finished book: elation.
  29. Publish book and it starts selling: happiness like no other. Feel huge sense of achievement.
  30. Start writing next book.
  31. Despair.

 

What do you think? Are you a writer? What do you think are the stages of writing a book?

 

 

Charlize Theron Negotiates $10 Million Pay Rise After Sony Hack Revealed Male Co-Star Was Paid More

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Charlize Theron Negotiates $10 Million Pay Rise After Sony Hack Revealed Male Co-Star Was Paid More, equal pay, charlize theron, The Sony Hacks revealed a lot of unpleasant things, and one of them was the unequal pay between men and women, even in Hollywood. One, amazing, ballsy, actress was having none of this however. Charlize Theron negotiated a $10 million pay rise after reading that male co-star Chris Hemsworth was to be paid millions more for The Huntsman. She will now be paid the same as her male co-star. What an inspiration. We need more honesty about pay so more women can get paid what they are worth, and certainly as much as men. The pay gap between men and women is still significantly unequal. 

The hacked emails from Sony showed vast pay gaps between male and female stars. In American Hustle all of the male stars, and the male director, got 9 per cent of back-end profits. The two female stars, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence only got 7 per cent. This is despite the fact that Jennifer Lawrence was an Oscar-winning actress and that Amy Adams had been nominated four times.

At Sony things were not any better. Out of 6,000 employees, only one of the seventeen who made over  $1 million or more was a woman. Even worse, while Michael De Luca and Hannah Minghella share a job as co-presidents of production at Columbia Pictures, De Luca makes almost  $1 million more than Minghella. 

In the UK the pay disparity between men and women is so great that women effectively work from November 4th until the end of the year for free. There are a number of social and feminist movements trying to make a difference. We must join them and do what we can. Find out how much men doing the same job are being paid and negotiate a better deal.

Stupid Things People Write In Acting Casting Breakdowns

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Stupid Things People Write In Acting Casting Breakdowns, acting, auditions, castings, acting advice, acting book, casting breakdowns Ah, casting breakdowns, audition notices. Whatever you want to call them, they sure can frustrate. An actor will generally spend more time applying for acting roles than acting or even attending auditions. Acting is a game of numbers and applying to casting calls can be soul destroying indeed. Especially when they include any of the criteria below. Luckily I can find the humour in it. Like my dad says, ‘If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.’

 

Must be able to convey emotion. Jeez, that will be hard, it’s not that actors are trained in conveying emotion or anything.

We want real people, not actors. Really? Then why advertise on an ACTING JOB SITE. Idiot.

Nudity is required. All of the time but generally only for women.

Payment for lead actor only. Great, everyone else can just live on fresh air and pay their rent with fairy dust. That’ll work.

Female wanted. Character name: “The Girl”. Because in real life women are not known by their names, only by their gender. Oh, and they are ‘girl’ no matter how old they are apparently. Which is fine, because most of the people behind these castings want an 18-year-old. I wrote an article on this problem in the acting industry here.

Must be able to act. Really?

For women: Must be slim. Because a persons body mass impacts directly on their acting talent apparently.

For women: Must have long hair: Read: must be fuckable. So many castings just suit a stereotypical male ideal of female beauty. It is so sad

No acting experience needed. Because why hire actual actors when you can just hire someone off the street? It is not like we are trained professionals or anything.

 

These came just off the top of my head. I will continue to write about silly things in casting breakdowns in the hope that they improve somehow. Please add your own casting breakdown fails below or email them to frost magazine@gmail.com and I will include them in the next post. Let’s try and change the industry, even if we have to use tiny baby steps.

 

If you are an actor then check out my book How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It is available in print and in all eBook formats on both Smashwords and Amazon. 

 

 

 

 

Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe | Vegetarian Food

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My husband has stopped eating meat, which means I have had to develop something of an imagination when it comes to cooking. I came up with this dish after being inspired by a lentil and tomato dish I had at an Italian restaurant in Putney called The Italian Boys. This is completely different, but I was greatly inspired by the combination of tomato sauce and lentils. So here is my take on it.

I have called it a hotpot after my husband suggested it. It tastes amazing, if I do say so myself.

Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe Vegetarian Foodcooking

Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe

You will need:

3-4 Leeks.

A tin of chopped tomatoes.

Lentils (150-200g)

3 carrots

A tablespoon of olive oil

A dollop of butter

La Rosmarina sauce. (We get ours from Fattoria La Villa but you can buy it from somewhere else or make your own. The ingredients are tomatoes, extra virgin oil, fresh rosemary, garlic, salt and hot chilli pepper. Only use a tiny amount of the hot chilli pepper, you want a slight kick, this is not a spicy dish).

 

Leek And Lentil Hotpot
Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe | Vegetarian FoodLeek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe | Vegan

Method

Thoroughly clean the lentils and then add them to a pan. Pour cold water over them and then bring to the boil. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Next clean and chop the leeks and the carrots. Then take a frying pan and add a dollop of butter or spread. Add the leeks and the carrots and sauté them for 10 minutes. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. When the leeks and carrots are cooked add the lentils and then the rosemary sauce. Finally, add the tin of tomatoes. Stir it all together and make sure it is all hot. Job done: Leek & Lentil Hotpot. It is quick and easy.

If you can’t get your hands on some La Rosmarina sauce, although I recommend that you do, add some fresh rosemary, a clove of garlic, a touch of salt and a very slight amount of hot chilli pepper to the dish. The hot chilli pepper can be taken out altogether if you do not want any spice, or add a little more if you are so inclined.

Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe Vegetarian Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe Vegetarian Food

This is an amazing dish that really locks in the flavour and is very healthy. If you cook it for yourself, let me know what you think.

Leek And Lentil Hotpot Recipe Vegetarian Foodcooking