Author Archives: Catherine Balavage

Free Interior Guide Book to Transform your Home

Posted on by

It is very rare to get anything free in life, but Frost has come across a free interior guide booklet.

1-2-3 Transform Your Home a FREE step-by-step interior guide showing how to bring the joy of spring/summer indoors in 2012

The Flower Council of Holland (FCH) has created a beautiful FREE online booklet demonstrating how to bring the joy of spring indoors with flowering bulbs in pots and cut bulb flowers.

Available exclusively from www.funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk, design and gardening enthusiasts can use the booklet to gather ideas on how to create attractive indoor displays with spring bulb flowers using a variety of vintage and contemporary containers and vases. As easy as 1-2-3, bulb flower displays around the home are guaranteed to bring happiness and brighten up any dark corner.

The 1-2-3 Transform Your Home booklet is a step-by-step guide focusing on five of the nation’s favourite flower bulbs: Tulip, Hyacinth, Iris, Narcissi and Calla Lily and explains how they can be used to transform different rooms in the home with diverse styles and scents.

Jacqueline Doornekamp from the Flower Council of Holland, says:

“Flower bulbs in pots and cut flower bulbs in vases are a simple yet stylish solution to refreshing tired interiors. This free step-by-step guide shows the easy and affordable way to lift your mood and transform your home.”

Jean Gabin: Working Class Hero to Godfather at BFI Southbank in May

Posted on by

Jean Gabin (1904–1976) is one of the most renowned stars of French cinema. Throughout May BFI Southbank celebrates a career that spanned over four decades and which featured performances in both silent cinema and the talkies. Beginning with Jean Gabin: Anatomy of a Myth, on Wed 2 May, an introduction from season curator Ginette Vincendeau, Professor in Film Studies at King’s College London, the centrepiece of this season is the nationwide release and extended run of a newly restored classic of ‘poetic realism’ Le Quai des brumes (France 1939) from 4 May.

Between 1930 and 1976, magnetic French star Jean Gabin built an unparalleled screen image that encompassed the tragic working-class hero with a rugged charisma to underworld Godfather figures. He remains one of the great icons of cinema, and this season explores the appeal of his mythical vision of the ‘ordinary’ Frenchman.

Born Jean Alexis Moncorgé in 1904 to a family of performers, Gabin started out as a comic singer at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928. Two years later, he easily made the transition to the talkies, and soon switched to dramatic parts in cinema. From 1935 to 1939, he was the most popular French matinee idol of the pre-war period and gave performances in an extraordinary run of masterpieces Pépé le Moko (Dir, Julien Duvivier, 1937), La Bête humaine (Dir, Jean Renoir, 1938) and Le Jour se lève (Dir, Marcel Carné, 1939).

It was Renoir’s anti-war masterpiece La Grande Illusion (1937) (on extended run at BFI Southbank throughout April) that cemented Gabin’s international superstar status, and the film received universal critical acclaim. A certified classic of world cinema, the film has recently been re-released to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

Gabin’s fame was reinforced by a series of hits, including Marcel Carné’s marvellously moody crime thriller Le Quai des brumes (1939) playing one of his most memorably iconic roles as an army deserter on the run.

The war propelled Gabin to a brief stint in Hollywood, where he made Moontide (Dir, Archie Mayo, 1942) under contract with Fox. It was a fascinating attempt at ‘Americanising’ his image but Gabin felt uncomfortable speaking English. At Universal, he and Duvivier were reunited for The Impostor (1944). While working for RKO Pictures, Gabin’s difficult personality did serious damage to his Hollywood career. Scheduled to star in an RKO film The Temptress, he demanded Marlene Dietrich to be cast as his co-star (they were ensconced in a torrid, real-life affair throughout the early-to-mid 1940s). The studio refused. Gabin remained stubborn in his demand, yet he was fired and the project was shelved. RKO issued the warning that he would never work in Hollywood again; Gabin shrugged off the threat and proceeded to rejoin the French troops in North Africa.

However by the early 1950s it looked as if Gabin’s era had passed. But then Jacques Becker’s Touchez pas au grisbi (1954) and Renoir’s French Cancan (1955) catapulted him back to the top of the box-office. Suddenly Gabin was again a global star. Over the next twenty years until his death in 1976, Gabin made many more films, most of them very successful, commercially and critically. The season includes his later films such as Maigret tend un piège (Dir, Jean Delannoy, 1958), the first and best of three films in which he tackles Georges Simenon’s illustrious Commissaire Maigret; the nail-biting thriller Melodie en sous-sol (Dir, Henri Verneuil, 1963) co-starring Alain Delon who would always credit Gabin as a great influence; and the most poignant of his later films, Le Chat (Dir, Pierre Granier-Deferre, 1971) with tour-de-force performances by Gabin and the great Simone Signoret as an ageing and feuding husband and wife.

Gabin’s career lasted over 40 years and he became a mythical figure of French cinema. His rugged looks, rough voice and Parisian accent still anchored his characters in the same social milieu, and this is why he kept his popular following. Ultimately Gabin’s charisma endowed the ordinary man with dignity and prestige.

Frost Loves | New Girl & Zooey Deschanel

Posted on by

The last episode of New Girl that I watched had the truest relationship between women I have seen on TV for as long as I remember. I laughed in recognition of how a women really insults another women, in a subtle way that men think is a complement. How sometimes we just don’t get along because we think we have nothing in common, but really, we are more like each other than we will ever know. Dessert person or not.

Some of the press has been quite unfair to Jess, Zooey Deschanel’s character, for being ditzy and different. And I am not quite sure why. It is an actress in a lead role with her own TV show. She is not playing someone’s girlfriend or mother. She may be a kooky and different, but I have friends like Jess. She’s an endearing character who, granted, can be a bit annoying sometimes. But she cares about people, she is loyal to her friends, she is a good person. So to all of the people who think she is a bad role model I say; screw ’em.

Channel 4 revealed that New Girl has topped the 4oD chart for a second month, with an increase in VoD views to an impressive 3.3m.

Channel 4’s archive and catch up content attracted 45 million views throughout February, across all platforms on which 4oD is available, bringing total YTD views to 93 million.

The main 4oD platform, 4oD on Channel 4.com, drew 4.3 million average monthly unique users.

Hollywood Storyteller hosts Raindance Masterclass

Posted on by

Raindance is a Frost favourite. I have taken their 99 minute film school, and a couple of their other courses. We also cover their amazing film festival. Now they have one of Hollywood’s top story consultant doing a masterclass.

Raindance has announced that Christopher Vogler – one of Hollywood’s most celebrated story consultants – will host a weekend masterclass in London on 27-28 April.

Renowned as a leading expert in storytelling, Vogler is the guiding hand behind such films as The Wrestler, Black Swan, The Lion King, Fight Club and The Thin Red Line. Having worked for Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount and Fox, Vogler is in a unique position to share his insights into how powerful stories are made.

“We’re thrilled Christopher Vogler will be hosting this special Raindance masterclass in a rare appearance here in London,” says Elliot Grove, Director of Raindance. “He really is the stuff of screenwriting legend so this is a must for writers, directors, actors and producers interested in the entire story process from idea to script to screen,” he added.

Vogler’s best-seller, The Writer’s Journey, has been read by over 250,000 screenwriting students, establishing itself as one of the cornerstones of modern screenwriting theory and influencing a new generation of storytellers. Based on a memo he wrote while working at the Disney studios, the book has been translated into eight languages and its ideas were promptly put to use by a whole generation of screenwriters and novelists. Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky cites it as “the first book that everyone’s got to read”, while the LA Times describes the original memo as “the stuff of Hollywood legend… (Vogler’s) idea of a ‘mythic structure’ has been quickly accepted by Hollywood, and Vogler’s book graces the bookshelves of many studio heads”.

Ocado Opens UK’s first web ‘Livestock-Shop’ this weekend

Posted on by

ONLINE SUPERMARKET, Ocado, opens the . Proving that fresh really is best, the new delivery service, in partnership with Daylesford organic farm, will provide customers with a number of live farm animals to produce their own milk and eggs. All available to order from Sunday, 1st April.

The modern day ‘Tom and Barbara’, seeking out The Good Life, will be impressed with Ocado’s offering of livestock from Daylesford’s organic farm in Gloucestershire. Ranging from a single chicken, to a flock of rare hens, and even cows, the online grocer’s fifteenth ‘shop in shop’ caters to those looking to have the freshest produce delivered straight to their door.

To ensure that all animals go to the right ‘farmer’, potential buyers will have their property inspected by the new Ocado farm team, headed by Daylesford’s Senior Farm Manager, Richard Smith. Once homes have been found fit, the in-house team will provide buyers with invaluable urban farm knowledge – from building chicken coops, to milking a cow.

The newly developed Ocado farm van provides a spacious environment for the livestock travelling from the heart of Gloucestershire. Fitted with fresh grass from the West Country and incorporating a state-of-the-art shower spritz and drying system, the farm animals will be truly fresh when they arrive at their new grazing ground.

Following the success of their first online farmshop, launched on Ocado.com in September 2011, Daylesford CEO, Jamie Mitchell, said: “There is a growing market of allotment owners who want to produce more than boring runner beans and cabbages. At Daylesford, we are lucky enough to farm 2,000 acres in the Cotswolds, and wish to give Ocado shoppers the opportunity to farm their own animals, giving them the freshest milk and eggs.”

Ocado co-founder, Jason Gissing commented: “Ocado is dedicated to making life easier for its customers and, on our mission to becoming a food emporium, we strive to provide our shoppers with more of what they want.

“Just like our customers, we strongly believe that fresh is the best, hence why our fresh fruit and vegetables are already handled less than they would be at a traditional supermarket – fresh produce is touched only once or twice before being delivered. It’s also why we guarantee that we’ll never sell products right up to their ‘use by’ date. Ocado’s Daylesford Livestock-Shop is the next step in providing our shoppers with the freshest produce available.”

Prices are as follows:

· Daylesford Legbar Hen – £25

· Heritage Gloucestershire Cow – £1000 to £1500

· British Friesian Cow – £1000 to £2000

How to Have a Successful Date

Posted on by

What Makes A Successful Date?

eHarmony.co.uk reveals the Great Date Indicators (GDI) that switch us “on” and “off” to a potential mate

Based on communication habits of thousands of British singles, relationship site eHarmony releases six key indicators that can increase your dating potential.

Laughing at certain jokes, having a passion for vegetarian food or playing the guitar may sound harmless enough but according to analysis of millions of connections on relationship site eHarmony®, certain hobbies and habits definitely affect a single’s potential with the opposite sex.

Whilst studying how compatible singles connect and communicate on eHarmony.co.uk, computational scientists have found a series of indicators that impact attraction and connection online. Although two people can be incredibly compatible, the Great Date Indicators (GDI), as eHarmony scientists call them, provide an additional layer to determine whether two people will click when they meet in person. They reveal that:


1. We don’t like people with the same sense of humour

Far from seeking out someone with the same sense of humour as ourselves, the GDI show that online, we will often choose to connect with people who have a very different sense of humour to our own. For example, men with dark or political humour are often attracted to women with slapstick, wisecracking humour.

2. Traditional gender types have a big part to play in our attraction to a partner

Even though we live in an open and liberated society, men and women who conform to gender stereotypes receive more interest online. For example, fewer women communicate with men who enjoy feminine pursuits (like shopping) whilst fewer men communicate with women who seem to be in a position of authority. Also, men care less about the income potential of a woman only if she earns less than they do.

3. Spending habits influence the dating potential for women online

How much a woman spends or saves may impact her dating potential online. Women who spend freely view many profiles but do not communicate often. eHarmony scientists term this the “window shopping effect”. More men will talk to a woman who saves, whilst fewer men will talk to a woman who says she spends freely. The exception is that men who spend freely will talk to women who spend freely – surely a recipe for an empty joint bank account.

4. The universal appeal of yoga

Stretching and bending is THE most popular form of exercise in terms of appeal to the opposite sex whether you’re a man or a woman. Regardless of gender, men and women who mention yoga in their profiles receive significantly more communication than those who don’t.


5. We all want active partners – even if we’re a couch potato

Most people search out and connect with people who have active lifestyles. It is very appealing to the opposite sex. Be warned if you sit in front of the TV. Couch potatoes are universally unappealing, even to other couch potatoes.


6. A varied palate is appealing to the opposite sex

A varied diet and openness to try new foods is appealing to the opposite sex but a McDonalds habit could seriously damage your dating potential. Enjoying fast food is a big turn off to other singles, even if they’re fast food eaters themselves. And being a vegetarian is definitely a big attraction for other vegetarians online.

As part of the patented scientific match making process, eHarmony members complete a relationship questionnaire where they are asked to record their passions, interests, likes and dislikes. Since its launch in the UK, eHarmony has been building a comprehensive picture of the personalities and habits of the two million singles who have completed the questionnaire. Then using Compatibility Matching System® quantitative analysis models, eHarmony’s computational science team search for trends in how members decipher the profiles of matches and connect with them online.

Joseph Essas, Chief Technology Officer at eHarmony says:

Meeting singles you’re going to have chemistry with is what makes dating exciting, and even more importantly, worth investing time and energy in. In any given day there are millions of communications taking place on eHarmony. By analysing all of these interactions we’re able to learn what behaviours and hobbies can make sparks fly between our singles and provide them with matches that are even more tailored for them.

We Face Forward: Art from West Africa Today

Posted on by

We Face Forward: Art from West Africa Today

Manchester celebrates London 2012 Festival

2 June to 16 September 2012

· City-wide exhibition of leading contemporary artists from West Africa

· Major new installations commissioned for galleries and parks

· Concerts with many world-renowned musicians, including AfroCubism

· Further exhibitions of fashion, photography, football and storytelling

· African art bus to tour creative activities around Greater Manchester

We Face Forward is a season of contemporary art and music from West Africa, celebrated across Manchester’s galleries, museums, music venues and public spaces, from 2 June to 16 September as part of London 2012 Festival.

The exhibitions, concerts, events and community activities recognise both the historic and contemporary links between Manchester and the various countries that make up West Africa. They will explore ideas of economic and cultural exchange, environment and sustainability, and the place of tradition in contemporary culture.

The core of the season is a city-wide exhibition of contemporary art from the region, the first major collaboration between Manchester Art Gallery, Whitworth Art Gallery and Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall. It will feature painting, photography, textiles, sculpture, video and sound work from a wide range of internationally acclaimed artists, including Georges Adéagbo, Meschac Gaba, Romuald Hazoumè and George Osodi. The exhibition will also be the first major display in the UK of work by emerging artists such as Lucy Azubuike, Emeka Ogboh, Charles Okereke, Nyani Quarmyne and Victoria Udondian.

New, large-scale installations have been commissioned from Barthélémy Toguo at Manchester Art Gallery, and from Pascale Marthine Tayou at Whitworth Art Gallery.

The Gallery of Costume will show work by three esteemed Malian photographers, Malick Sidibé, Abderramane Sakaly and Soungalo Malé, whose archives are being preserved by the National Museum of Mali. Their extraordinary studio and social portraits will be shown alongside West African dress from the gallery collection, photographs by Hamidou Maiga and contemporary fashion pieces from British-Nigerian designer Duro Oluwu.

A music programme, curated by Band on the Wall and The Manchester Museum, will feature world-renowned acts including: AfroCubism (the new international supergroup formed by Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club and Toumani Diabaté); a multi-media concert by Niger supergroup The Endless Journey (Mamane Barka and Etran Finatawa); Angelique Kidjo; Jaliba Kuyateh; Kanda Bongo Man and many more to be confirmed. Taking place in music venues and galleries across the city, the season will open with AfroCubism at Bridgewater Hall on Sunday 3 June.

Exhibitions and events will also take place at The Manchester Museum and the National Football Museum. The city is hosting nine football matches during the 2012 Olympics and the National Football Museum will present African artists for whom football gives a means to explore protest, politics and social engagement.

The Manchester Museum is working with the African Caribbean Carers Group to present a re-interpretation of the Anansi spider stories using the Museum’s natural history and anthropology collections. The programme will be launched with Big Saturday: Manchester Anansi Spider on Saturday 2 June where the story will be performed by the Men’s Room community group, working in partnership with the Royal Exchange Theatre Company.

A summer-long creative programme will engage with a range of people right across Greater Manchester. Modelled on the highly decorated taxi-buses that ferry people across Dakar, Accra and Bamako, an art bus will take creative activities out beyond the participating galleries and parks to other locations across the city.

To draw the different locations together, artist Meschac Gaba has been commissioned to design an artwork which incorporates the flags of all the West African nations. This colourful motif will be on display at participating galleries and venues.

The title for the season is taken from a speech by Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, made in 1960. Stating his resistance to Cold War super powers, Nkrumah’s full quote is “We face neither East nor West: we face forward.” The festival takes its direction from Nkrumah’s statement of independence, deriving inspiration from his sense of West African cultural dynamism.

Dr Maria Balshaw, Director of Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester City Galleries, said: “Manchester’s connections to West Africa are part of its industrial and trading history. This exhibition brings the dynamism of West African art today to Manchester, as the world comes to the UK for the Olympics.”

Ruth Mackenzie, Director, London 2012 Festival, said: “I am particularly delighted that this exceptional exhibition of art from West Africa will be part of the London 2012 Festival programme bringing once in a lifetime opportunities to experience culture to people across the north west.”

www.wefaceforward.org

Londoners! Bring our beach back!

Posted on by

Some things you just do without thinking about it and taking a pebble from a beach is one of those things. So when the following reached my inbox I had an ‘ah’ moment. If everyone who ever went somewhere took something from it, of course it would have less and less. So, people, stop taking pebbles from Brighton beach!, and even bring some next time you visit.

Brighton Tourism Alliance Urges Visitors to Bring a Pebble Back to Brighton

Well known for its famous pebbly beach, visitors to Brighton have often taken a pebble or two away with them as a souvenir of their trip.

Now visitors to the city are being urged to help preserve its coast line by bringing a pebble with them when they visit – and leaving it on the beach.

The ‘Bring a Pebble Back to Brighton’ initiative is spearheaded by the Brighton Tourism Alliance, a group of like-minded businesses, passionate about the City, who work in partnership to improve the quality of the Brighton & Hove visitor experience.

Commenting on the scheme, spokesman Claire Ottewell said: “We say NO to sand and want to ensure Brighton’s iconic pebbly beach is around for people to enjoy for many years to come.

“We are urging all those Londoners who will be visiting Brighton over the summer to bring back a pebble and just leave it on the beach – and hopefully we will be able to replace the many thousands that have been taken away over the years.”

And Londoners are the worst of all, says Claire.

She continues: “We have no problem with the Welsh or the brummies. But it is the Londoners who always to want to take a little bit of Brighton away with them. Maybe it is because Brighton is known as London by the sea.”

Since its formation the TA has been successful in directly influencing council policy on road traffic management in the city. Representatives sit on various forums such as the Wind Farm Consultation Group and the Station Gateway Consultation Group and are involved with the Seafront Strategy for the city and the Events Strategy for the city.