Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots By Jessica Soffer Book Review

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Tomorrow There Will be Apricots is written by Jessica Soffer who is a mere 25-years-old. It is an impressive book, drawing you in immediately and not letting you go until the very last page. Not one word is wasted in this heartwarming- and at times heartbreaking- book about redemption, love and food.

It is impossible to not fall in love with the characters: Lorca, a troubled 13-year-old who just wants her cold mothers loves and will go to any length to get it, and Victoria, recently widowed and finding it hard to cope. They find themselves through cooking and friendship.

I don’t want to give too many spoilers but this absolutely amazing book is now one of my favourites. I love the characters and I learned a lot about food and other cultures. I was very hungry when I was reading it and even got inspired to learn how to cook. No mean feat for someone who usually hates cooking. Buy this, steal this*, borrow this: just read it.

*not really.

Two women adrift in New York – an Iraqi immigrant widow and the latchkey daughter of a famous chef – find each other and a new kind of family through their shared love of cooking.

Lorca, a sensitive and troubled thirteen-year-old, spends hours poring over cookbooks, seeking out ingredients for her distracted chef of a mother, who is about to send her off to boarding school. In one last effort to secure her mother’s love and prove herself indispensable, Lorca resolves to replicate her mother’s ideal meal.

Victoria, an octogenarian Iraqi immigrant, teaches cooking lessons. Grappling with grief over her husband’s death, Victoria has been dreaming of the daughter they gave up forty years ago.

Together these two women – a widow and an almost-orphan – begin to suspect they are connected through more than a love of food.

Tomorrow There Will be Apricots

Welcome To The Cinema of Childhood | Film News

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Frostie

Filmhouse, Edinburgh has announced a UK-wide film season, Cinema of Childhood, curated by filmmaker Mark Cousins and inspired by his latest feature documentary, A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM, released in cinemas April 4th (Dogwoof).

The Cinema Of Childhood season will launch April 11^th at Filmhouse, BFI Southbank, and other key venues across the UK. The season, which will tour the UK for a year, includes 17 brilliant films from 12 countries, spanning 7 decades. Most have rarely been seen in the UK – some are totally new to UK audiences.

“These are some of the best films you’ve never had a chance to see,” Cousins says. “Films about childhood take us on fantastic voyages. E.T.: THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL was a magical bike ride across the moon. THE JUNGLE BOOK showed us the bare necessities. A boy in THE RED BALLOON stole our hearts. But beyond these mainstream and arthouse classics, there’s a world of great cinema about kids which is hardly known, but just as brilliant. Welcome to that world. Jump into it.”

“Fly to the moon on gossamer wings with the little boy in Astrid Henning-Jensen’s PALLE ALONE IN THE WORLD from 1949. Get close to the flame of life with Renko, in Shinji Somai’s 1993 masterpiece, MOVING. Body-swerve the bullies in Karel Kachyna’s Czech cinematic wonder, LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC, from 1965. See LITTLE FUGITIVE, the American film from 1953 which helped inspire the French New Wave. Discover the work of one of the world’s greatest movie-makers,

Mohammad-Ali Talebi from Iran with three of his best films – THE BOOT, BAG OF RICE, and his poetic masterpiece WILLOW AND WIND.” Mohammad-Ali Talebi will visit the UK for the first time in April, as a guest of the British Council to launch the season with Mark Cousins at BFI Southbank, Filmhouse and other venues to be announced.

Most of the titles in the season are featured in Mark’s documentary A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year to 5-star reviews, and has since been acclaimed at many other major festivals worldwide, including Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary, Telluride, Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai.

The season opens up a world of wonder for audiences of all ages who are keen to explore beyond Hollywood’s idea of childhood. The films are both specific to their own time and culture, but also universal in their depiction of childhood emotions, hopes and fears. Children everywhere have so much in common – only the worlds they inhabit are different.

Emotionally engaging with audiences from 8 to 80, Cinema of Childhood invites filmgoers to go on a global adventure with Mark, to discover previously unknown movie masterpieces and to see the world anew through young eyes. Uplifting and exhilarating, these are films to brighten your day.

The season is managed by Filmhouse, which has licensed the films for a year, and is creating new digital materials where necessary to make the films available to the widest possible range of cinema venues. Filmhouse has also licensed the VoD rights for many of the titles, enabling audiences to watch these titles at their own convenience from home or on the move via Filmhouse Player.

The project is backed by the BFI’s Programming Development Fund, awarding funds from the National Lottery. The producer of the season is Adam Dawtrey, who also produced (with Mary Bell) A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM.

Filmhouse (Edinburgh) and BFI Southbank (London) will programme the entire season from April to June. Other venues already confirmed to host Cinema of Childhood include Queen’s Theatre (Belfast), Chapter Arts Centre (Cardiff), Broadway (Nottingham), Dundee Contemporary Arts, Glasgow Film Theatre, Eden Court Theatre (Inverness), the Roses Theatre (Tewkesbury), Duke of York’s (Brighton), Watershed (Bristol), Cornerhouse (Manchester) and Showroom (Sheffield),along with selected Picturehouse and Curzon cinemas nationwide. Films from the season will also screen at special festival events, including the Glasgow Youth Film Festival screening ofThe White Balloon on 9^th February, Zoom International Youth Film Festival and WoW Festival in March, and the Brighton Festival in May.

Further venues will be announced in due course.

In addition there are plans to screen films from Cinema of Childhood in partnership with several organisations concerned with child welfare. These screenings, which will be targeted at a mixed audience of childcare experts and the general public, will explore representations of childhood from a professional perspective, looking at issues from different cultural and global viewpoints.

The full list of titles screening in the Cinema of Childhood season are:

• “Willow and Wind” (Bid-o Baad). Iran, Japan, 1999. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 77 mins. A boy breaks a school window, and must mend it himself before he’s allowed back in class.

• “Bag of Rice” (Kiseye Berendje). Iran, Japan, 1998. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 80 mins. A little girl and an old blind lady decide to carry a sack of rice across Tehran.

• “The Boot” (Chakmeh). Iran 1993. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 60 mins. A little girl craves a new pair of red wellies – but then loses one.

• “The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun” (La petite vendeuse de soleil). Senegal, Switzerland, France, Germany 1999. D. Djibril Diop Mambety. 45 min. A feisty crippled girl tries to improve her life by selling newspapers on the streets of Dakar.

• “Hugo and Josephine” (Hugo och Josefin). Sweden, 1967. D. Kjell Grede. 82 mins. The lonely daughter of a rural pastor makes friends with a wild boy who lives in the woods.

• “The King of Masks” (Bian Lian) China, Hong Kong, 1997. D. Wu Tian-Ming. 91 mins. An old illusionist buys a young boy to become his apprentice – but the boy isn’t quite what he seems.

• “The White Balloon” (Badkonake sefid) Iran 1995. D. Jafar Panahi. 85 mins. A stubborn little girl wants a new goldfish, and won’t let anything get in her way.

• “Tomka and his Friends” (Tomka dhe shokët e tij) Albania, 1977. D. Xhanfise Keko. 78 mins. A gang of Albanian boys in WW2 become secret agents for the Resistance when German troops occupy their village.

• “Palle Alone in the World” (Palle alene i verden). Denmark 1949. D. Astrid Henning-Jensen. 25 min. A boy wakes up to find Copenhagen deserted, and it becomes his giant playground.

• “Ten Minutes Older”. (Par desmit minutem vecaks). Latvia 1978. D. Herz Frank. 10 mins. One close-up, 10 minutes long, of a small boy’s face as he watches a thrilling puppet show.

• “Long Live the Republic” (At’ zije republika) Czechoslovakia, 1965. D. Karel Kachyna, 134 mins. A bullied boy tries to survive in a Czech village as the Germans retreat and the Russians advance.

• “Moving” (Ohikkoshi) Japan, 1993. D. Shinji Sômai. 124 mins. A girl struggles to come to terms with her parents’ divorce.

• “Forbidden Games” (Jeux interdits). France, 1952. D. René Clément. 86 mins. A boy and a girl retreat into a fantasy world to escape the horrors of WW2.

• “Crows” (Wrony). Poland, 1994. D. Dorota KÄdzierzawska. 63 mins. A neglected girl steals a younger girl to become her surrogate mother.

• “Little Fugitive”. USA 1953. Dir Morris Engel, Ray Ashley, Ruth Orkin. 80 mins. A 7-year-old boy runs away to Coney Island when he thinks he’s killed his older brother.

• “Children in the Wind” (Kaze no naka no kodomo) Japan, 1937. D. Hiroshi Shimizu. 88 mins. The idyllic village life of a Japanese boy falls apart when his father is falsely imprisoned.

• “The Unseen” (NespatÅené). Czech Republic, 1997. D. Miroslav Janek. 53 mins. Documentary about Czech blind kids with remarkable talents, including taking photos.

When I Was Young By Mary Fitzgerald Book Review

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

When I Was Young quickly becomes gripping. It is hard to put the book down as you just want to know what is going to happen next. It is not immediately obvious and you wonder what secrets this family has. The characters draw you in with their mysteriousness and you wonder what it would be like to live in a post-world war world. With all of the scars and memories; the trauma and loss. Secrets can be toxic and so can lies. Nowhere it this most clear than in 1950s postwar France.

Eleanor is only 16 when she goes to the Loire Valley on a French Exchange. But her maturity and intelligence is beyond her years. Her arrival in France is only welcome by some of the family she is to stay with, and initially she cannot help feeling that it is her fault. At home her mother works the farm as her father sustained serious mental and physical injuries whilst he was a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp. Throughout the story Eleanor becomes even stronger, she becomes a women.

Eleanor falls in love in France, but love is always complicated. I do not want to give away too much of what happens- always hard in a book review- but the book is wonderful at capturing emotion and the fact that home can be anywhere, and when you find it, that’s it.

This is a wonderful book that you will want to read all the way through to the end without stopping. Highly enjoyable.

Published by Arrow and out on the 27th March 2013. Also available as an eBook.

On the backcover:

‘When I was young the war started. When I was young my father was a soldier. When I was young I moved to the country. When I was young I went to France and fell in love’

1950

Eleanor is sixteen when she goes to the Loire Valley on a French Exchange. But the beauty of her surroundings are at odds with the family who live there. It is a family torn apart by the memories of the German occupation, and buckling under the burden of the dark secrets they keep.

Etienne, the dark and brooding owner is friendly, but his wife Mathilde’s malicious behaviour overshadows Eleanor’s days.

As the secrets reveal themselves one by one, Eleanor begins to understand the terrible legacy of war, and when death comes to the vineyard, she learns the redemptive power of love.

When I Was Young

Russell Brand To Release New Book On Politics

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Frostie

Comedian, actor and political activist (or non-politics activist, whichever you prefer) Russell Brand is to bring out another book. Ben Dunn, Publishing Director of Century has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to the new book.

The book will tackle Russell’s views on ecology, inequality, rioting, financial meltdown, and the total mistrust of politicians. Told with humour and passion, the book will act as a provocation; urging its readers to discard apathy and challenge the status quo.

Russell Brand said ‘People keep asking me how The Revolution will work? “We all want to bring down the government and establish a personal and global utopia but how?” They ask. Well in this book, I’m going to explain it. Having accrued the greatest wisdom known to man (by conducting interviews, watching DVDs, reading books, thinking and looking at the sky) I am now able to put in a simple, accessible book(y wook) the solution to internal and external turmoil. And about time too.’

Ben Dunn said ‘Like the rest of the world, I have been avidly following Russell’s writing and stand up and have been inspired by his passionate call to arms. This book will be a massive extension of that and I can’t wait to publish his brilliant words later this year.’

Century will publish in hardback in October 2014 with an Arrow paperback the following year.

Russell Brand is an acclaimed, comedian, presenter, author and actor. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, Brand rose to fame in 2003 for his appearances on MTV and on Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother’s Big Mouth. His career really took off with his first nationwide stand-up tour, Shame, in 2006; which was released on DVD as Russell Brand: Live. Brand launched his second nationwide tour in 2007, Russell Brand: Only Joking ; released on DVD as Russell Brand: Doin’ Life and in 2009 he brought his stand-up comedy tour to the United States with Russell Brand: Scandalous. At this time, Brand also hosted countless award shows including the 2006 NME Awards, 2007 Brit Awards and he has hosted the MTV Video Music Awards three times in 2008, 2009 and 2012. After his phenomenal success as a stand-up Brand turned his attentions to Hollywood where in 2008 he was seen as rocker ‘Aldous Snow’ in the Judd Apatow-produced box office hit comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Since then Brand has starred in several films including Rock Of Ages, Arthur, Hop, Get Him To The Greek, Bedtime Stories, The Tempest, Paradise and the voice of ‘Dr. Nefario’ in the hugely successful Despicable Me series. Brand is also an acclaimed author, and has written two books, My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and Stand-Up, and the follow up, Booky Wook 2: This Time It’s Personal. Currently Brand is touring his new stand-up show Messiah Complex around the globe, a DVD of which was released in December 2013.

John Campbell-Mac Interview: On The Toscars, British Hustle & Ron Jeremy

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Congratulations on winning a Toscar. How did that feel?

When I got up to receive the Toscar I was almost (only almost ha ha) lost for words. With over 600 people cheering and smiling back at me at the Egyptian theatre it was quite surreal. I had a brilliant Toscar experience from start to finish.

Red carpet at the Toscars with wife Stephanie Campbell-Mac and good friend and actress Victoria Hopkins

Did you think you would win?

I was totally shocked, I had absolutely no idea I was going to win but had so much fun on the movie with our brilliant cast and crew winning best supporting whactor was just the icing on the cake.

Tell us about British Hustle

What a great job writer director Sandro Monetti did with British Hustle. Tons of hilarious physical comedy and no mean feat adapting a much loved feature length screenplay into a short parody and somehow still have it make sense and be funny. Everyone involved was great and Marina (Marina Paganucci the producer) and the dream team as they like to me known took it from funny to hysterical.

You also wrote and performed the soundtrack and did the video for the leading single Get Down with Ron Jeremy. How did you manage to fit all that in?

That was insane, especially when you consider it was just weeks before my wedding! When Sandro first asked me if I would write some songs for the sound track. I told him I was flattered but there was just not enough time. The wiley fox then mentioned that if I could, then we could release the EP as the first official sound track in Toscar history, so then the challenge was set so I had to do it. I’m no technician so with the help of our brilliant editor and technical wizard Charlie Robinson we managed to write parts of the songs for the film.

Then when I returned to the UK I managed to flesh them out to whole tracks with my friend and brilliant producer Kevin Leo in his London studio then master them for release. Given more time we would have polished them more but I’m happy with what we achieved in the time we had and they are pretty much a live session with musician friends helping out. Regards the video that was down to the hard work of Sandro and especially Charlie who did 18-hour days trying to get it finished in time. I flew back to LA early after the wedding to shoot an extra half-day to finish the video; you couldn’t make it up: as I said insane.

Soundtrack available on iTunes.

What was it like working with Ron Jeremy?

Ron Jeremy what a character, the hardest err… working man in Hollywood ha ha. Really fun guy and a pleasure to be around. I think he surprised a lot of people with his acting ability and has so many funny stories and anecdotes I think anyone would be hard-pressed not to like him.

You recently got married. Congratulations. What was more stressful; planning a wedding or doing a film?

I would like to say it was more stressful organizing the wedding but to be honest the wedding was the easiest gig of my life. I just had to turn up and have fun. Now my wife, mother in law, her Godmother, father and all her friends might have a different story to tell. They spent a year working really hard plotting, planning and preparing every last detail. Regards the film I think it’s pretty obvious we had so much fun from beginning to end, I was so lucky to draw British Hustle and my team I would like nothing more than to make many more films with this incredible group of talented people.

Wedding day. Photo credit: Darren Paul

Tell us about your wedding day and your gorgeous wife.

Wow what can I tell you, it was the greatest day of my life and my gorgeous wife Stephanie is the greatest gift I could ever wish to have. It really was magical if you can imagine 300 of your closest friends and family from every area and time period of your life under one roof, all having a great time. Even now I can’t really put it into words.

I understand Chico was your best man how was that?

Oh my God, his best man speech was around 25 minutes and had animations, embarrassing stories, muppets, his children rapping on screen and singing live, and even good luck messages from celebrity friends like Ant and Dec and Ray Quinn to name a couple. It was funny, moving and quite possibly the greatest best man speech in the history of the world ha ha. It’s not every day you get roasted by a muppet. In a word: incredible. And fair to say it was emotional.

At his wedding with wife Stephanie Campbell-Mac. Photo credit: Darren Paul

You made the brave move to LA and it has paid off. How did you manage it?

Also no mean feat, it’s a huge deal leaving everyone and everything you know and moving thousands of miles away even to the magical land of Hollywood. Thank God for Skype and social networking because undoubtedly the biggest thing you miss are your loved ones. I have no regrets the quality of life here is great and I have been fortunate enough to make some good friends and work on some good projects. I had a large enough body of work to qualify for a work permit but the whole immigration thing is not without its stress’s and hassles. Thankfully I had brilliant immigration lawyers in Raynor and Associates to make the move smoothly and ended up shooting a couple of comedy commercials for them, to make you smile see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EL0tl81hYQ

Any tips for actors wanting to move to LA?

Come prepared with as much money behind you as you can. There are a lot of opportunities here but there are literally hundreds of thousands of other actors here trying to do the same thing. It can take a while to start booking enough work to make a living and Hollywood Boulevard has been described as the boulevard of broken dreams so you might be glad you brought some savings to live on while your waiting for your moment.

I’m gonna quote a friend of mine Craig Fairbrass as he put it best as we worked together on the film 31 North 62 East just before I left the UK. He’s a great actor who has had success in the UK and the US. He said to me “It’s not easy over there and there’s plenty of good actors who never even get representation let alone book a job. It takes a lot of balls to up sticks and give it a try so good luck, don’t take it personally if you don’t book a job. I’m sure you’ll do alright and remember to take time out to enjoy yourself”. Great advice I couldn’t put it better.

What’s next?

Well this year the Toscars next year the Oscars from my lips to Gods ears. I’m working on a few cool projects including the American pre-revolution period drama Courage, New Hampshire, it’s like the American Dowton Abbey. Season one is currently airing on PBS with season two currently in pre-production. I can’t give to much away but I play militia captain Daniel Cressy described by creator / director Jim Riley as “A man born for war and a little miserable without it”. Look out for a big bar room brawl with Cressy and the red coats in season two. For a taste of season one see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myY3DV4TL4Q

I have a film coming out in a few months called ‘Call me King’ in which I share some pretty steamy scene with the Chinese actress Bai Ling and recently signed on for an action bromance film called Artifact Red. Shooting mostly in Belize, it’s kind of Indiana Jones meets Lethal Weapon with a little Men in Black thrown in for good measure.

You seem to have it all now: wife, career, and a good life in LA. What else do you want to achieve?

So much more Catherine, where do I begin, there are so many great directors I would love to work with and so many great stories to be told. Outside of the industry I have various charitable causes that I’m involved in, including Rainbow Child (see http://www.rainbowchildfoundation.co.uk). We help underprivileged children around the world and I’m especially proud of Chico and what we have achieved in Africa with the play pumps. But your right; I try to stop and count my blessings every day for my life, my wife and the position I’m in oh: and Chunkee Munkee.

Chunkee Munkee?

I haven’t mentioned Chunkee Munkee? My wife will kill me, he is her pet bunny rabbit. He runs around the house like he is King and even has his own Hollywood agent. I’m not kidding he has he’s own representation and has been up for some big commercials but that’s another story, you can interview him another time ha ha but I’ll warn you he is a bit of a prima-donna he he. Hollywood you can’t make it up.

Rainbow child http://www.rainbowchildfoundation.co.uk/

Official website http://johncampbellmac.com/

Famous People Who Became Successful Later In Life

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

It just occurred to me today that I have spent far too much of my twenties trying to fit a lot of stuff in before I hit 30. And I actually have no idea why. Nothing huge is going to happen when I become 30, I doubt any huge revelation will happen. I actually reckon it will exactly be like becoming 29 only with one more year added on.

Of course it matters to other people. And bitchy people too. The moment I turned 25 people started asking me how I felt about being 30 soon, I mean, calm down. But who cares what other people think anyway, especially when they are rude. Of course, these people will be 30 themselves one day and will probably have someone younger than them act the same way towards them. That is one of the joys of aging: it’s equality. Nobody escapes.

What I have realised is that, actually, the only thing that bothers me about getting older is feeling that I have not done enough to be that age. But even that goes out of the window when I read about the amazing people below. Success doesn’t have an age limit, and neither does talent. In fact, when I hit 30 I will be married, have a successful business and a few other careers, I will have traveled and have amazing friends. Life can only (hopefully!) get more amazing from this point.

Deborah McKinlay

Deborah is the poster girl for life beginning at 40: she had a baby, got a seven-figure advance and a film deal for her novel, That Part Was True, and went back to University. The University just happened to be Cambridge. She was pregnant when she wrote her thesis and says: ‘You never know when life is going to turn around.’ She truly is an inspiration.

Betty White

Betty White was a jobbing actress for decades but it was her role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show that made her famous. She was 51 at the time. The now 92-year-old actress has won numerous Emmys and was also a Golden Girl. Still working: she stars in Hot In Cleveland and hosts her own show Betty White’s Off Their Rockers.

Leslie Neilson

It was his role in the classic 1980s movie parody Airplane! that made him famous at the age of 54. He starred in over 50 television shows in 2 years before that and worked for decades before making it big.

Hulk Hogan

After failing to find work in movies Hulk became a wrestler and found fame in his 40s. This strategy worked as, after finding fame as a wrestler, he got work in movies and became a huge star.

Steve Carrell

Made his name with The Office when he was 43 after sharpening his skills on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart for 6 seasons. He is now a movie star in his own right.

Morgan Freeman

Became famous at the age of 52 after starring in 1988 film Driving Miss Daisy. He was Oscar nominated for his role. Morgan has starred in over 90 films and paid his dues for decades before finding fame.

Vera Wang

Vera Wang only started designing wedding dresses in her 40s after failing to make it on the US Olympic figure-skating team and then being passed over for the editor-in-chief position when she was an editor at Vogue. She is now an incredibly famous and successful designer. So there you go.

Burt Reynolds

Became an actor after an injury sidelined a professional football career. Burt Reynolds has starred in over 70 movies. His breakthrough role was in 1972 film Deliverance. He then became famous and has his own star on the Walk of Fame.

Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal starred in Above The Law as a favour to a student from his dojo. He was a martial arts teacher before that point and Under Siege became a box-office hit a few years later making him an action hero at 40-years-old.

Samuel L. Jackson

A former crack addict and alcoholic, Samuel decided to turn his life around in his 40s and is now one of the most famous and hardest working movie stars with over 100 movies under his belt. His breakthrough role was in Spike Lee’s 1991 film Jungle Fever.

Julia Child

Published Mastering the Art of French Cooking when she was 50 and then got her own show The French Chef which was successful. She discovered French cuisine after moving to Paris with her husband in 1948 when she was 36. She enrolled at the famous Le Cordon Bleu to learn how to cook. The rest is history.

Alan Rickman

Got his first film role in his mid-40s after plugging away for decades.

Feeling inspired? Have any thoughts? Comment below.

Feel Good: How To Change Your Mood And Cope With Whatever Comes Your Way

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Frostie

By Dr Shane Pascoe & Dr Graham Law

Published by Capstone, February 2014

Paperback, £10.99

If you are feeling down, overwhelmed, stressed or depressed then this book takes two of the ‘it’ therapies of the moment- Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy- and combines them to get you back on your feet and keep you there.

It is easy to read and apply thanks to its invaluable post-it technique and lay out. It also has an entire chapter on relaxing and the stuff on confirmation bias is very interesting. The book is like you are being talked to and supported by a friendly, intelligent and concise friend.

The book is actually fun and enjoyable to read, surprising considering its subject matter. It has a unique combination of science and psychology which really works. It also has exercises and is practical and accessible.

A very good and helpful book.

Feel Good: How to Change Your Mood and Cope with Whatever Comes Your Way

Mood can affect every aspect of life, from performance at work to personal relationships. Being able to take control of moods, rather than have moods control them, is something all the most successful people have in common.

In their new book, authors Dr Shane Pascoe and Dr Graham Law combine techniques from two powerful, complementary therapeutic approaches – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness – to help readers keep their spirits and confidence high and instil a more upbeat, positive, can-do attitude, come what may.

Packed with practical information on how to start feeling happier and more positive about life, and optimise how you deal with people and situations in life and at work, this expert guide to beating stress and anxiety is designed for quick reference, letting readers access practical information relevant to how they are feeling at that moment.

Individual chapters cover areas including anger, self-efficacy, distress, unhappiness, well-being and happiness, self-esteem, leading a balanced lifestyle and relaxation techniques. The book finishes by discussing “Where to go from here?”.

For those that are feeling overwhelmed, overstressed, or just plain down about life, Feel Good is a practical, inspirational guide to help manage moods, improve outlook and beat stress and anxiety.

Feel Good: How to Change Your Mood and Cope with Whatever Comes Your Way

Fab Four To Appear In Croydon: Rare Beatles Memorabilia Included In Auction

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Frostie

The Beatles have been fascinating us for over five decades, but it was in 1964, exactly 50 years ago, that they took the world by storm. They appeared on US TV and performed in front of a 73 million audience. Beatles merchandise started to become big business.

Catherine Southon is pleased to announce that she will have not just one, but three rare Beatles memorabilia included in her next sale at The Chateau in the Shirley Hills, near Croydon, on Wednesday, 26th March 2014 at 11.30 am.

By far the most sought after is the 1964 NEMS record player, which is one of the earliest Beatles merchandise – only 5,000 were ever made and they rarely come up for sale. This one is not in mint condition, but will still make a fan’s heart beat faster. The iconic record player has got a print of the Fab Four playing their instruments and facsimile autographs. It is estimated to fetch between £1,000-2,000.

Also from around 1964, is the boxed set of car mascot Bobb’n Head Beatles dolls, which is expected to sell for £300-400. The set is in its original, slightly damaged box and each Beatle plays his instrument. The dolls are about 8” tall and are very popular with collectors.

For fashion conscious ladies, who want to fully embrace Beatlemania, the third Beatles’ lot will be of particular interest. A 1964 Dutch Polka Dot mini dress in beige and white with the faces of John, Paul, George & Ringo printed in black vertically next to a guitar with their facsimile signatures. It’s in excellent condition and a size 10/12 and comes with an estimate of £150-250.

Catherine Southon, well-known through various BBC Antiques programmes, says: “I was really excited to be shown the Beatles memorabilia at a recent valuation day. Although they did not belong to anyone famous, the fact that they have survived for this long in such good condition is quite remarkable. The Beatles are still seen as the greatest and most influential rock band and I know that their fans are always keen to add rare merchandise to their collections.”

Other lots with famous signatures included in the auction is a handbag signed by Neil Armstrong in the mid 1980s. He signed the beaded bag for its owner at a charity event shortly before he stopped giving autographs (estimate £1,000-2,000).

A catalogue will be available from the end of February and the sale can be viewed on 25th & 26th March at The Chateau, Coombe Lane, Shirley, Surrey CR0 5RE.

For more details, please visit www.catherinesouthon.co.uk or call 07808 737 694.

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