HuffPost Comedy presents an alternative take on James Bond with Wayne Rooney as 007. Written by leading comedy writer David Schneider as part of his Topical LOL series commissioned by HuffPost Comedy UK.
Category Archives: Culture
The Barclaycard Mercury Prize. Plan B, Florence Welch, Mark Ronson Attend
Plan B, Florence Welch, Mark Ronson and co celebrate after The Barclaycard Mercury Prize
November the 1st saw a whole host of music’s finest celebrate the Barclaycard Mercury Prize at The Box including shortlisted artists Plan B, The Maccabees, Jessie Ware, Ben Howard, Django Django The party featured a special performance by Marina & The Diamonds.
Florence Welch turned up dressed as Joan of Ark choosing to leave The Machines Birthday bash to party with Mark Ronson, Jamie XX and the shortlisted artists.
Celebs in attendance were
Plan B
Django Django
Maccabees
Jessie Ware
Ben Howard
Florence Welch (Florence & The Machine)
Mark Ronson
Jamie XX
Django Django
Maccabees
Jessie Ware
Ben Howard
Florence Welch (Florence & The Machine)
Mark Ronson
Jamie XX
Luke Treadaway
Sam Brandon
Ty Wood
Mat Horne
Will Poulter
Sam Brandon
Ty Wood
Mat Horne
Will Poulter
Marina Diamandis (our guest performer)
Grace Woodward
Charlie Speed
Isaac Ferry
Otis Ferry
Sasha Bailey
Fin Munro
Billie JD Porter
Gizzi Erskine
Orlando Weeks
Percy Parker
Will Best
Grace Woodward
Charlie Speed
Isaac Ferry
Otis Ferry
Sasha Bailey
Fin Munro
Billie JD Porter
Gizzi Erskine
Orlando Weeks
Percy Parker
Will Best
Zoe Ball
Alison Jackson creates lookalike images for Channel 4 Dispatches
Channel 4’s current affairs strand Dispatches has asked the award winning photographer and filmmaker Alison Jackson to create images to sit alongside a special edition of the programme called Nuclear War Games, about the tense relations between Iran and Israel and the possibility of a military confrontation.
The lookalikes of Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are pictured playing actual games including chess, backgammon, arm wrestling and computer games.
Alison takes figures who look like well-known people and places them in scenarios which often provide an engaging and pertinent commentary on real life situations and the public perception of her subjects.
Nuclear War Games has gained exclusive access to an Israeli ‘war game’, in which an Israeli attack on Iran is played out in detail. It will be broadcast on Channel 4 on November 5th at 8pm.
Alison Jackson said: “This shoot was the perfect example of getting someone who looks nothing like the famous person he is supposed to resemble and turning him into a spitting image. The Ahmadinejad lookalike didn’t even have a beard, but by the beginning of the shoot we had managed to make him look just like the Iranian president.
It’s always fun to put fake celebrities in unlikely situations, but somehow it’s even more fun when politicians are involved. We’re really not used to seeing them with their guards down and acting like normal people. They all take themselves so seriously”
Dispatches: Nuclear War Games will be shown on Channel 4 at 8pm on Monday 5th November
Photo credit Alison Jackson: www.alisonjackson.com
Louisa Norman presents TAPE | Theatre
Louisa Norman presents
TAPE
written by Stephen Belber, directed by Thomas King, designed by Alex Marker
cast: Darren Bransford, Marc Elliott, Kate Loustau
at Trafalgar Studios from 10 October to 10 November
With his EastEnders’ exit imminent, Marc Elliott (who plays Syed Masood in the soap) joins the cast of Stephen Belber’s acclaimed play Tape, in the dark and brooding role of Vince. A high stakes and suspenseful exploration of memory, truth and perception, Tape comes to the Trafalgar Studios for its first West End run, ten years on from its New York premiere.
Aspiring filmmaker Jon meets up with his best friend from high school, Vince – a volatile drug-dealing dropout. The conversation soon turns to Amy, Vince’s first love, whom they both dated. Vince finally gets Jon to confess a disturbing secret, only then to admit he has taped the entire conversation and that Amy is about to arrive any minute.
Marc joined the cast of EastEnders as Syed Masood in 2009, winning the 2010 British Soap Award for Best Newcomer. The character’s controversial storyline involved him coming out and living as a gay man in a Muslim family. He announced his departure from the series and finished filming in September, with his dramatic exit broadcast in November. His theatre credits prior to EastEnders included the National Theatre’s hit production The History Boys. Tape marks his return to the stage.
Tape premiered in 2002 at New York’s Jose Quintero Theater produced by Naked Angels, who transferred the production to London’s Soho Theatre in 2003. The play was also adapted into a feature film starring Ethan Hawke (in the role of Vince, now played by Marc Elliott) and Uma Thurman.
ONLINE: www.tapetheplay.com · Facebook.com/tapetheplay · Twitter: @tapetheplay
Venue Trafalgar Studios (Studio 2), 14 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2DY
Dates 10 October – 10 November (Monday to Saturday)
Times 7.45pm + 3pm matinees on Thursday and Saturday
Box office 0844 871 7632 / 0844 847 2345 (Ticketmaster)
Tickets £27.50 / £24.50 (+ £1 restoration levy)
Previews (10/11 October): £14 (+ £1 restoration levy)
+ booking fee
Kate Moss: I Was Forced To Pose Topless
Kate Moss has told Vanity Fair that she suffered a nervous breakdown after being pushed into posing topless. The model also said she was in tears after being forced to pose topless and that she had no one to look after her apart from when she dated Johnny Depp.
Moss told Vanity Fair magazine that she felt uncomfortable on the shoot with The Face magazine with photographer Corinne Day which made her famous.
I see a 16-year-old now, and to ask her to take her clothes off would feel really weird,’ Moss said.
‘But they were like “If you don’t do it, then we’re not going to book you again”. So I’d lock myself in the toilet and cry and then come out and do it. I never felt very comfortable about it.’
The supermodel said that she suffered mental health problems while working for Calvin Klein in the early 1990s.
‘I had a nervous breakdown when I was 17 or 18, when I had to go and work with Marky Mark and Herb Ritts,’
‘It didn’t feel like me at all. I felt really bad about straddling this buff guy. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t get out of bed for two weeks. I thought I was going to die.’
She went on: ‘It was just anxiety. Nobody takes care of you mentally. There’s a massive pressure to do what you have to do.’
Moss also said that after she broke up with Johnny Depp she ‘cried for years’.
What do you think?
Pigeon Park Self-Titled | Music Profiles
Band: Pigeon Park
Location: Vancouver, B.C
Styles: Rock, Groove, Funk, Blues
Similar to: The Black Crowes, The Parlor Mob, The Trews, Led Zeppelin, The Red Hot Chili Peppers
CD: Pigeon Park
Accolades:
-Played at the 420 festival(2010-2012), played Cannabis day in Vancouver(2011 and 2012), played at Golden Spike Days Festival (2012)
-chosen as a top 20 finalist for 99.3 FOX seeds 2012 out of 500 bands, FOX seeds is a contest that has sprung the careers of artists like Bryan Adams, Bif Naked, Matthew Good Band etc.
-Toured nationally twice (2011, 2012)
Members/Instruments: Nick Weber – Vocals, Kevin Okabe – Guitars, Logan Pacholok – Guitars and Vocals, Artur Leppert – Bass, Hunter Elliott – Drums
Pigeon Park is a blues and funk-infused rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Crafting a signature sound with inspiration flowing from a variety of influences, they continue to grow with the seasons. Pigeon Park was formed in 2008 by founding members Nick Weber (Vocals) Kevin Okabe (Guitars) Logan Pacholok (Guitars and Vocals) Artur Leppert (Bass) and Hunter Elliott (Drums). Together the five of them began a musical journey embarking on two Cross Canada tours and recording two albums.
The band released their debut record ?The Sun? in 2010, and with the strength of this album managed to secure distribution in Sweden, Montreal, and Greece.
2012 saw the band touring nationally, playing popular BC festivals and being chosen as a finalist for 99.3 FOX seeds 2012, expanding their fan base across Canada. Upon returning from tour, they stepped into the studio and released their new EP “Lovelight” August 31st. The EP and music video for the title-track have been buzzed about in publications such as WHOA Magazine, The Province, the Music Mag, Follow the Signal and Mojophenia, who said of the album “Pigeon Park manage to illuminate the majority of guitar based genres in one superb release.”
Videos:
Lovelight Music Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
LIVE @ The Vancouver Art Gallery:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
On Tour in Quebec:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
Live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
Websites:
http://www.facebook.com/pigeon
http://pigeonparkband.bandcamp
https://twitter.com/pigeonpark
http://soundcloud.com/pigeon-p
Track listing:
1.Lovelight
2.Figures
3.Only Us Fools
4.Hopeless
5.Statues of Feathers
6.Its Not That Likely
Ill Funk Ensemble “The Duality” | Music Profiles
Band: The Ill Funk Ensemble
Location: Albany, NY
Styles: Hip-hop/R&B/Soul
Similar to: The Roots, Talib Kweli, Soulive, Common
CD: The Duality
Accolades: Ill Funk has performed live with Grammy-winner Mr. Cheeks of the Lost Boyz, opened for Naughty by Nature, Shontelle and Young MC and placed forth in a national competition to perform at Royal Family Affair with Soulive in 2011. They have also had a placement on the show “Road Trip Nation” and honorable mention in the John Lennon song-writing competition.
Members/Instruments:
Jermaine Wells – Lead Vocals/Freestyle
BJ FitzGerald – Guitar/Lead Vocals
Dennie Brooks – Drums
Joe Stoner – Keyboards/Backing Vocals
Duane Etienne – Bass/Backing Vocals
Walking on sticky floors, stepping on to a stage that’s too small for their swagger, let alone their equipment, setting up under dim lights and dropping a sound check on an unsuspecting audience. Eyes look up, jaws drop and the phones come out, inevitably texting their friends to come check out this band, this Ill Funk.
That scene has played out weekly for the Albany-based band, The Ill Funk Ensemble, since 2006 to great results. Described by reviewers as “a kind of 21st century mash-up of Kool & the Gang and the Isley Brothers” and “all hot sand and asphalt”, Ill Funk takes hip-hop and R&B in a different, yet oddly familiar direction. Perhaps it’s the blend of old and new school vibes, the warm smile of Jermaine Wells, the lead singer, or the obvious fun the band has whether they’re recording or performing live; whatever it is, the band has made the most of its position by performing all over the Northeast, selling nearly 1,000 hard copies of their debut album, Catching Wreck, having more than 1,300 combined likes on their Facebook pages and over 15,000 views on their YouTube channel. They’ve even been blessed to perform live with Grammy-winner Mr. Cheeks of the Lost Boyz, Naughty by Nature and Young MC and placed forth in a national competition to perform at Royal Family Affair with Soulive in 2011. They have also had a placement on the show “Road Trip Nation” and honorable mention in the John Lennon song-writing competition.
Slick, smart, engaging and legit, The Ill Funk Ensemble is humble in its origins, ambitious in its goals and will be releasing their second album in Summer of 2012.
Tracklisting:
1. She’s Fearless
2. Afraid of Heights
3. Amazing
4. Bringin’ the Heat (using a cleared sample of Quincy Jones’ theme from Sanford and Son)
5. Hot, Crazy Good Love
6. Interlude One
7. Different Day (feat. Michael Gaydusek)
8. Find a Way (feat. Steven Atkinson)
9. She’s Fearless (Reprise)
10. Interlude Two
11. My Gosh
12. The Duality
Websites: www.illfunk.com, www.facebook.com/illfunk, http://illfunk.bandcamp.com/, www.reverbnation.com/theillfun
Cata9tales A Chameleon’s Dream | Music Profiles
Band: Cata9tales
Location: Virginia
Styles: Hypecore, Alternative Hip-Hop, Electronica, Funk, Alternative
Similar to: Beastie Boys, Beck, Radiohead, Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers
CD: A Chameleon’s Dream
Accolades:
Featured performer at the Mid-Atlantic Music Conference, Charlotte, NC 2012
Ranked #1 regionally on Reverbnation
Toured extensively throughout Southeast region
Top artist/story on officiallypluggedin.com
Music featured in theatrical wrestling documentary “The Booker”
Recently signed to Monarchy Records first artist signed to label
Members/Instruments: Berkley Priest (vocals), Kreator (beats)
*the live band incorporates more musicians (guitar, bass, drums, keys), but the only official members are Berkley Priest and Kreator. They are responsible for writing and recording all of the material.
Production: Recorded and Produced by Cata9tales, Mastered by Jason Carter at Wavelength Studios, Portland, OR
Cata9tales could only exist right now, in this moment, at this pinnacle of pop culture; where the lines blur, the mold breaks, and the rules crumble into dust. Keeping one foot in hip-hop while dancing all over the musical map, Cata9tales have crafted a truly fresh sound. The band have developed an intensely loyal following, having toured extensively throughout the Southeast and ranking #1 on Reverbnation regionally.
Cata9tales is the brainchild of frontman Berkley Priest, an enigmatic performer with a strong style and flow that defies categorization. Less a rapper than a rocker who rhymes, Priest draws influence from David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and David Lee Roth. A veteran of the rock and psychedelic scenes, Cata9tales is the first time that Priest has ventured into hip-hop territory. Lyrically, Priest employs colorful turns of phrase and vocal inflections that make him entirely unique within a saturated scene. His performances border on the possessed, tapping into an energy that only a performer that has spent years in the rock trenches can.
Kreator (Kenny Perkins) is a musical journeyman who can play nearly any instrument and has an ear for composition and song structure that makes him an anomaly in the hip hop world. Refusing to settle or take short cuts, it is Kreator’s perfectionism and ear for turning the absurd into musical gold that gives Cata9tales its soul and punch.
Something happens when these two musicians, uniquely talented in their own right, get together to form Cata9tales. The live band finds the duo working with drummer Ben Pinkston and guitarist Jeremy Luedtke, as well as a rotating cast of characters that guarantees that no two shows will ever be the same. Priest leads the charge with his whirling dervish performances, including additional percussion and samples. Kreator (who formerly DJ’ed the proceedings) now plays bass live while triggering samples with his feet and stepping over to scratch on the turntables.
Their first release, the old-school influenced, cathartic “Kick the Bad Love” announced their arrival. Their follow-up EP “A Chameleon’s Dream,” released just 6 months later, shows a band that was unwilling to be pigeonholed, as the flows, song structure and sonic experimentalism reached new levels. Since then the band has signed to Monarchy Records and are hard at work in the studio recording what will be their “official” debut, “Hello Maybe Everything.”
The beats and lyrics weave in and out, taking sharp left turns, coloring madly outside of the lines. From the mid-Atlantic something wicked ? and wonderful ? this way comes.
Tracklisting: 1. Kaboombox
2. Open Letter to Generation Adderall
3. Keep the Diamond, I?m Rhyming Now
4. What a Day (Shooting Stars)
5. The Gang?s All Here (Interlude)
6. Ghettotron
7. Ultralife
8. Phoenix Weather
9. Stronger Than Me (Amy’s Song)
10. A Chameleon?s Dream
Websites:
www.cata9tales.com
www.twitter.com/cata9tales
www.facebook.com/cata9tales
www.youtube.com/cata9tales
www.bandcamp.com/cata9tales