Category Archives: Life & Style

Let’s Talk About Eating Disorders

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Lets-talk-about-eating-disorders

Please, let’s talk about eating disorders.

The more we talk about it the easier we make it for both those who suffer from one and the wider family who are also affected.

Let’s talk and dispel some of the myths that surround eating disorders – that it’s all about the food. It’s not.

February 27th to March 5th is Eating Disorders Awareness Week and the national charity B-eat will be campaigning to not only shed light on eating disorders but also provide information for parents and carers: how to spot the signs, how to help someone if you think they may have a problem. Early intervention leads to faster recovery.

The majority of people will think that eating disorders are all about food. I thought the same until I discovered my daughter’s eating disorder. I had an inkling that it was also to do with control issues but that was the sum of my knowledge. I was soon to learn otherwise.

Eating Disorders are a mental health issue, and it’s as well to bear that in mind at all times. As soon as I accepted that it wasn’t about getting my daughter to eat but to get her to feel good about herself I was more able to help her. Getting her to eat well came later.

Don’t think that only girls get eating disorders.

Boys get eating disorders too – and men and women of all ages. It can happen to anyone. The powerful image of an emaciated teenage girl sticks with us but you could miss the signs if you become blinkered because of stereotypes.

Don’t think that only extreme thinness denotes the presence of an eating disorder

Plenty of people with eating disorders (or disordered eating ) are a relatively normal body weight. Mental health problems are not so easy to detect. No one talks about it, they are more inclined to go to extreme lengths to keep it a secret. You don’t wear a cast, or a sling; no one wears a badge saying Help, I’m having trouble coping here. Sufferers can binge eat and stay relatively the same weight but still have a problem. As I said, it’s not about the food.

Getting help fast is crucial to recovery.

Our GPs were fantastically helpful, taking my daughter seriously and getting her into the system so that she received the very best of help – all through the NHS. I can never thank the doctors and medical staff enough who got her on the road to recovery. Not everyone is so fortunate.

You can look on the B-eat website for how and what to do if you are concerned that someone you know or love has an eating disorder.

Tracy Baines has written a book about how her daughter’s eating disorder impacted on her family. The book It’s Not about the Food is part memoir part self-help guide. It contains resources she found helpful and quotes from many other parents she either interviewed or who responded to her questionnaire.

www.b-eat.co.uk

www.tracybaines.co.uk

 

 

Interview with Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney for Catastrophe series 3

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Interview with Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney for Catastrophe series 3We left series two on something of a cliffhanger, with Rob about to speak following his discovery of Sharon’s receipt. Where do we pick it up from?

Rob: Right then. Exactly then.

Sharon: Yeah, it’s from exactly that moment.

Did you know what Rob was about to say, when you shot the end of series one, or did you still have to work that out?

Rob: We didn’t know. We love to leave the series with a big question mark, and figure out the answer afterwards. It’s more fun for us that way, and hopefully there is real and palpable mystery for the viewer as they reach that question mark. If we know what’s going to happen, then they might too, and then why bother?

S: There were a few different routes we could’ve gone, so we kind of had vague ideas, but nothing concrete.

Series three and four were commissioned together. You’ve now shot series three. Do you know where it’s going to go in series four? How far ahead have you planned?

R: No. We did one and two back-to-back, and we really benefitted from taking a little break between two and three, so I think we’re happy to not know what’s going to happen for a little while.

S: We had ideas of stuff that could go in series three when we were writing series two, things like that, but we never knew what the big arc was going to be, or narratively where it was going to take us. We just had a bunch of little ideas, and it worked out okay. So hopefully that’ll happen this time.

Did you write season 3 differently because you knew there would be a season 4? Does that help you creatively, because you know you have more space to tell the story?

R: It’s a stunning act of generosity and a vote of confidence from the network to have them do that, so yes, it does give you a feeling of peace.

S: There were definitely moments where we would say “I think that’s more of a series four idea.”

R: Yeah, so we can figure out what’s going to fit in each episode. You can say “I am curious about that, but no way are we going to be able to squeeze that in,” whereas if we didn’t know there were an additional season commissioned, we might try to shoehorn it in, to everyone’s detriment.

S: I guess the smart thing to do would have been to plan out both series so we knew exactly where it was going over twelve episodes, but we just didn’t have the time to do that. We had to concentrate on getting series three made in the four or five months we had.

Catastrophe is unapologetically crude. Do you enjoy coming up with some of the more creative and colourful bits of dialogue? Do you ever worry about elderly family members watching?

R: Well, I mean elderly people, I have found, when they’re being honest, are also scumbags, and enjoy a little prurient humour as well. So no, I don’t really worry.

S: I used to worry about that sort of thing. But I watched Pulling with my auntie, who’s a nun. I gave my dad the pilot of Catastrophe, because we had it for about a year before it got picked up, and he showed it to so many people. There was some pretty crass stuff in there, there was plenty of sex in it and rude goings on. If he’s happy to show his 70-year-old mates, then I think there’s nothing to worry about really. Although, I’m a little bit worried about episode one of this series.

R: Oh, I know what you’re talking about!

The show is far from sentimental, but it still manages to be strangely romantic. Is that a tough trick to pull off? Do you have to go through it making it less saccharine?

S: We just keep an eye on it.

R: We’re pretty good about it. I remember in season two having to saccharine it up a bit. Our natural inclination is not usually to be too saccharine. If anything like that comes out of our mouth, the other will stop them pretty quickly. You’d rather have your audience come away saying “I think I just noticed that they’re in love” rather than hitting them over the head with it.

Catastrophe very definitely deals with flawed people making the best of a flawed relationship. Is that intentional – to show people that it’s possible to have problems and still be relatively happy?

S: I kind of don’t think their relationship is that flawed. I mean, I guess it is in that they fuck up sometimes, or might let themselves or each other down. But I think they were made for each other. They were born to be together. That’s the most fairy tale and romantic aspect of the whole thing. We’ve burst the bubble pretty quickly with all the bad things that happen. But it feels like a steady, sturdy relationship that shit happens to, and they deal with it. I don’t think they have to try and stay in love. They are in love, they just have to try and stop real life from tipping shit on that.

One of the cornerstones of their relationship seems to be that they make each other laugh. Do you see that as being key to them?

R: I think so, yeah. People say that the largest sexual organ is the brain, and I think the fact that they definitely amuse each other is probably the strongest glue in that relationship.

S: Yeah, definitely. Because I think it’s incredibly important in real life as well. You get on with the people who make you laugh. I love having conversations with smart people, but I don’t necessarily leave it going “I fucking love you!” whereas if I’ve spent an hour laughing with them…

Obviously this series was one of the last things that Carrie Fisher filmed. What was it like getting to know her and working with her?

S: It was a dream come true getting to work with her.

R: A giant privilege.

S: For both of us.

R: She didn’t get to where she is by mistake. She delivers. She’s just hilarious and brilliant. You get what you think you’re going to get, and more. She was just a wonderful, wonderful person.

S: Yeah, she was great to hang around with and great to work with. While you’re completely aware of her legacy and everything she’s done, and it’s completely overwhelming a first, then she’s just this woman who says rude things and cracks you up. And she was really kind as well, just a really kind, wonderful lady.

The show won a BAFTA in 2016. Who has custody of it?

S: We got one each! It was the most exciting bit of the night, realising that we got one each.

R: Some awards we’ve had to divvy up. But BAFTA make one for each named recipient, so thanks BAFTA!

What is it like working with the children on the show? Do you have to get to know them really well so they don’t recoil when you pick them up?

S: They like us!

R: Yeah they like us, and we like them. They’re lovely. Babies are an absolute pleasure. Sonny and Dexter, who are the twins who play Frankie, are a bit older. They’re wonderful, but they’re a little harder to work with, because it’s a super-unnatural situation to be in. Working on set is very artificial and bizarre, and for kids it’s like “Why would we do it again? That’s crazy!” And then you have to be like “Yes, it is crazy, but not only are we going to do it one more time, we’re going to do it 22 more times. “And they’re like “That’s INSANE!” So they’re having a tough time with it, but that’s only because they’re healthy, wonderful children.

S: But we both like the company of kids, we like hanging out with kids, so it makes it easier. When the cameras stop rolling, you can have a laugh with them. But you can’t get them too geed up, because then they’re all hyper. You find yourself going “Shit, why did I tickle him?” You have to know how to play it. But when they bring in a baby or one of the twins, we really enjoy it.

R: On a set filled with smelly adults it’s pretty nice to have a kid come in now and again.

You briefly reference Trump and Brexit in ep 1 of the new series. Will there be any more nods to the way the world is going?

R: Not too much.

S: A tiny bit more Brexit stuff.

R: We’re not trying to make any big comments about that stuff. If you’re alive right now, it’s affecting your life, so we couldn’t not mention it, but as ever, we’re just trying to do it in a way that will create more stress for Rob and Sharon. We’re not trying to fix it!

S: It just came up in that episode because I’m trying to find reasons to get away with behaving the way I did. In the original script it was Brexit and ISIS, and then suddenly that arsehole-buffoon got voted in and we thought “We can’t not mention him!” So we added that in our final read-through.

Rob, you’ve been pretty active of late on Twitter, even by your standards. Is it a relief to be over here and away from the whole shitstorm, or is it frustrating being so distanced and powerless to act?

R: It is weird being over here. And I can’t move back there right now. Not that I want to – we’re happy here, my children go to school here – but it’s weird to not have the option. But he’s got healthcare laws in his sights, and I’m part of a family of five people. And when you have five people, there will be some among them who have what are known as pre-existing conditions, so I can’t responsibly bring my children to a country where healthcare is in such upheaval. So that feels weird. And yeah, I’d like to be outside senators’ offices right now protesting, but I can’t right now. So I’m doing what I can from here.

I read somewhere that you two are planning to do a movie together. Is that a possibility?

S: It’s not in the pipeline. We talk about it A LOT!

R: We talk about it, and then somebody will be like “Hey, get back to set,” or “Where’s that script?”

S: We’d absolutely love to. It’s just a time thing.

Would it be a Catastrophe movie?

S: Not at this point. I think we’d like to try something else. It’d be interesting just to see if something else worked.

When you’re writing, do you guys have more ownership of your own character?

R: No, definitely not. Nothing makes me happier than writing dialogue for the character of Sharon, and have her write it for my character.

S: I think that’s why there’s no stereotypical element to either of them.

When do you start on series 4? Do you need time away from the characters first?

R: It’s a good idea to have a break, to let your mind rest and so you can start to cultivate ideas. So we don’t have a start date, but we’re percolating ideas, I guess.

S: Bit of a break.

Can you ever have a bit of a break, or are you always thinking “Ooh, I might put that into the next series?”

S: You do do that a little bit, yeah.

R: You definitely file things away, I’ve got a ton of stuff in the notes section of my phone. Most of it is fucking insane, though. “Here’s a good idea. What if… Rob walked into a spider’s web!!!”

 

With thanks to Channel 4.

 

One Last Thing (For Now)

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 Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ

Tuesday 7th – Saturday 25th March 2017

 

 

 

This is one for me. I have a charity Words for the Wounded that supports wounded troops and this sounds most interesting.

 

Althea Theatre (There’s No Place Like) present the world premiere of One Last Thing (For Now), inspired by love letters from times of conflict in different cultures and languages. The production, written and developed over the last two years by Lilac Yosiphon with the ensemble, is a universal look at the language of love, the wounds of war and everything in between.

 

An officer in Russia cannot bear to tell a woman, far away in Wales, that her husband died. Instead, he writes her love letters pretending to be him. A woman in London awaits a letter that will never come while another skypes love messages to her boyfriend in Afghanistan. A soldier addresses his last letter to a former teacher who refused to join the army. And, at the heart of the play, is a story of a woman giving up her own limbs to make contact with her husband, a recent amputee, in the trenches a hundred years ago.

 

The play interweaves narratives from WWI in Northern England, WW2 in France and Germany, the civil war in Colombia and stories from contemporary Britain and Israel. The internationally diverse cast play British and non-British characters (regardless of their own nationality) and perform in their native tongue as well as other languages. This international collaboration aims to empower a compassionate and honest cultural exchange.

 

As a part of the show, and the idea that we can better relate to foreign situations through familiar ones, there will be call out for love letters from the Borough of Islington and one scene in the show will be inspired and devised using one of these local letters.

 

The play connects different aspects of war (the difficulty to describe the violence involved, the need to maintain an illusion, conscientious objection), reflecting on the different injuries which occur on the front line together with the emotional impact these have to the community at home.

 

…. War wounds never quite heal, war letters are never quite forgotten; both just get hidden away by old memories and dusty pieces of cloth, waiting to be found…

Performance Dates               Tuesday 7th – Saturday 25th March 2017

Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm

Saturday and Sunday matinees, 3pm

Twitter                                   @AltheaTheatre, @ORLTheatre, #OLT4Now

Location                                 Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ, www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk. https://theatre503.com/

Box Office                              Tickets are available priced £16 (£12 concessions)

All matinees priced £10

Available from Old Red Lion Theatre Box Office and www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk or 0844 412 4307

**Notes                                      If you have a love letter connected to the borough of Islington   waiting to be found, please contact info@altheatheatre.com as one scene will be inspired by the local community.

 

 

 

Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry   by Maya Pieris

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And Lorraine Marriner’s poems do just that. Her words have been inspired by the music she grew up with, from Dylan to Costello, by the London Underground’s “Poems on the Underground” and now through her current day job as a librarian in the South Bank’s Saisons Poetry Library where she is surrounded by the words of the world’s poets.

pic 1 lor

 

Lorraine did, however, confess to getting “poemed- out on occasions” and going on “poetry retreat in that I make myself have some poetry free days”. Her poems combine comedy and tragedy, the two sides of the human condition, with an everyday normality that is both refreshing and stimulating dealing with the ordinary concerns and situations of life and finding inspiration in family and friends and in the landscape of London. Her answer to whether she is an urban or landscape poet was “Urban, absolutely … the ways of the countryside feel very alien” though living next door to Greenwich Park probably gives her the best of modern city life!

 

I read her collection Furniture after hearing her read from it and was immediately captivated by an ability to merge complex thoughts, feelings and situations in an accessible framework, almost as though she is telling a story. She is the sort of poet who invites you into to her word world and wants to share the experiences. In Furniture, her first collection, there is a poem called Thursday which is of particular importance to her as it deals with her experiences of the 2005 London bombings. It manages to hold together the everyday and the horrendous as they collide the poem, arranged on the page as a block of text “to look like monument”, is her memorial to the day.

pic 2. Lor

The poem reminded me of the Auden poem, Musee des Beaux Arts, which describes the fall of Icarus as an event that happened on an ordinary day where ordinary lives were being lived. In her latest anthology, There Will Be No More Nonsense, she includes the poem When My Brother Broke which blends a domestic event, the breaking of a favourite doll, with the bigger issues of female image and expectations iced with a gentle layer of wicked humour as one realises the sister has the upper hand.

 

Recently Interestingly Lorraine has been “dabbling” in screenplays something I can empathise with- poetry, screenplay and play writing both require, I think, an ability to deliver a large picture in a contained space and need to appeal to a visual element.

 

I am sure, however, that whatever directions her words travel she will continue to pursue her themes with a wry sense of humour and a natural empathy. So if you got a Christmas book token spend it on one or both of her collections.

 

AMBULANCE GIRLS by DEBORAH BURROWS Reviewed by Jan Speedie

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pic 1 amb 

Deborah has written a fine tribute to the men and women who served in the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service during the war. They faced horrific situations in the London Blitz and risked their own lives to save others and help the wounded to safety.

Young, pretty and brave Australian Lily Brennan joins the Bloomsbury Auxiliary Ambulance Service while living in London. The Bloomsbury branch has a very social mix of volunteers. Lily is partnered with David Levy disliked by many at the station because he is Jewish. Lily and David become close colleagues so when David disappears in mysterious circumstances Lily suspects foul play and is suspicious of her fellow workers.

Lily has had an unhappy love life and is not looking for a new relationship but when she is introduced to Jim, a white Russian RAF pilot, her life begins to change.

Deborah’s book allows readers to feel, smell and realise some of the horrors and destruction dropped on London in 1940 during the months of the German air invasion on London.

Deborah Burrows was bought up and still lives in Perth, Western Australia. As a child she loved watching classic war movies on TV and reading. She studied history at University and also has a post graduate degree from Oxford University and practises law in her spare time. She makes frequent visits to the UK.

 

Published in paperback by Ebury Press on 23rd February 2017

Priced £5.99

 

Business of Books: Jane Cable talks to Lucy Williams of Honno

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the-business-of-books-interviewswithjanecableThis week Jane Cable talks to Lucy Williams, a committee member of Honno, the independent co-operative run by women to publish the best of Welsh women’s writing. Honno has recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary.

 

What is your book related job or business?

 

In my day job I am an in-house technical author and a freelance Italian translator and copywriter. I am also a published creative writer.  As well as being on the committee for Honno, I volunteer with the National Autistic Society helping autistic children and adults with their written communication.

I have been a committee member of Honno Welsh Women’s Press since August 2014, and have been involved in a variety of work with them including, in 2016 alone, attending Tenby Book Fair, representing Honno at the New Welsh Review’s Travel Writing Awards at Hay Festival, and being at the very special Honno 30th birthday celebrations in Aberystwyth.

 

As well as face to face promotion of the Press and getting to know other publishers and authors, I have had the chance to read a number of manuscripts to comment on their suitability for publication with Honno, and my fair share of proofreading.

 

What is the most rewarding part of it?

 

I think it has to be seeing a published author’s face when they see their work in print and on the shelves. I met a couple of Honno’s authors at the Tenby Book Fair, and to be able to be involved in the behind-the-scenes process which helps authors get their stories out to the world is a real privilege. I have also found it fascinating to meet the other member of the committee who come from all different walks of life but who share the same passion for creating a platform for Welsh women writers.

Business of Books Jane Cable talks to Lucy Williams of Honno

What do you consider to be your major successes?

 

Honno has seen many successes:  We celebrated our 30th anniversary last year and were interviewed on Woman’s Hour. Over that 30 years our success has been recognised in a number of literary awards from the Pandora Award to CWA dagger nominations, Wales Book of the Year and the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Several of our books have been dramatised on Radio 4, and we recently sold the TV rights for Walking to Greenham. We are very proud of our investment of time and effort on behalf of beginning women writers who go on to achieve mainstream success. Writers such as Tessa Hadley – Booker nominated author – Julia Gregson and Kitty Sewell have moved from publication with Honno, to houses such as Vintage, Orion and Simon & Schuster. We may be small but we are determined!

 

Have you always loved books and what are you reading at the moment?

Books have been an important part of my professional and personal life for a long time. I have loved them since I finished my first book by myself as a child, and always knew I wanted a career which involved reading them, selling them, editing them, translating them, anything to do with literature really, and I always knew I wanted to work with others who feel the same way. I have worked for Elsevier in the Global Rights Department drawing up author contracts, and for Oxford University Press as an International Sales Rep selling their work to schools in Europe, and have proofread for the University of Wales Press. And in case I was in danger of not having enough books in my life I set up a book club called Reading Between the Wines who meet every month in South Wales.

 

I am currently reading The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh, a wonderfully rich novel set in Bangladesh, and The White Camelliaby Juliet Greenwood, a Honno novel about the search for freedom and self-fulfilment, set in 1900s Cornwall.

 

 

About Lucy:

Lucy currently lives in Wales and spends her time as an Italian translator, technical author, and creative writer. She has had poetry published by The Emma Press, and Hysteria, and was recently a judge for the Hysteria Short Story competition.

As well as being on the committee for Honno, Lucy volunteers with the National Autistic Society as an e-befriender where she helps autistic children and adults with their written communication. When not in front of the computer with writer’s block Lucy can be found hosting her tipsy bookclub Reading Between the Wines.

www.lucyrosewilliams.com

 

 

Red Lipstick & Revelations by Jan Moran Neil

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The jacket of this collection of poetry is jazzy, snazzy but with a sense of darkness, so is this what to expect of the ‘innards’?

pic 1 jan

God and Lipstick sets the tone. It plays on red lipstick, on numbers, on age, on a past where people were only numbers, without mirrors to see themselves. On release they were gifted a consignment of lipstick.

I happen to know of someone to whom this happened, on release from a German wartime death camp. That lipstick restored humanity to women prisoners.

An interesting poem, with shades of light and dark.

The Ballad of Ek en Jy summons up the South African night, and the disappointment of their lives. This seems to be a theme that repeats. ‘Where is God?’

But Red Lipstick and Revelations is also liberally interspersed with those moments we all know. In Intruder, dead flying ants are found beneath the sill, but how did they enter the pristine house? Indeed, how does anyone or anything enter into our world, which we think  so inviolate?

Silver Surfing: searching google for the one that got away, or just the one who was once important. You find that, like you, he’s aged, and you can release the memory of the glorious youth he once was. You can let go.

 

I think you’ll enjoy this collection. It’s interesting and thought provoking.

Mother’s Day is coming up. Might be one to consider.

 

Red Lipstick & Revelations by Jan Moran Neil. pb £7.99 available from Amazon.co.uk

 

 

 

 

My New Favourite Holiday: National Margarita Day

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Here at Frost, we all love a reason to celebrate one of our favourite things… Cocktails. On the 22nd February we will be paying homage to one of the greatest cocktails ever created, the Margarita. This has to be a personal favourite of mine, there are many variations on the Margarita but personally, the versatility of the drink, being able to create heat with a little bit of spice or making it extremely fresh with lots of lime, is the thing that makes it a winning combo for me. With much debate as to where and when it was created, the basis of the cocktail has always been lime juice, tequila and triple sec. Nearly 80 years later, it’s about time the old faithful Margarita most certainly deserves it’s own day and we have some Margarita variations for you to try out yourself;

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Now with a host of tequila’s to try from, we recommend using one of our most loved; Casamigos Tequila created by friends to be enjoyed with friends.

Casamigos Margarita 

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With Casamigos Blanco

Recipe:

11/2 part Casamigos Blanco tequila
3/4 part fresh lime juice
1/4 part fresh Orange Juice
1/3 part agave nectar
1/3 part orange liqueur

Combine all ingredients to iced mixing glass. Shake vigorously for 10 count. Pour all contents into a rocks glass with or without salted rim. Garnish with a lime

Casamigos Spicy Cucumber Jalapeno Margarita 

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With Casamigos Blanco

Recipe:

1 1/2 parts Casamigos Blanco Tequila
3/4 parts fresh lime juice
1/3 part orange liqueur
1/3 part simple syrup
3 cucumber wheels
1 Jalapeno slice

Muddle cucumber, jalapeño, lime juice, and simple syrup. Combine all ingredients to iced mixing glass. Shake vigorously for 10 count. Fine strain all contents into a rocks glass with or without salted rim. Garnish with cucumber and jalapeño slice.