Memorial Service For Lucian Freud As Art World Mourns

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It was the end of an era in the art world when Lucian Freud died aged 88 on the 22nd of July. Freud was art’s greatest living painter, he made such an impression on me that I was incredibly sad when he died, even though I never met him. I remember reading about where he hung out in a magazine and wishing I had the courage to go to the Wolseley and ‘bump’ into him.

He worked obsessively at his studio in London’s Holland Park and fathered many children. He hung out with Kate Moss and when he died, his regular table at the Wolseley was draped in a black cloth. He borrowed money from Jacob Rothschild on the condition that he would never ask again and never pay it back, he also got in trouble with the Krays after racking up gambling debts, and got into a fight when he was in his 80’s.

A memorial service has been set. Freud’s lawyer Diana Rawstron said his funeral would be held in private but a public memorial service would be held at another date.

She told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The funeral will be private and for the family only. There will be a memorial service at a date to be announced.’

He was the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud

Freud’s become incredibly expensive and his Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, that sold in 2008 for $33.6 million – a record for a living artist. The women in the Picture, Sue Tilley, said she cried when she heard he had died.

‘He certainly is considered one of the most important painters of the 20th and 21st centuries,’ added Brett Gorvy, deputy chairman of the postwar art department at Christie’s auction house in New York.

July Cultural Highlights: Amanda Eliasch has it As She Like It.

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Frost’s favourite theatre production in July was Amanda Eliasch’s semi-autobiographical play As I Like it. Amanda wrote the play and Nicky Haslam did the set, a dream combination if ever there was one. It was directed by Lyall Watson, who Amanda knew from RADA. The set was opulent and glamorous, much like the play itself. Amanda is a socialite, photographer, fashion editor, blogger and poet. You can read the review in my theatre column here:
http://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/blog/index.php/5908/as-i-like-it-review/

Frost enjoyed the Kanaloa & Gallo Summer Red Party.

As did Jo Wood, Henry Holland (who was also DJ), Pixie Lott, Jo Wood, Alice Dellal, Henry Holland, Francesca Hull, Gabriella Ellis, Natt Weller, Leah Weller and Diana Vickers and her boyfriend George Craig

Summer, wine, interesting people, what more could you want?

Amy Winehouse Dies Aged 27

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Troubled singer Amy Winehouse has died at the age of 27. She was found dead in her North London flat by police in the late afternoon. Her death was treated as “unexplained”.

The Metropolitan police said: “Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square shortly before 16.05hrs following reports of a woman found deceased. On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Winehouse was last seen at the iTunes festival. Tributes for the Back to Black singer have flooded in.

Mark Ronson, who produced Back to Black, said: “She was my musical soulmate and like a sister to me. This is one of the saddest days of my life.”

Phillip Schofield said on Twitter: “Just heard the sad news that Amy Winehouse has died. At only 27, what a terrible waste of a great talent. Sincere condolences to her family.”

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood dedicated his show on Absolute Radio to Winehouse . “It’s a very sad loss of a very good friend I spent many great times with,” he said.

A spokesman said: “Everyone involved with Amy is shocked and devastated. Our thoughts are with her family and friends. The family will issue a statement when ready.”

Winehouse has had a much publicised battle with drinks and drugs.

Debt Talks Collapse as Republicans Walk Away

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Debt talks in Washington reached a crisis point today as negotiations collapsed ahead of the August 2nd deadline. House speaker Republican John Boehner walked out of negotiations accusing president Obama of moving the goal posts by demanding bigger tax increases.

An angry Obama has said he and other Republicans are puzzled as to why a deal couldn’t get done. The president was offering to slash a $1 trillion in discretionary spending as well as cutting $650bn from Medicare and other entitlements.

People will be disappointed to hear Boehner just walked away at this time of crisis. Walking out at this stage cannot be constructive. It’s also extremely irresponsible with the spectre of a potentially disastrous US debt downgrade looming, to say nothing of a possible default. Republicans generally are starting to look increasingly rash as they unrealistically refuse to except tax increases.

If US debt were to be downgraded, even slightly, this in itself could have huge consequences. Many pension funds worldwide are required to only hold AAA securities and many currently hold large amounts of US government debt. In the event of a downgrade they would all have to sell this debt which could have a huge impact on the US dollar and the price of US debt, possibly causing a downward spiral, as yields rise and the US has to pay more interest on its debt in the future. The effects on the global economy and jobs could be huge.

A default is of course unthinkable and would lead to a worldwide financial meltdown.

It’s time for the politicians to stop thinking about themselves for once and to start thinking about the man in the street. It’s time to get this thing sorted. Each US taxpayer now owes almost $130,000

 

"Friends With Benefits" Premiere; Russell Simmons and Melissa George Dating?

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At the “Friends With Benefits” Premiere After-Party, presented by AXE Shower, that took place on the 18th of July at The Standard Hotel in New York. Russell Simmons and Melissa George were inseparable all night and seen stepping into a one person bathroom stall and reappearing after a few minutes. Is there a new celebrity couple on the horizon?

What You Need To Know About Divorce

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Five most common misconceptions about divorce

Couples considering divorce often have a number of misconceptions about the legal process and financial settlement which can cause unnecessary stress. Caroline Bourn, solicitor at Buss Murton Law LLP, Tunbridge Wells has highlighted the five most commonly mentioned by clients to help people keep a sense of perspective on the proceedings.

Caroline Bourn comments: “You would naturally expect clients to have a number of questions about the divorce process but is seems many people confuse what they see or hear in the media. Also people need to make sure they tie up all the loose ends of their divorce as they often don’t realise that there can be ongoing financial responsibilities towards a former spouse.”

1. To allow a divorce to go ahead the Respondent signs the Divorce Petition.

No, when the court sends the Divorce Petition to the Respondent they will also send a blank form called an acknowledgment of service form which should be filled in and returned to the Court within seven days. This form asks specific questions to which the court need answers to be able to grant the divorce – simply signing the petition is not enough.

2. The Decree Nisi brings your marriage to an end.

As reported in the press recently, Liz Hurley’s marriage “ended” in divorce when the Judge pronounced their Decree Nisi. This is not the case, marriage does not end on Decree Nisi, they end on Decree Absolute. The earliest possible date you can apply for Decree Absolute, if you are the Petitioner, is 6 weeks and a day after Decree Nisi. If you are a Respondent it is a further 3 months after the Petitioner could first apply and even then there may be a hearing before a Judge. However, often neither party will apply for Decree Absolute, unless there is an agreement about the finances and that has been known to take years in some cases.

3. You can get a quickie divorce like lots of celebrities seem to do.

Not even the celebrities get quickie divorces, they have to use the same system as the rest of us. Normally, if things go very smoothly, it will take around 6 to 8 weeks from the date the petition is issued by the Court to the date of Decree Nisi and as it will be a minimum of 6 weeks and a day from Decree Nisi before you can apply for Decree Absolute, and even then it may not be in your best interests to be divorced, as you may no longer benefit from death in service and pension benefits and even any inheritance from your ex.

4. Your soon to be ex can put the family home up for sale without your agreement.

Kevin Webster from Coronation Street managed to put the family home up for sale, despite his wife Sally making it clear she did not agree. In the real world any estate agents worth their salt would ensure that all the owners of the property agreed to put the property on the market for sale before marketing the property.

All the legal owners have to sign a contract and a Transfer document and without these a sale could never go through. One person can never force another person to sell a property unless there is a court order which states the property must be sold. Obtaining a Court order is an expensive and often time consuming process and would not be granted without a hearing before a Judge.

5. If you are divorced then your ex can’t make a claim on your money.

If you divorce without sorting out a financial agreement then it does not matter how long ago you divorced, either you or your ex can apply to the court to make a claim. The only bar on this would be that a person who has remarried could not make a claim on an ex, but if you have remarried, and your ex has not then your ex can still make a claim on you. All your assets and to a certain extent those of your new spouse would have to be disclosed to a court and would be considered in any court proceedings.

The only way to avoid this is to have an agreement drawn up which is then approved by a Judge. This document is called a Consent Order and it will contain an agreement that once approved by a Judge is binding upon you and your ex.

If after the divorce you inherit or win the lottery (remember Nigel Page who paid £2million of his Euromillions lottery win to his ex of 10 years last year), then you are safe in the knowledge that your ex can’t make a claim on your money. Once a Court have approved a Consent Order neither party can come back to make a claim on assets, properties or pensions, although if the Consent Order states that maintenance will be paid then the door is left open so that if circumstances change then the maintenance can be varied.

The Amazing Spider-Man teaser trailer hits the Web*

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As the teaser trailer for the hotly anticipated, The Dark Knight Rises, was shown before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Friday (then released online on Monday this week), Marvel has finally shown us a trailer their upcoming reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man (2 minutes and 30 seconds of it, if I may add).

It doesn’t reveal too much but you can really tell the difference in tone between Sam Raimi’s and Marc Webb’s superhero debut. What it does show is its ensemble cast, featuring Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Emma Stone (Easy A), Rhys Ifans (Enduring Love), Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now) and Sally Field (Forest Gump). This features the basic origin story, but Garfield’s Peter Parker falls for Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy (previously played by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3) rather than for Mary Jane Watson.

The standout scene from the trailer is the first-person view of Spider-Man leaping and free-running on top of buildings. Although, as many pointed out, it does look a bit like the video game, Mirror’s Edge. It still, however, gives us an idea what sort of direction we’re going to be given nonetheless.

So what are your thoughts on this particular reboot? Yay or nay?

Link to the trailer; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKGZtp–0R4

* I know I’m not the first to come up with that title but I couldn’t resist to be part of it!

Captain America – Super Soldier – Videogame Review

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When Captain America throws his mighty shield…erm…lets put a cap on that…

Another month, another super-hero movie tie-in; with a staple diet like this as a games reviewer I am starting to feel undernourished You get good games, you get great games you get crap games and then you get these. However I always try to be optimistic, Captain America is the big, big film of the summer; the one I most want to see and although trying to find a decent movie tie-in is almost as hard as trying to find a particular drop of water in the whole of the Irish Sea it does happen….occasionally. I live in faith.

 

From the start it is clear that Games Developer – Next Level – wanted to immediately set Captain America – Super Solider apart from the mediocrity of its counterparts; how I hear you ask? Well they…erm…‘borrowed’ some ideas from a small selection of winning franchises such as Arkham Asylum and Prince of Persia. Well, I say ‘borrowed’ but ‘stolen like sweets from a baby’ could equally be a fitting metaphor.  There is the solid and capable fighting engine, a similar mode to the Detective mode used in the Batman games and there is a fair bit of leaping and jumping around too. Chris Evans (no, not that one) provides both his voice and likeness to ‘Cap’, the game even plays in decent stereoscopic 3D but despite these credible assets Captain America is still left with just a few good things going for it.

 

The first disappointment for me was that although the game is based on the film world there is very little of the film in terms of content. Developers Next Level should be hitting themselves over the head with Captain America’s shield for this penalty kick as this is a huge missed opportunity; who wouldn’t want to be the young Steve Rogers? Heck, they could have even given you a training level based on his training as Captain America, but oddly they decided to leave this out and worse still, leave out Red Skull too –his sworn enemy – who only ever appears briefly in the whole of the game.

 

Equally disappointing is the fact that the whole game unfolds within the confines of a castle in the Bavarian mountains. Whilst on its own this is not totally a bad thing as it is a maze type complex with different routes and levels very much like Arkham Asylum, it is quite pithy and delivered with so much less finesse than its Batman counterpart. For example the game does not allow you to explore you surroundings; heck you cannot even jump over a table unless the game says so. So finding yourself stuck to predefined routes can and does get repetitive and boring.

 

Combat though is satisfying and solid.  It is not out of this world but a nice variation on the Arkham’s fight controls; as such it is easy to take on multiple enemies all at once and is all about timing of button presses to parry and deliver devastating blows. Each fight ends with smooth and sweet slow-motion finishers and you can even grab an enemy and use their weapon against more oncoming assailants. Captain America’s shield plays a big part of his fighting style too; deflecting bullets and of course you can throw it in a way similar to the way Batman throws his Batarang.

 

However, graphically the game suffers, although characters are detailed nothing really stood out at all to me at all, I think the programmers just stopped when they reached the point were it was all functional. Equally enemies and environments are blander than a Grey pot of Dulux emulsion and critically they are uninspiring. By the third boss I quickly stopped caring who was going to win as there was no sense of danger, no sense of urgency, instead, I felt like I was just going through the motions, which somewhat ironically I feel perhaps the programmers of this game were doing. Shame.

 

My Final Verdict –

Captain America has got some great ideas but far too many reasons mean it fall flat on its face. There is potential here and there are a few good button presses to be had, but there are just so many games out there which do the job better it is just not good enough.

 

It is becoming irritating to think that with so many crap movie tie-ins out there you would think that by now games developers wouldn’t even try to go down this route unless they had something solid or refreshing to bring to the table. It really is a shame because it’s doubtful there would even be a Captain America game unless there was a movie being released to cash in on. Yet the sad thing is I get the feeling that if the programmers were allowed to be a bit freer with their ideas and not rushed to meet the deadlines then this game could have been so much better.

 

Lets hope the movie is better than this.

5.6/ 10

 

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

There are a whole host of genres which Captain America could compete but unfortunately he wouldn’t stand a chance

Equal to: Marvel Super Hero Squad: Infinity Gauntlet, Green Lantern

Better than: Iron Man, Thor,

Worse than: Arkham Asylum, God of War, Castlevania – Lords of shadow, Bayonetta,