At Frost we almost cried at this amazing video of 106-year-old Virginia McLaurin dancing with joy when she met the Obamas at The White House. Her happiness at a black President being in the White House is so touching and says a lot about how far we have come. The First Lady is graceful and tells McLaurin, ‘I want to be like you when I grow up’. The White House shared the touching video of McLaurin fulfilling her dream of visiting the White House and meeting President Obama for Black History Month. She said she was ‘so happy’ to have lived to see a black president of the United States.
Get Stunning Results with the Revolutionary ‘A-Lift Facial’ by Nouveau Skin Therapy
A firm, facial favourite with Celebrities and Beauty Therapists alike, Nouveau Skin Therapy focus on bringing the most effective, natural and scientific developments in anti-ageing skin rejuvenation to consumers and salons across the UK. They’re committed to cater for a wide range of skin goals and with their revolutionary £30 A-Lift Facial, you’ll be stunned by the A List results.
What sets the A-Lift Facial a bar above regular facials is that it pretty much gives you the results of a surgical procedure without the need for any needles or scalpels. Yes, it is completely non-evasive and such results are achieved by the use of machines designed for sports injuries to increase ATP production in the cells. In short, this promotes skin regeneration, improves muscle tone and stimulates the skin to act younger by using a series of nano-currents. This also produces an increase of collagen. No wonder why it’s a firm favourite with stars such as Sadie Frost, Ellie Golding and Lisa Snowden.
We were lucky enough to try out the A-Lift facial and even though The Anti-Ageing effect is not personally what I’m after at present, it was still the best facial I have ever had. My skin was instantly brighter, tighter and rejuvenated. Perfect for this brisk winter weather, we would definitely recommend it as the ideal skin therapy. One of the best things was that I didn’t have a single breakout after, nor was there any sign of skin redness. The facial lasts up to 50 minutes and includes lymphatic drainage which effectively rids your skin of toxins. Perfect if you’re in need of an overall boost and some down time. Priced at £30 this facial really is a no brainer and we would recommend it as the perfect lunch-time treat, pre-party pick-me-up or Mother’s Day Gift.
You can look up salons nearest to you where they offer this treatment here;
To find out more visit www.nouveaubeautygroup.com
Best Chinese New Year Ever by Alex Bannard – Bangkok Correspondent
The year of the monkey.
My first Chinese New Year (well not my first, I’m 45, there have been many) but the first I have celebrated was amazing, energizing and inspiring, spiritual and serene. Since I arrived in Bangkok I have wanted to do a cycle tour of the city. A very good friend invited me up join her and her cousin. On the day we realized our tour coincided with Chinese New Year and were a little doubtful of whether being bound for Chinatown on saddle was such a good idea. We couldn’t have been more wrong.
We arrived at the Follow Me headquarters a little late but we were welcomed warmly & joined by a Japanese girl who was in Bangkok over the weekend for work. We were dispatched to watch an amusing induction movie on cycle conduct before wobbling out of the drive and heading off.
Navigating the narrow soi’s was at times precarious especially if there was on-coming traffic either on foot or 2 wheels but we soon got the hang of it. Our first stop off was at a local Wat home of a primary school. The King, Rama 6 was educated at Oxford over 100 years ago and travelled around Europe. He saw children being educated in schools initiated the building of primary schools in the same grounds as the temples, the monks becoming the teachers. To this day many of these schools survive today. Matthew our guide, was educated in such a school.
Matthew’s Thai name is Thew meaning good view, a fitting name since he was born to be a guide and gave us a great insight and view of Bangkok, full of knowledge and very entertaining. He proceeded to tell us about his 15 days training as a monk, common in Thailand and a huge honour. He was 25, the lessons he learnt and the 15 days immersed in the spiritual life of a monk changed his life.
Next stop was the old customs house along side the river. Now derelict it is soon to be renovated into a luxury hotel. We made our way past the modern post office, the old British embassy. Then we went to the Chinese temple which was amazing.
The Doctor Buddha resides in this temple, so called because of his healing hands during his lifetime.
Locals who desire better health will pilgrimage to this temple but on Chinese New Year, the temple was buzzing, incense filled the air & tall thick red candles bought by local families, labeled with the family name burned brightly.
It was a very special moment to celebrate the dawning of the year of the monkey 2259 (2016 on the Gregorian calendar).
We cycled into Chinatown. Red lanterns adorned shop alcoves. Banners hung across the street and almost everyone was either dressed in traditional Chinese dress or red. The atmosphere was electric, carnival like. And it was barely 10am.
I needed to buy Chinese New Year costumes for the kids and myself so we could join in the celebrations at school and got very lucky with some great purchases. Then I got the kids a Chinese New Year dragon…when in Rome and all that. Talk about taking multi-tasking to the next level.
The next stop was the flower market. The flower market runs 24 hours a day. It is divided into the offerings section and the wedding section. Don’t get them confused and take flowers from the wrong section to the wrong event, it could get awkward. We saw 50 roses for 80bht approx £2 and other Valentine treats, such as roses styled out of Ferrero Rocher, a perfect Valentine’s treat for Mr P.
Then we loaded the bikes on the river taxi to go across the river to another local Wat, The Royal Temple. Not known on the tourist circuit since it nestles next door to and is overshadowed by the Arun Wat but since this is enfolded in scaffolding rendering it hugely underwhelming, Matthew took us next door.
This fabulous set of temples is usually quiet during the week but since it was Chinese New Year it was absolutely bustling. The air was again heavily incense infused, the bells ringing in our ears as the worshippers cleansed their spirits by chiming every bell.
Matthew gave us each 2 lotus flowers and showed us how to fold the lotus leaves to reveal the flower, a wonderfully therapeutic exercise, almost meditative in its essence.
Then we made an offering to the Buddha of the flowers and wound our way back to our bikes through the throng.
Back on the saddle we wove through more Soi’s glimpsing snatches of Thai life: small dark shop openings; flashes of flatscreen TV’s through part open doorways; women sitting on wooden seats watching the world go by; kids playing bare foot in the street; family members asleep on the floor and lots of greetings of ‘Sawadee ka’ and ‘Happy new year’. It was marvelous.
Every so often through the tour we would venture onto the main roads and on the way home we certainly navigated the busiest roads, 3 and 4 lanes in both directions but it was not as treacherous as I thought it would be. The smaller roads, where cars has slowed to allow us through were more so as the moped drivers whizzed through the gaps, reminding everyone who really is king of the road in Bangkok.
Back at base we were awarded an ice cream and the possibility of a foot spa in the pool of tiny hungry fishes, I declined this with my sights set on Dean and Delucca round the corner and a well deserved New York style lunch for a change, but is a great tour, a totally different way to explore and experience Bangkok with or without the added festivities of Chinese New Year.
Later that week, the kids and I headed to school adorned in our Chinese New Year outfits for a morning of welcoming in the year of the monkey. In Foundation Stage the children made lanterns, lucky money and ribbons amongst other traditional crafts. The girls cavorted with their ribbons along to videos of professionals doing the same before we headed to the Chinese New Year assembly. A wonderful celebration showcasing the best of Bangkok’s Chinese music, Kung Fu & off course the finale with the Chinese Dragons. Next year we’re planning to join the Chinese Dragon Parade and party in Chinatown.
Playmobil creates another winner by Margaret Graham
At Frost we love Playmobil’s products. The company seem to have a great understanding of what children want.
At Christmas we gave their long-lasting ‘alternatives to chocolate’ advent calenders. The children are still playing with the characters, happily creating worlds of their own.
We at Frost are really pleased then, to see the new Playmobil Gift Eggs for Easter 2016
This year there are four new themes:
Mermaid with Seahorses
For those into football
What about the Pirate hunting for Treasure?
Our personal favourite is the Zookeeper and his alpaca.
Partly because one of us lived near an alpaca farm and the farmer would walk them along the cliff path as he took his family for picnics. Gorgeous.
One of these eggs will find their way into the lives of our little ‘uns this Easter. Such a lovely time of year, and these eggs will go on giving pleasure until the figures can be added to next year.
All eggs @ £6.99 each.
The Glittering Art of Falling Apart by Ilana Fox Review by Jan Speedie
A story of jealousy, secrets, heartbreak and love – read and enjoy.
Beaufont Hall, ancestral home of the Tempest family, lies empty, crumbling and the family feel cursed. Will the future glitter for the younger members of the family as their lives take very different paths?
Eliza is bored with life in small council flat in Tottenham and school. Fuelled by thoughts of glamorous parties, night clubs, late nights and freedom Eliza heads for the electric pull of Soho in the 1980s. Eliza feels the world is at her feet, fame and fortune are within her grasp – can she grab it?
Cassie fascinated by her family history and Beaufont Hall and jumps at the chance to explore the abandoned Hall. Cassie finds Eliza’s diaries in the library and from them discovers the hidden truth about her family’s past.
Ilana Fox has woven a fascinating story about Eliza and Cassie who are separated by a generation but linked by the diaries. She paints an evocative picture of life in Soho in the 1980s and Cassie’s determination to find the truth about the past.
*************
Ilana Fox lives in East Dulwich and is a supporter of Save Soho whose aim is to preserve iconic music venues in Soho from developers. This is Ilana 4th novel and before turning to writing fiction she worked as a journalist for several leading newspapers.
Published by Orion Fiction
In Paperback on 18th February 2016 – £7.99 – eBook £4.99 Available from Amazon.co.uk
Mind the Journey, Rose Colored Glasses | Music News
Band/Artist: Mind The Journey
Location: Boston, MA
Styles: Psychedelic Rock, Alternative, Synth Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
Similar to/RIYL: Tame Impala, Ariel Pink, Flaming Lips, Neon Indian, LSD
Soundsystem
CD: Color In The Gray Machine
Members/Instruments: Creator of albums and records: Spencer Sabo.
Plays live shows with an assortment of musicians (usually 2-3).
Production: Produced by Spencer Sabo in his makeshift basement studio. Mastered by Tom Waltz.
Tracklisting:
1. Falling Asleep
2. Desserts
3. Interdimensional Romance
4. Dancing On The Sun
5. Oneironaut (Interlude)
6. Rose Colored Glasses
7. Dream Demon
8. Atmintis (Pass The Haze)
9. Egophoria
10. Boats
11. Noise Gate
12. Delta Wave
Websites:
http://www.mindthejourney.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
A gentleman and a scholar: Vicky Edwards Meets Stephen Boxer
About to play the great author C.S. Lewis, Stephen Boxer takes a break from rehearsals to talk to Vicky Edwards about touring, making an ass of himself and his own connection with Narnia’s creator
Having played everything from soap opera to Shakespeare, as well as appearing in movies such as The Iron Lady, Stephen Boxer is packing his suitcase and hitting the road with a new national tour of Shadowlands. Arguably one of the best plays ever written, Stephen plays Narnia creator C.S. Lewis and, he reckons, the story’s central themes of grief, belief and love will resonate with audiences.
“It’s a beautifully structured play and it’s very poignant, so we can 
all relate to it. But it is also very entertaining; very witty with some real belly laughs,” he said.
Having cleaned up on the awards circuit (the subsequent film version also collected gongs) William Nicholson’s play charts the developing relationship between Lewis, an Oxford don and author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, and feisty American poet Joy Davidman. Finding his peaceful life with his brother Warnie disrupted by the outspoken Davidman, whose uninhibited behaviour is at complete odds with the atmosphere and rigid sensibilities of the male-dominated university, Lewis and Joy show each other new ways of viewing the world. But when Joy is diagnosed with cancer Lewis’s long-held Christian faith becomes perilously fragile.
But, Stephen pointed out, Lewis’s struggle with his faith resulted in the beautiful book A Grief Observed, an extraordinary collection of the author’s reflections about bereavement.
“It is a kind of bible for both religious and non-religious people,” said Stephen. “It rises above religion and belief and talks about how we deal with loss and how a theory of life is tested by reality.”
As for the relationship between Lewis and Davidman, Stephen explained that while there were some fundamental differences between their characters and life experiences, there was also a definite meeting of minds.
“Their intellectual acuity was an absolute meeting place for them both – they could both spar in the same intellectual boxing ring and they enjoyed that; they enjoyed the cut and thrust of intellectual debate. That’s how their relationship started,” said Stephen, adding:
“He was a classically repressed quite conservative thinking Englishman who lived a classic ivory tower life. Part of his emotional repression, I think, was that he was sort of cushioned by the Oxford life you could live as a don. She was an ex-communist Jewish American who told it how it was and shot from the hip. Yes, they were very different, but mentally they were perfectly matched.”
As for his own connection to C.S. Lewis, as a direct result of being an ex Oxford choir scholar and school boy (“I wasn’t an undergraduate but it was my academic home for eight years from 1960 – 1968”) he is in the position of knowing exactly where he was the night that the World lost two great men.
“I was at Magdalen college school, the school that was related to C.S. Lewis’s college. It was the evening of the twenty-second of November 1963 and I was walking back from chapel, in my gown and mortar board, having sung a service. An undergraduate stopped me, which in itself was quite unusual. He told me that President Kennedy had just been killed. It was the same night that less than a mile away C.S. Lewis died, so not only do I know where I was when President Kennedy was shot, but I also know where I was when C.S. Lewis died because I was right on his doorstep.”
Admitting that the insight into Oxford life has proved useful in preparing for the role, what appealed most to Stephen about the play?
“Firstly it’s a whacking great part – I’m never off the stage. In rehearsal I’m finding that a bit daunting,” he laughed.
“At the moment I’m at that stage of running before I can walk and falling over a lot, metaphorically, but that’s a necessary part of the process. Making an ass of yourself and feeling like a fool in rehearsals is a prerequisite.
“Another reason I wanted to do it was that I’ve just done a year of television. I’ve done some lovely stuff which I really enjoyed, but there’s no real rehearsal culture in television and I was dying to get back into the rehearsal room and that organic way of creating on the shop floor.”
Thoughtfully, he added: “And getting to know people, too. You develop very warm relationships in theatre and after a year I missed that.”
With the tour of Shadowlands he is certainly going to have plenty of time to bond with his fellow cast members. Not that life on the road bothers Stephen one jot.
“It’s a great way to catch up with friends, but touring is also a great way to see the country. I visit the galleries and museums and do the walks and whatever else there is to do or see. It’s part of the fun and I’ve seen the world that way. I love working and travelling at the same time.”
Playing opposite him is Amanda Ryan (The Forsyte Saga, Shameless) as Joy. “She was made to play the part,” said Stephen, who doesn’t look too far into the future when it comes to his own career.
“I don’t really plan and the things that come along always surprise me. I wasn’t expecting to play Titus Andronicus at the RSC for instance. It was a play I didn’t know but I loved doing it; it was intriguing, absorbing, and demanding. I think I’d like to play Lear when I’m about seventy,” he mused, before laughing and saying: “Not that long to go then!”
But for now this charming gentleman and scholar is delighting in Shadowlands. Go to see it and you will too.
Official website: www.shadowlandstour.com
Twitter: @shadowlandstour
Facebook: shadowlandsthetour
Jolly good show, chaps! Vicky Edwards meets actor Graham Seed
Vicky Edwards meets actor Graham Seed to talk about Rattigan, romance and how wearing a uniform might give his wife ideas…
With the tractors and traumas of Ambridge well and truly behind him (he played Nigel Pargetter in the radio soap The Archers for an incredible 27 years), award-winning actor and broadcaster Graham Seed continues to work extensively. Just starting out on a national tour, Graham plays Squadron Leader Swanson in Terence Rattigan’s Flare Path, directed by Justin Audibert.
“It’s going very well and we have a terrific
cast,” beamed Graham, a self-confessed Rattigan fan.
“As an actor I am really enjoying it because Rattigan writes such good characters; he just didn’t write bad parts. One of his best plays is The Deep Blue Sea and this has early elements of that. It’s rather delightful and I like the play enormously.”
Based on Rattigan’s own experiences as a tail gunner during World War II, the play is rooted in wartime Britain, where the life-and-death existence of the RAF bomber crews, and their wives and sweethearts who were on tenterhooks awaiting their return, created a permanent state of high anxiety. The story tells of former actress Patricia, the wife of RAF pilot Teddy. When Patricia’s ex‐lover and Hollywood idol Peter arrives out of the blue her emotions are thrown into turmoil and the survival of her marriage to Teddy becomes uncertain. As the conflict rages in the skies above, on terra firma feelings simmer, threatening to become every bit as explosive.
A romance with shades of Brief Encounter then? Graham nodded. “She has to decide what she’s going to do, but it does have humour, too. It’s a very evocative and powerful play.
“My character is quite funny and rather charming. He’s a frightfully good chap; full of that stiff upper lip phlegm.”
But in pitching his performance Graham has had to take care not to stray into parody. “If you did it wrong you’d be into Black Adder or Monty Python territory, which you don’t want at all.”
But it’s not just the good of the play that Graham is mindful about; he clearly has great respect for the real life pilots who carried out such dangerous missions.
“These boys were incredibly brave and they understated the danger always. The play is set against the backdrop of planes taking off and not coming back and at one point my character says: ‘we do owe these boys something.’ You can see why Churchill loved it. The Great War was so ghastly that it became romantic, but in the Second World War far more civilians were bombed.”
Mixing history with an intriguing story gives it broad appeal and the cast are delighted that Flare Path is attracting audiences of all ages.
“It’s definitely a play that is suitable for all the family and I do hope that lots of young people will come to see it,” said Graham, who admitted that these days he isn’t feeling as sprightly as he once was.
“I am suddenly feeling my age,” he confided. For years you’re the youngest in the company and now I’m suddenly the oldest – I’m about twenty years older than everyone else!”
But there’s something about this particular production that has had a rejuvenating effect on Graham. Botox? A bit of a nip-and-tuck? As it transpires nothing so drastic.
“I know it sounds slightly immature for a sixty-five-year-old man to say it, but it’s quite nice to put on an air force uniform. I look pretty chipper,” he teased, agreeing that any fella in a military uniform looks instantly dapper, even if they look like a bag of spanners. Not that Graham does, I hastily reassured him. Laughing off the unintended insult he said:
“It’s like evening dress – if you’re a woman and you suddenly look at your old man in evening dress you say ‘goodness he polishes up well!’ When my wife sees me in my RAF uniform I hope she thinks that there’s life in the old dog yet!”
Certainly on the work front he continues to have offers lined up and, although he is best remembered for The Archers, his CV is crammed with credible theatre, film and TV credits. “That’s because I’m so old,” he twinkled. “I’ve ducked and dived; I’m what they call a jobbing actor.”
As for life on tour, Graham doesn’t mind living out of a suitcase in the least.
“It’s rather romantic and like being with a family. For me, as an older member of the company, there’s a responsibility to make sure that everyone’s happy. But it’s a lovely way to see friends in other parts of the country and to visit wonderful theatres.”
With all the schlepping about he does for work, how does Graham relax?
“I find it very hard to relax,” he confessed. “I do What the Papers Say every other Sunday, so don’t get many Sunday’s off. You always worry about your next job and even at sixty-five I’m always worried that I’ll be found out. But I’m actually pretty content. Getting older makes you less ambitious; there are more important things, like your health. So now I am absolutely thrilled to play good supporting roles and to really enjoy them.”
Anxious that he doesn’t come across as “worthy” (he doesn’t), Graham believes that there is a duty to tour good plays around the country, especially to unsubsidised theatres.
Speaking of which, it was time for him to head off to transform himself into a fine young man in uniform for the evening performance.
“I’m revving up for chocks away,” he grinned, before adding: “It’s not a bad life.”
Indeed. And he’s a jolly good egg. A jolly good egg in a jolly good show. Go and see for yourself.
Official website: www.flarepaththetour.com
Twitter: @flarepathtour
Facebook: flarepaththetour