The Bestselling England Football Autobiographies | Books

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Frostie

Amazon.co.uk has revealed the bestselling England football autobiographies – and David Beckham is only sixth!

Gary Neville tops the list, with David Beckham only making it to number six and Brian Clough beating Bobby Robson to the manager’s job

Looking at England’s players and managers, both past and present, the ranking takes into account print and ebook autobiography sales. Amazon has revealed the top 10 best sellers and translated the list into a full team starting lineup – in a 4-5-1 formation.

The Amazon Autobiography Starting Line Up is:

Stan Collymore

(11)

Paul Gascoigne

(7)

Paul Scholes Steven Gerrard Bobby Charlton David Beckham

(4) (2) (5) (6)

Stuart Pearce Tony Adams Jamie Carragher Gary Neville

(16) (12) (3) (1)

Peter Shilton

(25)

Brian Clough

(Manager) (10)

The Amazon.co.uk Top 10 bestselling autobiographies are:

1. Gary Neville – Red: My Autobiography
2. Steven Gerrard – Gerrard: My Autobiography
3. Jamie Carragher – Carra: My Autobiography
4. Paul Scholes – Scholes: My Story
5. Bobby Charlton – My Manchester United Years
6. David Beckham – David Beckham
7. Paul Gascoigne – Gazza: My Story
8. Frank Lampard – Totally Frank: The Autobiography of Frank Lampard
9. Brian Clough – Clough, The Autobiography
10. Bobby Robson – Farewell but not Goodbye: May Autobiography

How many have you read?

Patricia Byrne Dies Aged 80

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Errol Clarke

Better known as Patsy Byrne, born on July 13, 1933 in Ashford, Kent, England. Easily remembered for one role that is iconic… “Nursie”(Bernard) in Blackadder!

Patsy was married to Patrick John Seccombe from 1967 until his death in 2000. It is with a saddened heart that we lose an icon on 17 June 2014 at Denville Hall, a retirement home for performers in Northwood, London. She was 80. She leaves behind her 6 step-children.

Her career spanned from 1962, The Cherry Orchard, all the way to 2006 on Holby City. Her range of acting was vast and was even on BBC’s children TV shows, as well as dramas and, of course, comedies.

Her talent is not restricted to the screen, but having toured the with the RSC, where Patsy met her husband, she also doubled as an assistant stage manager, at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch. Later taking acting roles at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, and eventually the Royal Court in London. In 1998, Patsy played the character, “Toussaint” in Les Miserable.

The only daughter of a railway engineer, Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne was born on July 13 1933 at Ashford, Kent, and educated at Ashford Grammar School for Girls. After studying Drama at the Rose Bruford College.

Patsy Byrne revealed that the Queen’s nurse’s real name was Bernard, apparently an in-joke inspired by the Conservative politician Bernard Jenkin.

Her loss is to the industry will not be forgotten and immortalised as her character in Blackadder, she will live on and thankfully bring a smile as big as hers! With Rik Mayall (Lord Flasheart) also passing through the veil, I am sure they will be banding together making jokes and more laughter with their own sketches.

Thank you, Patsy, may you hold your head high, as you leave a legacy most actors only dream of.

The Noodle House London Restaurant Review

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

I love Asian food so was absolutely delighted when we were invited to review the newly opened Southeast Asian restaurant The Noodle House on Shaftesbury Avenue. The decor looks great and it is busy. It may be newly opened but it already has found plenty of customers. It is not a tourist trap however, it has enough calm to be an enjoyable experience. We start off with some cocktails. We have the Moonshadow: vodka, lillet blanc, chrysanthemum, jasmine tea syrup and a Hit The Rojak: tequila, kamm & sons, star fruit juice, apple juice, Rojak syrup and lime. Both cocktails are great. Delicious and unique.

For starters I have the Crispy Calamari: Crispy fried calamari seasoned with sea salt and Szechuan pepper served with chilli dipping sauce and my colleague had the Si Racha Prawns: Tempura style prawns served with our signature spicy mayo. The crispy calamari is delicious and comes with a great sauce. The prawns are amazing, very generous in size and the sauce is great. It has a bit of a kick to it. Both starters are great and the portion size is generous. The waiter is good at recommending food and really knows his stuff. Although he didn’t realise what a wimp I am when it comes to spice!

For our mains we have the Javanese Nasi Goreng: Wok-fried rice with prawns, chilli, spring onions and Sambal Belachan, topped with a fried egg, served with two chicken satay skewers and prawn crackers and the Bakmi Goreng: Udon noodles with chicken, prawns, bean sprouts, cabbage, pak choi, eggs and a sweet chilli ginger sauce, garnished with spring onions and fried banana shallots. For our sides we have the Broccoli: Tenderstem broccoli with oyster sauce and Fried Jasmine Rice: Wok-fried jasmine rice with chicken, prawns, bean sprouts, eggs, chilli and Thai basil.

The Javanese Nasi Goreng is something to behold. It has absolutely everything in it and a fried egg on top. The chicken satay skewers are tasty, as are the prawn crackers, the fried egg, the whole shebang. This is also spicy although there are plenty of things you can order at the Noodle House which are not spicy. The Bakmi Goreng is a great noodle dish which also has a generous amount of ingredients. It is amazing. Really great.

I also loved the Fried Jasmine Rice we have for our side and the broccoli is also good. If we thought the starters were a decent size, the mains and the sides were even more generous. We could just have had those and nothing else. We end up taking what we don’t eat away in a doggy bag.

We order more cocktails. The amazing Bayside Bellini: Kamm & sons, spiced Asian pear, orgeat & prosecco. and Spice Island Iced Tea: Gin, spiced tea gin, lemon, abbots bitters & ginger ale. The Bayside Bellini is absolutely brilliant. All you need to know is that it is a champagne cocktail with an Asian twist. Wonderful.

For dessert we have the Sweet Sharing Plate: a sample of the Lime & Ginger Cheescake, mango coconut pudding and banana spring rolls. Each one is amazing and unique. Just incredibly good and comes with a brilliant ice-cream.

We then finished with some tea. Fruity Fresh Hibiscus: an infusion made from a blend of Hibiscus, orange flowers, rosehip, sea buckthorn berries & lemon verbena. A pink brew that is sweet, fresh and hydrating. A mix of flowers and fruit. This is great tea, I could drink it everyday. Downstairs there is more seating and a bar and you can see all of the Noodle House’s amazing tea in large jars.

The Noodle House is a great restaurant. The service is amazing, the waiters are friendly and knowledgeable, the food is amazing and unique as is their cocktails and tea. Prices are reasonable, from low to high. I highly recommend The Noodle House and will be going back.

The Noodle House, 117 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8AD / 0203 725 5777

Top Schools ‘Too Dominant’ In Acting

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Frostie

Sir Peter Bazalgette, the chairman of Arts Council England, has said that the British film and TV industries are ‘too dominated’ by actors who have gone to private schools and that state school pupils have too few opportunities to have a career in the arts.

He told the Sheffield Doc/Fest: “I personally don’t see why all the male actors getting Baftas should come from Eton, Good for them, and great actors, but why should they all come from Eton?”

Damien Lewis went to Eton.

Actors who went to Eton include Damian Lewis, Dominic West, Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Redmayne. Actors who went to other private schools include Rory Kinnear, who went to St Paul’s, Benedict Cumberbatch, who went to Harrow and Hugh Bonneville, who attended Sherborne.

12 Years A Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor went to Dulwich College – where Sir Peter went to school.

“Seven per cent of the population go to private schools, and in those private schools they get an absolutely, crackingly good education in the performing and visual arts. Ninety-three per cent don’t go to those private schools and, in some state schools, people get a wonderful education in visual and performing arts as well. But in quite a lot of them they don’t.

Visual performing arts have been marginalised in some areas in the curriculum as the curriculum becomes more instrumentalist and focused on what’s known as the Stem agenda – science, technology, engineering and maths. If there is one message, we say Steam, not Stem – put the ‘a’ for arts in.”

Dame Helen Mirren also recently warned that acting was becoming the “prerogative only of kids who have money”.

Check out Frost editor, Catherine Balavage’s, new book, How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming An Actorprenur, which tells you how to become an actor, no matter what your background.

What do you think?

Stephanie Kwolek: A Biography

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Errol Clarke

Stephanie Kwolek was born to Polish immigrant parents in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, July 31st 1923.

In 1946, Stephanie earned a degree in chemistry from Margaret Morrison Carnegie College of Carnegie Mellon University. She had planned to become a doctor and hoped she could earn enough money from a temporary job in a chemistry-related field to attend medical school. Stephanie initially only intended to work for DuPont temporarily, she found the work interesting enough to stay and not pursue a medical career.

Kevlar, which Stephanie Kwolek invented.

Stephanie Kwolek is the inventor who pioneered a technology used in protecting many soldier and police! She was working for DuPont, a chemical company, when she managed to figure out how to produce the super-strong compound in 1964. But it took Stephanie, who joined DuPont in 1946, 15 years to score a promotion! It took until 1999 until she received recognition for the achievement, but she was extremely humble and not bitter saying, “If you were ambitious and applied yourself, you could acquire a great deal of knowledge. There were a lot of bright, creative men. This made the atmosphere in which I worked so stimulating and so enjoyable.”

Stephanie Kwolek solved a problem other scientists had not. Extremely rigid polymers like the ones the chemists worked with were very hard to dissolve. But Stephanie Kwolek came up with a chemical solution that, when spun a certain way, came out bundled with all the fibres twisted in one direction.

Stephanie knew immediately she’d come up with something big. She though, “the whole thing was very exciting, let me tell you. The stiffness was absolutely spectacular. That’s when I said, “Aha.” I knew then and there it was an important discovery.”

Kevlar was so much stronger than DuPont’s previous inventions, the company had to get a new machine to measure its toughness.

So why am I reporting all this and making it an article? The problem is that Stephanie Kwolek died June 18^th 2014 and I had to do some extensive research to see why the UK newspapers had not covered this story!

As an ex-military man myself, I owe her for the practical implication that I have had the pleasure of working throughout my service career. And the life saving properties during the conflicts. So I feel saddened that considering our lives have been changed on such a dramatic scale that she has had no kudos, coverage, or even a mention that is worthy of a pioneer and an amazing woman.

I could write on about how magnificent her achievement is and given the era, she had to work against a male dominated field and the money DuPont would have made in her stead would have been significant, to say the least! I am almost certain that you are wearing, or have worn something made by this woman and not have even known the history behind her.

Stephanie Kwolek has done few interviews and when she has, she has always seemed happier to have done the invention than to have been recognised for it and I think ending this article on a quote will sum up the woman and how grateful I am to her.

I raise a glass in the celebration of the understated magnificence of Stephanie Kwolek and you have the last word on how revered you are.

“At least, I’m hoping I’m saving lives. There are very few people in their careers that have the opportunity to do something to benefit mankind.”

Stephanie Kwolek died June 21^st 2014, aged 90

Make a Pretty Rosette Brooch To Go With Any Outfit

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Maggie Robb

To celebrate summer, Maggie Robb from Made by Maggie will be sharing some of her favourite seasonal makes. They’re simple enough for everyone to try and you’ll love the results. Visit her on Facebook MadebyMaggie07 for more making tips and lovely stuff.

This month – Up-cycle pretty fabric scraps into an eye-catching rosette brooch.

“I totally love making these brooches – they’re a great way to use up the scraps from my other projects and it’s very satisfying piecing the rosettes together and choosing their centres from my stash of vintage buttons. You can make the rosettes as big or as little as you like, and also use them to embellish t-shirts, bags, children’s clothes- your whole world!”

What you’ll need –

Scraps of Fabric in contrasting colours, patterns and textures.

Ribbons and buttons

Wool felt for the backing

Needle and thread

Scissors and Pinking sheers

Brooch clasp (can be found in craft shops like Hobbycraft)

First, cut out three different sized circles from your fabrics. I use cardboard templates with diameters of 16, 13 and 9 cm but you can also draw round anything handy you have at home – a cereal bowl makes a great large rosette and a mug or glass is good for a smaller size. The general rule is that your finished rosette will be approximately half the size of your ‘raw’ circle.

Next, fold over the edge of your first fabric circle and sew a narrow hem with a running stitch.

Gently pull your thread tight to gather up your rosette – smoothing the fabric with your fingers to create neat and even pleats. Thick fabrics like tweed or velvet work better with a larger circle but silks and Liberty Lawn and other thin fabrics can be smaller. Secure your rosette with a couple of stitches.

Now for the fun bit! Once you’ve got two or three different sized rosettes you can start assembling your brooch. Choose a centre piece for it from your stash of buttons or pop down to your local fabric or craft shop and choose something – buttons with ‘shank’ fastenings at the back rather than holes can be especially effective. You need to place your rosettes pleated side up to achieve the ruched rosette effect. Secure your layers and button in place with a couple of stitches.

To sew a set of ‘tails’ onto the back of your rosette select a couple of lengths of matching ribbon of different widths. Cut them to the desire length and trim the ends to an arrow to avoid fraying. Attach to the back of your base rosette so that they cross over with a few stiches.

To give your brooch a professional finish cut a circle of felt in a matching shade using pinking shears (zig zag scissors!) to achieve an attractive and non-fraying edge, and sew in place on the back of your brooch using a simple running or back stitch. It’s a good idea to pin your felt circle in place before you start to sew.

Then attach your pin fastener two thirds up and in the middle of your felt circle. And you’re done!

You can experiment using stripy fabrics, porcelain buttons or even cover your own with fabric or snippets of embroidery using self-covering buttons (try any haberdashers or craft store or online) for a really personalized effect. The brooches look great on coats, dresses or even pinned to canvas bags. Or sew a selection onto a t-shirt for you or a little friend! When making rosettes for young children to wear, leave out buttons as these could be a choking hazard.

Next month…… Join Maggie as she shows you how to make a cute little tape-measure holder out of scraps of felt.

Matsuri dining experience.

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Errol Clarke

With the Editor busy juggling her wedding, other assignments and Frost Magazine; I was only too happy to help relieve her of having to go to Matsuri, St James’s Restaurant to review their special invitation and thank her dearly for it. It started with a warm welcome from Emma and Jane from FML PR, in the authentic Japanese lounge. A glass of champagne (a Canard-Duchene, which is a Cuvee Leonie Brut) and informative conversation about Matsuri was anything but generic and was in depth and knew who to call on, should any question be out of ordinary. Not every topic was about Matsuri as a business, as the food was an important topic. When we were lead downstairs to the Teppan-yaki seating, where we were formally sat courtesy of the amazing staff, at horse-shoe tables, which are simplified elegance.

With all the guests seated, restaurant’s President, Yoshinori Hatta welcomed us and gave a brief chat about the restaurant and their history and their business partners. All very traditional and authentic, as the only thing I didn’t get was a business card at the end, this is very Japanese. Matsuri has been running for over 20 years successfully in London. Their motto is, “We serve the heart of Japanese hospitality”, something that was evident from the entry to the building to seating. Hatta-sama (Japanese courtesy) introduced the Head Chef, Mr Kishi (Kishi-san) who was preparing the Yellowtail sushi, as he was being introduced and was at speed to match the starter as it was being brought to the tables. Kishi-san was appointed head chef March 2014 with the relaunch of the restaurant’s sushi bar. Having being trained as a French chef, Kishi-san went on to cook for numerous celebrities and government guests in Tokyo and London. He even created the Matsuri St James’s first sushi course called, “Sushi Kaiseki”. This is prepared daily and served fresh from preparation.

I can attest to that amazing preparation. The delicious starter comprised of 2 kinds of Nigiri, a half sushi with tuna and the Yellowtail prepared by Head Chef Kishi-san. This was accompanied with a Kikkoman Soy Sauce (As it is one of the restaurant’s business partners) and some a little wasabi.

The Tempura part of the starter was assorted vegetables and prawn. All were exceedingly light and absolutely delicious.

Whilst we were enjoying the starters, the Sommelier, Riccardo Guzzardo, gave a little history of the Chardonnay, which was a Chablis called, “Dom. Gerard Tremblay”. A premier Cru Montmain 2011. Like the starters, it was light, refreshing and surprising! Whilst I was expecting good food, I was reminded that everything was not designed to fill me and be so I could not move afterward. For the first impressions of dining, I was happy and the people around the table were happy with all that was presented to them and were talking as though they were all there as friends and totally relaxed. The mark of a well orchestrated arena for fine dining and cuisine. Emma and Jane were also interacting and making sure we were all enjoying ourselves and the clean plates and happy faces were also met with grins and toast. Before we could all rest on our laurels, the Teppan-yaki chefs were back to start the next course. This started with Alaskan Black Cod marinated in ginger. All were cooked in front of the guests, which I think is brave of any chef. The smell and taste of the cod was beautifully tangy, but not overpowering the natural taste of cod and even the skin was as perfectly cooked as the cod itself.

A Sake had been introduced to the table in the form of “Houraisen – WA”. It is a cold sake and was crisp and subtle. Not harsh on the palate, but almost like a cleanser, with a hint of elderflower. Next was the piece of meat that everyone was either staring at, or taking pictures of… The Txogitxu Galician Beef Steak… No, it was not just for one person, but it had the look of a real steak that should be on the Flintstones! Yes, I took pictures, as it was a spectacle to behold! With asparagus, seasonal mushrooms and garlic butter and egg fried rice…

I cannot tell you how many people sighed with delight, as i was too busy enjoying my own! By the way, if you don’t like your beef done t rare, remember to tell the chef, as you will be missing out on a wonderful experience, should you decide to forego it because of the small oversight. Riccardo had introduced a very surprising red wine to go with the beef, which goes by the name of “Etna (Nerello Cappuccio, Nerello Mascalase) 2012”. A very nutty I Vigneri from Sicily, obviously, and is a blend of 2 grapes, which gives it a distinctive taste. Add to that the fertile volcanic soil and you have a very impressive red, which was to everyone’s liking! Even though everyone as expecting dessert, it was great to see the chefs back in action on the stove for a fireball ice-cream! Yes, you read correctly. Blocks of vanilla ice-cream are flambéed with Sake, grilled pineapple and a thin pancake, it was a real treat to watch and eat. To accompany this an amazing plum Sake was pour and Riccado gave details to the fermenting period and how much work went into each bottle. Many described the taste akin to marzipan, but I think that if you replace the taste of almond with plum then you would not be too far off. I don’t think there was enough to go around, as people were asking for more! It is called, “Umenoyado Aragoshi” Umeshu is Plum Wine.

One person I should mention is Cristoforo Santiini. He is the manager and an amazing man! He speaks Italian, English and Japanese fluently and made sure everything ran smoothly, came and talked to everyone. I even got a chance to exercise my Japanese, which was nothing compared to the level of Cristoforo’s. He was always there, but not interfering and kept the ship, as it were, sailing beautifully and without any incidents. Naturally people left happy with no dip in atmosphere and hospitality was experienced in any form.

Details of Matsuri St James’s can be found at www.matsuri-restaurant.com all opening times and menus can be read there.

Frost Magazine would love to thank FML Public Relations www.fml-pr.co.uk for inviting Frost to experience authentic Japanese cuisine.

Inspirational Jim Carrey Video Goes Viral, And Rightly So

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

This video is Jim Carrey on how his late father inspired him to follow his dreams. Jim Carrey is very inspirational, I recommend you read his biography, he worked very hard to get where he is, he came up from nothing and it took him years to become successful. Watch the video. It’s great.

What do you think?