DISPAIR London and Depaul UK unite to create limited edition product with a difference.

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Innovative men’s footwear brand DISPAIR London has embarked on an exciting new collaboration
with Depaul UK, the largest national youth homelessness charity in the UK, to offer the opportunity
for one young person to be a guest designer of a limited edition DISPAIR London shoe.

A competition to submit design ideas was opened to the young people helped by Depaul UK with
100% of profits from the winning design going directly to Depaul UK.

With inspiration originating from the laid back streets of Spitalfields, DISPAIR London fully endorses
individualism, and is ideal for those who don’t feel the desire to conform, who are comfortable to lead
their own way in fashion.

Depaul UK helps young people who are homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged, and has helped
over 50,000 people since it was founded in 1989. While Depaul UK offers an immediate solution to
homelessness, Depaul UK protects young people who have become homeless, helps them to
progress beyond homelessness with training and employment schemes, and works with families to
prevent youth homelessness from happening in the first place.

The design competition proved to be hugely popular with well over the expected number of entrants.
The winner was chosen, a former resident of Depaul UK’s Simonside supported Newcastle
accommodation, with the design being put onto DISPAIR London’s most popular style, the
Winston, a loafer shoe with monk strap detailing.

DISPAIR London has since worked closely with Depaul UK and the competition winner on every
step of the process, offering the young person work experience in the fashion footwear industry and
being fully involved in the design process along the way.

The shoe will be part of DISPAIR London’s AW12 collection, available in navy, grey, off-white and
black. Hitting Topman stores in time for Christmas.

Francis West – Voyages, at the Piper Gallery

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The Piper Gallery, 18 Newman Street, London W1T 1PE
Private View: Thursday 6th September 2012, 6.30 – 8.30pm
Exhibition Dates: Friday 7th September – Friday 5th October 2012

Following the success of its debut show Then and Now in June 2012, The Piper Gallery is proud to present Voyages, an exhibition of work by Francis West. Born in 1936, West spent his childhood in a remote community on the Moray Firth in Scotland often working with his father’s fishing boats.

Some of his earliest visual memories are of tempestuous Scottish seascapes and the exhibition is formed around a series of voyages, centring on the sea cave in West’s Tempestas (1987/2012) where a turbulent wind swells the waves that carry the viewer out to a waiting ship. This belongs to West’s Palimpsests, a pivotal series of large-scale paintings dating from the early 1990s in which he deconstructed several of his earlier acclaimed expressionist pieces through frenzied over-working that sought to disrupt a sense of formal coherence. These came to represent West’s search for new, creative challenges.

Each voyage reflects the artist’s experience of real locations although West frequently employs metaphors of voyaging to explore his practice as an artist. He has described his lifelong commitment to painting and drawing as a challenging and risky quest. Although grounded in reality, West’s concepts remain tantalisingly elusive, blurring the boundaries of myth, dream, memory and experience bringing together the flotsam and jetsam of symbolic forms with fragments from poetry and historic painting. West comments on the emergence of figurative beings in this exchange, saying ‘sometimes I am surprised that these acts of deconstruction will pause around a formation which is reminiscent of a specific memory’. His often hybrid human-animal personae, reminiscent of Goya and Bacon, are suspended in a state of transition as West submits them to a process of mutation and erasure where they concurrently materialise and dissolve from the viewer’s vision.

This exhibition offers the viewer the opportunity to explore West’s voyages through several different series of work – some, as above, provide the adrenalin of fishing on a rough sea while others, of his recent Méditerranée series, with their limpid washes of pastel blues and aquamarine, afford the calm of sun-drenched beaches. These works intoxicate viewers, transporting them to the South of France with the reveries of Pierre Bonnard and the poetic pulses of André Gide. West also invokes a female entourage of enchantresses including characters reminiscent of Venus Rising, goddesses, sirens and Picasso’s Bathers.

Other works ensue from trips to the Mojave Desert or, like the Nocturnes, emerge from imagined dreamscapes in West’s Paris studio. Nocturnes are some of his most radical works, representing an internal voyage to the uncharted recesses of the subconscious. They depict an imaginary realm of unexplored forests and caverns which establish fertile womb-like habitats of grotesque flora and fauna.

Gallery Founder and Director Megan Piper says ‘This, our first solo show, gives us the opportunity to explore voyages, a theme pertinent to the ethos of the gallery. It’s exciting to be able to present a lesser-known artist whose recent work is energetic and fresh and whose maturity and experience means that he is able to explore the theme in a way a young artist would never be able to.’

Francis West – Voyages
Friday 7th September – Friday 5th October 2012
The Piper Gallery 18 Newman Street, London W1T 1PE
www.thepipergallery.com, www.twitter.com/thepipergallery
020 7148 0350

Opening Hours Tuesday-Saturday, 10am – 6pm
At other times by appointment

Admission Free

How to get there: The Piper Gallery is located on Newman Street. The nearest underground stations are Tottenham Court Road (on the Central and Northern lines), Oxford Circus Street (on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria line) and Goodge Street (on the Northern line). The nearest rail station is London Euston.

 

‘Re:Define’, The MTV Staying Alive Foundation’s Aids Benefit Art Exhibition And Auction, Returns To Dallas

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Free Public Exhibition from Thursday 13th – Friday 21st September 2012
VIP Gala Auction to Take Place on Saturday 22nd September 2012
The MTV Staying Alive Foundation has today announced that its flagship RE:DEFINE benefit art exhibition and auction will return to Dallas in 2012.

Hosted at The Goss-Michael Foundation and chaired by Jessica Olsson and Anna-Sophia Van Zweden, the free public exhibition will launch on Thursday 13th September 2012, culminating in the VIP gala auction on the evening of Saturday 22nd September 2012. All money raised will go towards the Foundation’s work empowering young people engaged in fighting the stigma, spread and threat of the HIV and AIDS epidemic through inspiring grantee projects around the world.

Debuting in September 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of AIDS, the sold-out VIP event raised over $700,000 for the charity, with original works of art from 30 prominent international artists including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Harland Miller and Shepard Fairey, as well as an electrifying live performance from The Boxer Rebellion.

Curated once again by The Future Tense, confirmed artists for 2012 include Michael Craig-Martin, Gérard Rancinan, Ryan McGinness, Ralf Kaspers, Jim Houser, Mat Collishaw, Ryan Gander, Charming Baker, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Chuck Elliott, James Hugonin and Jen Stark.

The accompanying silent auction features exclusive luxury packages including a bespoke furniture piece from 2011 Designer of the Year award winner, Lee Broom, a VIP package to the launch of Stella McCartney’s new collection in New York, a unique series of art-inspired jewellery by Royal Asscher and a private concert orchestrated by Musical America’s ‘Conductor of the Year 2012’, Jaap Van Zweden.

In keeping with the inclusive nature of the event, the free public exhibition will include curator tours, previews and artist talks, and a major public art installation in Dallas by emerging British artist, Lee Baker. The VIP gala reception will feature an auction of key lots led by Phillips de Pury chairman, Simon de Pury, a painting performance by artist Dave White and an exciting live music act. Those unable to attend the auction in person will be able to place absentee bids via the Internet or telephone – please visit www.mtvredefine.com for more information.

“After last year’s incredibly successful inaugural event, we are thrilled to come back and partner once again with such renowned artists from around the world in support of the Foundation,” said Georgia Arnold, Executive Director of The MTV Staying Alive Foundation. “Their enormous generosity and contribution will help us to continue to empower young people who are dedicated to fighting the stigma, spread and threat of the epidemic for many years to come. We are truly thankful for this.”

Support for RE:DEFINE 2012 comes from a range of premium partners including headline sponsor, The Joule Hotel, event sponsor Neiman Marcus, media sponsor D Magazine, luxury spirits sponsor Belvedere Vodka and gift bag sponsor IC Berlin.

“Headington Companies on behalf of The Joule hotel are both excited and honoured to be the title sponsors of MTV’s 2012 RE:DEFINE event in partnership with The Future Tense and The Goss-Michael Foundation,” said Michael Tregoning, CFO of Headington Companies. “Not only is the mission of MTV’s Staying Alive foundation one that we find deeply compelling, but it also provides us the opportunity to work with the extraordinarily talented people at all three organizations.”

Londoner’s Life – Overheard 38 by Phil Ryan

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Ho hum I’m a bit tired. But I have just got back from Amsterdam as I had a festival to play. And of course now I’m in new mode I had to get my new column together. So just to let you know Airports are great but very surreal! I was spoilt for choice as I flew out of Gatwick. Returned via Heathrow. And on my return I got this brief one travelling to Paddington on the Heathrow Express. Two city looking types watching the on board TV screen showing some coverage of the Paralympics.
Guy one “Being blind is that a disability?” Guy two “Huh? Nah not really. Mind I dunno. It’s not like you lost your legs or anything. Still it must be a drag eh?” Guy one “What being blind or losing your legs?” Guy two “Er both but losing a leg must be bad eh I mean how d’you chat up girls. It’s gotta be a bit of a passion killer right? Being blind you can just wear shades and look cool all the time”….
But the main show this week was in a café in Amsterdam on Sunday morning. An English tourist couple with a map spread out…
Middle aged guy Guy in Red cagoule “Barry didn’t rate the Van Gogh museum at all. Said it smelt funny Barbara” Woman in matching red cagoule ”Oh dear that’s bad. Barry knows his smells you know. Remember he told you about Windsor Castle and the smell of wee” Guy in Red cagoule “Yes and a good job we listened what with your asthma eh? Right it has to be the Rijksmuseum then. It’s on the list. Funny that. It sounds kind of German like Third Reich or something. You’d think someone would have noticed. I mean it could offend some people might even put them off mighten it. Specially Jewish people?” They then spoke almost in unison “Put it in the visitors book” They both chuckled at this. Women in red cagoule “God bless the visitors books I mean how many is it we’ve done this year. Thirty I think don’t you” Man in red cagoule “Hm not sure love but we let them know don’t we – don’t we though. They’re probably very grateful for our comments you know. They rely on them I’m sure. It must be tricky for them – you know how odd the public can be” Woman in red cagoule flaps the map “Yes I’m sure you’re right. So then lunch by that canal bridge don’t you think. The one with the park full of lizards nearby” Man in red cagoule “Lizards oh you are a silly billy dear they were iguanuas. Really lizards love tut tut” They both chuckle again. Man in red cagoule continues “Are we having the pancakes from yesterday?” Woman in red cagoule “No I threw them at that Japanese couple….
I had to leave at this point as I’d got the bill.
She did what!!!!!!!!!!

TUTU MAKES A STAND – Calls for Bush and Blair to be Tried Over Iraq

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Writing in the Observer on Sunday, former Noble Peace Prize Winner Desmond Tutu has called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be tried over the Iraq war.

The move follows Tutus decision to pull out of a leadership summit in Johannesburg because he refused to be on the same stage as Tony Blair. He wrote, ‘I couldn’t sit with someone who justified the invasion of Iraq with a lie’.

Tutu has been active in the defense of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. He has campaigned to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.

He is most famous for his role during apartheid where he played a huge part in bringing about an end to the oppressive regime.

Tutu’s protests and actions were always peaceful. He was critical of the violent tactics of some anti-apartheid groups such as the African National Congress and he always advocated for the reconciliation of all parties. His actions led to him being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

In his article Tutu writes of the, ‘even greater costs that have been exacted beyond the killing fields’. Tutus greatest concern is the deepening divide between West and East. The actions in Iraq have made terrorist attacks more and not less likely and may now lead to war in Iran as well.

This action is typical of Tutu. He has never been afraid to speak out. Although he probably knows there is no chance Bush and Blair will ever face trial at the Hague he is trying to pull the East and West together. I think this article has as much to do with Iran as anything else. This is a conflict Tutu clearly fears.

In response to the article, Mr Blair issued a strongly worded defence. He maintained that he had never lied over weapons of mass destruction.

Pressure on Blair and Bush increased as Human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman told BBC Radio 4 the Iraq war was an illegal aggressive war.

It’s now almost certain that the war was illegal because it breached the UN Charter provisions which say that all member of the United Nations must refrain from the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

Lord Faulkner disagreed

“The dispute between Geoffrey and myself would be whether or not resolution 1441 did or did not authorise war and we say that it did.

However Faulkner’s argument is severely weakened by the attempts of Britain and the US to secure a second resolution to justify military action. They ultimately failed to do so and this implies in my mind that resolution 1441 was not enough by itself and everyone knew that. Indeed speaking in 2004 former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan said, ‘I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN Charter. From our point of view, from the charter point of view it was illegal.’

Doctor Who: Series 7

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CONTAINS SPOILERS!

1. Asylum Of The Daleks

“Is it bad to say how much I’ve missed this,” asks Amy, as Doctor Who returned to our screens, mirroring the thoughts of millions across the UK and world. Yes, the Timelord finally reappeared on BBC1, last seen saving Christmas (again).

And returning too were the iconic Daleks, with the production team boasting this series opener would see every variation of those pesky pepper-pots on screen together for the first time. However, a simple nostalgia-fest this was not, and while Doctor Who has fallen deeply into decades worth of its’ own mythology in the past, this was all about moving the current story arc forward, as part of Steven Moffat’s master-plan.

Picking up where we left off last year, the universe believes the Doctor to be a dead man, a legend in the past-tense, all designed to prevent “The Question” being asked. But there are those who know better, including the Daleks themselves. Reuniting the Timelord with Amy and Rory, now seen suffering marriage issues, they make a simple request – save the Dalek race. The monsters of Skaro are now living in fear – deep in their Asylum, a place where the maddest of all the genocide-loving race reside, is a secret threatening their entire existence. Terrified of their own insane, they decide to send the one thing they fear more… The Doctor himself.

“You think hatred is beautiful?”

Ah yes. This is the start of Matt Smith’s third series in the title role. A faultless performance where the Doctor is forced to express more humanity than he would for a Timelord – including hate, fear and a surprising understanding of human relationships for an awkward alien who is now over 1,100 years old. It’s going to be exciting to see where he’s going to go next with the role, as the story arc begins to take the character into uncharted territory.

Running parallel to this is the beginning of the end for the Ponds. When we rejoin Amy and Rory, they are still in London and on the brink of divorce; the ramifications of the last year’s events at Demon’s Run bringing their relationship to near-collapse. Deeply ingrained in all of Moffat’s work has always been the sense of what it means to be a couple in a relationship and that was very much on show here. With the Ponds heading to their final days in the TARDIS, I’m sure we’ll see more sparkling dialogue, heart-breaking moments and cracking interplay from Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. Their marriage domestics not only emotional ground the audience as the show goes all-out SF-Fantasy, but also helps take us inevitably towards their exit…

“What do you know of the Dalek Asylum?”

This is less of the action spectacle the trailers promised and more of a body horror survival story including mad Daleks, augmented human slaves and, yes, even undead zombies. Chillingly designed within family-friendly limits to bring back the fear factor to Saturday nights, director Nick Hurran and the production team not only evoke horror classics such as The Thing, they also bring and surpass the cinematic spectacle we now expect from modern Who. The Parliament of the Daleks will live in your mind for a long time to come, as will the ruinous landscapes of Skaro. Long-time fans will query the return of the Dalek home world; perhaps it was restored when the Universe got ‘rebooted’ at the end of Series 5? Unless something else is afoot…

Steven Moffat’s confidence as show-runner was on display here, keeping the story-telling linear (but, as we’ll see, not without at least one major timey-whimey surprise), tackling the Daleks fully for the first time since he took the reigns of the show and very much in a serious and emotional way. Treating TV’s most familiar villains with a new spin is never easy, yet here it was simply remembered a Dalek best effects the viewer when it’s written as a well-rounded, devious, clever, murderous maniac. And now we got to meet the most insane of the insane.

Dalek stories are an unique collection within Doctor Who episodes themselves. While this never tops the heights of previous classics – the psychological face off in Dalek (2005), the apocalyptic invasion The Stolen Earth (2008), the murky morality of Genesis Of The Daleks (1975), the issues of eugenics, fascism and racism in Remembrance Of The Daleks (1988) – Moffat broadly sketches enough of those elements to shade the Asylum to remind you why they not only make great TV, but also why they make great villains. Treated with fear and respect, plus with the darker edge to Smith’s performance and the maturer emotional arc of the Ponds seen here, you can only wonder what already-spooky Asylum would have been like if written for a later time slot and an older audience. The Daleks en mass were returned to their grass roots – fascist killing machines, prepared to create an entire concentration camp-style planet for those of their race that even they could not control, yet also could not destroy. The thought of Daleks driven mad beyond acceptable limits but still being considered too beautiful to destroy is a sickening one. That they further had to be preserved in a Dalek Hell rather than purged from existence showed another surprising and odious development in their characters.

“Hello, hello, come in Carmen, hello?”

Now we have to turn to the biggest development; if you don’t want to know, look past this bit…

***MAJOR SPOILER***

The secret threat at the heart of the Asylum was also the biggest secret of the story. Oswin Oswald, the survivor of a ship-wrecked Alaska, maker of Soufflés, lover of Carmen the Opera – played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Yes, the SAME Jenna-Louise Coleman who joins the TARDIS this Christmas as new companion Clara. Or does she? Not sure now. Or has she already? Her dialogue suggests this is not the case. Will she? Ummm… Are they one and the same? Your brain is going explodey-whodey too, right? And as for the reveal that prevented her joining the Doctor in the TARDIS at the end… It’s seriously enticing in terms of what happens next, especially give her final actions. Some could argue Moffat may be repeating the story tropes he used with River Song, but surely there has to be more to it than that?

“Remember me.”

Aside from the obvious questions, Jenna-Louise gives a fantastic turn, all broad smiles, sparkly eyes, clever wit and charming bisexual flirts, leaving viewers excited for her arrival full-time, promising a great début/return/re-introduction/lamp-shading [delete as applicable, in a few years time] on the cards for this Christmas. However, until then, everyone will be left scratching their heads to work out how this all fits together – and I imagine that Christmas will not bring us the answers immediately either. Bravo to Team Who for managing to keep this big spoiler very secret; Jenna-Louise has arrived in style.

***MAJOR SPOILER ENDS***

Finally… three words to those of a certain age who remembered it the first time: Special. Weapons. Dalek.

 

VERDICT:
The Doctor is back and very much on form. Roll on next week…

 

Next Week:
“Dinosaurs. On A Spaceship!”

Best Line:
Doctor: “The soufflés. Seriously, is no-one wondering about that??”

Best Moment:
The Daleks in a completely bemused state at the end.

Rhymey-Whimey:
“Explodey-Whodey!”

Wibbley-Wobbley Timey-Whimey:
Oswin Oswald. Let’s see how this one makes sense…

The Grand Moff Masterplan:

“Doc. Tor. Who?” …It is *the* question, after all.

 

 

Can’t sell Cole to Newcastle

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With a car crash last week which left her with a bloody nose and her arm in a sling, things are going from bad to worse for Cheryl with tickets to her Newcastle show being ditched in her home town, with some tickets being listed on viagogo, Europe’s largest ticket marketplace,  below face value for just £25.

 

Despite being born and raised just around the corner from Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena where she’ll be performing on 16th and 17th October, it appears the Geordie’s are unshore and will not be Calling her Name in the crowd.

 

Viagogo’s Ed Parkinson said: “It’s seems that the saying is ringing true – you can’t sell Cole to Newcastle.  We’re really surprised to see that even top seats are selling for less than their face value for Cheryl’s upcoming tour dates and anyone looking to bag a last minute bargain could get themselves some amazing seats.”

 

Gain Experience with the Cisco Design Certification Exams

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Become certified in one of the most popular and useful areas that Cisco has to offer. The design pathway can be mastered by becoming an associate, professional, or expert. Hands-on skill experience and knowledge of network design is required; prior to taking the exam, it is highly recommended that participants take advantage of the numerous training resources available through Cisco, along with the comprehensive practice exams offered by http://www.testslive.com/.

The Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA) certification can be attained by passing the 640-864 DESGN examination. Although no prerequisites are required, knowledge from the CCNA and CCNP levels of network switching will appear. The certification will validate the ability to design network infrastructures (switched and routed) and technologies. Obtaining the CCD Professional certification is only possible by passing three exams: 642-874 ARCH, 642-902 ROUTE, and 642-813 SWITCH. Each will cover specific information; advanced network design concepts and fundamentals will be assumed. The internetwork expert certification requires a passing score on the CCDE written exam and practical exam.

Exam information can be found under each certification area in the Learning section of the Cisco website. Earning any of the above exams is a major benefit when confronting employers. A Cisco certification is a strong representation of proper knowledge within the IT profession, and having one in possession can be the one thing that earns you a high-status, high paying job. Train, study, experience, and put your knowledge to the test with a design certification exam.