One Of These Days Festival – First announcement

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8th + 9th December 2012
Winter Gardens, Blackpool
www.oneofthesedaysfestival.com

One Of These Days will capture the essence of Field Day, Oya Festival, Melt!, Kendal Calling, Glastonbury Dance Village, Electric Elephant, End of The Road, DFA Records, SWN Festival, The Warehouse Project, Now Wave, Free Rotation, Eden Sessions, Fiber Festival, and Shambala to create a truly unique experience in the suitably elaborate and legendary Blackpool Winter Gardens, in the shadow of the Blackpool Tower. One other major international festival’s participation is yet to be announced.

One Of These Days will be two days like no other in the international festival calendar. Never have so many of the world’s best events come together to create a one-off spectacular and the look and feel of each event will be distilled and brought to Blackpool and allowed to explode aurally and visually into the many rooms of the Winter Gardens. Each festival will bring their unique ethos and style to their own individually designed space at the legendary multi-venue indoor complex, curating a line-up that reflects their own celebrated events. From the spectacular Cubehenge light installation of Glastonbury to the indoor forests of End of the Road and the Croatian beaches of Electric Elephant, each festival will bring a taste of the place they call home to Blackpool.

From the big stage draws of Melt! Festival and Eden Sessions to the electronic innovation of The Warehouse Project, Glastonbury Dance Village and DFA and the folk inclinations of End of the Road and SWN Festival, you’re sure to find plenty to explore. With over 150 bands, artists and DJs, not to mention interactive art and film installations, an emerging talent strand and our exclusive Winter Market, One Of These Days promises to end the year in spectacular fashion.

One of These Days will help kick start the cultural redevelopment of Blackpool, it aims to bring this world first event to the seaside town and utilise Blackpool’s existing infrastructure of beautiful Victorian theatres and bars that stretch the coastline.

“We were going around the world to many different festivals seeing really unique ways of doing things. We decided to invite these wonderful festivals to the party. Our vision is to have one site where each space within it is filled by a micro-version of each festival, not just musically, but visually – capturing the essence of each festival. We aimed high and asked the festivals we love to come to Blackpool. They said yes…”
– Ruth Daniel, Promoter, One Of These Days

Weekend tickets from £59 now at www.ticketline.co.uk 0161 832 1111

Buy tickets or register for line-up info here: www.oneofthesedaysfestival.com

Wayne Rooney: is he thinning again?

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After spending £30,000 on his hair transplant in June 2011, Wayne Rooney’s hair transplant is always making headlines with recent being that it appears to be thin again. However Harley street hair loss expert Warren Vaheeswaran thinks otherwise. He thinks that Wayne’s Hair transplant has changed the UK hair industry for the better. A year on Wayne’s hair has shown good steady progress. The FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) method that was used on has been a great favourite with celebrities and sport stars flocking around Harley street just like popping around to the dentists to get their teeth whitened says Warren.

Just 12 months since the procedure was done, concern for the condition of the transplant has been highlighted in the media as getting worse which surprised Warren. He emphasised that hair transplants will never give a full head of hair. Wayne had a good transplant done and used hair loss fibres to thicken it up. Its medically impossible to have a full head of hair unless you take a non surgical hair system route. So when he was filmed without the fibres long hair the media highlighted it. But the real truth is he has had a very good 7000 to 8000 hairs transplanted over 2 days in Harley street & using fibres to keep it thick summarises Warren.

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Londoners life – Overheard by Phil Ryan

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This week’s offering from my new delve into the London psyche. I’m collecting bits of chats and conversations I overhear as I drift around this great city of ours. And I’m finding utterly compelling bits of stuff that leaves me marvelling at what goes in in some people’s heads. I was sitting in a café off Bond Street with a friend waiting for the rain to stop so we could go to a meeting. My friend had to deal with an email so I fiddled with my phone skimming through some photos I’d taken. The place was virtually empty and outside the rain misted up the windows. I glanced up when I caught the fragment of conversation from two young looking guys one carrying what looked like a Cello case who were sitting about two tables away. I guessed they were from the nearby music school. I slid sideways in my seat the better to hear them. One of them was holding up Metro newspaper. The taller guy started shaking his head.
He snorted “Cuh. Look at this. They’ve got an Orang-utan who can pick out three tunes on a little electric keyboard. It’s some experiment by this group of scientists in Japan” his friend smiled “Well they reckon they’re the closest primate to us in terms of intelligence don’t they?” he furrowed his forehead “Or is that chimpanzees?”
The taller guy paused briefly “Um I’m not sure it might be” his friend waved a hand “But it’s clever though isn’t it. Imagine some creature like that actually being able to grasp the concept of music. To use those big old hands so delicately” the tall guy nodded in agreement “Yeah I suppose. It says here the large primate known as Zango has been practicing for three years and can now clearly play three well known nursery rhymes apparently from memory” his friend smiled “Wow that’s so cool. Amazing huh?”
The taller guy let out a long sigh “Nah. It’s not that clever really. I mean it’s not as if he’s writing his own stuff. It’s all covers isn’t it” his friend let out a laugh “What some bloody great monkey knocks out twinkle twinkle little star and you want him to whack out a hit? It’s a monkey not Adele?” The taller guy seemed to ignore the joke “But come on its just a trick it’s not understanding what it’s doing it’s like a performing ape in a circus. So it’s not really playing is it? It’s a repeated task. If it created a tune then that would be something. Yeah then it would be a real story about music” He sipped his tea thoughtfully. His friend chuckled “You don’t want much do you” he paused and delicately nibbled his muffin “I bet you Simon Cowell would manage him if he could”
Then my phone rang.
London is such a great place for this sort of thing. And now I’ve warmed to my new challenge it’s surprising what I’m picking up. I’ve stopped short of trying to record people on my digital recorder. I just make some notes. Often on my paper or a napkin. But some of the lines are just priceless. I’ll leave you with one I caught in a queue at the cinema. “Oh yeah they put stuff into the popcorn when they’re showing violent films. Calms the punters down”
I wonder.

Man of Steel teaser trailer

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Man of Steel was a huge hit at Comic-Con, even made a fanboy cry! So it would be no surprise that a teaser trailer for the film would be shown in-front of The Dark Knight Rises, as Nolan co-wrote the story of Steel but is also serving as the producer. So when I saw Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures and DC Comics logo shown in-front, my heart was beating that I finally get to see footage of the upcoming Superman movie.

 

The music is taken from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by Howard Shore (as Hans Zimmer hasn’t started composing music for the film yet), already setting the mood that the film may take with the new Superman movie. It shows Henry Cavill not as Superman but as Clark Kent, sporting a scruffy beard and looking to be traveling the world.* Though we do see shots of Kent farm, though as if this was a Terrence Malick film. We have a voice-over by Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner)**, implying to be talking to Clark by saying what you’d expect he would say; that he would grow up to do great things. We see shots of a young Clark Kent running around in backyard, wearing a red cape that foreshadows on what will lead to the inevitable. We of course get the title cards, reading ‘From Zack Snyder – Director of Watchmen and 300‘ (luckily they didn’t list Sucker Punch and hope they continue to do so) and ‘And Producer Christopher Nolan – Director of The Dark Knight Trilogy‘. Finally, the last shot we all been waiting for; Superman himself. Though starts off with an aerial view of an unspecified location, then we see a small figure flying up to the sky. The camera zooms in and get a glimpse of Superman as he flies in an unimaginable speed!

 

That’s all that really is to say about the trailer, it really is the meaning of a teaser. I am interested where this Superman film will go but honestly, Superman is the complete opposite in tone to Batman. I am all for different approaches to characters, rather go to the same route to be safe but Christopher Nolan’s influence (for better or worse) is a bit much. I do hope it’s all part of starting really grim and eventually grows to being bright and uplifting as the story develops. We’ll just have to wait and see when it is released on 14th June, 2013.

 

* – It was nice to see a shot of Clark Kent trying to hitch a ride and the road was leading up to Whistler in British Columbia, Canada (probably a different location in the film but still cool nonetheless).

 

** – I have now just found out that there are two versions of the teaser trailer, same footage but two voice-overs. One I saw in front of Rises was with Jonathan Kent and the other is Jor-El’s voice (Russell Crowe) which you can see on Apple website (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/manofsteel/)

The Dark Knight Rises {Film Review}

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*WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!*

 

Since 2005, Christopher Nolan rebooted the Caped Crusader as we all thought he was long gone with Batman Begins. No one had expectations when the director of Memento was on-board but he delivered one of the biggest surprises and created a film that many other comic book hero films will try to imitate. Then he raised the expectations even higher with the announcement of a sequel and he delivered The Dark Knight in 2008. Continuing to bring maturity and intellectual story-telling but also made an impact to many filmmakers. Now Batman has risen from the darkness and finally has a new challenge, not only from new villains but also Christopher Nolan announcing it will be the conclusion to The Dark Knight Trilogy. Many argue there hasn’t yet been a great comic book hero trilogy and the third in the series always tends to not live up to its predecessors (X-Men, Spider-Man etc.) I can safely say this isn’t that case and will say early that this is the best comic book hero trilogy to date!

 

The story is set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne hanging up his mantle as Batman and keeping away from the spot-light since. Until the terrorist known as Bane enters the stage and plans to bring destruction and chaos to Gotham City. Meanwhile, Bruce interacts with Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman, though never referenced by that name), a cat-burglar but an anti-hero who only helps her own (survival of the fittest). Bruce sees this as an opportunity to go back as the dark knight and come face-to-face with Bane but things go worse than expected (A LOT worse!).

There’s only so much I can reveal the story but it is better to experience it on the big screen. Wally Pfister’s cinematography and Nathan Crowely’s production design really amps the scale, you feel the anarchy Bane delivers from the many set-pieces this film delivers (if you thought the hallway fight scene in Inception was mind-blowing, Nolan really tops that from the opening sequence which could mistake it as a Bond opening). Hans Zimmer’s music is a more bombastic score, further bringing the thundering emotion of Bane’s menacing speeches and actions. Everything about the production in this film is top-notch, do you expect anything less with a Christopher Nolan film? I will say the film is bold and daring to go to places most filmmakers would not even think twice on going, all credit goes to not only Chris Nolan but co-writers David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan. Though people will find obvious references to Occupy Wall Street, especially Bane’s motivation on punishing the wealthy and supporting the people (even releasing the prisoners of Gotham to have the city to their own will). The story really does come to full-circle, whatever happened in Begins or Knight comes to full affect in Rises. With all the gloom and doom in this film, Nolan doesn’t forget to bring some humour into this film as he had done from his previous films. The story’s events comes from these three Batman comic book story arcs; The Dark Knight Returns, Knightfall and No Man’s Land.

 

Christian Bale really does shine as he delves deeper to his emotional struggles in this movie, you can feel the suffering and pain he has to go through. Which makes his journey to rise from the ground and come out soaring! Like his father says to him in Batman Begins “why do we fall, Bruce? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up!”, a line that runs through his motivation to save the city and its citizens. Tom Hardy brings a brute menace to Bane and finally brings justice to the character that was ruined in Batman & Robin. He may have the muscles and brawn to show but it’s his tactical thinking that makes him even more threatening. He may lack the sinister edge of Heath Ledger’s Joker but that doesn’t detract the type of villainy he delivers. You honestly worry about Batman, as Bane just brushes off everything Batman throws at him from fists to various techs from his utility belt. Anne Hathaway is terrific as Selina Kyle / Catwoman, she has her own code which is she looks for her own self and doesn’t get involved with anyone else. Though the chemistry between Bruce and Selina is quite electric, both exchanging quips and sassy comebacks but it evolves to something more intimate. Seeing the both of them work together is probably my favourite scenes from the whole film and I honestly think (controversy incoming) Hathaway does portray Catwoman more faithfully than Michelle Pfeiffer did in Batman Returns. The rest of the supporting cast continue to bring the best of their characters; Michael Caine makes an emotionally strong performance as Alfred, fearing the loss of Bruce and not wanting to go through the pain again as he lost Bruce’s parents (a powerful scene where Alfred confesses to Bruce that he wished he never came back). Gary Oldman continues to be the best Jim Gordon, growing to stand being a strong character and is actually exciting he can take care of himself despite his age. Morgan Freeman is the ever charming Lucius Fox, he too continues to grow such a strong supporting character.

 

Is it perfect? No but neither was The Avengers and I enjoyed the hell out of it. The surprise twists won’t surprise most comic book fans but I also blame the media on releasing a few images online that really should have been left offline. Bruce’s reason on exiling himself from the world for such a long time because of the death of Rachel Dawes is a bit hard to swallow but is a minor nit-pick that doesn’t affect the overall film. Zimmer’s score is great to listen to and gets your adrenaline going but it is a bit too thundering at places (and sometimes partially hard to listen when characters are talking). I think many people (including the YouTube community) will start to make fun of Bane’s voice, though I never had a problem understanding him from trailers and didn’t have a problem understanding him in the film. The ending may split opinions, as some may find it being something really bold and broad but then leads to something completely different. Also a reference towards the character of John Blake felt a bit forced and didn’t work in my opinion.

 

As much I really do enjoy this Batman series immensely, I am glad Christopher Nolan has finished with the series and will be moving forward to make more films in the same vein as Memento or Inception where his strengths as a story-teller really does show! Though for now, he’ll be producing Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in 2013 with Henry Cavill as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman.

 

Overall; this film is fantastic, a satisfying conclusion to The Dark Knight Trilogy. Despite the minor faults this movie has, it still delivers an epic blockbuster not only just from the scale but also in emotion. Thank you Mr. Nolan, you made an honourable farewell to one of the greatest iconic heroes of our time.

 

4 out of 5

Outfits to see you through from day to night

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Daisy Darche provides professional women with stylish solutions for both work and play

As the mercury rises, social calendars fill and the urge to share fun times with friends and colleagues increases. With London 2012 Olympics fast approaching, this year will be no exception. The Daisy Darche summer collection includes stunning pieces that can transform a look from day-wear to evening- wear as quickly as an ice cold glass of wine can be ordered – making this British label the perfect summer pick!

The Daisy Darche line has been designed to suit all shapes and sizes but versatility is the true key to the collection. Many of the garments can be worn in more than one way; cleverly creating multiple looks from just one piece. Professional women can now go out, straight from work and feel fabulous.

Daisy Darche recommend the following pieces to take you from the boardroom to the bar:

Livia Dress, £555

When coupled with a sharp blazer, this maxi dress can be worn to the office with the knot at the front. In the evening it can be transformed by simply turning the dress around to reveal a sexy plunging V-neckline.

Gaudi Jacket, £495

A Daisy Darche favourite, this reversible jacket can be worn long or short. Start the day with the jacket long and flowing over a black shift dress but leave work with the short version and killer heels for summer evening fun.

Lola Dress, £495

Maxi dresses deserve a place in all summer wardrobes and this draped version is elegant enough for the office. Reverse the dress for an alternative neckline and to change the positioning of its subtle split.

Opera G Shawl, £185

During the day this shawl can be worn loosely over a suit. For a chic evening look just tie it in a knot and twist to the side.

Daisy Darche is available exclusively from Liberty of London, liberty.co.uk, selected independent boutiques worldwide and the label’s online store – daisydarche.com.

Should You Read That Text?

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New phone app protects people’s moods

Computer scientists have developed the world’s first mobile phone app which automatically colour codes messages so people know before reading them if they’re likely to make you feel good or bad.

The development, for Android phones, could mean the end of people being surprised by an angry or hostile message, whether it’s from Twitter, Facebook or text.

It would also allow smart phone users to prepare for bad news and allocate time to receive it.

Master’s student Lorraine Chambers and her supervisor, senior lecturer Mohamed Gaber, both at the University of Portsmouth’s School of Computing, will present their breakthrough at a conference in Spain in September.

Dr Gaber said: “We are increasingly sending and receiving information via messages on mobile phones. The rate of growth in this area has never been witnessed – everything from Twitter streams and Facebook messages to direct text messages are coming straight at us all the time on our handheld devices.

“This information has an immense power, whether we are reading a worrying social media news story or a warning email from our manager, messages can upset mood and increase stress level, just as good news and encouraging emails can cheer you up.

“The ultimate objective of this application is to make the user aware of the negative contents they receive so they are able to manage their stress in the best possible way. For example, if most of what is received from social media websites by a user on a particular day was negative, it is important that the user attempts to take an action in order to not get stressed, especially if this may affect the individual’s performance at work and/or their behaviour at home.”

The app works by automatically colour coding incoming messages as green for positive, red for negative and blue for neutral so a user can see before opening any message whether it is likely to be worrying or encouraging.

The Portsmouth researchers were inspired to research and develop the app after a visit by their colleague Mykola Pechenizkiy at the Eindhoven University of Technology, in the Netherlands, who had developed a similar capability for emails on desktop computers, together with his Masters student Erik Tromp. Mykola and Eric have worked with the Portsmouth researchers, Lorraine and Mohamed using state-of-the-art technology for sentiment analysis to classify ‘on the fly’ any textual input received on the user’s handheld device.

The researchers tested the technology on a range of Android mobile phones and find it works faultlessly no matter what each phone’s computational power and memory were. The researchers are working on ways to make it freely accessible via Android Marketplace.

If there’s sufficient demand, it will be made available to users of iPhones and iPads.

The results of the project are reported in a research paper that has been accepted for presentation at 16th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, to be held in San Sebastian, Spain.

Your Relationship After Children?

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YOUR RELATIONSHIP AFTER CHILDREN?

· Research lifts the lid (and duvet) on the effect having kids has on British couples

Research released by parenting website, yano.co.uk reveals what goes on with British couples’ lives ‘after children’. The survey asked questions about the changing relationships, rows, sex and attraction between couples and provided insights into a subject that mums and dads normally ‘keep mum’ about.

When it comes to spending time together, one in ten parents make room for a weekly ‘Date Night’ but nearly half (46%) only get to spend one kid-free night a month together, with 3% only able to get alone time once a YEAR.

Perhaps as a result, 63% of parents say their sex life has deteriorated since having children. 41% had sex every other day before kids – this goes down to just 10% having sex every other day after having children. 28% have sex only once a month post-children, 5% once a year and 7% revealed they now NEVER have sex! This is perhaps unsurprising when you hear 37% of parents questioned admitted that they are less attracted to their partner after having children – a feeling that is more common for women (42%).

More than a third of parents questioned say they argue more with their partner since having children, with 6% having separated from their partner before their child was born. The most common rows for all parents revolve around parenting style (61%), financial pressures (53%) and who should be doing the chores (41%).

There are also some clear differences between men and women’s viewpoints. Women feel, more so than men, that their partner needs to take more responsibility helping with their child or children. Women are also more likely to complain to their spouse about chores and sex, whilst men are more likely to argue with their partners about parenting styles.

Patrick Wanis PhD, Celebrity Life Coach and Relationship Therapist says that much of the tension between modern parents stems from one major problem; we are effectively sacrificing the relationship for the sake of the children, doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Wanis says that, although it sounds counter-intuitive, the best thing parents can do for their children are to put their marriage first. ‘That means regular date nights, still sharing hopes and dreams, still wanting the best for each other, still taking time to enjoy each other’s company as adults and friends. Children thrive in a household of open love and affection between the parents. But when parents neglect each other, the children eventually suffer as the marriage falls apart.’

TV psychologist Jo Hemmings says ‘When you make that transition from lover to mother or father, everything changes. The way society views you to your priorities to the amount of freedom you have. Many new parents report that while they have gained a huge amount in terms of love and fulfilment, a part of them still feels lost, and is wondering where the ‘real’ them is buried underneath the bustle and juggling of parenthood.’

The survey also revealed some regional stats from across the UK. Northern Irish are more keen under the covers after the birth of a child, with over half of them confessing to having sex once a week, compared to just a quarter of couples in London. Scots are also keen to rekindle their love lives after having children, with almost a quarter of couples (22%) admitting they have sex every other day. Geordies top the poll when confessing they feel less attraction to their partners after the birth of a child, with over three-quarters of couples admitting they felt this way. But love is blind in Scotland, with only 25% of Scots feeling less attracted to their partners after a child’s birth.

Ann-Marie McKimm, founder of Yano and mother of two, says, “It was great to get such honest views from our respondents as these issues are not often discussed. Following the sad news about the split of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes this week, it is interesting to note that tension over how to raise a child comes out as the top reason for arguments in relationships and is clearly an issue that affects many couples. Given this result and the differences revealed in men and women’s views, I feel that it is important to open up discussions on these problems”.

Yano encourages fresh thinking on parenting, incorporating enlightening food for thought; informative discussions; regular news stories; a digest of interesting parenting stories from across the globe; Q and A discussion panels and advice and comment from leading experts in their chosen fields.

Visit Yano for further information and a full article on ‘Will Your Relationship Survive Children.’