Tag Archives: Catherine Balavage

Radox names Victoria Beckham THE modern day ‘PhenomeMUM’.

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New study crowns modern mums the ‘Mistresses of Multi Tasking’

The Clocks Go Back Giving ‘PhenomeMUM’ A Well Needed Break

Phew – Mums are exhausted! They are at it over 20 times a day …. Multitasking that is!!

With the modern Mum doing over 20 different task every day (please NOTE there are only 24hrs and even Mums have to sleep) that is a lot of multi tasking and a pretty big to do list!

52% percent of mums are able to do four different tasks at any one time; a typical scenario could include putting the dinner in the oven, whilst chatting to a friend on the phone, whilst bending down to feed a pet, whilst tying up a pair of shoes whilst, whilst watching Eastender’s, whilst and logging onto the internet to pay the heating bill and check their twitter account.

When questioned what celebrity mums the PhenomeMums most admire, Davina McCall and Angelina Jolie were up there with Victoria Beckham, who’s multi tasking skills were the envy of modern mothers; juggling three boys, creating a fashion empire, owning a handful of houses and travelling the world, all while wearing high heels is pretty impressive!

The PhenomeMUM- an overview

1 – She does over 20 different tasks a day

2 – She has to have eyes in the back of her head, and eight arms to allow her to do all the housework (93%), food shopping (92%), cooking the evening meals (88%), washing up (85%), disciplining the kids (77%), helping with homework (73%) & paying the household bills (72%)!

3 – She has secret super powers:

· 66% ‘Queen Multitasker’ (no matter how busy she is, she will get everything done in the fastest time possible)

· 33% Florence Nightingale (on call 24/7 and have a medicine cupboard that rivals Boots)

· 26% Chef Extraordinaire (any meal, anytime, anywhere) and UN Peace Maker (kids, partners, in-laws she can keep it all together 24/7).

4 – they are beating the men of the household hands down with one in 20 PhenomeMums reported the ability to do over ten things more than their partners in any given hour.

But, there is a problem, 77% PhenomeMUMs feel more like OverwhelMUM with 84% feeling a pressure to be good at everything 24/7, 83% saying that there are not enough hours in the day and 82% feel their to-do list is endless often running out of hours to do everything!

So Radox asked the PhenomeMums what they wanted? 65% said ‘more time to myself’

Radox asked to do what? 59% to read a book and 50% in the bath

Well bobs your uncle, wishes can come true!

Radox has answered every PhenomeMums dream by teaming up with leading website – Mumsnet – to sponsor their book club for six months. From this Sunday they will be calling on all Mums to take a Selfish Reading Hour AND they will be giving away thousands of free books each month – so there is NO excuse not to!

So ‘PhenomeMUMs’ log onto www.be-selfish.co.uk/selfishreadinghour-mumsnet and claim your Selfish Reading Hour.

Buy Your Own Jazz Band. {Ideas for Christmas}

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City Jazz are offering us all the chance to have our very own Jazz band this Christmas….

City Jazz, the independent Jazz agency operated by professional musicians,
will be offering us all the opportunity to have our own band this party season.
Affordable and bespoke packages mean we can all be spared the usual DJs
or avoid trying to please everyone by sticking the ipod on shuffle. With a 100%
success rate and flawless testimonials, City Jazz can promise an experience
to top any efforts from previous years. Sam Sharp, founder of the agency
explains “We do lots of gigs for cool brands, corporate giants and of course
weddings.” Sharp continues “People immediately think hiring a band to come
to your house or your local will be too expensive. We offer lots of different
packages and friends will often chip in to cover our fee.”

Launched in 2005 by Sam Sharp, City Jazz is the product of a life long love of
Jazz and a determination to work full time in music. Sharp, having first played
professionally at the age of 13 and not stopped performing since then. His
reason for setting up the agency was to offer affordable and professional live
Jazz bands for any occasions and at any location.

Making a booking with City Jazz is easy, from experience Sharp insisted the
website was as simple and accessible as possible. Enquiries by email or over
the phone are encouraged and an online booking form is available. The
website also has audio samples so you can experience the high standard of
musicians and singers that make up City Jazz. If you don?t have a clear vision
of what you want, Sharp will listen to your needs and give you his expert
observations. City Jazz offer many packages to suit most budgets, themes
and venue restrictions. “Sometimes customers want the band to add
ambience, while others clearly want to keep the guests from sitting down. I
usually suggest a singer if dancing is required.” Sam finishes “I look at every
customer with fresh eyes, it?s important they get what they want plus we love
the fact that every gig is a unique experience.”

Sam Sharp and his team of musicians and singers are trained to professional
level with a considerable amount of experience in pleasing crowds. City Jazz
will always discuss the set list, even work to a theme and naturally, they will
always be dressed, pressed and ready to play some of the best Jazz in the
City.

BBC 2 Electric Proms trailer represents first project for BNS London.

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Production company and design studio Brand New School London is very proud to announce its role in designing and directing a 30″ promo trailer and additional visual content for advertising agency Fallon’s campaign promoting the BBC Radio 2 Electric Proms. Radio 2’s Electric Proms is dedicated to creating new moments in music. Created under the direction of Fallon’s executive creative director Augusto Sola, art director Gary Anderson and copy writer Tony Miller, the innovative stop-motion trailer directed by BNS’s Jonathan Notaro and Mario Stipinovich debuted yesterday on the BBC. The trailer promotes this year’s Electric Proms performances from Elton John, Robert Plant and Neil Diamond, taking place from Thursday, 28 October, until Saturday, 30 October at the Roundhouse in London.

“This is always such an exciting event, and we are always really thrilled to be part of it,” said Fallon CEO Gail Gallie. “The campaign captures all of that excitement in a really fresh and original way.”

BBC “Electric Proms” from Brand New School on Vimeo.

“We were thrilled to be asked by Fallon to submit a treatment for this amazing, high-profile project, and then to be awarded the job” began Kayt Hall, executive producer for BNS London. “The main idea behind the script was creating the faces of these iconic artists from actual pop memorabilia. We could not be happier with the results: It plays to all our strengths – strong design, great animation, and an end product that everyone is delighted with.”

As Notaro explained, “In keeping with the agency’s sentiments, we proposed producing the content practically through stop-motion animation, knowing that making physical objects move together to create readable portraits would give the idea the payoff and spectacle it deserved.”

Planning for the ambitious production involved gathering, and in some cases, producing, props of the proper scale, anticipating that each face would be approximately 6 metres wide when assembled. Over the course of six days on a set in East London, in close collaboration with director of photography Toby Howell and using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Milo and Juno motion control rigs, the crew hand-animated the prescribed actions in reverse order (beginning with the final collages), capturing each sequence completely in-camera with single takes. The project was finished in Adobe After Effects at BNS London’s studio.

In addition to Notaro, Stipinovich, and Hall, credits for BNS London also include producer Kat Harrison, lead animator Andy Biddle, art director Andy Kelly, editor Jamie Foord, compositors Cassiano Prado and David Pocull, and rotoscope artist Rebecca Clay. Audio post is courtesy of Wave.

More information on Electric Proms is available online at www.bbc.co.uk/electricproms.

About Brand New School

With offices in New York, Los Angeles and London, Brand New School is a vertically integrated production company and design studio that delivers extraordinary media on all platforms. Offering a new model for creative digital production, we are filmmakers, developers, designers, animators, editors, illustrators, and producers dedicated to driving communications to new heights. Akin to leading academic institutions, our guiding philosophies prize experimentation and learning, and our commitment to discovering the best ideas for our clients is absolute. For more information, please visit www.BrandNewSchool.com.

By Catherine Balavage

Littlewoods.com and Coleen Rooney Search for Great British Design Talent {Design}

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Littlewoods.com and Coleen Rooney are carrying out a nationwide search to unearth the very best of British design talent, ahead of a showcase at the Pride of Britain Awards on Monday 8th November.

Mums and their families are being offered the chance to see their very own designs brought to life in this unique search. Coleen and Littlewoods.com are inviting them to create an outfit that they feel encompasses what makes them proud to be British inspired by the colours of the Union Jack. Whether it is a flowing summer dress or a new uniform for the NHS, the outfit will show off the best of British pride.

Littlewoods’ style ambassador Coleen Rooney will be judging the nationwide search and declaring three winners. The winners from across the country will be invited to attend the star-studded Pride of Britain Awards where the designs will be unveiled and brought to life with an overall winner being crowned.

Littlewoods.com are proud sponsors of the Pride of Britain Awards this year, the ceremony takes place on the 8th November and will, for the 12th year running, bring to life the extraordinary stories of bravery, kindness and endeavour that go on day–to-day in our local communities.

Visit www.littlewoods.com/prideofbritain for more information on how to be in with a chance to not only win a wardrobe for the family worth £750, but attend the Pride of Britain awards, meet Coleen Rooney and be crowned the winner of ‘Proud to Dress Britain’.

Photo: Gordon Brown, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell at the Pride of Britain awards.

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. {Film Review}

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When the original Wall Street film came out in 1987, only two months after the Black Monday stock market crash, it was very apt. It was as much a damning indictment of the yuppie generation as it was Hollywood entertainment. As history repeats itself, so has the timing of the second film. With fears of double dip recessions, crashing house prices in America and massive unemployment, Oliver Stone once again holds up a mirror to the financial world – it looks as ugly as it did last time.

Whilst the original glamourised the industry it sought to shame, Wall Street 2 makes the industry seem much more brutal. Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko is more grizzled and world weary. Coming out of prison after decades for insider trading.

I can’t separate the actors life from the character. This may seem strange, but during filming Douglas’s son, Cameron, went to prison for 5 years for dealing drugs. In the film, Gekko has a son who died from a drug overdose. In a speech near the end about his son, the speech is so truthful I could barely watch, the pain was so visible.

Wall Street 2 is a good film. Shia LaBeouf is spot on as the hier broker engaged to Gekko’s daughter. Josh Brolin is as good as ever as Bretton James. An unscrupulous billionaire who’s callous actions cause Shia LaBeouf’s character, Jake Moore, to seek revenge. To incredibly watchable effect.

The other thing this things reminds you of is how amazing Michael Douglas is as an actor. I really hope he has a speedy recovery from cancer soon. The loss to cinema would be too great.

Throw in a cameo no-one was expecting and you have a brilliant film. Well worth a watch.

By Catherine Balavage

The Event. Fridays at 9pm on Channel 4. {TV Review}

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I am one of those people who thought that the plot of lost got, well, lost. This doesn’t mean I haven’t had a a yearning for a good thrilling drama. I have been pining the end of The West Wing for a while now. This is why I want to tell everyone about The Event. It’s a sci-fi thriller, it’s poltical, it’s drama. It’s a whole lot of good TV rolled into one.

A new high-octane US thriller starring Jason Ritter as a man whose investigation in to the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée unwittingly exposes the biggest cover-up in American history…Only, unlike Lost, you can actually know what is going on. There’s aliens and a boyfriend trying to find the women he was about to propose to.

It has been a while since I found something to get excited about but I won’t be missing an episode of this.

There is a taster below.


The Event. Fridays at 9pm on Channel 4. www.channel4.com/theevent

Britain's Next Top Model Live. {Fashion}

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If anything if going to bring out my girlie side it’s Britain’s Next Top Model. From the 22nd-24th of October. The hugely successful reality TV show comes to the ExCel centre in London’s Docklands.The Ultimate weekend shopping extravagance has everything a budding model or fashionista would ever need.

I start by walking around all of the stalls, and check out the fashion and beauty products on offer. I get a free Tia Maria cocktail, but, amusingly, only after being asked for ID. I pop by the powder room where they are giving free make overs, manicures and massages, but decide the queue is too long. So I head to the Kiss catwalk to catch Diana Vickers sing. Her voice is amazing and you can tell that the entire audience love her. Her clothes are rocking too. Despite the fact she can’t tell presenter Emma Willis where she got them because, endearingly, she can’t pronounce the designers name.

Later on Alesha Dixon comes on the stage to promote her jewellery line. Dressed in jeans and a top, she comes on stage with a cup of tea that has some chewing gum stuck to the bottom – she says she didn’t have anywhere else to put it, she confessed she is still feeling rough from the MOBO’s the night before and went to bed at 7am. Alesha comes across as incredibly down to earth and shakes a number of the audiences hand’s after they ask her.

There is no sign of Elle McPherson but Charley Speed is here and brilliant designer Melissa Odabash is on hand to give style advice.

Later on, Molly Smitten Downes and Joey Bevan do a fusion of music and fashion. Molly sings her heart out and Joey’s clothes are beautiful. Very enjoyable.

One of the most exciting things from Britain’s Next Top Model is Global Cool. ‘Turn up the style, turn down the heat.’ I interviewed Gemma Cairney about her involvement with the company that let’s you restyle jumpers they way you want and helps the environment.

Gemma says: “Global Cool have given me even more of an incentive to encourage, big, snuggly jumper wearing.. Perfect! I like my jumpers big, often primary coloured and with a motif that’ll make others smile, so I’m more than happy to put my gob behind a campaign that can eventually help this important thing called the Earth smile a bit too.”

Wannabe models could also attend casting couch sessions from Rebecca, Elle magazine, Becca Cosmetics, Tia Maria, Models 1 and Wonderbra. So if you want to be spotted, hurry down to Excel.

Also scheduled to sing is Eliza Doolittle, Eliza told Frost this: ‘I love Britain’s Next top model so I’m very excited to be involved in the live event – I’m looking forward to having a sneaky look at all of the cloths and products too.’

http://www.bntmlive.com/

Alesha Dixon: Don't hit my mum. Alesha tackles domestic abuse.

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It’s a little known fact that 2 women a week die form domestic violence on the UK. At Frost we will be tuning into Alesha Dixon;s new show and urge you to as well.

At least 75,000 children per year witness domestic violence at home. ALESHA DIXON witnessed her mother suffer domestic violence between the ages of eight and ten. She has never spoken about the experience until now, twenty-one years later.

In an intimate and unsettling 60-minute documentary from the producers of Alesha Dixon: Who’s Your Daddy?, ALESHA finds her voice in the hope that, through hearing what she and others have experienced as children, others may be encouraged to speak out too. The Department of Health states that children who experience domestic violence at home are more likely to go on to suffer behavioural problems and mental health difficulties of their own. We know the impact of witnessing abuse as a child can be profound, so how do we go about dealing with this and getting children to a point where they can talk about what’s going on at home?

The singer and Strictly Coming Dancing judge goes in search of answers by talking to victims and experts, examining the emotional and physical implications of witnessing domestic violence, and investigating how it hinders their development and takes away their right to be a child. On her journey, ALESHA meets several brave young girls and boys who talk about their experiences and hears a heartbreaking story from a mother who has been abused. She joins a patrol team from Avon and Somerset Constabulary who deal with domestic violence on a daily basis – their region covering both rural and urban environments offering a snapshot of the rest of the country. ALESHA also meets CAMILLA BATMAN-GHELIDJ, chief executive of charity Kids Company, who is currently working alongside some of Britain’s top neuroscientists, to examine why some abused children go on to abuse, and others do not. Finally, ALESHA meets a dad who has abused, but has now acknowledged his mistakes by joining a perpetrator programme.

ALESHA’S aim, along with all the film’s contributors, is to portray why the support system could be even stronger for children affected by domestic violence. The government recently launched a 2 million pound ad campaign designed to help teenagers recognise abuse within their own relationships. This followed a study by the NSPCC and Bristol University which suggested a quarter of girls aged thirteen to seventeen had experienced physical violence from a boyfriend, and a third had been pressured into sexual acts they didn’t want. ALESHA goes to a sixth-form college to see how a group of teenagers react to the ad campaign and get them talking. Should the government now perhaps reach out to even younger children who are affected by domestic abuse? Should schools be taking more steps to raise awareness and offer more support to children affected by domestic violence? And should awareness around the issue become part of the National Curriculum?

Don’t Hit My Mum will transmit on BBC ONE, 15th November at 10.35pm