Tag Archives: Catherine Balavage

Anouska Hempel joins the world famous design team at yoo

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International design and branding company yoo is delighted to announce a new working relationship with Anouska Hempel. Respected in the design world for her hotel and residential projects, Hempel is the latest high-profile designer to join yoo – alongside Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, Kelly Hoppen and Jade Jagger.

Collaborative design is at the core of the yoo brand. Entering its 11th year yoo remains an innovator in the style-led property sector with unique interiors, architecture and branding. ‘yoo inspired by Anouska Hempel’ will create Contemporary, Asian, Classical and Best of British designs for yoo, on soon-to-be-announced projects.

Chairman of yoo, John Hitchcox says, “Anouska will bring her famously glamorous, slick and high-end aesthetic, which has already proven to have an international appeal, into yoo’s established stable of designers. We are very much looking forward to working with Anouska Hempel to create living spaces with her beautiful and distinctive design stamp.”

Hitchcox has equipped yoo with a strong global identity, making his firm an international lifestyle brand synonymous with exceptional developments around the globe, and bringing the designs of Starck, Hempel, Jagger, Wanders and Hoppen new homes and new markets. yoo was one of the first brands to realise the power of collaboration in its residential design projects – an approach now used widely to capitalise on a growing market of design-savvy purchasers.

Anouska Hempel’s studio, Anouska Hempel Design, has established a strong international reputation for its skill in delivering glorious architecture and interiors including luxury hotels, restaurants, stores, private residences and yachts as well as products which include tableware and outdoor furniture. Hempel firmly believes in ensuring that every part of a design scheme is tailored to the needs of the most discerning client, with the highest expectations of quality and finish.

Anouska Hempel comments, “There has to be an amusement factor… a sense of wit, and human eccentricity… The four design styles for yoo symbolise the evolution of Anouska Hempel Design’s style and my passion for travelling and fusing different cultures. Anouska Hempel Design’s spaces are a successful marriage of exuberance and restraint; elegance and simplicity; creativity and tradition – adding up to spaces of the future, places filled with life, fantasies and desires.”

Appy Halloween. {Software}

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GetJar’s top five scariest apps to keep the horror alive this Halloween

Halloween has been celebrated for centuries by families all over the world, with traditions such as trick or treat and duck apple still being played to this day. But this year, mobile apps are playing a big part in Halloween celebrations.

GetJar, the world’s second largest mobile apps store after Apple, has over 75,000 mobile applications available to download for virtually every mobile handset. There are hundreds of spooky apps available to download for free – perfect for scaring even those with the most hardened of nerves, or simply for a bit of ghostly fun.

From noises of the eerie supernatural that holler when darkness hits and the full moon appears, GetJar has plenty of apps that can turn mobiles into the ultimate scare machine. Trick or treaters will be guaranteed to send shivers down the spines of friends, and might even result in an abundance of sweets and tasty pumpkin pie.

To get people in the frighteningly festive spirit, here are GetJar’s top five must-have Halloween apps:

Halloween Soundboard Scary Sound Effects – Be it brothers, sisters, mums or dads, this app is guaranteed to scare anyone close enough to hear the terrifying sounds of ghosts and ghouls.

Horror Attack – The most awaited prank has made its way to mobiles. Scaring friends has never been so much fun and really separates the men from the mice.

Dectectoplasm – Ever suspected that spirits may too be living in the house? This app helps detect kinetic activity or to put it simply, will tell if a ghost is also sleeping in the bed.

Soundbox Horror – Not for the faint-hearted, this app takes scary sound effects to the next level. Choose from spine-chilling screams, the sound of limbs being ripped off, deadly groans and more.

Oscar Wilde: The Canterville Ghost – Ghost stories and Halloween go hand in hand. Read the famous horror story from Oscar Wilde with friends and let imaginations run wild.

To find these ghoulish apps and more, visit www.getjar.com.

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