Prince William is St Giles Trust's 50th Anniversary Patron

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Catherine Balavage

Tonight, staff at St Giles’ Trust are celebrating after Royal endorsement from His Royal Highness Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. He has agreed to become Patron of St Giles Trust for 2012 – the very year they will celebrating their 50th Anniversary.

The Duke’s Patronage highlights his interest in affording people of all ages and stages of their lives – and especially those who feel disengaged or excluded from society – the opportunity to develop a sense of purpose and realise their true potential.

Rob Owen, CEO of St Giles Trust, said:

“We are honoured and delighted that the Duke of Cambridge will be our patron for our important 50th anniversary year. By supporting us, he is leading by example in helping some of the most excluded, disadvantaged people in society who really need support. We are very much looking forward to working with Prince William over the coming year.”

This will be the third generation of Royal endorsement St Giles Trust has enjoyed, with previous support from the Queen Mother who opened the original day centre in 1963 and HRH Prince Charles when he opened their premises in Camberwell in 1995.

St Giles Trust started out as a soup kitchen in the crypt of the still standing and used nearby church St Giles Church. St Giles Trust’s work has continually evolved to meet the needs of society’s most vulnerable. Their valued work includes work with the homeless, illiterate, innumerate, gang and community work and supporting people back into work.

As many as one in five of their staff are ex-offenders or ex-service users and they remain an organisation supporting people who have fallen through the gaps in the state’s safety net.

The Prince previously visited the charity in March 2009 when he met clients and staff at the charity’s head office in Camberwell, South London.

Golden Globes 2011. George Clooney and Meryl Streep Win.

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Catherine Balavage

Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globes for the second time, despite his controversial first effort.

However, the Los Angeles Times says this time Gervais was “surprisingly subdued”. In 2011, Gervais shocked with comments about the Hollywood elite. It lead the Hollywood A-lister to comment on the jokes being “mean-spirited and mildly sinister”.

Gervais said the Globes were to the Oscars what US reality TV star Kim Kardashian was to Kate Middleton – “a bit louder, a bit trashier, a bit drunker and more easily bought, allegedly”.

The Los Angeles Times noted that the British fared well.

Downton Abbey won best TV mini-series and Kate Winslet won for lead actress in a TV mini-series or movie, for Mildred Pierce.

They also said: “When Idris Elba took to the stage to accept the award for lead actor in a miniseries for Luther, one did begin to wonder how many Brits it takes to screw in a Golden Globe.”

Meryl Streep also swore in her acceptance speech and looked shocked when she won. A full list of winners is below.

MOTION PICTURES
– Picture, Drama: “The Descendants.”
– Picture, Musical or Comedy: “The Artist.”
– Actor, Drama: George Clooney, “The Descendants.”
– Actress, Drama: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady.”
– Director: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo.”
– Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist.”
– Actress, Musical or Comedy: Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn.”
– Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”
– Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help.”
– Foreign Language: “A Separation.”
– Animated Film: “The Adventures of Tintin.”
– Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris.”
– Original Score: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist.”
– Original Song: “Masterpiece” (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), “W.E.”

TELEVISION
– Series, Drama: “Homeland,” Showtime.
– Series, Musical or Comedy: “Modern Family,” ABC.
– Actor, Drama: Kelsey Grammer, “Boss.”
– Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, “Homeland.”
– Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Dern, “Enlightened.”
– Actor, Musical or Comedy: Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes.”
– Miniseries or Movie: “Downton Abbey (Masterpiece),” PBS.
– Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce.”
– Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, “Luther.”
– Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story.”
– Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones.”

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Morgan Freeman.

Photo: Capital M.

Frost's Guide to Twitter

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Catherine Balavage

In the past few years twitter has entrenched itself into our everyday lives. It is how I found out Kate Middleton was to marry Prince William, and that Christopher Hitchens had died. Twitter is now how most people get their news. It is also a brilliant marketing tool. No matter what you do with your life, you can improve your career and be in contact with people from all around the world. So here is a guide to getting and keeping followers, with a few facts thrown in.

Go for quality, not quantity.

Some people may have thousands of followers, but they may be spammers or may have paid for them. (Buying followers is against twitters terms and conditions.)

Try to not get upset when people unfollow you

It is usually not personal. Maybe you retweet too much, maybe they are just following too many people. It has nothing to do with you as a person. Just unfollow them back, unless they are incredibly interesting.

Add your photo and professional details to twitter. People are more likely to follow you if they know a bit about you.Brevity is the soul of wit and even more important on Twitter. You only have 140 characters to get your point across. It is a good skill to have.

Twitter has more than 100 million global active users according to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo

Think of all of those people you can be connected too! The internet has made the world more democratic, and twitter has played it’s part in that.

Hash tags

Which is this: # (to get a hash tag on a Mac Alt + 3 = #) This creates, in twitters words, a ‘global conversation’ that everyone can follow.

Put a follow button on your blog or website

Remember, you can only direct message people who follow you, and they can only do the same if you are following them.

Interact with people.
Follow people. They might follow you back. You can follow 2,000 people initially, more if you have over 2000 followers.
Be worth following.
Have a good avatar. A picture of yourself is good.
Have a good bio. Keep it short and interesting.
Post interesting stories. Add links to articles you enjoyed reading.
Add yourself to directories like Wefollow.com
Get your friends to follow you.
Add your twitter to the signature in your email.
Don’t worry if it seems to be taking a while. You’re twitter will grow.
Be interesting- That is the most important thing. If you are interesting people will follow you.
Have a niche; tweet about a specific thing. You can grow your business and become an expert in your field.
Join Klout.
Don’t buy twitter followers. This might look good but what you want is engaged followers.
Don’t constantly retweet.
Don’t tweet all the time. If you clog up someone else’s feed then they will probably unfollow you.
Don’t be offensive. Have your opinion but respect other peoples.
Respond to people.
Follow other people in your field.
Tweet regularly. Three times a day is fine.
Remember that things came across differently in print. Sarcasm and humour can be taken seriously.
Watch out for spam. Change your password and don’t click on links from people you don’t know.
Be relevant.
Don’t try to please everyone. You have to have an opinion or you will not be interesting.

Of the 100 million global active users, half of them log in daily. “We had 30% of our monthly active users login in every day at the beginning of the year. Now it’s over 50%,” Costolo revealed.
200 million tweets a day in June 2011.
There are one million registered twitter apps. 750,000 developers
People who joined Twitter in 2011 include Nelson Mandela, Joe Biden, Zac Goldsmith, Salman Rushdie, Rupert Murdoch and the Pope.

Thirty-five global heads of state use Twitter
In 2011 Twitter had 65 million Tweets a day. They have over 200 million Tweets per day.
Twitter accounts are rarely hacked but Twitter advises the following for security of your account;
Use a strong password with at least 10 characters and a combination of letters, numbers and other characters for your Twitter account. And use a unique password for each website you use (email, banking, etc.); that way, if one account gets compromised, the rest are safe. A personal email account that’s compromised is the second most likely way an intruder gains access to Twitter accounts.
Use HTTPS for improved security on Twitter.
We recommend linking your phone to your Twitter account. Doing this could save your account if you lose control of your personal email and/or password. Here’s how to do it.
If you think your account has been compromised, visit our help page for compromised accounts to find out how to fix it quickly.
Twitter post regularly about safety and security at @safety.
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said Twitter has 100 million global active users, of those 100 million global active users, half of them log in daily. “We had 30% of our monthly active users login in every day at the beginning of the year. Now it’s over 50%,” Costolo revealed.
Twitter had 200 million tweets a day in June 2011.
Do not unfollow people right after you follow them. Wait five days or Twitter might think you are a spammer.
Half of Twitter users log in every day.
55% of Twitter users are mobile users.

Forty percent of Twitter users do not Tweet, or haven’t Tweeted in the past 30 days.

Frost’s Top People to Follow

Frost Magazine, Obviously.

Me!

Movie Scope

Hillsborough Documentary Maker

Nancy Bishop

Rupert Murdoch

War Horse Review

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Catherine Balavage

Frost has been privileged to see Steven Spielberg’s new film War Horse . Adapted from the hit West End play, which was in turn adapted from the 1982 War Horse book by Michael Morpurgo. It tells a story of a boy and his horse against the backdrop of World War I. The story also tells the little-known and often forgotten story about the horses used in World War I, most of which died.

Spielberg has made the impossible thing: a war movie that kids can enjoy. This film plays to Spielberg’s strengths, it may be a war movie but there is no blood and guts in sight. This is an epic, sprawling film with a cast of thousands. This is Spielberg at his best and is certainly one of his best films. It will take an incredibly tough person not to get caught up in this spectacular film. The acting is amazing from Peter Mullan and Benedict Cumberbatch, to the film debut of Jeremy Irvine (his only other acting experience was as a tree onstage!).

War Horse is cinematic perfection, with not a note out of place. Everything from the score to the costumes and sets are spot on. I will stop going on in case I make you sick, as long as you go and see it.

[Frost would also like to say happy birthday to the Duchess of Cambridge. The former Miss Kate Middleton was at the premiere last night, along with Steven Spielberg and Joey, the horse from the film, She turns 30 today.]

Londoners Life 19 – By Phil Ryan

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Phil Ryan

Londoners Life 19 – By Phil Ryan

Well a big hello after my absence. Had to finish off two novels and some other projects. But I’m back in time for my New Year review. London has had a busy old time in many ways. We’ve watched the giant money hole of the Olympics steal more and more of our money, we’ve had a bit of rioting, a bit of demonstrating and a bit of a recession. And how’s it left us Londoners? Well certainly the gap between rich and poor continues apace – some areas in London now resembling scenes from the aftermath of an apocalyptic plague movie whilst other tangibly smell of cash and cashmere. This gap can also be measured in ever sky rocketing house prices. Whilst everyday living costs creep ever higher. So for my review of 2011 here’s a quick list of a few London change indicators.
• Starters in restaurants now seem to cost as much as a main course
• More restaurants have replaced their chairs with those highly comfortable solid wooden thin benches from a Victorian prison
• A trip to the cinema for two is coming in at close to £25.00 and popcorn has broken the £5.00 ceiling
• There’s a new demonstration every day in Town not to mention various permanent demonstrations at tourist sights
• The Oyster card now only offers minor convenience in getting in and out of stations but cleverly hides the ever spiraling travel costs (until you have to top up)
• Parking in London is now only affordable by the wealthy or the desperate
• London Councils have finally abandoned all pretense of caring about their residents.
• Shops have sales every other week
• Sushi restaurants are taking over
So goodbye to 2011 with your momentous world events that touched London but didn’t fundamentally alter it in any way. For keen power player watchers we’ve had scandals and phone hacking saga’s that apart from the closure of the News of the World don’t seem to have changed the main players. Our Bankers carry on as normal apart from those lower down the food chain losing their jobs. So from a Londoners perspective what’s 2012 going to be like? Well it’s going to be more expensive across the board from transport to accommodation. The Olympic gravy train will roll in and out inconveniencing us all (of course TFL will run a fantastic tube service with an extra 6 million people on board) And there’ll probably be another uplifting parade to celebrate the royal baby that will undoubtedly appear in time for the Queens Jubilee celebrations. Closer to home still Hammersmith Bridge will be finally replaced by Lego as that seems more robust than the one they spent millions of our taxes on ‘repairing’. The Mayoral election will shock us all when a surprise last minute candidate bags the top job. Said candidate being that bloke off my big fat gypsy wedding. And London Councils will begin plans to cull the poor.

Looking back I’m left with some of my favourite moments from what I can only describe as ‘spokespeople’. TV and Radio reporters grabbing that all important human interest moment out on the street. So from ‘Rioters in Tottenham’ we had (from young guy number 1 with a hoodie and face mask carrying a large plasma TV) “It’s all about Iraq” (from young man number 2 with a hoodie and face mask number) “It’s about anger. We’re angry about being angry”. From a ‘St Pauls Cathedral Camp protester’ (who looked slightly the worse for wear) “I came to support these people and whatever it is they’re protesting about – it’s brilliant whatever it is and they gave me a tent a spliff and some soup I mean how great is that?” From a Christmas shoppers laden with about ten bags “Yes we’re cutting right back this year” and from some religious loon with a beard “Threatening death for us is an argument it’s not unreasonable”. So Happy 2012 to us all and whether its Ken or Boris as Mayor, whether we win gold medals or flog the Olympic venues for a tenner to a friend of Lord Coe’s as Londoner’s we just won’t care – It’s a London thing.

MOST POPULAR FASHION SEARCHES OF 2011

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Catherine Balavage

SHOPSTYLE REVEALS MOST POPULAR FASHION SEARCHES OF 2011

Royal Wedding boosts best of British

ShopStyle.co.uk (the fashion site that brings together Britain’s favourite brands and stores under one digital roof) today reveals the most popular label and item searches of 2012 and shows that when it comes to fashion, we’re very patriotic. Five of the top ten most searched for designers in 2011 were British. The prominence of Ted Baker, Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Paul Smith show that when it comes to fashion, Britain’s style-aware are loyal to our own shores.

The penchant for all things British significantly increased across 2011 thanks to Catherine Middleton’s much lauded style choices including Alexander McQueen for her wedding dress. ShopStyle.co.uk saw an enormous 100%*[1] increase in traffic the day of the wedding as women flocked online to find Middleton inspired dresses. And dresses stayed in the Top 10 searches across the year as women were influenced by Catherine Middleton’s elegance and classic style.

Alexander McQueen jumped into the top 40 search terms as it was revealed the bride’s wedding dress was designed by the iconic UK fashion house. The only other designer to move into the Top 10 this year was Ralph Lauren leaped fuelled by his TV appearance on Oprah.

The maxi dress is still eternally popular topping the list of the most searched for items in 2011, joined at no.1 of most popular labels by Diesel.

Shannon Edwards, Managing Director and VP Europe for ShopStyle believes 2011 was the year when fashion took Catherine Middleton to its heart. She says: “From the Royal engagement announcement the fashion world was in love with Catherine’s classic elegance and sophisticated, adoptable style. The Royal Wedding was an incredible event for fashion and began our adoption of all things British, from designer labels to high street stores. It will continue into 2012 as we look forward to the Jubilee celebrations and the Olympics.”

Boasting over one million users each month and over 2000 UK and international fashion brands, ShopStyle.co.uk’s Top Ten of 2011 are as follows:

Frost's Review of 2011

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Catherine Balavage

2011 was an eventful political year, with the Arab Spring, phone Hacking and the death of more than one tyrant. On the flip side, it was also a year of wedding fever, Prince William finally made an honest women of Kate Middleton on April 29. Kate Moss and Jamie Hince, Lily Allen and Sam Cooper (she also announced her pregnancy), Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig, Prince Albert and Charlotte, Zara Phillips and Mark Tindall and Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell all tied the knot. Kim Kardashian got married too, but so briefly it is barely worth mentioning.

There was tragedy when Japan was struck by an record 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami. Followed by nuclear disaster at Fukushima, which is still being cleared up by brave workers, at serious risk to their own health.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher.

In August London burned as riots spread all over England, people died, lost their homes and taxpayers were left with a bill of over 100 million.

The Arab Spring started when 26-year-old vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi. set himself on fire in protest in a Tunisian marketplace on December 17th 2010. It lead to leaders all over the Arab world standing down including Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and the death of Gaddafi in October.

Silvio Berlusconi also finally stepped down.

Osama Bin Laden was killed ten years after 9/11.

The press went mad over Pippa Middleton’s bottom. As did PR companies.

Super Injunctions were the buzzword of the year, but the name of the footballer came out after he was named by multiple people on Twitter. The film star who slept with the same prostitute as Wayne Rooney, however, got away with it. Our article on it was one of our most popular of the year, getting over 14,000 hits in a matter of hours

Borders book store closed down, as did the Space Shuttle Programme and Harry Potter ended after a decade.

The Iraqi war ended in December. A date set by the Bush administration.

Liam Fox lost his job.

The Phone Hacking scandal ran and ran.

Charlie Sheen lost it, but bounced back.

Aung San Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest.

Frost’s Politician of the year is the people of Libya.

Anders Behring Breivik went on an murderous rampage in Norway on the Island of Utoya, leaving over 80 people dead and many more injured. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the attack a “national tragedy” and the worst atrocity in Norway since World War II. Stoltenberg further vowed that the attack would not hurt Norwegian democracy, and said the proper answer to the violence was “more democracy, more openness, but not naivety”. In his speech at the memorial service on 24 July 2011, he said what a proper reaction would be: “No one has said it better than the AUF girl who was interviewed by CNN: ‘If one man can show so much hate, think how much love we could show, standing together.’

The end of Harry Potter.

Frost started a campaign to end Prescription charges in England, the only place in the so called ‘United’ Kingdom still paying them.

Jessie J had a breakthrough year and confessed to being bisexual.

David Walliams swam the Thames. He raised £1 million for Sports relief.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher split.

As did J-Lo and Marc Anthony

Ryan Gosling had a brilliant year and was in the brilliant Drive. http://frostmagazine.com/2011/09/drive-film-review/

Sir David Attenborough dazzled again with Frozen Planet.

Frost Women of the year: Kate Middleton. After ten years and two break-ups, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton finally married her Prince Charming. Their wedding was watched by more people than 20 million people and the new Duchess of Cambridge has been wowing press and public alike with her style, charm and poise.

Man of the year: Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs died too young, aged 56, after a long battle with cancer. He changed the world with his vision and business acumen and when he died the outpouring of grief would rival that of Princess Diana. A true loss of a visionary man.

Most inspirational person: Eva Schloss. Eva survived the holocaust. She lost her father and her brother, her mother also survived and went on to marry Otto Frank and Eva became Anne Frank’s step-sister. She is truly the most inspirational women I have ever met. If you don’t believe me, read her books. The Promise: The Moving Story of a Family in the Holocaust
or Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Step-Sister of Anne Frank
[Full disclosure: I was in the West End Production of the play of Eva’s life; And Then They Came For Me.]

Kim Jong-il, Lucien Freud, Christopher Hitchens, Liz Taylor, Amy Winehouse and Vaclav Havel all died in 2011.

Adele and Katy Perry released the albums of the year.

Kristen Wiig co-wrote and starred in the hilarious Bridesmaids, which proved women could be funny.

Unemployment was high and economical troubles rumbled throughout the year. The US lost their triple AAA credit rating.

Finally, a great article.

http://frostmagazine.com/2011/10/top-10-common-faults-with-human-thought/

How To Get Over A Break Up.

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Catherine Balavage

Few things in life are as hard as a break up. Having your heart broken is not for wimps. Yet everyone will go through it at some point. Being left by someone you love will leave you bereft but you will survive. Here is the Frost guide to healing as quickly as possible.

[Note: although this articles is about getting over a man, the same advice mostly applies to women too]

Give yourself time to mourn

Nothing stops the end from being so hard.

When something ends in your life, no matter what it is, it is going to hurt. The end of a relationship is the death of that relationship and you have to give yourself time to mourn.

However, only give yourself a few days, a week maximum to really mop. Sounds tough, but it’s the best way. After that, go out a lot, join some classes, talk to your friends, exercise, or even just spend an evening watching a good boxset or reading magazines. Treat yourself and be kind. You are fragile so treat yourself as well as possible.

Cut him off.

When someone hurts you, react. Forgiveness comes later. Keep your dignity at all times, but don’t let yourself be manipulated. There is a reason you broke up.

Delete him on Facebook, stop following him on Twitter. Delete his number, his email from your contact list, cut him off. If he doesn’t want you in his life, then he doesn’t get to have you as a friend. Don’t settle for second best. He will probably want to keep you around and have you as a ‘friends with benefits’ but you are worth more, don’t do it.

Remove him from your life with surgical precision. Sell everything he bought you on Ebay and use the proceeds to go on a holiday with your girlfriends. Get ride of every mementos. Change your surrounding as much as possible and have a clear out. All of this will help.

Some people think you can be friends with an ex. Maybe you can after a long period, But, I think, the only reasons two exes can be friends is if they still love each other, or if they never did.

Don’t just rebound with the next guy.

Having casual sex will just make you feel worse. Embrace the good things about being single, not the meat market aspect. You will be a different person from who went into the relationship. Give yourself some time to grow and settle into yourself.

Remind yourself what you didn’t like about him.

Write everything down. No one is perfect and there are things he done that drove you mad. Did he play computer games all day? Watch football? Whatever it is, that has also gone from your life too. Thumbs up.

Take responsibility

Take note of what you did wrong in the relationship, the mistakes you made. Learn from every bad experience. It takes two people to destroy a relationship. Your next relationship will be the better for it.

Enjoy being single.

Embrace all the great things about being single. Do all of the things that you love that he hated. Go out and flirt. Flirting is fun and there are a lot of amazing men out there. Go out and date. Enjoy yourself knowing you have no ball and chain.

Become an independent women who loves her life. Remember when Prince William dumped Kate Middleton? Kate shortened her hem lines, and went out with Williams friends looking absolutely stunning. No wonder he fell back in love with her.

[If you follow all of this advice and your ex comes crawling back, think hard before taking him back, all of the old problems will still be there. Don’t throw more good time after bad.]

Let go

Know that everything will get better and that time will heal. After removing him from your life and embracing your new one, let go. Nothing good comes from hanging onto the past. Go out and live your life, knowing that you are better off without him.

My final piece of advice is to not let a bad man ruin you for a good one in the future. There is a good man out there for you. If you become bitter, he wins. Always know that even in the darkest moments that there is a good man out there for you, and one day you will find him. Just keep searching and live your life.

Frost Magazine

Books and Lifestyle

Tag Archives: catherine middleton

Prince William is St Giles Trust's 50th Anniversary Patron

War Horse Review

Londoners Life 19 – By Phil Ryan

MOST POPULAR FASHION SEARCHES OF 2011

Frost's Review of 2011

How To Get Over A Break Up.