Forget Starbucks, enjoy unlimited coffee at Hush Holborn

With reports of a tax scandal at Starbucks, forget drinking coffee that exploits the UK taxpayer and enjoy unlimited, good quality coffee at Hush Holborn.

From today, enjoy quality Italian Roast coffee, free wi-fi and complimentary newspapers, all in the relaxed and intimate surroundings of Hush Holborn. And to show just how dedicated the team at Hush are to ensuring relaxation and comfort, slippers are also available on request.

If you’re feeling peckish, there is also a wide selection of croissants and cooked breakfasts to ensure you start the day on the right foot.

Find Hush at:
95-97 High Holborn
London
WC1V 6LF

www.hush.co.uk

Win Dark Shadows Blu-Ray Triple Play DVD

Warner Bros. Pictures is proud to announce the release of Dark Shadows on DVD and Blu-Ray October 15th 2012; along with the Dark Shadows Blog App! And Frost Magazine has teamed up with them to give one of our lucky readers a Dark Shadows Blu-Ray Triple Play.

Just follow Frost on twitter or subscribe to our newsletter for a chance to win. If you tweet then be sure to mention us and say: “I want to win a Dark Shadows Blu-Ray Triple Play with @Frostmag”. Good luck.

 

From the incredible mind of Tim Burton comes the hit film Dark Shadows, based on the classic US television series!  Barnabas Collins has been trapped for two centuries by an evil witch (Eva Green) who just happens to be an ex lover.  Barnabas now has to struggle with the ever changing 1970s and save his family’s business!  With an all star cast that includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jonny Lee Miller and more, Dark Shadows will be sure to whet your appetite for fun.

 


 

Winner will be decided by 30-10-2012. The winner must be located in the United Kingdom.

 

 


Celebrity Cookbooks Popular at Christmas, But Remain Unwrapped

OCADO, has revealed that despite stocking up on the latest celebrity cookbooks ahead of the Christmas season, one in ten Brits admit to never even opening them, with almost half (41%) of us only pulling them off the shelf when they need to make ‘something special’.

Even though half of the population say that they own at least four cookbooks, research from the online grocer reveals that busy lifestyles mean Brits don’t have the time to rustle up a meal from scratch, let alone break the spine on their mountain of cookbooks, with five per cent of those quizzed claiming that they don’t spend any time at all cooking each day.

However it seems as though the humble recipe book is not dead, with Ocado predicting that cookbooks are set to be a staple stocking filler this festive season, including the new titles from Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Heston Blumenthal.

Meanwhile, Ocado have also reported that sales of celebrity cookbooks have risen by 250% this year alone. Mouth-watering reads are also beginning to eclipse must-read erotica with the diet cookbook from The Hairy Chefs arousing more interest than 50 Shades of Grey, pushing sensationalist author E.L James off her throne on number one bestsellers lists.

Despite half of Brits showcasing exotic cookbooks on their shelves, findings reveal that the meals most regularly cooked are traditional classics like Spaghetti Bolognaise (60%), meat & two veg style roast dinners (54%) and sausage and mash (48%), with only a handful of Brits regularly taking on more exotic dishes such as Thai curry (16%) or Paella (10%).

Over a quarter of British foodies admit to tuning into at least two food programmes a week, with Masterchef (56%) and Great British Bake Off (34%) being firm favourites in the nation’s homes. However, despite immersing themselves in celebrity cook books and TV shows, when quizzed how long they spend preparing and cooking grub, a staggering 78 per cent said they managed to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner in less than 30 minutes.

Jason Gissing, Ocado co-founder states: “We know that Brits love to buy all of the latest celebrity cookery books and enjoy watching recipes being created on TV, but many of us just don’t have the time to recreate delicious meals for ourselves. At Ocado you can browse recipes from some of the UK’s top chefs, shop for ‘must have’ cookery books and order ingredients for delivery straight to your door. Plus Ocado offers everyday products alongside rarer, hard to find ingredients, making it quick and easy to buy everything you need all in one place, so you can spend your time creating your own delicious masterpiece.

Christmas customers also can make their life even easier by shopping for their family gifts and festive fare in one simple click – forget the queues and the festive rush!”

For further information on Ocado’s own selection of tasty recipes and ingredients, visit www.ocado.com/webshop/recipes/.

Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar | Restaurant Review – Part 1: The Bar

The bar at Gillrays

Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar is situated in a five star hotel, the London Marriott. Which is in turn located in the former seat of London’s government, County Hall, just across Westminster bridge from the Houses of Parliament. Walking up to the hotel to get to the restaurant, one’s breath is taken away by just how beautiful it is. It is so full of class and elegance that you almost feel it is from a different era.

The hotel itself is beautiful. The stuff dreams are made of and as we walk into the restaurant our first view is of a gorgeous English Gin bar, with riverside views of the Southbank. The bar is based on 18th-century social and political caricaturist James Gillray.

The Perfect Martini

 

We talk to Carlos, the bar room manager. Carlos is friendly, passionate and knowledgeable. It’s clear that no expense has been spared and a huge amount of effort has been put into every last detail. Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar has 35 English gins, and it will soon be ‘over forty’. Only the very best make it onto the menu. The bar looks wonderful, almost like some fantastic chemistry cocktail laboratory.  Everything has been done to an exact science to ensure perfect quality and it comes across in the taste of the cocktails

The menu is fascinating and separated into eras, Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, contemporary and modern Britain. Each era has its own brilliant Gillray caricature. Although the specialty is Gin there is a huge range of many different cocktails. A full menu can be found here

I ask Carlos for a recommendation and have the St James Martini, something I already had my eye on. It comes in the most perfect glass, looks great and tastes divine. If you love martini’s, make sure you try one.

My colleague has a ‘First Kiss’, made up of Hendrick’s gin with peppermint, lemongrass tea tincture, shaken with lime juice, sugar and fresh pineapple. The result is a delicious, refined and refreshing. One of the best cocktails he has ever had.

The ‘First Kiss’ cocktail

The cocktails were fairly expensive. Most of them are around £10.

However this a real experience. It is something unique that you will remember and it fully justifies the cost. Anyone who loves cocktails must try it, and everyone else should go at least once for the experience.

Having finished off our cocktails we head off to the restaurant area behind the bar. You will be able to  read a full review of the restaurant part of Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar very shortly.

Part 2 here

 

 

 

Storm Watches AW12

My first ever watch was by Storm, and I have been a fan ever since. There AW12 collection has some interesting, stunning pieces. They also have some beautiful jewellery, a personal favourite is the Storm Allegra Jewelery Collection, they have an original and quirky musical note in a cube. The collection is available in silver and gold.

Dr Robert by Lee Miller | Fashion

Check out these wonderful photos from Dr Robert by Lee Miller’s fashion Show held at the University Women’s Club in London, May Fair.

S DEAN PHOTOGRAPHY and SEE-LI photography.

TEDxEaling

Ted Talks are now famous, and when they came along to Ealing I went along with my film business partner, Steve McAleavy.

We had a brilliant time and there was some really brilliant talks. TedXEaling was brought to Ealing by Chris Jones, film director and owner of Living Spirit pictures. Below is some of the people who talked at the event. I had a brilliant time and met some amazing people.

 

Sebastien Foucan: Our relationship with fear

Sebastien Foucan is the founder and creator of freerunning. Sebastien is well known for his views on the philosophy behind freerunning and is an ambassador for the discipline in many countries across the globe.

Seema Anand: The Art Of Seduction

The ancient arts of Courtesanery and Seduction were once treated as high philosphy, with divine and academic associations. Dr. Seema Anand explores how these narratives have been lost and in the evolution of their vocabulary, the implications have changed. Working with the range of what ‘story’ can mean to an individual Seema facilitates the learning processes of ‘telling’, ‘listening’, ‘acknowledging’ and ‘rejecting’ the narratives that make up our lives and our social interactions to enhance communication, build links and open dialogue.

Jarred McGinnis: Writing is the Only Magic I Still Believe In

Jarred McGinnis will share his passion for stories and demonstrate the power of words from Speech Act Theory to the genius that is the children’s book ‘That’s Not My Pirate’. Jarred is an American living in London, and the co-founder of the literary variety night, The Special Relationship. His fiction has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4, and appeared in journals in the UK, USA and Ireland. He is wickedtomocktheafflicted.com. In addition to writing fiction, he holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence.

Eve Hazelton: Film Director of Photography

How does light and shadow impact on our understanding of story? As a Director of Photography, it is Eve’s job to visualize a story and use the tools of her craft to translate that into a film. With the stereotype of a DoP’s role to be all about camera’s, Eve explores how other area’s of her job are equally, if not more important. Eve is the Director of Photography and Editor for Realm Pictures, an independent film company based in the UK. Her’s are the eyes which reveal the stories that the team at Realm want to tell.

Linda Potgieter: A purpose driven life

Linda Potgieter has enjoyed a rewarding 22 year career predominantly focused on designing and delivering communications solutions. Director of a locally based training and consulting firm, she has spent the past eight years designing and delivering communication and negotiation training across 14 countries. Linda’s inspirational delivery style is driven by her passion for the human connection within negotiations.

Chris Atkins: Lies and Truth – How to get to the truth of a story by telling lies

Chris’ first doc, Taking Liberties, is about the loss of civil liberties in the UK and is a polemical and entertaining theatrical feature. In June 2007 the film was released theatrically and was one of the highest-grossing documentaries of 2007. Chris was nominated for a BAFTA – The Carl Foreman Award for best writer, director or producer in their first feature film. He has since produced a slew of controversial documentaries for both cinema and TV.

 

Dekay: Urban Poetry

Dekay will perform a rap from her latest album and teach us about storytelling in a different form. Dekay is an unsigned rapper/songwriter/producer from Camden, North West London. With a back catalouge of 3 mixtapes and an album, Dekay has been battling, rhyming and shotting cds in the endz for the last 8 years.

 

Daniel Sloss: It’s just a story

Scotland’s Daniel Sloss is currently one of the fastest rising stars of UK comedy. He started doing stand-up aged 16, has appeared on numerous TV shows including ‘Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow’ plus his own BBC show ‘The Adventures of Daniel’ and tours extensively thoughout the UK as well as internationally.He will be talking about how comedy is a series of short and truthful stories.

 

Will Brooker: Tales of the Dark Knight

After 73 years in popular culture, Batman has become more than a corporate product and commercial property; he also belongs to generations of readers and fans who circulate their own stories around him, and keep his legend alive. Will Brooker is Director of Research in Film and Television at Kingston University, London. He is the author and editor of several books on popular culture and audience, including Batman Unmasked, Using the Force, the BFI Film Classics volume on Star Wars and, most recently, Hunting the Dark Knight: 20th Century Batman.

David Varela: Throw your Story from a Plane

David Varela is a London-based writer and producer. He has written for film, theatre, radio, magazines, ebooks and games, creating some of the world’s most exciting transmedia projects along the way. These include Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life (for Reebok), Xi (for Sony PlayStation) and most recently The Seed, a transmedia story combining four plays, a treasure hunt and online characters, as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. He is currently developing an original drama series for Channel 4.

Emily James: Shooting Outlaws without Hurting Anyone

After her first broadcast commission, The Luckiest Nut in the World (C4, 2002), the Guardian asserted “Emily James is a genius”. Following the experimental Don’t Worry, (C4, 2004) and What Would Jesus Drive?, (C4, 2006) Emily’s attention has now shifted to feature documentaries, acting as Executive Producer on the acclaimed The Age of Stupid (2009). Her feature directing debut, Just Do It: A tale of modern day outlaws screened in over 45 independent cinemas across the UK in Summer 2011.

Richard Newman: Inspire and Motivate People with PRO

Working with 17,000 people across 45 countries Richard discovered there is a story-telling method that motivates all of us, called the PRO system. His team have helped clients win business worth over £1.6 billion, working on pitches and presentations to make them stand out from the crowd. Clients include the McLaren Formula 1 Team, KPMG and IBM. Recently he has been working with 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers, to promote their TV shows about body language.

Julian Friedmann: The mystery of storytelling

How we tell stories seems to be a mysterious process that millions around the world want to be able to do, but 99.9% effectively fail. Why is it so hard for storyteller and audience to be one? What we communicate can change the lives of the writer and the audience. However, why stories matter and how to tell them better may not be as mysterious as it seems. Julian Friedmann has worked with writers for over 40 years; he believes understanding that storytelling is more about the audience than the writer will result in better storytelling.

Martin Lee: The Story Of My Shame

The redemptive power of ‘story’ for both businesses and people.

Martin Lee is a director of 26, the business writers’ collective that exists to inspire a greater love of words in business and in life. In his day job, he is a co-founder of Acacia Avenue, a boutique qualitative research consultancy whose purpose is to make business recommendations to its clients as long as they are in the interests of their customers. Before taking to agency life, Martin worked in the book business, culminating in being the Marketing Director at Waterstone’s.

Linda Haysman: The Costume Designer

What story does the clothes you wear tell? Linda Haysman is an experienced Costume Designer and has worked in theatre, film and television. Linda will be exploring story telling through Costume Design and it’s effect on audience perceptions.

 

 

TEDxEaling 2012 Hosts and Entertainers

Chris Jones – Filmmaker, author and TEDxEaling creator

Having made feature films, an Oscar shortlisted short film, written seven books on filmmaking, run the London Screenwriters’ Festival and subsequently trained literally thousands of filmmakers and screenwriters around the world, TEDxEaling themes on ‘Story’ was both a logical AND challenging step for Chris. He will be introducing TEDxEaling and looks forward to sitting in the audience with you.

Walter Lewis: TEDxEaling Master Of Ceremonies

Walter is an established actor, voice artist and corporate trainer.  He has worked in TV, film, and theatre on both sides of the Atlantic, and has been a long-standing member of the The Reduced Shakespeare Company.  Other credits include: “Red Badge of Courage” (Naxos Books), “Never the Sinner” (Manchester Library), “East of Eden” and “Auntie Mame” (BBC Radio), “1408” & “The Dark Knight”. As an American living in the UK he loves the British sunshine…

 

Catherine Arton: Casting Director

Firing your creative synapses. Catherine Arton is a casting director, motivational speaker, director, and story teller of old. Having studied English Literature at University and Acting at LAMDA, Catherine has a true passion for story and story telling. Catherine will use some of her own specially devised techniques and ideas to help the conference attendees to get into the best possible mindset for the TEDx conference.

Vinyl Film Review | Raindance Film Festival 2012

Vinyl was one of my favourite films at the Raindance Film Festival. It is a comedy film about an ageing rocker, Johnny Jones, who goes to the funeral of a member of his former band. Johnny is living in a caravan and trying to have a baby with his wife, A washed up rock star, he misses his former life.

When he sees the rest of the band at the funeral they all end up jamming and they make a record, it’s good but Johnny cannot get anyone to sign the band or play the record in the youth-obsessed world of the music industry. Instead he spins the truth and says that the song has been made by a Welsh teenage band, and will reveal the truth when the record is a hit.

This film by Sara Sugarman is a real gem of a film. It is funny and entertaining. With a stellar cast including Phil Daniels , Keith Allen and Perry Benson, Vinyl is full of punk spirit, a fun, likable film which has been described as ‘School of Rock meets Spinal Tap’ and I couldn’t put it better myself.