Tag Archives: race

What Do You Need for a Day at the Races?

Posted on by

The glitz and glamour of a major horse racing event is one of the reasons the sport is loved by people from all walks of life. High octane action on the course is flanked by endless rows of food stalls, bars, live music and women in outlandish outfits. All in all a day at the races is one that’s not only filled with betting action but all round entertainment.

So before you head off to one of the biggest meetings of the year, the Grand National for example, what do you need to know to get maximum value out of the day?

Choose Your Outfit Wisely:

1

by  Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer 

As much as a day at the races is a fashion parade, it’s also a day out in the open for the most part. The Great British weather is notoriously unpredictable and if you are attending an event such as the Grand National 2015 you need to be prepared for anything. A long skirt for women accompanied by a light jacket and a fancy hat are always good choices. For men, the classic two piece suit is a must for any high profile racing event. Ties are optional if the weather is nice, but you need to ensure your outfit is both practical and fashionable.

Have a Plan B:

2

by Kurayba 

Having a back-up plan is always necessary in the racing world because, as we’ve said, the weather is notoriously unpredictable. To ensure your day at the races isn’t a washout you need a point of cover if the sky decides to open up. Most major race courses will have an indoor section, for example Newmarket racecourse has two grandstands, so you should try to create a base inside before heading outside. If you can manage to hold a spot under cover and still get outside to see the races you’ll have cracked it.

Study the Form:

3

by  Paolo Camera 

One of the biggest considerations you’ll need to make before you head off to the races is the form. Although the auxiliary antics on offer are always fun, the main reason you’re at a racing event is, unsurprisingly, the racing. If you’re going to make a bet, you need to know what you’re speculating on and the best way to do this is combine online research with your own observations. Make sure you check out the stats from one of the many online bookmakers offering Grand National 2015 odds then compare these stats to the form books available at the racecourse. After weighing up your options, make sure don’t spend more than you can afford.

Get Out Early or Stay In Late:

4

by jaguarmena 

The final thing you need to think about before you go off and enjoy a day at the races is the amount of time you’re going to spend inside the venue. Major events attract thousands of spectators and that causes a swell of people when the final race comes to a conclusion. The majority of people will want to head off into the nearest town as quickly as possible, so you need to make a choice: leave early or stay late. Either option is as valid as the other, but you need to make your choice and stick to it. If you can follow this simple piece of advice and our preceding three points, then a day at any racing event in the country will be a fantastic day filled with fun, frolics and, hopefully, profits.

 

 

The Life of a Banana PP Wong Book Review

Posted on by

Novels that bring an insight into race and culture can be sorely lacking. PP Wong is the first British-born Chinese novelist to be published and I find that very sad indeed. It does not say much for diversity. We can’t necessarily blame publishers, they only buy what they think will sell, what the public want. So maybe it is time we opened our eyes more to other cultures and the absolute horror of racism.

After the heavy opening paragraph I hope you don’t get the wrong idea, The Life of a Banana is a (mostly) funny tale of a young Chinese girl growing up in London. It is written in her style, something that is very hard to do, and harder to do well.

Of course, not everyone is racist or a bully and racists and bullies just embarrass people who aren’t racist and bullies, but some of the things Xing Li goes through are truly horrible and shocking. This is an excellent book on identity and the end of childhood. I really enjoyed reading it and it is a triumphant first novel.

thelifeofabananabookreview

Xing Li is what the Chinese call a banana – yellow on the outside and white on the inside. Although born and raised in London, she never feels like she fits in. When her mother dies, she moves with her older brother to live with venomous Grandma, strange Uncle Ho and Hollywood actress Auntie Mei. Her only friend is Jay – a mixed raced Jamaican boy with a passion for classical music.

Then Xing Li’s life takes an even harsher turn: the school bullying escalates and her uncle requests she assist him in an unthinkable favour. Her happy childhood becomes a distant memory as her new life is infiltrated with the harsh reality that comes with adolescence.

Consumed by secrets, violence and confusing family relations, Xing Li tries to find hope wherever she can. She realises that in order to find her own identity, she must first discover what it means to be both Chinese and British.

The Life of a Banana is available here.

Olivia Colman Calls For More Diversity In The Film Industry

Posted on by

Olivia ColmanThe amazing British actress Olivia Colman has said that diversity is not just about race and that there must be more opportunities for all in the film and TV industries. Colman told her views as she was appointed as a judge for the TriForce Short Film Festival. She said that it was important that a wide range of people had a chance to tell their stories.

Colman said: “This is not just about race, it’s about diversity in all its forms. TV and films are fundamentally about storytelling and it is important that as many voices as possible have the opportunity to tell their stories.”

The TriForce Short Film Festival will be held at BAFTA on November 22nd. TriForce is a networking firm which has been set up to raise diversity in the industry. Colman said it has been working for years to improve opportunities for people from “truly diverse” backgrounds. Which can only be a good thing. We see the same people over and over again on the TV.  We should also hear more different accents. I have been told many times to pretend I am not Scottish to help my career. I understand changing my accent for a role but denying I am who I am? It is just not right. So lets hope for more people from all walks of life.

What do you think?

 

If you are an actor then check out my book How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It is available in print and in all eBook formats on both Smashwords and Amazon.

 

 

Is This The Best Women’s Magazine Cover Ever? We Think So

Posted on by

The Australian Women’s Weekly has trumped every other women’s magazine cover by featuring Turia Pitt as it’s cover star. 26-year-old Pitt was running a marathon three years ago when she was caught in a bushfire and was left with scars over 65 per cent of her body. Pitt said: “I feel humbled, For me it sends the message that confidence equals beauty.”

bestwomensmagazinecover

Pitt has had over 100 operations, and she spent over two years in hospital. She even lost all the fingers on one of her hands. It is a brave move from Women’s Weekly but it shouldn’t have to be. There should be more diversity in race, age and disability in our media.

Before I go to sleep poster

The poster for Before I Go To Sleep doesn’t do equality any favours however, showing Colin Firth and Mark Strong with wrinkles, looking handsome but looking their age, while Nicole Kidman’s face looks like it has been sandblasted. It seems that women are still not allowed to age in Hollywood, but men are. Firth and Strong look great and are allowed to age, but for Kidman you get the feeling it would be the end of her career. Kidman is 47, Firth is 53 and Strong is 50. I mean, god forbid a 47-year-old woman looks like a 47-year-old woman.

It is not Kidman’s fault of course. She is just a product of her environment. But I can’t help feeling that actresses who nip and tuck everything are perpetrating the problem. I think it is time we made a stand. What do you think?

Fuel | Food Review

Posted on by

I am one of those people who faint if they don’t have breakfast, so I take it quite seriously. Some ‘energy cereal’ landed on Frost’s doorstep and we put it to the test.

Most important thing first: taste. It tastes great. Really good. Like muesli, but better. Fuel is made for sport and fitness enthusiasts. It based on the 10k hours principle (see below) and has been developed for those interested in marathons and triathlons to sustain them through training and the race. This isn’t me, but my life is busy and I exercise most days.

It comes in two flavours: Real Fruit and Chocolate Chunks. Both flavours taste great. Does it give me more energy? Yes. It is a good healthy breakfast that gets you through the day. I would buy Fuel. There is £1 off the normal RSP of £3.29 at Sainsbury from now until August 14th.

Barney Mauleverer, 37, is one of the creators of FUEL and a devotee of extreme sporting challenges having completed the gruelling Marathon des Sables across the Sahara Desert, the Himalayan Marathon and, most recently, the Jungle Marathon in the Amazon.

Barney said: “We have created FUEL because we were bored with what was on offer in the cereals category and specifically to meet the needs of today’s active people taking part in marathons, triathlons, mountain climbing as well as more traditional pastimes such as rugby, tennis and squash.

“An energy-packed cereal like FUEL will help give them the edge in their training regimes and in competition.”

Containing only natural ingredients, FUEL is rich in Vitamin B and E, high in fibre and contains guarana extract. It is a blend of both slow release and fast release energy providing an ideal start to the day.

FUEL is available in 400g packs and has a retail price of £3.29.

The 10,000 hours rule was developed by psychologist Anders Ericsson of Florida State University and made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers. Basically, Ericsson’s theory suggests that sufficient practice in a particular skill can take anyone to the level of proficiency equivalent to that heard on the playing of a top concert pianist. Gladwell took this theory further and said it could apply to the best sports people, business leaders and performers. He cited the 10,00 hours spent programming by Bill Gates at the age of 13 – long before the majority of his peers knew what a computer was. 10,000 hour works out at 90 minutes of practice ever day for 20 years.

Londoner’s Life 29 – by Phil Ryan

Posted on by

Londoner’s Life 29 – By Phil Ryan

Boris won. Ken lost. So that’s the Mayoral nonsense out of the way. I popped into my local church and put my cross in the boxes. Curious really, a kind of religious voting experience. But it was probably a futile gesture as nothing much will change. Everything will stay expensive. Nothing will get cheaper. And the weirdo fringe candidates like the BNP and Liberal Democrats attracted hardly any support in the end. So what was the point of them all? It was Boris vs Ken. And think of all the money they both wasted. But hey that’s democracy so I guess I shouldn’t complain. In London we seem to lead the way in fairness and openness. That is unless of course you’re trying to get into the country via Heathrow. Yes London’s premier airport is leading the world now in queues. It’s our Olympic year and London is saying welcome and come on in. You’ve flown for a few hours and now as a welcoming exercise we’d like you to stand in line for three more tedious hours and shuffle along like drugged penguins. Our staff have all been employed only if they are miserable and intolerant. Make any kind of fuss – even slightly raise your voice and miraculously we have loads of staff to escort you to an interrogation room. Hm. And I love our chip and pin type passports with their hi tec machines plus their human components. Last month I flew back from France. Confidently headed for the chipped passport gates but before I got there a very kind lady stopped me and explained how to use them. Hm.

Isn’t the point being that it’s a machine with clear instructions. So I listened to her briefly and her two colleagues who came across to assist her! I didn’t want to seem rude so instead of putting my passport on the reader I politely let them waste five minutes of my time and then I did what I was intending all along. I put my passport on the reader and looked at the camera thing. The gates opened and I ran for the Heathrow Express. Over manning or what? Meanwhile the other queue snaked back out of the corridor. Welcome to London.

My favourite new bit of over hyping Olympic nonsense was the pure London moment when the army went to Bow to put missiles onto the roofs of tower blocks to find many already had them. Just kidding! But seriously the kids are more armed than the army round that way. Pity the terrorist who wanders into Bow, he’s done for. Personally I think it’s a scam by Barratt’s Homes or even the Government. I mean imagine if they do shoot down a plane. Where does it crash exactly? Bow or Canning Town somewhere. It’s a regeneration project essentially dressed up as security. But we lurch closer to the joy of the Olympics with each passing week. My most chilling moment was watching some bland nerk from Transport for London (TFL) colloquially known as Totally ********* London. He stood in front of the front of a station and calmly asserted that there would be 3 million more tube passengers using the system EVERY DAY during the Olympics. What? Have any of them actually been on the tube? It is going to be a nightmare. But then only a London official could make the following statement. He went on to say that today they were launching a poster campaign and get this ‘encouraging Londoner’s to find different ways to get to work’. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh. Different ways? What Hot Air balloons, jet packs, levitation. How about roller skates? It’s like they’ve collectively all dropped some acid. They have abandoned any grasp on reality. But hey ho! This is London and TFL and anything is possible apparently. Come the games it’s essentially going to be the world’s largest and sweatiest mobile game of Twister!

But it’s not all bad news. It’s the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebration soon (god bless her). A procession of golden boats and pageantry and an opportunity for street parties. So here in London it’s a chance for another holiday as remember its bank holiday season. Every other week seems to be a holiday. Which on the one hand is great. On the other the train companies calmly make every weekend a train free zone. And from what I see on some of the weekend jubilee celebrations the train companies will do their level best to stop you getting there. No wonder Londoners get so resigned to their travelling fate. However at my local London Overground station when I head for the platform the staff now excitedly tell me we have trains honestly lots of them look go and see! It’s quite touching in a way.

Finally trend news moment. It’s now the complete rise of the east with the Sushi places I’ve mentioned before. But now I see a blossoming undercurrent of new British themed gastro pubs or ‘eating rooms’ as they trendily call themselves. It’s suddenly organic sausages and Kent potatoes and gravy. And whilst I cautiously welcome this type of place (all very 50’s in decor but British 50’s mind you so coooool) again the prices are very scary. I went to a new one plugged in the Evening Standard and paid eighteen pounds for some chops. Not very recession friendly. Conversely I notice most of them are signed up to that Taste Card company (as am I) Discount food seems the only way they can get people in at the start of the week. Remember folks it’s a double dip recession so watch those pennies. And choose carefully. Although is it stopping us going out to these places? Are people baulking at the prices? No not really. It’s a London thing.

Riots Update: Ealing Man Left Fighting For Life; Backlash Continues.

Posted on by

A 68 year old Ealing resident is still fighting for this life today. Police have expressed worry for the pain who is still on life support. He was attacked on Tuesday after confronting rioters who had set fire to a bin. He was trying to put the fire out. He was attacked and has ‘savage’ head injuries that left the police unable to tell his age, he has since been identified and the police are looking for his family.

On Wednesday morning three young Asian men were knocked down and killed while trying to defend their properties. Police in Birmingham have launched a murder inquiry. A man was arrested and had his car impounded following the incident near a mosque in the Dudley road area.

The father on one of the victims, Haroon Jahan, 21, called for peace and asked for their no be no more violence or retribution for his son’s death. He stated that this was not a ‘race’ issue.

A spokesman for the West Midlands force said: “The incident took place close to the Jet filling station on Dudley Road in Winson Green at approximately 1.15am. Three ambulances, two rapid response vehicles and an incident support officer was sent to the scene.

“When crews arrived, they found around 80 people at the scene with resuscitation ongoing on three men. Crews used their advanced life support skills while police officers provided support.”

Violence in Birmingham on Tuesday was not as bad as Monday but it spread to West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. London was relatively calm after 16,000 police officers hit the street with rubber bullets.

Independent record labels and filmmakers have been left devastated after a fire destroyed a blaze in a Sony warehouse in Enfield. The Pias Group feared a ‘ruinous’ stock loss. The three-storey, 20,000 square-metre building in Enfield, owned by Sony DADC was burned to the ground.

The fire affected Domino and film production companies with DVD stock. Pias is the UK’s largest independent sales, marketing and distribution company.

Other labels that might be affected include 4AD, Warp and Beggars Banquet.

A on Pias’s website said: “There was a fire last night at the SonyDADC warehouse which services the physical distribution for Pias in the UK and Ireland. Pias is working closely with SonyDADC who are implementing their emergency plans. Pias’s UK offices in London and all other areas of our business are unaffected. More information will be communicated shortly to all our labels and partners.”

The release of Arctic Monkeys’ new single, The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, was affected, all stock going to retail outlets had been destroyed in the fire.

There has been a lot of debate about the riots from various sources, including Darcus Howe, a West Indian Writer and Broadcaster. His controversial interview has been seen by millions of people.

I disagree with him on three counts, 1) Not all of the rioters were black 2) Working class white people are just as disenfranchised as blacks. 3) There is never any excuse for this behaviour, no matter where you are from.

The student who was mugged while bleeding has spoke of his ordeal. Ashraf Rossli said: “They threatened to stab me, they told me they had knives,”. The student from Malaysia only arrived in England a month ago.

He went on to say:

‘Some of them were quite young, maybe still in primary school. They had their hoods on and demanded my bicycle.’

In the YouTube video he is apparently helped to his feet by a Good Samaritan but the thieves took his wallet, phone and Sony PSP games console.

The video was even mentioned by David Cameron today in his address to parliament.

‘When we see children as young as 13, looting and laughing, when we see the disgusting sight of an injured young man with people pretending to help him while they are robbing him, it is clear that there are things that are badly wrong in our society,’ said the Prime Minister.

The 20-year-old finance student had his jaw broken but said “Britain is great” and said he felt sorry for this attackers.

A petition calling on the Government to evict the looters from council houses and stop their benefits has had 83,000 signatures in 24 hours. It only needs 100,000 signatures to be debated in parliament.

Have your say below.