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How One TV Drama Series Is Fighting the HIV Aids Taboo
MTV Shuga is a sizzling sex and relationships drama and multimedia campaign for young audiences, which aims to raise awareness of HIV and Aids globally, and this fortnight I attended the premiere of...
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An Interview With Miyavi
Miyavi is probably most famous over here for his role as the sadistic prison guard Mutsuhiro Watanabe in Angelina Jolie's film Unbroken. But he is a also killer guitarist with a most unusual style....
View ArticleMusic and Technology - Awkward Bedfellows
When I was barely in my teens I was obsessed with Jazz. My brother beat me up for swapping his Shadows records for some New Orleans Jazz EP's that a mate of mine had inherited from his Dad. I saved up...
View ArticleDavid Constantine: The Bleak Satisfaction Of Clear Sentences
David Constantine is one of Britain's most underrated writers. A winner of the BBC National Short Story Award and the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, his balance of the lyrical and the...
View ArticleTheatre, Sport and the Effects of Fame on Success: A Feature on Alexander Hanson
On the 29th March of last year Alexander Hanson and the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Stephen Ward took to the stage at the Aldwych Theatre for the final time, after a run of four months. On the same...
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It's Only Doc'n'Roll But They Like It
Cinemas - those filmic temples in which we have all inhaled the popcorny incense of celluloidal faith - are slowly disappearing from the landscape, leaving dereliction where once we dreamed in unity...
View ArticleBritish Nuclear Bunkers
As I child of the 1970s I have a fairly philosophical attitude towards total annihilation of the human race via nuclear war. After all, the news and culture of the time didn't let us forget that we...
View ArticleHappy Birthday to Who?
Today is someone's birthday. Tomorrow is someone's birthday. The day after is someone else's birthday. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday dear so-and-so happy birthday to you....
View ArticleOfcom Could Play Lead Role in TV Diversity
I read with great interest the comments that Sharon White, the chief executive of Ofcom, made regarding diversity at the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge (Ofcom chief tells UK...
View ArticleGreat British Bake Off 2015 - Week Eight
Pâtisserie week, and the quarter-final to boot, kicks off with a signature challenge of two dozen cream horns. Ian, star baker in three of the previous seven weeks, is in bullish mood and, in an...
View ArticleAlbum Review: Divisions - Distance Over Time
Musical genres, eh? I don't know. I mean you knew where you were with Anthrax. And even in their heyday, you were never allowed to just be a metal fan. There was Thrash, Speed, Garage, Doom etc. Band...
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Writing Therapy and the Power of Emblematic Exorcism
When I was diagnosed with Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder I in 2010 I was relieved. I'd been very ill for almost fifteen years. Finally having an answer seemed like a gift from the gods. Yet my relief...
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Pushkin Vertigo: Scintillating Mysteries
Pushkin Press have done a sterling job since they launched themselves on to the publishing world back in 1997. Having introduced a bountiful collection of literary gems to the Anglosphere, with...
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Seán McGowan - Meet the Southampton Lad Ready to Take on The Establishment
Seán McGowan-Millbrook Road In recent years many articles have bemoaned the death of political music in the UK. Clearly they're not looking very hard. With his tales of ordinary struggles combined...
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Film Reviews: 99 Homes - Captive - Mia Madre - Solace
'99 Homes', a tale of greed and corruption during the real estate crash is a tense and relevant drama - 'Captive' is a true story edge-of-the-seat thriller hostage drama - 'Mia Madre,' Nanni Moretti's...
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Hello Sweet Art: First Dates With Girls and Hangmen
This is a totally vegetarian round-up of a week in culture. By that I mean there are absolutely no pig puns. They've become a squeal issue if I'm honest. Sorry that one just came out. Hangmen, Royal...
View ArticleBringing the Issue of Mass Migration Caused by Climate Change to the Stage...
It's Sunday afternoon, nearly 6pm and I've been sitting with my laptop since 8.30 this morning. Tomorrow marks the beginning of week four of rehearsals for The Edge. I'm trying to pull a script...
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David Hockney: Early Drawings
"Ink drawings are unbelievably unforgiving. There's no room for error," proclaims gallery owner Offer Waterman as he lauds the technical skill and emotional impact of some of David Hockney's early...
View ArticleWhy Do I Write?
Why do I write? Because, you know, I have the right. Why do I write about women? Because I can. A Woman is where my self has been living. Why do I write about mothers? Because I am a mother and a...
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Fire in a Bottle (To 'Twin Peaks' and Back Again)
This weekend, the Twin Peaks UK Festival welcomes cast members and devotees to Whitechapel's Genesis Cinema to celebrate 25 years of seductive mysteries. Contemporary culture has for some time now,...
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