Good Vibrations
All four members of The Beatles, stated that The Beach Boys Pet Sounds album had a major influence on them and the making of their 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But the two groups were...
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Fiona Shaw in 'The Testament of Mary', Barbican Centre
The Testament of Mary is quite something. Dramatic, moving and beautifully acted by Fiona Shaw, it is unequivocally one of the best shows in town right now. Based on the Man Booker Prize-nominated...
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Review: La Bohème - Opera North at The Lowry Salford 5/5
A night at the opera always fills me with a sense of excitement. As one of the oldest arts, opera has an air of magic but gravity too. But that doesn't mean it is for a stuffy, serious audience. Far...
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'Locke', Godot and the Mystery of Modesty
Since you ask, my favourite film of the year so far is Locke. It's Tom Hardy on the phone in a car on the M6 for ninety minutes, but it's a writer's delight, a freshwater spring of restrained...
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Eyedentity
There are a few unavoidable complications to being blind. Aside from the agony of wardrobe choice and having to learn how to negotiate high heels in the equivalent of a blackout there is the identity...
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Living an A-List Life at Cannes Film Festival 2014 - Working NEARLY as Hard...
My arrival in the world's sunniest spotlight, aka the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival, coincided with that of Nicole Kidman, guest of honour for the opening night premiere, her film 'Grace of...
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Moving to LA, Coachella and Writing for Only Gold the Musical
Can you believe it is basically June?! 2014, you're flyin' by faster than any of the other years. So in January I came to LA. My music manager and a bunch of my close friends live out here. Acting has...
View ArticleCan Anyone Find Our Humanity?
I lost my dog the other day in a London park. During the 25 minute period she was lost I asked three park wardens in different park vehicles if they could quickly drive me round the block so I could...
View ArticleCall Me Kuchu: Being Gay in Uganda Means Death by Stoning
Call Me Kuchu is a 2012 documentary film that explores the everyday struggles that the LGBT community face in Uganda. 'Kuchu' is a synonym for the word 'queer'. The film it is especially relevant today...
View ArticleHay-on-Wyte
After half an hour waiting in my second cue of the day I was catatonic. The people behind were chatty at first but grew markedly frosty when little Sylvian exclaimed (finger pointing for dramatic...
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Beyond the Fringe
As the Brighton Fringe Festival and the Brighton Festival - together vying for the biggest arts event in the UK with Edinburgh - draw to an end, retrospectively flicking through their programmes...
View ArticleWhy One Direction (And Their Fans) Need to Grow Up
All hail an internet crisis is upon us! If you are of the age of fourteen or below and a One Direction fan, the chances are that you're either crying in a corner somewhere right now, or you're busy...
View ArticleBritain's Got Talent 2014
What do a boyband, a magician, a singer and a dance troupe all have in common? They are all in the BGT final 2014. This week is flying over and I can't believe we are already on semi-final three. Who...
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Get on the Good Foot With Lee Fields and the Expressions
"Soul music is the adhesive of the human spirit," says Lee Fields, as we look out across London's West End and watch the sun set. The soul of Marvin, the jazz of Coltrane and the gospel according to...
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Traces of Time by Igor Mitoraj
Città Perduta II, 2005, marble, one of a kind, 65x71x42cm Traces of Time is the celebrated Pietrasanta-based master sculptor's first major solo exhibition in London. Traces of Time is a definitive...
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Self Publishing Should Be About Doing Things Better Than the Publishers
The problem with self-publishing is that it's very easy to do badly. I'm talking about those books that have four typos on the first page; the ones with the amateurish cover designs. You know: the...
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LIfe in the Arts Lane - Week 77 - Stanley Spencer Lobster and Burgundian snails
I began the week with Lobster thermidor and ended it with half a dozen Burgundian snails; or, I began the week with the Stanley Spencer exhibition at Pallant House in Chichester and ended it with the...
View ArticleAdventures in Indie Publishing: Part Three
Launch Day Market primed, you can finally hit 'publish.' The KDP service allows you to utilize various promotional offers, such as discounted pricing or offering your book free for a limited time. With...
View ArticleBritain's Got Talent 2014 Semi Final Four
Fresh from last night's Team Midas success with Lucy Kay, we are back and ready for action in the shape of our Midas (Golden) buzzer act Bars & Melody. Is it greedy to want two acts in the final?...
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Jason Isbell: A Man's Second Chance
Photo credit:Retna (Zoran Veselinovic) Watching Jason Isbell play London's Electric Ballroom is a far cry from the pews of St Pancras Old Church where I saw him play to 100 people less than a year...
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