The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict Must Look to Abuse of...
Next week (10-13 June) the government ministers of many countries from around the world are gathering in London to pledge their commitment to ending sexual violence in conflict. The Global Summit to...
View ArticleD-Day Weather
D-Day landings, 6 June 1944 - the role of the Met Office The success and failure of invasions and military expeditions between Britain and Europe have always depended on the weather, from Julius Caesar...
View ArticleEdge of Tomorrow - The Review
For 30 years I've loved The Twilight Zone, a passion rekindled recently with the Blu ray box set. Those relatively cheap black and white dramas, many penned by Rod Serling, were either 30 or 60 minute...
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Vera - Series 4 on DVD: A Chat With David Leon
David Leon was born in 1980 in Newcastle upon Tyne. A decade ago he made his film debut in Oliver Stone's Alexander, and went on to feature in hit BBC drama Cutting It, and Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla. I...
View ArticleBritain's Got Talent 2014 Semi Final Five
This years BGT final is shaping up to be one of the best ever and after tonight our 2014 line up will be complete. This time next week, Team Midas will have two acts, yes two acts in the grand final....
View ArticleThe Empire Writes Back - Kamila Shamsie's 'A God in Every Stone'
"Female in manners but male in intellect" could well be what a well-heeled, educated Pakistani, of an earlier generation (Pakistan continues to be Edwardian in many respects), might say of the...
View ArticleWanted: A New Kind of War Artist
I was fortunate to be invited to participate in a Climate Crunch workshop at London's historic Royal Society a couple of weeks ago. The Climate Crunch project is very interesting, and a useful briefing...
View ArticleWhy Admire an Actor?
The BAFTAs have just been dished out, leaving a level playing field ready to be mown up and mole-hilled by the favourites of next year. So what makes a good actor? Not in terms of Stanislavsky science...
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Stovington23 - The Story of Making Art in 'Placeless' Places
We live in an ever changing, dynamic cityscape, where the balance between public and privately own space, illicit creative practices and authorised recreational activities, is a controversial, fragile...
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Hollywood - Surviving Red Carpets, Namedroppers and the Bath Salt Brigade
Madame Allsorts in Hollywood I've just arrived in Hollywood; I'm walking down the Boulevard, sucking on a fame pill that is killing me to swallow. My heavily jet lagged ass is being hauled over the...
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It's a New Orleans Thing Rejoices Allen Toussaint
"That shirt's talking!" bellows music legend Allen Toussaint to me, regarding the psychedelic poppy design that looked like it was swiped from Alfie Moon's wardrobe. I tell the 75-year-old New Orleans...
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From Joshua Tree to Kentish Town: An Interview With Glitch Mob in London
In the aftermath of the European Elections, news of the overland arrival of a group called The Glitch Mob direct from the continent was bound to cause some kind of stir. But when the trio met their...
View ArticleWhat My Brother Taught Me About Making Good Art
My oldest brother told me once, when I suffered my first proper heartbreak, that I should turn the pain into something positive. Use it in your writing, he said. My brother had managed to package his...
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Rihanna's See-Through Dress Just Undermines Her Strength as a Woman
Rihanna has always very categorically stated that she's not a role model and doesn't market herself as such, which is probably a savvy move considering most stars who promote themselves as...
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The Coming of Age of Brighton Fringe: To Edinburgh and Beyond...
Lost in Transit at the Brighton Spiegeltent. Credit: David Smith So, after four weeks, 740 events and over 3,500 performances, England's largest arts festival comes to a close for another year. More...
View ArticleI'm Pregnant at 28 - and I Think Kirstie Allsopp's Right
A few weeks ago I was at a BBQ in Hackney, anchored to my seat by a very pregnant belly, discussing maternity leave with three self employed artists in their 30s. A look of shock swept over E's face,...
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Film Review - Fruitvale Station
Altitude Film Distribution Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Melanie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Ariana Neal Genre: Drama Language: English Country of Origin: USA 2013 85 mins. Rating: ***** 'A stunning, powerful...
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Life in the Arts Lane - Week 78 - an Atrocity in Brussels
I am sad, very sad. For the last few days I have been haunted by the news of the man who pulled up outside the Jewish museum in Brussels, and shot and killed two visitors and a member of staff. There...
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Lets Use Harmony as a Tool for Peace
One busy day the phone rang and I was asked to help with a film about a musician named Branislaw Huberman. I was too busy to help. That is,until I was told his story. And that was my entrance into the...
View ArticleEmma Williams Will Talk About 'Annie Get Your Gun' Just About Anywhere
The clickety-clack of my fingers on my iPad keyboard seems obscenely loud from my seat on this my second of three trains for the day. I'm making my way from Halifax (my home town, in Yorkshire) to...
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