Interiors: If we spend a third of our lives in bed, then why don’t we spend serious money luxuriating in linens? October 21, 2016 Let’s be honest, one of the most enticing things about a weekend away is climbing into a freshly laundered, luxurious bed with crisp white sheets, pillows like clouds and a cashmere throw for cosiness. Hoteliers spare no expense to ensure your slumber is deep, peaceful and refreshing; so why do so many of us put [...]
Holiday Homes: Rare homes for sale in the middle of the Indian Ocean, from Soneva Group, first company to sell property internationally in the Maldives October 21, 2016 Falling asleep under the stars in the Maldives sounds like the sort of once-in-a-lifetime experience reserved for honey-mooning couples. But it could be a regular part of your life, at least for a few weeks a year, if you invest in one of the properties on sale at the newly-opened Soneva Jani, which is the [...]
Here’s what happened on the third episode of The Apprentice October 21, 2016 In last night's episode, Lord Sugar gave the candidates a food task, meaning everybody messed around in a kitchen for half the episode. Even though they were making sweets, no one called their brand “Lord Sugar”, proving none of them really have what it takes to win. Although the phrase “business acumen” was only used twice, so [...]
Ouija 2: Origin of Evil review – Sparsely-used jump scares and engaging performances make this horror film a good choice for Halloween October 20, 2016 As Oscar Wilde says, people become violent when they’re surrounded by hideous wallpaper. Perhaps that’s why so many horror films these days are set in the late 60s against a horrifying backdrop of flocked curtains and flicky hairdos. That’s where this prequel to 2014’s Ouija travels to, anyway, right back to the supernatural board game’s [...]
In Pursuit of Silence: a blissfully quiet film about our noisy world October 20, 2016 This intriguing, quiet documentary explores the effect our noisy society has on our well-being. Filmmaker Patrick Shen talks to various, disparate people including monks, authors and explorers to discuss the benefits of having space to reflect. Initially feeling like a pitch for a wellness retreat, his film actually opens up an interesting discussion about how [...]
Oil at the Almeida is a challenging, ambitious play about the history of the oil business October 20, 2016 Ella Hickson’s hugely ambitious new play knits together a sprawling 160 year geo-political soap-opera with a touching – but never candy-coated – story about a mother and daughter. Almost unfathomably dense – six years in the writing – it follows the trajectory of the oil industry from its early days as an energy source of [...]
The Dresser at the Duke of York Theatre: a savage but loving tribute to ham theatre October 20, 2016 Dementia, Shakespeare and the Blitz collide gloriously in Ronald Harwood’s tragicomedy The Dresser. Set in wartime 1940s, it tells the tale of a deteriorating actor known as “Sir” and the theatre’s dresser, Norman, whose job it is to coax and bully the ailing grandee through his 227th rendition of King Lear. A reflection on Harwood's [...]
Rhythm Paradise Megamix is worth dusting off your 3DS for October 20, 2016 Videogames excel at wish fulfilment. For example: we’ve all dreamed of being a little rabbit travelling across an ocean by rhythmically jumping off the backs of a line of giant turtles, or being a floating bow and arrow shooting at ghosts, or a set of tweezers plucking hairs out of onions with faces drawn on [...]
How one buccaneering family dominated the UK scampi market October 20, 2016 "At the tender age of 32, I got involved in buying assets from the receivership of what was the Whitby Shellfish Company”, says Graham Whittle, founder of Whitby Seafoods. From relatively humble beginnings, in just over thirty years, the business has gone from one that was sinking to the biggest producer of scampi in the UK, [...]
The White Horse review: A welcome return to the City for this well-loved gastro-boozer October 18, 2016 A traditional and rural looking pub that’s seemingly been airlifted from somewhere deep in the Sussex countryside and then dropped into a leafy square near Liverpool Street, the White Horse reopened earlier in the year after a full refurbishment. The new look sheds some of its rustic-chic charm in favour of clean, modern lines and [...]