Fitness diary November 17, 2014 It’s almost six months since I finished a 10-week intensive fitness programme. Before I started I wasn’t exactly over-weight – although I was filling-out around the midriff – but I was certainly out of shape. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d been to the gym in the preceding 15 years [...]
Park Hyatt New York: First major NYC hotel in over 10 years November 16, 2014 It takes big bucks to open a new luxury hotel in Manhattan – and even bigger cojones. Clearly, the idea has not been tempting for some time. New York’s last mega-launch was the Mandarin Oriental in 2003. Eleven years and one recession later, confidence has finally returned to the Big Apple – and, [...]
Center Parcs Woburn Forest: For a weekend getaway with the kids, you can’t beat this November 16, 2014 It is 9.30am on a Saturday and the whole family is wobbling through a woodland assault course 25ft feet above ground, hooked into harnesses in case our schoolyard adventure playground skills fail us. Unexpectedly, my husband, who thinks nothing of hopping on sky-high ski lifts, says he is scared of heights, and threatens [...]
48 hours in… Bath November 16, 2014 WHERE TO STAY Savour premium whiskies in the hidden terrace gardens of the Queensberry Hotel, which is set in a quartet of historic Georgian townhouses. It’s only a short stroll from the city centre and the food is great too; thequeensberry.co.uk WHERE TO GO When in Bath, do as the Bathonians do, which obviously involves [...]
Photography review: Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize November 14, 2014 National Portrait Gallery | ★★★★☆ The National Portrait Gallery’s immensely popular Taylor Wessing portrait prize exhibition is back. This week it was announced that the winning image was fashion photographer David Titlow’s atmospheric portrait of his baby son interacting with a dog. The judges selected the image from over 4,000 submissions from 1,793 photographers. [...]
Theatre review: Not About Heroes at Trafalgar Studios November 14, 2014 Trafalgar Studios 2 | ★★★★☆ In a life otherwise blighted by misfortune, Wilfred Owen had one show-stopping moment of luck. When forced to take leave from the front line because of shell-shock in 1917, he happened to be referred to Craiglockhart War Hospital at the same time that established celebrity poet Siegfried Sassoon was interned there. [...]
Would a Miami porn baron hang an Allen Jones painting in his sex dungeon? November 14, 2014 Royal Academy★★☆☆☆ If tragedy plus time equals comedy, what does sexism plus time equal – satire? Mainstream acceptability? This has been the strange fate of Allen Jones, an artist whose work once prompted the hurling of smoke bombs outside the ICA, but who now gets a genteel Royal Academy retrospective without even a hint of [...]
Film review: The Imitation Game proves genius Alan Turing is a hard one to crack November 13, 2014 ★★★☆☆ Cert 12a A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, placed inside an enigma, bound with leather and slotted carefully onto a mahogany book case. That’s what Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game feels like. For all the wonders of its subject’s mind, the film itself is a staid and conventional affair, with more quality [...]
Something for the weekend November 13, 2014 On the terraces: COLOMBIA VS USA AT CRAVEN COTTAGE Your chance to see some top international action tonight, with many stars of the World Cup (including Tim Howard and Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez) expected to show up for this friendly between the USA and Colombia. Adult tickets start at £20, children at £10, visit fulhamfc.com. [...]
Connecting talent: ING Discerning Eye Exhibition opens at The Mall Galleries November 12, 2014 The work of budding artists from around the UK hangs alongside that of internationally recognised names at this year’s ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, which opens to the public today. The exhibition at The Mall Galleries in SW1 comprises six separate sections, each assembled by a prominent figure from the art world. To [...]