This ex-army man’s new company is driving cowboy builders out of London with its focus on military precision July 14, 2016 We all love to moan about tradesmen – often with good reason. The famously flaky building industry means the cliches about people not turning up, or leaving a job half finished, are sadly too often still true. And consumers compound the problem by taking the lowest quote for a job. It was this apparent absence [...]
Ghostbusters review: Just how important is a penis when it comes to running a successful ghost busting enterprise? July 14, 2016 How can a woman bust a ghost when her dumb boobs would just get in the way? This philosophical quandary is just one of the many posed by the terrible crowd of awful men who live on the internet and split their time evenly between shouting at imaginary women and angrily squirming around on the [...]
Cut is a psychological thriller half set in complete darkness July 14, 2016 A one-woman art performance in which a stunned audience is subjected to the traumatic inner brain-wrongs of a rapidly unravelling, paranoid air hostess, Cut is part psychological thriller and part first-person exploration of violent schizophrenic horror. In the tiny Vaults Theatre beneath the rail arches of Waterloo station, viewers are repeatedly plunged into complete darkness [...]
Pokémon Go is an overnight sensation – here are some of the weirdest places people have been catching ’em all July 13, 2016 For those unfamiliar with the franchise, Pokémon is the story of a young boy who abandons his mother to go on an adventure with his best friend, an electric dog called Pikachu. On his quest to cram all of the Pokémon into tiny plastic balls, he befriends strange men in forests and routinely encourages the [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on the incredible weed samphire, and how the bounty of the ocean can yield salty treasures July 12, 2016 Most people who know samphire, love it for its culinary qualities. Not many people know, however, that back in the 16th century, it would have been used for making glass. It’s a member of the glasswort family, plants whose ashes could be used for making soda-based glass as opposed to the now more common potash. [...]
Who throws the best parties, Formula One or Formula E? The answer might surprise you… July 11, 2016 When it comes to Formula One, I feel like I lived through a golden era. I’m not just talking about the racing, I’m talking about the after-parties. When Red Bull launched their own F1 team in 2005 it was my job to cover not only what occurred on track and in the paddock, but what [...]
Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick: A new Somerset House exhibition is dedicated to works inspired by the lauded film-maker July 7, 2016 The final scene in A Clockwork Orange, known as the “Ascot fantasy” sees a young woman writhe in ecstasy on top of Malcolm McDowell. Prior to the filming of the scene, director Stanley Kubrick was introduced to the girl in her trailer. “Could you, erm, drop your robe,” he asked. She did. Kubrick walked out. [...]
The infinite bookshop: How Chinese architects created a reflective space using mirrors July 7, 2016 With Amazon, ebooks and high street supermarkets pushing bookshops to the brink of extinction, the few independent sellers remaining have sought to reinvent themselves as shrines to literacy, intimate meeting places for authors and their readers, and serene reading grounds amidst the urban noise. One such spot is Zhongshuge-hangzhou, a newly- opened bookshop in Hong [...]
The best holiday and travel tech: Enhance your galavanting with these essential gadgets July 6, 2016 Bluesmart One Suitcase technology seemed to grind to a halt shortly after we stuck wheels on them, but Bluesmart has just booted your luggage into the 21st century. The Bluesmart One suitcase has global GPS tracking thanks to a built-in SIM card, a battery charger for your devices, can tell you how heavy it currently [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on Britain’s recent drinks upheaval and why should all be cheering on our distillers July 5, 2016 I love the way the British drinks revolution is going. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating when I call it a revolution, but there’s certainly been a huge increase in the production of distilled drinks, especially gin. A new gin is landing on my desk almost weekly, which is great news for bars, mixologists and, of course, [...]
