I recreated all my favourite TV tropes, from crawling through pipes to being two kids in a trenchcoat
China’s answer to Vegas is Eastern gambling paradise September 4, 2011 OF all the improbable consequences of China’s headlong rush into beating capitalism at its own game, Macau is the weirdest.In common with nearby Hong Kong, the former Portuguese colony returned to Chinese ownership in 1999, but remains largely self-determining. As a result, gambling is legal. And not just legal: Macau is known as the Vegas [...]
America’s very own slice of the Caribbean, plus plenty of rum August 29, 2011 WELCOME to the United States of America,” says a groundsman as I land on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, introducing me to the first of many contradictions here. The island is, I find, a cocktail of the tropical Caribbean, American high rise (it is a commonwealth of the USA) all mixed with a huge [...]
Google TV hopes US failure won’t put us off August 29, 2011 The roll-call of keynote speakers at The James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival reads like a who’s who of the industry. Rupert Murdoch, Mark Thompson, Jeremy Paxman, John Humphrys, Greg Dyke, Michael Grade, Tony Ball. (The list is only slightly sullied by the appearance of Janet Street-Porter’s name, which I assumed was [...]
UK GDP growth confirmed at 0.2pc August 26, 2011 The economy grew at 0.2 per cent in second quarter of this year, confirming last month’s first estimate. The Office for National Statistics also confirmed the annual growth of 0.7 per cent, as analysts had forecast. The dominant services sector was the main driver of growth in the second quarter, but output fell by 0.1 [...]
FOOD & BOOZE NEWS August 22, 2011 BIGGEST FOOD EVENT OF THE YEAR: FRENCH LAUNDRY TO COME TO HARRODS Before Noma and the Fat Duck, the restaurant that usually vied with El Bulli for the “world’s best” title was California’s French Laundry. It’s still seen as one of the greatest places to eat on the planet (by the few who’ve managed to [...]
Retail sales rise less than forecast in July August 18, 2011 Retail sales barely grew in July, data showed, in yet another sign that cash-strapped consumers cut back spending, underscoring the risks for the fragile economic recovery. The Office for National Statistics said sales volumes including automotive fuel grew by just 0.2 percent last month, leaving retail sales unchanged from last year’s level. Analysts had forecast [...]
Dinner at Soho’s favourite bar August 15, 2011 Cafe Boheme 13-17 Old Compton Street, W1 5JQ Tel: 020 7734 0623 www.cafeboheme.co.uk FOOD SERVICE ATMOSPHERE Cost per person without wine: £35 WHO hasn’t begun, ended or whiled away a night at one of Café Boheme’s little street-facing tables? With Soho’s best vantage point on the corner of Old Compton and Greek Streets, no discernible [...]
Republicans battle it out for 2012 race August 14, 2011 MICHELE Bachmann scraped to victory in the weekend’s Iowa straw poll of Republicans, with the race to challenge President Barack Obama set to heat up. Bachmann narrowly pipped libertarian Ron Paul to the post, winning with nearly 29 per cent of the vote — just 152 votes ahead of Paul. Supporters of the more-ideological Paul [...]
Milking Cowes Week: How to get most out of world’s best regatta August 3, 2011 World-beating sailor lends her expertise ahead of the Isle of Wight extravaganza PREPARATION comes in all sorts of guises. As an Olympic Sailor I spent four years preparing for one event; our thoughts encompassed all possibilities and we prepared and practised for everything that was in our control. Walking around Cowes last weekend it was [...]
Turning up the heat on fro yo August 3, 2011 YESTERDAY was a big day for fans of icy treats as Pinkberry, the cult US frozen yoghurt brand, opened a concession in Selfridges. Stars from David Beckham to Alexandra Burke have publicly rejoiced and Americans all over the city are in raptures. Scheduled to open here in 2008, Pinkberry delayed its UK opening after Lehman [...]