Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012 America’s master of dark fantasy June 7, 2012 THE author of modern classics including Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury died this Tuesday aged 91, but his work will endure. Few can match Bradbury’s gift for employing fantastic settings to such thought-provoking and often horrifying effect. A master of the short story, his best works draw the reader in with a [...]
House price rise 0.5pc in May June 7, 2012 House prices rose by 0.5 per cent in May, rebounding from a 2.3 per cent decline in April, but prices were still slightly lower on the year, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Thursday. The Halifax house price index showed house prices were 0.1 per cent down in the three months to May compared [...]
Nintendo’s Wii U is an E3 hit June 6, 2012 The world’s biggest gaming event, E3, is well underway in LA – and it is Nintendo that has everyone talking. It showed off, for the first time, a working version of its new Wii U, a baffling tablet/console hybrid that promises to put a new spin on gaming. And it needs to: the Japanese company [...]
E3 gives some reasons to be very cheerful June 6, 2012 Rumours of the death of console gaming have been greatly exaggerated. Popular wisdom holds that the explosion of smartphones will eventually sound the death knell for the traditional games machine. With Nintendo and Sony both struggling, and Microsoft diversifying its Xbox into a cross platform behemoth that will do everything from playing music to loading [...]
THE BEST UPCOMING GAMES ON SHOW AT E3 June 6, 2012 Dead Space 3 | Various platforms The survival horror classic is back. This time more of the action takes place on the surface of a deserted planet that isn’t a million miles away from the one in Ridley Scott’s Alien. If it lives up to the last two, buying this will be a no-brainer. Beyond: [...]
Accessorise your summer look with some choice pieces June 6, 2012 WOMEN Eeugenia Kim Abby belt-trimmed straw sunhat, £230, netaporter.com Gleaming gold, this straw hat is just the right amount distressed, making for a beach-ready but oh-so-chic summer look. Top Shop Geo Triangle Collar, £15, topshop.com Elegant and easy, this collar necklace looks too classy to be cheap and cheerful, despite the price tag. The triangles [...]
Schroders set to move into property market June 5, 2012 SCHRODERS has begun talks to enter property lending as banks cut their exposure to the sector. The blue-chip money manager is looking at setting up a division to provide debt finance to property owners and developers. It has not made a final decision on the size of the scheme, which could be wrapped into its [...]
Get in a Twizy over the greenest new motor June 5, 2012 IS IT A CAR or a motorcycle?,” asks a driver next to me. “You’re kidding me, is that a prototype?” says another as I pull up to the next set of lights. “It’s cool but what is it?” These are the first of 23 separate interactions I have with strangers asking about the Renault Twizy [...]
Your guide to a four day fiesta of royally good fun May 31, 2012 London is culturally overwhelming any weekend of the year. For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, however, the city has truly pulled out the stops. It’s a four day bonanza that combines state pomp with cultural entertainment and lots of partying – in the way that only the British can pull off. Whether you fancy joining in [...]
The movies to look out for this Jubilee weekend May 31, 2012 FILM PROMETHEUS Cert 15 | By Steve Dinneen *** So Alien prequel Prometheus has finally landed, 30 years after Ridley Scott first directed the universe’s most terrifying life-form. That’s a lot of time to gestate, especially in a world where alien offspring take just a couple of hours to burst from your chest in a [...]