The High Street wants you – let’s take this next step safely May 14, 2021 | Sponsored After months of shuttered doors, it’s been heartening to see Britain’s high streets, town centres and retail parks buzzing again. But as much as we all want to get life back to normal, we also all want to stay safe. None of us want to squander the progress we’ve made in suppressing the virus – [...]
Chris Rock brings weight to worn out Saw franchise with Spiral May 13, 2021 Eyebrows were raised a few years ago when comedian Chris Rock was linked to a revamp of the Saw franchise. The stand-up/actor has made a few films in the past, including the excellent 2015 comedy Top Five, but the torture porn franchise seemed a world away from his performance style. Nevertheless, studio bosses were impressed [...]
This is what top holiday spots would look like if all the bees died May 13, 2021 Everybody likes bees. Fuzzy, buzzy little fellas, zipping around the place making honey. And everybody knows that bees are dying at a frankly terrifying rate, threatening to bring the earth’s entire ecosystem crashing down in their wake. A new project by Parkdean Resorts helps to bring home just how vital these stripy insects are to [...]
Somebody wrote a symphony about this Arctic Circle distillery May 13, 2021 Booze experts have long sung the praises of Scandinavian spirits but Norwegian composer Alexander Aaroen Pederson has gone one step further, writing a 45-minute symphony inspired by the world’s most northerly distillery, located 350km north of the Arctic Circle. Aurora Spirit opened in 2016 under the name “Bivrost”, which means Shaking Path, a reference to [...]
Now we know what tonic the Queen puts in her royal gin May 13, 2021 Royal warrants have been issued since the 15th century to supply the royal court and royal personages with swag. The Queen has granted 686 Royal Warrants, the Prince of Wales 159, and The Duke of Edinburgh 38. This week Devon’s Luscombe’s Drinks became the official supplier of mixers. Buckingham Palace already has its own gin [...]
Yet more places to eat and drink: 70 bars and restaurants open now May 13, 2021 It’s just days until we can once more sit in a restaurant and dine like civilized human beings, albeit socially distanced ones. But where to book? To help you make this most difficult of decisions, we’ve collected a bumper list of 70 places to meet up with friends and support the hospitality industry. With spots [...]
An amazing green list trip to Portugal on the river Douro May 12, 2021 The lifeblood of Porto is not the deep red wine with which the city shares its name, but rather the Douro River, without which neither the city nor the wine could exist. It rises to the surface at Duruelo de la Sierra in central Spain, then runs northwest for almost 900km, meeting the Atlantic Ocean [...]
Under The Stadium Lights: An achingly familiar high school drama May 12, 2021 Religion and sport have a funny way of crossing paths in cinema. The former has inherent gravitas, the latter excitement, and produced surprise hits such as Oscar winner The Blind Side. Of course, for every box office smash there are numerous failed contenders, boasting familiar faces and vaguely inspirational titles such as When The Game [...]
The Secrets We Keep: Noomi Rapace leads tense drama-thriller May 12, 2021 Noomi Rapace, star of Prometheus and the original adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, leads this tense drama-thriller which keeps you guessing until the end. Set in the suburbs of Post-War America, Rapace plays Maja, a Romanian immigrant happily married to mild mannered doctor Lewis (Chris Messina). Their content existence is shattered when [...]
Members’ clubs in the age of Covid, from Groucho to Boisdale May 12, 2021 Are you clubbable? Some people are, fiercely, while others disdain the whole idea. It is thought men are more clubbable than women, though that may not be supported by facts. In any event, if you are what PG Wodehouse would have called a clubman, you will be eagerly awaiting Monday 17 May and the reopening [...]