The Drinks Master: What should you drink on Chinese New Year to celebrate the Year of the Pig January 30, 2019 On Chinese New Year next Tuesday we’ll segue from the Year of the Dog to the Year of the Pig, which may be good news for us all given pigs are a symbol of wealth in Chinese culture. The question is: what should you be drinking with your celebrations? Chinese food consists of eight broad [...]
Fitness advice: How to take control of your weight loss without counting calories January 30, 2019 As January draws to a close those new year diets and proclamations of how we’re going to live better, healthier lives start to fall away. This leaves us to contend with some stark figures: almost two-thirds us are overweight or obese. Lots of these people will have dieted at some point, with varying degrees of [...]
You are what you eat: Workers’ favourite lunches revealed industry by industry January 30, 2019 As January draws to an end, gyms begin to empty and new year’s healthy-eating resolutions are inevitably broken across the country, one profession has emerged as being in finer fettle than the rest. A nationwide survey has crowned the legal workforce the healthiest in Britain – at least according to their takeaway orders. Read more: Seven [...]
Pierre Bonnard at the Tate Modern review: A beautiful shower of colour, just don’t try to search for deeper meaning January 29, 2019 Walking around this major retrospective of Pierre Bonnard, you quickly discover that his work is dominated by two things. First, there is his relationship with Marthe de Meligny, his wife and muse. She features in most of his paintings, usually standing slightly off-centre, or emerging from one of her many baths. He was a painter [...]
Jaguar E-Type Series 3 V12 review: Improving the classic Jaguar E-Type is a tall order, but a Kent-based company has done just that January 29, 2019 Can you improve on perfection? In the case of the Jaguar E-Type, it seems so. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean giving the ‘World’s Most Beautiful Car’ a modern makeover; this Series 3 Roadster looks near-identical to how it left the factory in 1971. Under those voluptuous curves, however, many mechanical and electrical parts have been upgraded. [...]
The Long Weekend: A child-friendly country house just half an hour from central London January 28, 2019 City life can be tough, especially if you have a toddler intent on destroying every moment of peace and quiet in your so-called “spare time”. Frazzled urban parents may be left without the energy to plan a faraway escape – and this is where Stoke Park comes into play. Jump on a fast train from [...]
Man Group ends sponsorship of Booker Prize after 18 years January 27, 2019 Britain’s most high profile literary award, the Man Booker Prize, has lost its headline sponsor after Man Group announced on Sunday that it will end its 18 year partnership with the event. Man Group – an asset manager – has sponsored the prize since 2002, contributing £1.6m a year. Read more: Waterstones acquires Foyles bookshops as [...]
Vice movie review: Another Scorsese-esque epic from the maker of The Big Short January 25, 2019 In 2015, Adam McKay went from being known as the man who directed Will Ferrell movies to one of the most stylistically innovative filmmakers in Hollywood. Gigs overseeing Anchorman, Talladega Nights and The Other Guys, plus writing credits on films including Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and Ant-Man, somehow gave way to The Big Short, [...]
When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other review: A play that somehow makes graphic S&M seem tedious January 25, 2019 Martin Crimp’s new play When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other opened to giddy reports of audience members fainting during previews. And this strange production does shock and appal, but not for its uncomfortable themes or graphic depictions of violence, but for its total lack of coherence and crawling tedium. Somehow director Katie Mitchell takes [...]
Apple Watch Series 4 review: How Apple’s timepiece finally became a ‘must buy’ gadget January 25, 2019 In the almost four years since the first Apple Watch launched, many have come to see it as the weak link in the company’s portfolio. While iPhones have sold in record numbers, Apple has declined to release official sales figures for its timepiece, and initial excitement over the futuristic new category was at risk of [...]