Burns Night 2015: How to celebrate the Scottish poet’s birthday in London January 20, 2015 Traditional haggis at Plateau Plateau Saturday night is Burns Night at Plateau, Canary Wharf. The five course set menu starts with smoked salmon, blinis and baby watercress followed by cock-a-leekie soup, before the traditional haggis is brought in, served with a shot of 15-year-old Glenfiddich. The night will be finished off with cranachan and a [...]
The get-fit diary of an out of shape office worker: Six months later January 20, 2015 So last year I got ripped. Not quite Cristiano Ronaldo ripped, but close enough. I even had the Cristiano Ronaldo tan, courtesy of a nice woman at London Bridge who set about me with a spray can. It’s a shame journalism doesn’t offer the same opportunities as football for taking your top off – I [...]
Car review: The new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante – the same but better January 19, 2015 The new model Vanquish Volante shows that the only thing better than an Aston Martin is another Aston Martin. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that the Volante version of the Aston Martin Vanquish is a relatively new car. It first appeared late in 2013, with UK sales kicking off early in 2014, so [...]
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Burns Night 2015: Head to Scotland for a luxury getaway January 18, 2015 Travel northwards this weekend to help our Caledonian brothers and sisters celebrate their very own Bard. Here’s our top five luxury Burns getaways… FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS Luxury hotelier Fairmont offers a number of holiday packages so you get what you want out of a trip north of the border, encompassing Hogmanay, Valentines, “Babymoons”, and even [...]
Ever wished you’d been a Formula One driver? You still can, today, by lunchtime January 18, 2015 The road to becoming a grand prix driver is lined with potholes big enough to swallow those lightweight, yet thunderous racing cars. There are 22 seats available on the Formula One grid and to earn one you need huge amounts of talent, money, luck, and quite often a blood relative who’s already been there before [...]
Film review: Whiplash is in need of a (script) doctor January 16, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★☆☆ Whiplash opens with a shot of 19-year-old Andrew (Miles Teller) practising the drums in a room in the Julliard-like conservatory he attends, apparently alone. He soon notices he’s being watched by Fletcher (JK Simmons), the notorious conductor of the school’s jazz band. There ensues a tense exchange in which Fletcher barks [...]
Theatre review: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown January 16, 2015 Playhouse Theatre | ★★★★☆ Oh, to be one of Pedro Almodovar’s women, constantly in and out of love, popping pills and jumping off balconies. The Spanish director is well-known for his love of erratic women and it doesn’t get more exhausting than Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. This is the second time [...]
Art review: Adventures of the Black at Whitechapel Gallery January 16, 2015 Whitechapel Gallery | ★★★★☆ In the final, shattering line of Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen writes of “a drawing down of blinds.” This returned to me when standing before Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square, painted exactly a century ago when hundreds of thousands of young soldiers were coming up against industrial killing machines for the [...]
Film review: Testament of Youth is visually arresting but emotionally flat January 16, 2015 Cert 12a | ★★★☆☆ Based on Vera Brittain’s best-selling memoir of events surrounding the First World War, Testament of Youth is well-acted and pretty, but lacks emotional impact. Testament of Youth has already been adapted for television and radio. But if you haven’t encountered the story before, it will still seem terribly familiar. Hovering [...]