The Year of Being Brilliant

GET READY TO REDIRECT TO: THEYEAROFBEINGBRILLIANT.BLOGSPOT.COM!

2010-05-18T10:06:00.002+01:00

You're about to be redirected to: http://www.theyearofbeingbrilliant.blogspot.com/ but don't worry all the same good stuff is there, with a marginally better name :) x

80s Youth Movies: Stand By Me

2010-05-16T17:28:00.010+01:00

Yesterday I was watching Stand By Me, one of the best youth movies from the 80s, for about the nth time and I remembered how kind of brilliant (if immature- the film does centre around a bunch of twelve year olds after all) the cusses and retorts in this movie were.

"Suck my fat one, you cheap dime store hood."
"Piss up a rope!"
"Did your mother ever have any kids that lived?"
Teddy: You morphadite!
Gordy: Don't call me any of your mother's pet names.
Gordy: Shut up.
ALL: I don't shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you I throw up!
Gordy: And then your mother comes around and she licks it up.
"I'm gonna rip your head off and shit down your neck."
"Let him do his own fighting!"
"Sure, you only outweigh him by five hundred pounds, fat ass!"
Vince: I bet you $1000 they find him before that.
Other Guy: I bet you $2000 they don't!
Ace: Would you two just shut the fuck up? If either of you assholes had $2000, I'd kill you both.
"I'll only be young once."
"Yeah, but you'll be stupid for the rest of your life."

Then of course there are the poignant lines, "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?".

And River Phoenix, in general.

I love River Phoenix's character in this movie (Chris Chambers), for saying things like, "It's like God gave you somethings man, all those stories that you can make up...And He said, "This is what we got for you kid, try not to lose it." Kids lose everything unless there's someone there to look out for them. And if your parents are too fucked up to do it then maybe I should."

And that beautiful song by Ben E. King, in the video of which, River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton are so cute:

In short. Watch this movie, okay. Just go and watch it, even if you've watched it some time before.

Think Big

2010-05-15T21:14:00.001+01:00

She's got that BIG hair...

After Hannah's brilliant review of HAIR the Musical, and having received my reviewer's copy of Chris-Tia Donaldson's Thank God I'm Natural ahead of its UK release (which I may or may not review eventually because, you know, I'm a little bit lazy oh and yeah I have exams I'm not really keen on failing lol), I've tripped into a kind of obsession with big, wild beautiful hair. Fuck relaxers.
I know all the non-black people will be like, "Uh, relaxer what...?" and I will probably explain that when (if) I put up the book review but right now I'm going to do something that I don't usually do (except for with Camera Chic, which you should click on now!! if you haven't seen it already) and just picture spam you guys here. Because words can't (completely) convey my love of the big, big hair...

(love Jeremy Scott!!)

(Judith Hill, amazing singer for Michael Jackson)

(Zezi Ifore)

(Juno Temple)

(EN VOGUE!! Remember this girl band from the 90s?)

(Bilen).

(I love what she's wearing)

(Kate Somers + Lily Cole)

(Hollie Edwin)

(Darcy's Botanicals girl)

(VJ)

(just cos he's hot)

(just cos Miss Hollis is awesome, even if her hair is not so big here)

Interview: Meet Shandrea Lewdram - Those Girls are WILD

2010-05-10T20:35:00.000+01:00

“We're not riding off of other people's fans and popularity by doing reposts, we're pushing out original content and asking our viewers to care about what we have to say or what we think is funny.”

“I want young girls to redefine what it means to be "WILD" and for them to feel like it's cool to truly be yourself”

“Two infinity and beyond!”

Shandrea Lewdram is made up of the sharp Toronto girls, performer Andrea Lewis and writer Shannon Boodram. Those girls are on it. They are deeply amusing, inspirational, WILD. Hence the name of their fabulous blog Those Girls Are Wild (“No, it’s not a porn site I swear”- something I say on a regular basis as I am always recommending their blog to people).

They are a pair of genuine best friends, “we started out in a crew of 40+ girls in grade 9 (called the bad gyals) then we downsized to 5 girls in grade 11 (called Legalidies), then after high school it became just me and Andrea (Those Wild gyals!)”, they put fantastically funny skits on youtube and they discuss everything from fake accents and whether or not kids should be sentenced as adults, to relationship advice and more in their "Topic of the Week" segment.

(you have to watch this all the way through!!)

What made you want to start up Those Girls Are Wild?
Hmmm, honestly I don't think either one of us thought it would be as big part of our lives as it is now. What really made us want to start it is that we wanted other people in our city of Toronto to know more about the kick ass things we were up to!

Who is a Wild person?
SB: A wild person is a person who is unapologetically themselves! Humorous, determined and opinionated - the kind of person that others love to talk to but hate to piss off!
AL: A wild person is someone who goes a 100% at everything they do whether that be for their career, family or love it doesn't matter! It's that WILD nature that makes them successful!

What do you hope for when people read your blog and watch your videos?
SB: I hope people will feel motivated, I know that's corny but that's my genuine hope. I want our readers to leave our blog with something that they can talk about/ think about for the rest of the day and my underlying goal is that young girls will redefine their definition of what a cool chick is! It doesn't have to be the girl wearing the flyest clothes or talking about the latest gossip, it can be the girl in a plaid shirt that makes everyone laugh and those closest to her better people. I say that's my underlying goal because our blog is actually unisex so I try not to let the guys know that it's secretly all about the ladies!

AL: When people watch our videos or read our blog I want them to come out with either a new perspective on a subject that they never thought about, inspired or just plain and simple put a smile on their face! Like Shannon, I definitely want young girls to redefine what it means to be "WILD" and for them to feel like it's cool to truly be yourself!

Where do you get all your brilliant skit ideas?
Life and art! If you are interested in doing comedy you have to be a fan of comedy PLUS you should be a master at observing true life comedy! I think me and Andrea have that, whenever we go out and I see something that is stupidly funny I love that I can look at her and nod because we're both thinking the same thing. I call it our "one brain" connection because I know that if I pickup on something that I think no one else caught, she did too.

How do you feel about talking so publicly about personal experiences as part of answering requests for advice in personal areas, like relationships?
SB: Damn, I have a book called LAID so anything we've ever gotten on the blog is not even on the same invasive playing field as what I've experienced in both making and promoting my book. I hope that makes people feel comfortable to know that we're never shocked. Shock is a useless feeling that often stands in the way of understanding.

AL: I don't feel uncomfortable because we're not talking about anything new! We're sharing our experiences that many people can relate to and have been through themselves. Like we said, being a WILD girl is a being unapologetically 100% yourself!

What is the best thing that has come of Those Girls Are Wild so far?
SB: For me, book sales, interview opportunities, photography gigs, online friendships, exposure and personal growth as a journalist and social comedian. I couldn't narrow it down to one thing, all-in-all our blog is the most useful thing I have ever built.

AL: The best thing for me that has come out of it is connecting with my fans in a way that my music and my television credits didn't allow me to do before. The blog lets everyone get to know me in a more personal way. I truly feel now like a have hundreds of thousands of FRIENDS! There's nothing better than an email from someone saying how much they like my site because we're just alike.

What’s most difficult about it?
I really don't know of any other blog like ours that is popular. We're not riding off of other people's fans and popularity by doing reposts, we're pushing out original content and asking our viewers to care about what we have to say or what we think is funny. I think that can be tough because getting people to understand our vision when there is no successful predecessor is tough. PLUS because our posts are original sometimes they take hours at a time each, now try doing that every day while still pursuing your individual career goals.

What exciting stuff is coming up next for Those Girls Are Wild?
I guess the exciting stuff is us recognizing that we've got an exciting blog with great potential. The tricky part about our generation is that everything is so new so there are hardly any templates to say "we'd like to be doing what _________ is doing by the end of the year." We started working on a treatment for a show and we're trying to meet with private investors, so nothing concrete just the beginnings of something totally different that no one else with a blog like ours has done.

So, no real plans where Those Girls Are Wild will be in 5 years?
SB: Two infinity and beyond! I legit have no clue, uh Andrea what do you think?
AL: Ditto. In 5 years, TGAW will have taken over the world!

Perfect Day-
SB: All-you-can-eat-sushi + shorts & sandal + a water fight + hanging with my family + doing a skit with Andrea + cuddling with a super hot smart guy and talking for hours!
AL: Brunch with my family, shopping with my mom, skit with Shannon, dinner with my family and friends and then kicking at a live soul/funk spot downtown!

Top 5 BELONGings-
SB: My computer, my car, my cell phone, my audio books, my bicycle
AL: My black berry, my computer, my iPod, my car, my chap stick

Triple chocolate chip cookies or brownies?
SB: I love milk chocolate but I hate chocolate inspired dishes (shakes, brownies, cake, ice cream). Though that doesn't mean I'm going to turn away a plate of brownies or triple chocolate chip cookies...

AL: Whoa, this is a hard one for me - I'm addicted to sweet things that include chocolate! So this depends on if there's ice cream involved and they're warm! If no ice cream I'm taking the cookies!

Shandrea Lewdram Recommend...

...A piece of advice:

SB: I think it's from my mom- "everyone's favourite topic is themselves." This is how I built my career by being a channel for others to get to know themselves through.

AL: "Everything comes in it's own time" - Maya Angelou. At the time when she told me this I was a little confused but now I understand. People have asked us why didn't you do this site years ago? But the answer is simple, we couldn't have, we weren't in that place in our lives but now we are and that's why TGAW is as successful as it is!

...Places in Toronto:

SB: Oh my gosh I LOVE The Guild, Rosetta Park, the waterfront, The CN Tower, Copa Cabana, All-You-Can-Eat-Sushi, The Distillery District, Woodbine Beach and Union Station. If I had to choose one I would choose Woodbine Beach - it's a must visit if you ever do come to Toronto.

AL: Because I'm not home as often as I'd like to be (living in LA) I love Toronto more than ever! My favourite places to be are Yorkville, Bloor St, Queen St, The Distillery District, The CNE, The ACC and the list goes on and on...

...Toronto music:

SB: There is definitely lots to do if you like live stuff. Some of my fav TO artists are Andrea Lewis, Kim Davis, Shi Wisdom, Everything That's Fly, Shad, Andreena Mills, Daniel Daley, Blake Carrington, Zaki Ibrahim and of course Drake and Melanie Fiona!

AL: The music scene in Toronto is great! Right now we're killing the game! We've got a lot of very diverse artists that are unbelievably talented but we're still growing I honestly can't wait for what the music is going to be like 5 years from now!

...How to change the world:

SB: If I could improve the living conditions and increase the access of human rights for women living in developing nations that would be pretty rad. Plus it would look pretty damn spiffy on my resume, dontcha think!

AL: If I could I'd like to improve the living conditions for all the children starving or not getting a proper education in third world countries. That absolutely breaks my heart, I'd pull an Angelina Jolie and adopt them all!

Interview: Andrea Lewis, True Entertainer

2010-05-10T19:46:00.003+01:00

"I love to sing, it does something for my soul"

Since she was scouted in a mall at a young age, this truly talented performer has starred in a whole host of films and television shows from Down in the Delta, directed by Maya Angelou, to Nickelodeon's first musical, Spectacular (and you can now catch her show, Degrassi: The Next Generation at 12:30 on Saturdays, BBC2.) She participates in all manner of charity events, such as World AIDS Day, YWCA and UNICEF campaigns and now she is coming out with an album, press play below to fall in love with her wonderful voice:

Which is your favourite, out of all the projects you’ve worked on?
It's so hard to choose just one that was my favourite! Doing a new project or working on a new set is like going to summer camp. You become super close with everyone on the set while you're working but then when it's over you're on to the next one! So the friendships that you develop are really important! I enjoyed every season on Degrassi but I think my favorites were seasons 4 and 5! We had a lot of jokes and did a lot of traveling, it was great!

Do you think you might have done something other than performing if you hadn’t been scouted as a child?
I really don't think there is anything else that I would want to do- I love my life and my job and from a young age I always knew this is what I was meant to do!

Did you ever study acting?
I've never studied acting before but recently I started taking a class (as in last week) to get me out of my comfort zone. Every actor is different and some people love taking classes and some would rather just work on the natural abilities that they have! Whatever helps do it, so far my class is great!

What advice would you give to aspiring actors?
It's a tough business and you will starve and receive way more "No"s than "Yes" but if you love and I mean really love it! Than stick to it because eventually you're hard work will pay off!

The hardest thing about being a part of celebrity culture is everyone has their own opinion. You basically put yourself out there to be scrutinized but everyone! Some people will think you're pretty or ugly, fat or skinny, talented, not talented and it's up to you to develop a tough skin and keep it moving. But trust me it can take a toll on your self-esteem. Yeesh!

If you had to pick, would you choose acting or singing?
That's so hard to choose! Kinda like the brownies or cookies question! Right now the place that I'm at in my life I'd choose singing! I love to sing, it does something for my soul that acting doesn't always do! But don't get me wrong I love it, but music is where my heart is right now.

What inspires your music?
My music is inspired by my life! If the story in the song doesn't relate exactly to me it's usually about one of my friends or my family!

How do you write your best songs?
I write my best songs in silence and usually between 10 and 11 at night. I don't know why but instead of winding down I'm always in the mood to hear music at those times and it makes me want to write!

Who would you love to collaborate with?
Right now I'd love to collaborate with an new artist named Miguel, he's really dope! And Nicki Minaj! [click to see Andrea and Shannon's brilliant Nicki Minaj impersonation/tribute] So many people say we look a like I think it would be really funny to do a song with her and make a video playing up our resemblance lol.

Do you plan to tour the UK soon with your new album?
Most definitely! I've never been to the UK and I'm dying to go! I've had a couple meetings recently about how I can go there for whether it be through touring or working with different producers.

You’ve said that you’re working on your own projects right now. What can we expect?
Yes, as Shannon and I mentioned before we're working on taking TGAW to the next level with a real sketch comedy show! I'm really excited about it and I think it'll change the world of comedy!

Check out some of her (seriously questionable) acting methods...

(true entertainer!)

And one of the songs from her upcoming album:

Interview: Shannon Teresa Boodram, Writer/Photographer/TV Presenter...the list goes on

2010-05-08T13:33:00.000+01:00

“I love the art of storytelling, I love that people see themselves a little more clearly with everything that I do: be that through my writing, videos or photography.”

Here is the full list (just to make you feel truly lazy): Shannon Teresa Boodram is a freelance writer and a freelance photographer and the proprietor of an online network for inspirational women and a youth worker and a tv presenter and the editor of a book and a kick ass go-getter.

This woman is changing the way young people are educated about sex and was recently debating the sex education issue on a Canadian news channel.

Never afraid to voice her opinion, she will call you out (hilariously as well) when you're doing something stupid, and even call herself out too if needs be...

Shannon has interviewed a whole host of people from Natasha Beddingfield to beanie man and now we interview her, finding out all about her book, LAID, and even getting some writing advice!

LAID is a collection of first hand narratives form young people aged 18-25 across America, on different sexual experiences. This is a new kind of sex ed. / peer education replacing cringing as teachers attempt to talk about sex in the least informative and most embarrassing (for everyone involved) way possible, "No matter what your sexual orientation, sexual experience or age (as long as you're over 14) is, I promise you will relate to at least one story in LAID and learn something new from each and every one while being too damn entertained to notice."

What pushed you to start LAID?
Bad sex in my teens. More accurately a bad sexual image and a misguided understanding of what my sexuality was all about. It just sucked that I was feeling so emotionally damaged and not getting any big O's by trying to be that carefree sexual vixen that my generation told me was the coolest thing to be. I just wanted to better understand my own sexuality and what role it was supposed to play in my life while helping others to do the same.

What’s your favorite part of it?
I really like “Chapter 2: And Then I Saw Stars” because too often, positive sexual experiences are omitted out of teen sex ed in fear that it will encourage kids to have sex. I don't get why the focus of sex ed is to STOP kids from acknowledging their sexuality rather than to encourage them to make healthy sexual choices that make your life better. I think the better your understanding is of what a positive sex life looks and feels like, the better chance you have of attaining it for yourself.

What do you hope people to feel when they read LAID?
Empathy not sympathy! I want people to see themselves in every story and start thinking about why the person did what they did and what they themselves would have done differently. If you look at every story like this could be me, you're going to so much more out of reading LAID.

Why is your work so focused on young people?
The trick to being a good writer is, write what you know and care about.

What exciting stuff do you have coming up in your “360 journalism” career?
New book, fall back-to-school LAID tour in NY, Toronto and LA (maybe Miami) and a job at The Oprah Winfrey Network (I actually have no right to assume this is going to happen but I figure if I keep saying it enough it's bound to come true).

What were the most important parts of your path to writing as a career?
I think studying print journalism helped me become a storyteller and it showed people that I was serious about my craft, it also helped me get my first full-time journalism job (one that I left after my book got signed).

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
If you want to be a writer: read and write dammit! I can tell when a writer doesn't read because it comes across as someone trying to write (you know the type - "the floorboards were aesthetically pleasing to anyone's eyes who were wise enough to glance down at their divine chestnut stain"). To be a good writer you have to be a good communicator who understands what details people need and the ones you need not bother with. There is no better way to figure this out than by reading other people's work to observe which parts you tend to skip over and which you happily re-read. I always have a book that I am currently reading and an audio book that I am listening to. Right now it's The Pickup by Nadine Gordime and Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline on audio (I don't like The Pickup but this is my third Scottoline book and this one is pretty good).

So you love words?
If I hear a word I like, I roll it over in my tongue and let my eyes roll back with it (like lascivious or tranquillita). When I look at license plates I always rearrange the letters to see what I can get, I love word games and I never say the phrase "words can't describe" because that's a damn lie - there is a word for everything!

Are there any writers who have inspired you?
Eric Jerome Dickey, Dan Brown, Iris Jacob, Anne Tyler, Josey Voguels, Connie Briscoe and Jackie Collins. More if I really thought about it but to be honest I go to the library and choose a book by its cover so there are a lot of great books that I've read where I don't remember the authors name at all.

What do you love the most about what you do?
I love the art of storytelling, I love that people see themselves a little more clearly with everything that I do: be that through my writing, videos or photography.

INSPIRED TO WRITE? CLICK TO ENTER OUR WRITING COMPETITION NOW!!!

Interview: Kate Le Vann, Novelist

2010-05-08T08:54:00.017+01:00

"I would like young women to be more interested in feminism, to stop hating women for being, say, thin, which seems to happen too much."

"The internet and twitter and all of these things that are supposed to be killing publishing are just ways of reading more, aren't they?"

Hilariously self-deprecating and absolutely brilliant, Kate Le Vann is the internationally published British author of such poignant novels as Two Friends, One Summer and Tessa In Love. She tells us about everything from writing young adult fiction and how she single-handedly brought down Julie Burchill’s infamous Modern Review, to bearcrows, stalker comedies and the best places in San Francisco.

Her latest novel, The Worst of Me, injects some much needed realism into the YA literature scene, “I think this novel is a bit different from the others because I always have lovely perfect boy heroes and the hero in this is a bit of a wrong'un, but still fanciable and sexy. And when you fall in love in your teens (or whenever) the chances are he's not going to be perfect and mature and clever and say the right things all the time and do the right things. So maybe Jonah is a bit more realistic? Not that you can't meet the love of your life at 16, but it does quite often go wrong.”

Right now she is enjoying San Francisco, as her husband is doing a fellowship at Stanford University, and she is taking the opportunity to research another setting for her next book, “there are a lot of things here that inspire me here.”

I find that YA fiction is done better (it’s taken more seriously, there are loads more great books for teens and not just all for preteens) in America than in the UK, what do you think?
I'm going to be published by Egmont books in the US, and have been reading some of their newest releases - they're a brand new publishing house over here. The books I've read have been FANTASTIC, in particular, Candor by Pam Bachorz and Food, Girls and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff. One is really cool, the other is really funny. And when I was growing up it was always American YA I read, mainly Paul Zindel, who was my absolute hero, he wrote really funny romances that were as much about the boy as the girl. And I wanted to call Tessa In Love, "I Love You More Than Bacon" as an homage to My Darling My Hamburger by Paul Zindel. But then I'm currently reading a YA novel called Stolen by Lucy Christopher which is phenomenal - really daring and dodgy in a good way - and that's British. I guess there's really great and really not so great in both places but I think I secretly agree with you, but wouldn't dare say so because I think I could easily be judged in the really not so great.

Did you study English or something writing-related?
I did law! At Manchester University. I thought I'd be a barrister because I'd seen cool programmes with lawyers on telly, and I didn't think people like me became writers, so even though I always really loved it, it didn't even occur to me to wish I could be a writer.

Do you think it helped?
So yeah... no, not at all. It took me about a week to realise I was totally rubbish at law, so instead of using the proper textbooks I just used study guides. So I learned nothing. And if you don't go into it, it's pretty useless, particularly because the law keeps changing every year, so probably half of the law I didn't learn is already not even law any more. I did get a place in bar school, which shows you how easy it is to get in. Thanks, Nutshell guides! But I'd have been awful as a barrister, losing the bits of paper I needed and doing my homework the night before and innocent people would have gone to prison.

While I was sitting around realising I didn't want to spend thousands of pounds going to Bar School to be rubbish, I used to read the Media Jobs bit of the Guardian, hoping to find a job at a fancy fashion magazine, making tea, like that ever happened - it doesn't, I think. But there was a little comedy football magazine that put in an ad, and it was run by really cool blokes who didn't care about experience and wanted a girl columnist. Which was me. That sort of gave me confidence, even though the people who owned the magazine shut it down and didn't pay anyone what they were owed, so I didn't make anything. And then I moved down to London at the same time as my brother and there was an ad in my favourite magazine, The Modern Review, asking for an assistant, and because they didn't pay anything either, I think I was the only person who applied who was willing to do the job. That was ace, Julie Burchill, who wrote Sugar Rush, ran the place, and it was so glamorous. And that gave me the confidence to apply directly to women's magazines like Company on spec (which means uncommissioned, you just write and say 'I write, would you like me to write for you?) and some of them did, so I sort of got by a bit, although I was also a temp, and between midnight and 2am I wrote a novel, because my brother was living with me and he worked in a computer place and bought me a little black and white screen Apple laptop and I went to bed later than him.

Where you at the Modern Review when they had to shut down after that whole debacle?
Oh god it was so cool. I was new to London and I was hanging out with these amazingly clever people and I didn't dare speak, not a single word, and when they made me talk I sounded like an idiot because my brain just froze. I remember Toby Young trying to get me to answer his phone properly, teaching me over and over again and I still couldn't answer it properly. That's how dumb I was. I think they must have thought I was totally batshit crazy because I used to just drink a can of coke for lunch, nothing else, because I was even too intimidated to eat in front of them. It was full sugar coke, or I would have keeled over, but still.

I was slightly a lunatic in my early 20s.

Anyway I was there exactly during the time of that whole debacle and thought it was aces going to the Groucho with all these famous writers table-hopping and Julie Burchill buying dinner for about 50 people who just ambled along and sat down, and didn't realise that when I came back to the office the next day and gushed about things Julie had said that that was part of what made Toby shirty about it all and secretly want to close it. So yes, I can reveal that I, I alone, closed it. It was all down to me.

So, I suppose it’s not really necessary to study writing in order to create good fiction?
Tricky question. Because I could say, no, and then people might say 'but you write rubbish fiction, duh'. I didn't even read much 'quality fiction' as a teenager, mostly Mills & Boon and Virginia Andrews, but my English teacher at school was always really nice about my writing, and I think if anything has improved it, it's practice, not reading. I sort of think there's such a thing as an ear for sentences, and studying writing will teach you some useful rules, maybe? but if you don't have that ear for sentences it'll only tell you what not to do. And I've never done a creative writing course or anything, but when I find those lists of Things Not To Do online or something (um, yes, which I'm sure is just the same as a Creative Writing course at a great university!) I either instinctively knew those rules (like only use he said, never he exclaimed, he breathed etc) or I completely break those rules and still got published (but am completely embarrassed to see that I've done them and they're dumb).

What made you want to write novels, for young adults in particular?
All my life I wrote snippets of short stories, where I just came up with a couple of names and wrote some dialogue or some little scene they were playing out. I don't know why I did that. I used to do it whenever I got hold of a typewriter, from about the age of 12. It didn't feel like something I'd ever do, it was just something I really liked doing. I always wanted to be a journalist because I thought it was really sexy and you met sexy people. And it is and you do. But I could never really break into it at all and when I went to sexy journalism parties with famousish people, I would just stand at the edges looking like a loser. Novel writing suits me a lot better. You do it alone, and you have to do the edits yourself. In journalism, sub-editors always take out your jokes. Young adult just felt like a much better fit for me, and I'd been asked to do it from the moment my first adult novel came out, and I didn't take the opportunity then because I didn't really get it: that you don't write down, you don't try to make the emotions simpler, you give it everything you give adult fiction, but you write about younger people. And now I get it and just want to get better.

Why do you like writing love stories... and killing off characters in the end (ahem, Wolfie)?
I'm always asked this, and it was the nature of the original series of CosmoGirl love stories, which my books were originally part of, but when CosmoGirl closed they were repackaged by Piccadilly as just stand alone novels. The brief was romantic weepies. I didn't know at the start if they were exactly the kind of books I wanted to write because I'd always been quite a humorous writer. But I think the original tearjerkery ones are my funnier books and often I wish I could grab back a bit of their lightness and sweetness, I seem to have veered a bit darker more recently. The next one will be funnier. Although it sort of starts with a death...

Are there any writers who have inspired you?
The people I think of as my favourite writers are Armistead Maupin, Truman Capote, Edith Wharton, and Peter Cameron. In a way they have some things in common, there's a mix of gossip and humour, although each is quite sad in their own way. But they're more interested in people than plots, and that is really the only thing I have in common with them, because I don't do whizz bang thrillers and twists. Although I did write one adult novel and it got rejected and it was ACE and everyone who rejected it was perfectly mad to do so because it had a real life actual plot! The fools! Maybe I'll rewrite as a YA some time, it's a comedy about a nutty brother and sister, and one of them gets a stalker.

How do you get your novel ideas?
I always start with the emotion, like with Two Friends I wanted to get down on paper the sadness that comes when you have this amazing friendship with a girl who is totally your soulmate and you think she's going to be around making your life better for ever and then something small or stupid changes you and it can just be gone like that (need emoticon for clicking fingers) and you feel like you'd do anything to get it back like it was, but at the same time you're petty and angry and want all your annoyances to be registered and apologised for even though the other person has nothing to apologise for, they were just changing too. Anyway, I don't think I got it right in that novel, unfortunately, but that was where it started, and that's where it always starts, me trying to work through something that made me feel something heavy. Then it's easy to put it into different characters and situations, as long as I've got that feeling of how I want them to feel.

Um, just flicking through Rain, I can see “she asked”, “she shouted”, and even “Rain protested” so is this not a really important rule?
The novel version of the film The Graduate has an interesting thing where the direct speech questions are always ended with a full stop. I loved that about it, because I always want to do the same, because that's how I talk, a bit, and want characters that talk that way. But I don't do that. And there's a thing I do, a bit, where I try to guess what will least annoy my publishers - I don't even know if it's correct! - so I often put 'asked' instead of said for a question because I have a feeling it's more grammatically correct. I know nothing about grammar! And when I do 'shouted', it's kind of a lazy way of putting across the mood, or just because said sounds wrong when people shout. I can't believe I said 'protested'! That must be wrong! I'm embarrassed by it!

I don't think any rules matter very much or can't be broken, if you know what you're doing. I don't always know what I'm doing, and I don't know most of the rules, but I would happily blow right through any rules I do know if it felt right. Instinct is always more sound than rules, as long as you can read it aloud afterwards and it doesn't sound ridiculous. Sometimes you write things in a kind of blaze of momentum and then the next day you think, 'what the hell was that?' and delete it all. Like dreaming a brilliant plot and writing it down when you're half-asleep still and in the morning it's a plot about spiders playing table tennis in the Vatican.

On that note, what advice would you give to aspiring novelists?
Practise, all the time. It's better to write little unrelated snippets when you're in the mood than to think 'I have to write my novel' and then put it aside because whatever you want to write doesn't fit into it, or it feels too daunting. Novels are about 1000x harder to write than even short stories, I think, because there's so much of an issue with timing and pacing and stretching things and keeping them believable and having people change and interact and keeping all the balls in the air. I always think my short stories read like they're a lot cleverer than my novels, even though I find them so much easier to write, and so that feels like cheating. Because they're not cleverer, I just don't have to take the characters anywhere and can leave them in a perfect place.

Did you get a literary agent?
When I wrote primarily for adults, I had an agent. I opened up the Writers & Artists Yearbook (is that what it's called? sorry, something like that) just wrote off to the 5 agents who lived closest to me and 2 wrote back and 3 said no, and then the first one that wrote back said she still loved it but her boss didn't want her to buy a student book, and the other one who wrote back took me on and helped me improve the book. There is literally no way I would have been first published without an agent, I'm sure of that - not just because of the way she introduced the book to editors but because she was so helpful in knocking it into shape and making it look like a real book. But when my second adult novel didn't sell very well, and Penguin asked me to turn the (honestly better than both of the others) third one into a thriller, it didn't really occur to me that they were allowed to not buy your next book, because I was very young and even more stupid, so I was all 'No! It is not a thriller! It is a stalker comedy! You must do it exactly the way it is!' and they were all like 'okay, uh, bye then!' And that was that with that book, and I think I've even lost the manuscript on an old broken computer.

But I was writing for CosmoGirl as a freelance journalist when the idea of a series of romantic weepies came up. It wasn't done through m agent (as she, er, kind of dropped me like a hot potato after the stalker comedy business fell through) and so I haven't had an agent since then. I probably need an agent more than any other writer in the world because I'm really badly disorganised and can't do correspondence or keep track of anything and would like to be mothered. But I'm too disorganised to get a new agent. It is on my to do list, which is probably all crumpled up and in the pocket of a pair of jeans that are at the bottom of the laundry basket.

What are your top 5 BELONGings?
MacBook.
Gold shoes.
Red dress.
Weird coat rack shaped like a teddy bear with its arms extended that everyone calls The Bearcrow and my husband and mother have both tried to throw away.
Coffee machine.
I'm a bit shallow! I don't have any proper sentimental things.

Kate Le Vann Recommends…

…The Best Places in San Francisco: I would love to be here without my kids, there are too many bloody kid places when it should be all romantic sexy single places. I'm going to try to get away for a bit on my own there. So I like the zoo and I love the Golden Gate Park, which has an amazing ornate old fashioned carousel. But when I'm alone I love all the little shops, the ice creamy Balamory colours of the houses, the neighbourhoods with their gorgeously grand houses and the little delis and coffee shops on the corner, Chinatown, the views, the lady who sings opera arias on the street, the way it's like a kind of ultra 3D Paris, all sugary like a big cake in the sun. Paris is my other favourite place in the world.

…Love Stories: I like writing love stories because that's all I'm interested in seeing and reading myself, pretty much. There are a lot of films I love that aren't love stories, but other things being equal, if I'm flicking through films on telly, I will always stop at Working Girl and Pretty Woman and Romancing the Stone and all the great romantic comedies.

...Where to Write: I seem to mostly write in bed (which sounds nice and skanky, eh?). I have to be on my own and in silence and it helps if I can turn the internet off because otherwise I can waste days and days just reading the Daily Mirror's 3am page and Twitter.

…How To Change The World(?): I don't really want to change the world because I would get it wrong. All my plans would end up in a scrunched up ball in those jeans that still haven't been washed. But I would like young women to be more interested in feminism, to stop hating women for being, say, thin, which seems to happen too much. I mean, I read all the same celebrity magazines, and am the shallowest person alive, but I don't enjoy the nastiness. I like the women who everyone else seems to hate, like Gwyneth and Keira and I don't know if I like them because everyone else hates them, which is something I seem to do, or because they're bright and talented and gorgeous, but anyway, I'd like just less of the hating. There are proper bad people out there and people get angry because Gwyneth Paltrow wants to show us how to cook a chicken.

...What to do about the "death of publishing" : I really love papery books because I like reading them in the bath. The internet and twitter and all of these things that are supposed to be killing publishing are just ways of reading more, aren't they? It's like I used to be dying to have more to read, and now I have all of the internet all the time and I can read all day long, even when I'm supposed to be looking after my kids. So it is all publishing, and it's the opposite of dying, it's absolutely thriving.

INSPIRED TO WRITE? ENTER OUR WRITING COMPETITION NOW!

Hey guys, remember this blog/zine?

2010-05-08T07:00:00.005+01:00

WARNING: EXAMS KILL (YOUR SOCIAL LIFE AND ALL CHANCES OF HAPPINESS, LET ALONE YOUR TIME TO BLOG).

Which is the reason why this blog has been so bare lately. More important things to do / too lazy to put up the FIVE interviews I've had ready and waiting for about the past two weeks. Sorry.
But that's all changing now.
Next, Kate Le Vann (Novelist), then Shandrea Lewdram (the comedic duo, "Those Girls Are Wild"), then individual interviews with the two Shandrea Lewdram components: writer Shannon T Boodram and actress Andrea Lewis, and then fashion designer + actress Anita Dominique Moore.

Plus, an interview with star of E4's Misfits, Antonia Thomas (!!) in the works.

...Can you tell I like doing interviews with awesome people a little more than coming up with original content? Though there'll be some of that eventually too...

After Hours

2010-04-28T19:07:00.006+01:00

After dark is an amazing time. It's bewitching and exhilirating, but unfortunately it can be terrible and scary as hell, because we all know bad shit goes down at night. Reclaim The Night is an organisation that fights to take back the night from rapists and murderers and the rest because it's not right that we should be afraid of the dark. Find out more about their work, how to join one of their marches and other ways to get involved here: http://www.reclaimthenight.org/.

I love the night time. I find it so inspiring and I love to write (bad) poetry and short stories at night. But I do all of that inside, when I'd love to be sitting in a park writing by moonlight because I'm just too afraid. It is definitely time we take back the night.

(The following story should be read at night):

After Hours

Comme c’est curieux... How inaccurate is the phrase the dead of night? When here we are at that time exact to the nanosecond and yet so alive, alive.

This is night fall. When the sky sighs into purple then slips on black, the stars come out to play. Tonighttime we are letting our strikingly beautiful, horrifying imagination run away with you. We believe anything is possible and we are not scared when it all happens.

This is the witching hour. So named because it would stretch infinitely if the sun didn’t wake, shooing it away like the shopkeeper will come morning time to the homeless people sprawled on his doorstep. And we call this magic because we don’t have the words to say what else. Then the hour waits till light wanders off to start again, bewitching all still present with a temporary perpetual darkness.

There sits a girl, just metres away, on a bench. Her wild curls glow in the moonlight. She sings, wondering if her off-note could carry all the way across the world and back, then she stops abruptly. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to her. Hopefully. Our peace is slit by drunken cackling in the distance. It dissipates into a cold silence. So quiet she can hear you breathing. Shh quiet. Hold your breath and you might be able to hear her whisper.

“Would you like to know something? Of course. Here is a secret only a few fearless people know: there are stars in this city. But you have to go to the darkest, dirtiest places to see them. That’s where they’ll shine right through it all. Wink at you. Hold your glance. Stare you down. Not intimidating, but calm and comforting. You are watched.”

And we are, locked in by her fierce eyes, watching her watch us. She’s a clever one. She knows we’re here. She knows that everyone is a ghost at this time. She knows that this city will swallow you up and let you lie in the warmth of its body.

This city will swallow you up and the acid in its gut will burn you to crumbles.

Are you ready? Come on, Let’s go.

Feel like writing something? Enter the writing competition now!

Or spend the night in London/New York City with our list of AMAZING books and films that pull you into the heart of their cities.

[Images in this post are from: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/09/60-beautiful-examples-of-night-photography-2/ and http://bibliographic.net/les/2005/11/vics-good-for-seeing-stars-at-night.html]

Free (Music) Friday

2010-04-28T17:51:00.001+01:00

So… you know how it goes. Free Music Friday ends up happening weeks later than when it was supposed to and on any day other than an actual Friday. And then I give you more than one free (legal) download, just to make up for it. So here it is- a single and whole freaking album, enjoy:

1. Johnny Flynn

Johnny Flynn is a folk musician who writes songs just like poetry, has toured with theatre troupes performing Shakespeare and is all too attached to flannel shirts. His music is wonderful, his voice will break your heart and mend it back together. My sister says that I’m blinded by his looks and in fact his (beautiful) music sounds like he’s banging pots and pans together. I see where she’s coming from, but I still love his songs.

From his new album, Been Listening, he’s released the single Kentucky Pill as a free download and I sincerely advise you get it from his myspace now.

2. Simon Curtis

Through interviewing Shannon and Andrea of Those Girls Are Wild, the best blog on the entire internet, I found out about Simon Curtis (who starred with Andrea Lewis of TGAW in the Nickelodeon film, Spectacular). The boy robot makes AWESOME electropop and for some crazy reason he is giving a whole album of his musical goodness away for free!!!

Get 8Bit Heart from his website now.

Click here for the previous free and legal downloads of (great) music.

A Letter To... Remakes

2010-04-15T13:24:00.008+01:00

Send in a letter about something you want to get off your chest.

Dear The People Remaking Shit That Should Have Been Left Well Alone,

"Hey did you hear they’re remaking... [Insert the name of every half decent film ever made here, please.]"

O film industry, what the fuck happened? When did your originality decide to piss off, reducing you to not only desperately scrambling for some book to make a half-assed adaptation of but also remaking any film that was ever even sort of maybe slightly kinda liked. And not just the ones that were made 50 years ago, no. I’m talking about the ones that were only made in the 80s and 90s!

Who told you the Karate Kid needed to be redone? And what, no seriously what in the hell possessed you redo it with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith?

...Was this an inside joke...?

And to whoever is personally responsible for crapping up good memories of Ten Things I Hate About You by presenting that*- um, what the hell man? What was that?

I genuinely could go on for pages, but I think you get it.

Hear this, original screenplays are not illegal you know. So stop attempting to scrape whatever money you can from ripping off something good. It’s kind of pathetic. I’m feeling embarrassed for you.

One last note, if you allow Zac Efron to carry out his wishes of remaking Back to the Future, I will stop sharing your unbearable shame and just come over there and bitch-slap you.

Watch it.

*It was remade into a TV series not another film. But the show was deeply crap. So it definitely deserves to be in here.

Free (Music) Friday - Dukes of Daville

2010-04-15T13:03:00.000+01:00

Yes. Yes I know. There was no Free (Music) Friday last week. On the plus side, at least it's more regular than once a month now...
Okay, I admit I need to get my act together with this, but look, I've found a whole mixtape of great music that is being given away for free!

Dukes of Daville are a pop/hip-hop/soul duo from Atlanta, composed of two best friends with beautiful voices to fit their fresh, lyrical music.

Take a listen.

Okay now go to their myspace, where you can download We Are Music, a mixtape of all their songs.

Digby & Iona

2010-04-15T12:56:00.006+01:00

When I first heard the name, Digby & Iona, I thought it sounded like the title of a gaelic legend of star-crossed lovers. I wondered if their names were carried on the wind from the lips of people who used to whisper of their tragic story...but that’s really not the case. The names actually come from seaside towns that a man named Aaron Ruff once visited. All the same, Ruff’s jewellery collections will inspire you to imagine wildly and delve deep into histories you never knew.

I’d been praying that someone will buy some of his stunning jewellery pieces as a gift, but halfway through my plans of how to coerce someone into doing so, I realised that actually I didn’t quite want that because when I look at his pieces (which I do all too often) I feel they’re the kind of thing that would just... appear. Not in a puff of smoke, as if by magic. But just be sitting in a little unassuming box on your doorstep. A little miracle just waiting to happen. And you’d pick it up, and look around, confused. So you’d open it, curious but not really expecting anything. And there it would be inside. A whole other world. And that would like magic.

To my mind, Ruff’s pieces are tokens from epic tales that are rich with secrets. They’re the missing pieces that, hundreds of years ago, somebody was searching high and low for and today, just by chance, you found it at your feet. Or they could be treasures that someone lost a long time ago or that they left in a pebble pond on a cold, isolated shore, in the hopes that one day you would discover it.

It seems that Aaron Ruff is not simply a jeweller. He is a story teller, spinning worlds into the pieces he crafts.

And the best part about the jewellery is that it feels so alive...

This is the poignant Lost Love Compass, a working compass that is "Suitable for pursuing either an object of affection or loathing!"

The lovely filigreed spyglass is also fully functioning:

This is the melancholy and somehow fairytale-like Caged Sparrow on a Swing necklace:

Here are the bewitching coral and snowflake rings, from his utterly compelling Vestige collection:

You can get regal with this Elephant ring, which can come with ruby encrusted eyes(!!)

Or if you're feeling romantic, you could give someone you love the charming Stump Ring. Get your own initials carved into a perpetual nature.

These last two are my favourites. A Portrait of an Honest Sober Man. The witty title and delicate detail make it seem like a frozen scene in a story to me. I can't help wondering who this man could have been and what intricate unsolved mysteries might surround him.

And of course, the future lawyer in me is entirely in love with the Law in Six Parts necklace. It transports me to an era I know nothing about - one of gunfights and cowboys - by capturing its feeling and encapsulating it in here:

For me, Digby and Iona is pirate ships and writing in ink with quills. It’s tall tales, sagas and oral histories retold through the ages. But really, it’s anything and everything because it is all the beautiful, dark and fascinating corners of the world locked into jewellery. Aaron Ruff really has got his own wickedly beautiful kind of magic.

See more of Digby and Iona here and here.

(...Who knew I could get so into jewellery...?!)

REVIEW - HAIR THE MUSICAL

2010-04-11T21:46:00.004+01:00

HAIR at The Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Box Office: call 0844 482 5130 or visit www.hairthemusical.co.uk

Tickets: £16.50 - £65.00

Performances: Mon-Sat 7:30pm, Thurs & Sat 2:30pm

BY: HANNAH MARSHALL

So I have pretty much been ridiculously excited about seeing Hair since my tickets arrived two months ago. The Tony Award winning revival of the smash hit rock musical opened here in the UK on April 1st and the original Broadway cast is currently spreading the love at the Gielgud theatre.

Following the story of Claude, who is part of a group of hippies living in a USA torn apart by the highly controversial Vietnam War, and facing the prospect of being conscripted themselves, Hair has been described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘a beacon of hope in a fallen world.’ The show is certainly bursting with energy and has some truly beautiful, funny and touching moments. In comparison with other shows on the West End right now, it offers a truly unremitting affirmation of the power of belief in love, life, equality and freedom. The cast’s commitment towards the message of the show, (the lead Gavin Creel is a co-founder of the equality charity BroadwayImpact and the cast has also taken part in protests for gay marriage across the USA) is infectious and you’ll find yourself wanting to jump out of your seat and join in, something which is very much encouraged, or going home to paint a giant hippie mural for your bedroom (something which I definitely didn’t just spend the last day and a half doing).

Even more astounding than the show’s inspiring message is the talent of its cast. The entire ensemble delivers a poised and polished performance, with each individual pouring everything into every single moment of the show. For all the passion on stage the show never loses its clarity and the precision of the dance and quality of the vocals will blow you away. Favourite sings of mine included the raucous “I Got Life,” the classic “Frank Mills” and the emotional “Where Do I Go?” Although the cast worked excellently as a group, special mentions have to go to Allison Case for her charming performance as flower-child Crissy, Kacie Sheik for her kooky interpretation of Jeanie and John Moauro as an outstanding member of the ensemble or “tribe”.

The set is another great feature, with rainbow coloured scaffolding allowing the cast to climb over the audience. However, I’m particularly in love with the vibrant costumes and not surprisingly with the big big hair. So if you see a girl wandering around wearing harem pants and a kaftan with as many flowers as possible attached to her scalp, it’s probably me, (or somebody else that’s seen Hair). Don’t judge.

Another great selling point for the show is its interactivity, Will Swenson, as the effortlessly cool Berger, regularly ad libs or enters into dialogue with the audience to great comic effect. Even if you’re sitting in the grand circle prepare to be climbed upon, sung to and danced with by enthusiastic hippies. The end of the show features a curtain call in which the audience is invited to dance and sing the final number on stage with the cast. It’s a truly awesome experience to watch the entire theatre come together to celebrate the mood of the show, and singing “Let the Sun Shine In” with what felt like a whole load of new friends was definitely one of the highlights of my evening.

Whilst the show is not for the faint hearted, many people will be aware of the controversy caused by the “nude scene” at the end of act one when the show first opened in 1967, these controversial scenes are either so tastefully done, or so hilarious that you forget your inhibitions. Many of the points that the show makes about the importance of equality and universal love and respect, that were so revolutionary in the 1960s, are still ones that many people need to sit up and take notice of. Perhaps the fools of groups such as the BNP and the EDL (who sadly are protesting in my home town next month) would think more positively if they could embrace the message of a show as beautiful and truthful as Hair.

Peace and Love,
Hannah

Websites of Interest:
http://www.broadwayimpact.com A grass roots charity fighting for gay equality in the USA, co-founded by Hair’s own Gavin Creel (Claude)
http://www.hairbroadway.com Watch the dance party from the end of the shows and find out more about the cast on their blog and video bios

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=111567445524505&ref=ts Join the protest against the EDL’s march on 1st May!

A Recipe for Deliciousness

2010-04-09T15:25:00.000+01:00

Sue is an amazing cook. Yeah, you don't know Sue, but that's irrelevant. The only thing that matters is her pudding recipe...

Get a packet of Digestive Biscuits,100g butter, 1.5 pounds chocolate - I used a mixture of Galaxy and Bourneville, 1 pint double cream and a splash of alcohol -whatever you like.
Crush the biscuits and bind with the melted butter. Press into a tin.
Whip the cream until stiff.
Melt chocolate and whip into cream with alcohol until well mixed.
Chill overnight.
To combat the richness it's really nice served with a fruit coulis and cream - made by blending fruit and serving it on the side.

Enjoy!
And let me know how it turns out...

Kate Le Vann!

2010-04-07T09:28:00.002+01:00

For all those entering the writing competition : I will shortly be putting up my interview with very experienced, internationally published author Kate Le Vann, (followed by a review of her new novel, The Worst of Me). Her work includes the brilliant YA books Two Friends, One Summer, Things I Know About Love and Rain amongst many others.
In the interview she gives writing advice, so stay tuned to hear from a pro...

A Night In the City

2010-04-06T22:51:00.008+01:00

Hey. Let's you and me go to...

...NEW YORK CITY

(photo by Laura Bassi)

Books: Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson, I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Candy Everybody Wants by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler, Love and Other Four Letter Words by Carolyn Mackler, Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg, Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart.
TV: How To Make It In America.
Film: Manhattan Murder Mystery, August Rush, Uptown Girls, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, A Guide to Recognising Your Saints, Kids, Little Manhattan, Raising Helen, Nick + Norah's Infinite Playlist (this is also a book!), The Perfect Man (despite the fact that this stars Hilary Duff, it is nothing like the horror that was Material Girls. My eyes still burn from that film. I wouldn't do that to you).

...LONDON

(photo by Jeff Hahn)

Books: White Teeth by Zadie Smith, Slam by Nick Hornby, 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson, Rain by Kate Le Vann, Face Value by Catherine Johnson, Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine, Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine, Cutting It by Jasmin Oliver.
TV: ...
Film: An Education, Brick Lane, Bridget Jones' Diary, Notting Hill.

All the books and films listed above are good. And what's more, they truly pull you right into the heart of their cities, letting you feel like you're there. Better than reading a travel guide, no?

But these lists are very thin on the ground, especially in regards to London interestingly enough (guess it shows how much I want to go to New York...), so if you have any recommendations of your own, leave 'em in the comments! Also, if you have any suggestions for other cities leave those in the comments too, or email, whichever is fine.

Lomography x Urban Outfitters

2010-04-06T21:42:00.002+01:00

Remember how much I love cameras? (In particular, lomography cameras for the beautiful snaps they tend to take.) Well, then you'll know why I really love Urban Outfitters' new competition, in which you design the below fisheye camera, get it sold in their stores and win £500 to spend on their stuff.

Arty people, Get On This.

Bring It Bitches.

2010-04-06T20:17:00.012+01:00

So... Election, anyone?
As of today, it is on.
The politicians will be stepping up their bitchiness, desperately clawing each other down to get to the (or stay on) top. As if they haven't been doing that already...

Am I the only one ~~freaked out~~ a little bit surprised by all of David's (poor) pop culture references? American Idol? George Clooney? Shakira? I can only guess he's been spending way too much time channel-hopping on Sky looking for comedy material.

I can't vote, which sucks, so if you can vote then please don't waste it.
Unfortunately, the only kind of thing I'm qualified to vote in is my local Youth Parliament elections. Yeah, Youth Parliament's a real thing. Yes it is. Last school assembly we were forced to watch their campaign videos.

Highlights from the Campaign Videos-

1.“Um, I want to reduce bus fares…” Yay! “…because, if youth can’t go outside then we’ll be bored at home and, uh, turn to crime.” Um, okay.
And then up pops that weird moving 3D Word Art everyone used to get really excited about using on PowerPoints in class presentations. It says: if U wan’t 2 B heard then Vote 4 ME. Agh, It’s like when local councils think their leaflets will better teach about chlamydia if they use the native “text language”, with random capitalization (only cool when John Green does it) and non-standard grammar thrown in just fo’ kicks. Needs to stop.

2.The girl who raged about banning underage sex and alcoholism (Know. Your. Audience.), earning the crowd's observant and oh-so-witty comebacks e.g. “Just ’cos you can’t get any, fatty.”

3.“Vote for me because I have the dominant allele for effort”. A biology joke! Ahh. My vote: it's yours.

I can only hope the adults will do it better. But after watching an entire session of the House of Commons in which all the MPs were just sitting around jeering and booing at one another (what is with that?!), I'm not so sure that they could.

Maybe this vid right here isn't so far from the truth...

A Picture Says A Thousand Words - Writing Competition

2010-04-05T16:27:00.122+01:00

Tokyo/Glow HD from Nathan Johnston on Vimeo.

Tokyo/Glow is a series of photographs that have been put together to make a short stopmotion film with a sweet storyline. All pictures can are part of a bigger story. Which leads me on to:

A Picture Says A Thousand Words - a new regular writing competition. You are invited to write pieces of up to 1000 words (which can be anything from haikus and flash fiction to narrative poems and scripts) inspired by a set of photographs.

For this first round we are using the photos of Laura Bassi. Laura takes fantastic photos and she also blogs for A Tribe Called Next.

HOW TO ENTER:
1. Follow! Either here, or on twitter.
2. Look at the photos below
3. Write something, anything inspired by any of the photos. You can enter up to three different pieces and each piece has an upper limit of 1000 words.
4. Email your work to zita.thisiswherewebelong@gmail.com as well as your name and contact number. Put "Writing Competition" in the subject line. Do this by midnight (GMT) on 1st June 2010.
5. Now sit back and wait until the end of June to find out if you've won.

PRIZES:
1st prize is the first choice of 4 items from the following list.
2nd prize is the second choice of the 3 items from those remaining on the following list.
3rd prize is the third choice of the 2 items from those remaining on the following list.
Whatever is left will be distributed randomly between Commended entrants.
ALL WINNERS AND COMMENDED ENTRANTS WILL BE FEATURED ON HERE (and then later in the printed zine).

Prize List-

£15 iTunes voucher
A signed season DVD of E4's Misfits
Camera
Audrey Hepburn poster
Marilyn Monroe poster
The Charm Necklace (a necklace in aid of Cancer Research UK with charms designed by Christian Louboutin, Kate Moss, Scarlett Johansson, Catherine Tate, Grayson Perry and Stephen Webster)
The Fire We Harbour - a collection of poetry by the Foyle Young Poets of The Year.
The Informers by Brett Easton Ellis
Just In Case by Meg Rosoff
Magic For Beginners by Kelly Link
Love You Madly by Alex George
The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding
Star-Crossed: A Romeo & Juliet Story by Rachael Wing
We Are The New Romantics by Niven Govinden
Cinammon Girl: This Way To Paradise by Cathy Hopkins
Sunita's Secret by Narinder Dhami
Mates, Dates Guide To Life by Cathy Hopkins
BIG HAIR. A history by James Innes-Smith

PICTURES:
(Click on them to see them larger and more clearly)

If you'd like your photographs to be used in the next competition email zita.thisiswherewebelong@gmail.com with "Photographer" in the subject line.

Any questions about this competition can also be emailed or left in the comments.

THE SECRET SAMPLE SALE

2010-04-05T11:50:00.011+01:00

Evidently, I love free shit. Or at least that which has been greatly discounted. So I get pretty excited by stuff like this, which my sister emailed me about:

Register at http://www.secretsamplesale.co.uk/, to get up to 90% discount on:

MAX MARA - VIVIENNE WESTWOOD - MONCLER - BELSTAFF - BURBERRY - CAVALLI - DKNY - MOSCHINO - D&G - COMING SOON BY YOHJI YAMAMOTO - YUCHI - YASUE CARTER - CHLOÉ - ARMANI JEANS - GUIDE LONDON - GRAB - REPLAY - BOLONGARO TREVOR AMBIGUOUS COMMUNE - GENTLE FAWN - UNKNOWN - GREEN APPLE TREE - GUCCI MUTINY - GLOW - CHAN CHAN GONSALVES AND HALL - ORION - EUCALYPTUS - UACT 030470 ATW STELLA - HUNTERS AND GATHERERS - SWAGGA AND SOUL - YAMAMA - TOFU JULY TWENTY NICOLA DEMAIN - PETER WERTH - BONSUI - TWINS DIVERSES - MIMOSA. And many more...

In addition to the Secret Sample Sale, the London Accessory Sale will be taking place at the same time and location so you can also expect discounts on:

A selection of designer bags, shoes and jewellery for men and women from the likes of Aquascutum, Balenciaga, Black & Brown, Blank, Belstaff, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Coccinelle, Carniani, Chloé, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Ebisu, Fendi, Francesco Biasia, Giuseppe Zanotti, Gucci, Grab, July Twenty, Jimmy Choo, Lama Peach, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Moda Italia London, Relax Garden, Patrick Cox, Prada, Sergio Rossi, Tokun Win, Tods, Vivienne Westwood & YSL. Plus many more boutique designers and brands.

Details:

Thursday 8th - Sunday 11th April

Thursday-12noon - 9pm (members)
Friday- 12 - 8pm (public)
Sat- 12 - 7pm (public)
Sun-12 - 6pm (public)

T2, The Old Truman Brewery,
85 Brick Lane, London,
E1 6QL

Admission is £1.

To get a members pass click here, or here.

Free (Music) Friday

2010-04-05T11:24:00.007+01:00

Hey, remember the whole Free Music Friday idea , where I give you links to amazing songs that are actually being given away free so you can improve your playlists without destroying the music industry and all that? Well I clearly didn't, since today is a Monday and almost a month after the last time I did this.
So to make up for that I have two free downloads today:

1. RAC

The Remix Artist Collective is a trio of guys who make the most amazing remixes (click on my video playlist in the sidebar- the 1st song is one of their remixes). They are headed by André Anjos, a native of Portugal who now lives in the USA and has worked in TV (HBO's Entourage) in addition to making songs 10 times better than they were before.
Download some remixes on their site here.

2. Performance

The debut album "(we are) Performance" was released in 2007 but since then they've been off doing other things (frontman Joe Stretch went off and became an internationally published novelist, yes, really. And drummer, Joe Cross, has been songwriting and producing, working to develop groups such as Hurts.) The main reason why it's taken them so long to get back to Performance is their refusal to change the band name, which was a dealbreaker for many major record labels.

‘I’m not going to change my name for a man who looks like polished fruit,’ remarked Joe Stretch. ‘They told us that it’s cool to seem new. I’m not sure about that. Aren’t many new bands enchantingly crap? Plus, changing your name makes you a phoney, Rich, perhaps. But a phoney.’

But they're back now. And they're still Performance. And they're still making good music. So download "Reptile" for free at their myspace.

Spark Unscheduled Tour

2010-04-03T23:34:00.003+01:00

Behind it all the Chevrolet Spark Unscheduled Tour is simply clever promotion for a car. But who really cares when their launch features:

Mystery Jets,
WAH Nails (see http://www.wah-magazine.com/ for more on the WAH girls),
live graffiti from Lumacoustics,
and more.

"The launch of the brand new Chevrolet Spark also marks the launch of a new kind of live music tour. A tour where each venue is not just different but somewhere that provides a unique live music experience, an unscheduled, 'pop-up' event, somewhere you'll probably not see live music ever again. Where will the tour go? It’s up to you!"

Sounds pretty good.
The launch is at Vinyl Factory in Soho on 8th April.
Register online for tickets.

Everything All The Time

2010-04-03T18:48:00.001+01:00

It appears that laziness can be beautiful.
Toronto-based band Everything All The Time delicately capture mornings on weekends when you have nothing or everything to do, and the sun is slipping through your curtains trying to wake you up, but for some reason (laziness really) you just want to stay still...

EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME - Lazy Days from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.

And then there's "I Get So Hot" which is so unlike "Lazy Days" in that it will make you want to get up and sing even if you don't know the words. Turn it up!:

Apart from having an irresistible voice, the frontwoman Alanna Stuart is so charismatic.
When I grow up I wanna be just like her. Or at least have her fro-hawk.

Play This

2010-04-02T18:14:00.002+01:00

Press play on the video playlist in the sidebar (--->) and let it run while you read!
It makes everything even better.

Songs:
1. The Fashion - Solo Impala (RAC Remix)
2. Ty- Emotions feat. Sarina Leah & Shaun Escoffery
3. Clipse vs Led Zeppelin - You Need (Xaphoon Jones Remix)
4. Hoodlums - Ends of the Earth
5. Chiddy Bang & Theodore Grams - Fresh Like Us (Xaphoon Jones Remix)
6. Red Drapes - Reflection
7. Natalia Cappucini (aka Natalia Kills) - Body Body Language
8. Mystery Jets - Hideaway
9. Everything All The Time - I Get So Hot
10. Basia Bulat - Snakes and Ladders
11. Natalia Cappucini (aka Natalia Kills) - Plain Jane

It's all different styles, some kind of old, most kind of new. Plain Jane isn't what it seems at first so listen to all the way through. In fact, listen to it all right through.
Hope you like it.

This Is Where We Belong x Laura Bassi

2010-04-01T10:00:00.000+01:00

EXCITING NEWS: Next week will be the launch of the dopest new writing competition ever. I'll try not give too much away now except to say that photographer, A Tribe Called Next member and all round cool kid Laura Bassi is involved photo-wise, and if you've seen her snaps then you'll know this comp. is definitely something to be excited about.

Stay tuned for more details, prizes, rules etc....

Plugs

2010-03-29T15:46:00.000+01:00

PLUGS is a band, hailing from Peckham, that has only one song up on their myspace, that sings about phone numbers and that is not doing much at all in the foreseeable future. I'm not even certain if they are a real band or just a hobby. And still, I've been a little bit in love with them for about 3 years now.
Perhaps it's because their brand of slightly psychedelic, melodic pop with nice male vocals really reminds me of Hot Chip. Or maybe it's because their lead singer, who used to be in Does It Offend You, Yeah?, has a brilliant name: Morgan Quantaince. All I know is, the moment you put on that song on their myspace, "Imaginary Friend", the beat grabs you and drags you down into an excitingly eerie little world...

Here is their song "All Them Witches".

Plugs - All Them Witches

PLUGS | MySpace Music Videos

Rodarte x JOYCE (+ Maggie Cheung)

2010-03-28T16:40:00.001+01:00

Collaborations are awesome. This is just a fact.
Particularly so is the collaboration between Rodarte, Maggie Cheung (actress) and JOYCE (a boutique based in Hong Kong), which has resulted in a short film- beautifully short by Wing Shya and accompanied by a compellingly haunting melody courtesy of Peter Kam. Most importantly however, is the fact that, for every view the short film gets on YouTube, JOYCE donate HK$1 to UNICEF.
So watch it now! Enjoy the designs in this spellbinding piece while feeling good about yourself for helping those less fortunate...

Olivia Brittain, Casting Director

2010-03-27T15:39:00.020Z

If you haven’t heard about her already, no doubt you will soon be seeing her name in the credits of your favourite films. Yes, I’m talking about Olivia Brittain, the 19 year old Bournemouth Film School student who is already running her own casting business (Olivia Brittain Casting) as well as running Straight From School. http://www.straightfromschool.org/ is a brilliant website that Olivia strarted up with her twin sister Alice (who is studying acting) and it is stuffed with brilliant advice for performers, film and tv casting gossip and details of open auditions – it’s quite addictive so I recommend you finish up here first before getting sucked into SFS.

There is also the Straight From School Youtube Channel to get hooked on, where she not only gives more advice for aspiring actors but does short and funny film reviews. Check it out:

She has worked on the casting of St Trinian’s 2 and Dagenham Girls, amongst various other projects and is currently working on her first feature film (in between shooting pieces on 16mm film for her degree) but she still kindly took the time to have a chat and tell us about everything from her serious brownie making skills, to her invaluable advice for aspiring casting directors and actors alike...

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your casting experience.
I'm Olivia, I'm 19 currently balancing life between Film School and getting work in the world of casting in the film industry. After my GCSEs I knew I had to get into the film industry so I got work placements in local TV studios to build up my knowledge of it all. I was 17 when I worked at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios and got some great experience but it was really when I was 18 and got a summer internship with Lucy Bevan Casting that I knew where I wanted to go!

What made you want to be a casting director?
My family are all actors so I was also going to end up in that side of things! It was really when I came across an interview with casting director Jina Jay (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0419605/) a few years ago that I settled my decision. In the article she spoke about the challenges of the job and how she could fight for actors sometimes, if they were newcomers or someone unproven. Something about getting to meet different people every day is a bonus too. I cut the article out and still have it stuck on my wall, and it's been my inspiration ever since.

Are there any other people who inspired you?
Casting directors like Lucy Bevan, Pippa Hall, Nina Gold and particularly Mary Selway who was legendary within the film industry.

What are your favourite films (particularly in terms of the cast)?
Atonement (cast by Jina Jay) in terms of casting was brilliant and is definitely one of my favourites for that! I love Withnail and I, Emperor's New Groove, The Truman Show, Empire of the Sun, Some Like It Hot - I have so many favourites it's hard to pick just one. I will say my favourite directors include Christopher Nolan, Edgar Wright, John Hughes, Shane Meadows and Wes Anderson and would love to work with all of them (bringing Hughes back from the dead of course!).

What is the most difficult thing about the job?
The stress and high pressure to get a project done with a tricky deadline. If you get sick, everything grounds to a halt. Hours are long and when you leave the office the work doesn't stop! But there are perks that overshadow the difficult aspects!

While we're at it, what is the thing you love most about casting?
Meeting so many new great actors! Discovering new talent and taking risks with unknown faces. Trips to the theatre, seeing as many new independent films as possible as well as establishing great relationships with agents, producers and directors. My dream job basically!

Are there any up and coming actors that you are really excited about?
Many. I'm always on the look-out of course! Most aren't 'names' but if I have to say the most well-known actress I'm looking forward to seeing in more projects is Lucy Boynton and Charity Wakefield.

Any advice for people who are considering getting into casting?
The first thing I would say is to get experience as an assistant and to get to grips that it's hard work and no glamour. Checking out the Casting Director's Guild website is a must!

What is the best advice you've received?
To follow everything up. For example, when I had a work placement in a casting office I managed to lose £10 worth of stamps. It sounds small right? But I made sure I sent a thank you card including some replacement stamps. I definitely think that had I just left it I doubt I would have been asked back for an internship. Follow everything up - agents and producers will remember you and it's important to maintain good relationships.

What makes you personally really sit up and take note of an actor (apart from, of course, brilliant acting)?
Tough question, because it's hard to put your finger on it. An actor that has the right attitude, charm, initiative to take risks as well as a strong belief in their interpretation of a character is one to keep an eye on! Their performance must be captivating. If they believe it, I'll believe it.

What are the top 5 things you hate to see when you meet an actor (or even when you are approached by one, like through email or letters etc)?
I don't want to say I 'hate' certain things that actors do - so I'll safely go with little annoyances because there can be a few! My number one annoyance is when actors appear desperate. I get dozens of messages and emails from teen actors along the lines of 'plz im beggin u, can u help me get a agent?'. That depicts to me laziness if they can't be bothered to research the work themselves. Bad spelling is a natural turn off anyway, as is the desperation! Any CV and headshot submissions that type text speak get deleted straight away.

When actors don't read the breakdown properly it can cause problems too. For example if I clearly state 'Caucasian 16 year old, one headshot submission only', I can receive emails that start with 'I know I'm not Caucasian or 16... but I thought I'd submit anyway!' along with a dozen huge files attached that freezes my inbox! If you can't read the breakdown properly, how can you read the script properly or turn up to an audition on time?

In an audition too much make up is a turn off. I want to scrub it off so I can see what they look like underneath!

Triple chocolate cookies or brownies?

BROWNIES! I make some mean brownies. They have to be crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle. I add chocolate chunks to melt in the middle. Yum!

Top 5 BELONGings:

As boring as it is, I couldn't leave the house without my phone and my work would DIE if I lost my laptop! My diary as well as I honestly wouldn't know what I'd be doing for a day without it. Chocolate. My book of actors. Every actor I see in a show I will jot down for future reference. It's a bit of a bible...

How do you (if you do) want to change the world?

Change the world huh? I'll just say a little bit of kindness goes a long way - how about forcing everyone to believe in karma?

Sounds like a plan...

Zarif

2010-03-21T14:51:00.002Z

This is Zarif.

She has toured with Alesha Dixon and Beyoncé, as well as having performed with John Legend and the Nextmen. Sometime within the next few weeks I will be interviewing her and putting a video of it up on youtube! So, I won't say much about her right now except that: as well as producing her own funky music (www.myspace.com/zarifmusic) she does beautiful covers and makes funny comics...

Interview with...The Looky Looky Posse

2010-03-21T12:14:00.011Z

“Creativity is just an excuse for not being the math and algebra hero...”

“Inspiring is watching people or stories...”

Meet Conny, Julia and Luise - the LookyLooky Posse. They are three funny and brilliant Berliners with an inspirational attitude to life, and I got their thoughts on everything from brownies and cookies to photography and the Berlin music scene. If you haven’t seen the great clothing that these talented ladies make (where the hell have you been?!) click here later, but right now let’s hear from the posse...

How did you guys meet?

Conny: I met Luise 10 years ago in a skate park where she was teaching me how to do an ollie right. Hm, and I guess it was 5 years ago that Luise introduced me to Julia and that’s where all was starting somehow.

Julia: I met Luise probably 5 or 6 years ago. We both worked for a skate contest in Berlin. Half a year or 1 year later Luise introduced me to Conny, after she came back from a long surf trip in Australia.

Luise: It was exactly like this...

What were you doing before Looky Looky?
Conny: I was working in the German countryside for a jeans brand.

Julia: I worked for a magazine in the sales and marketing department.

Luise: I worked for a PR agency.

Could you sum up the Looky Looky Posse in one sentence?

Conny: CREW LOVE IS TRUE LOVE

Julia: CREW LOVE IS TRUE LOVE

Luise: CREW LOVE IS TRUE LOVE

Why did you choose the name LookyLooky?
Conny: It was Luise who discovered the name LookyLooky.

Luise: I thought it is important to be not so edgy, limited and cool...bring something funny, light in it.

Julia: She thought about a name, and few seconds later she said LookyLooky. And we were all like: perfect! Fun is a huge aspect! So the name looks good and sounds good but at the same way it is funny.

Have you been inspired by any other labels?
Conny: There is no label where I would say –that’s it- but if you see a good idea on a label of course it pushes you. Inspiring is watching people or stories and stuff like that. My friends are quite inspiring and photos do the job for me.

Luise: It’s like Conny said also for me it’s more the people who inspire me...not other brands.

Julia: I think we are really into Stüssy. But i don't think that we take this label as an inspiration. It’s only a label which we love and love to wear besides LookyLooky. We get inspired by a lot of things and yes, mostly friends and photos!

What do you love the most about LookyLooky?

Conny: the crew love is true love thing, being a strong bunch of friends supporting each other in any way.

Luise: exactly how Conny said, or how we say in our hard German: EXAKT. It’s about this posse thing. In a big city like Berlin, you need good friends and even more in facebook times, haha.

Julia: Nothing more to say. Crew love is true love.

Finally, what advice can you give to people who are thinking of setting up something similar to Looky Looky?

Conny: If you have an idea and it feels good? Do it.

Luise: When you think of starting something, don’t ask other people...they always seem to know everything better, but it’s not true. They don’t know anything but telling you your way it’s the wrong way. And believe in what you are doing!!!

Julia: Don't talk about it - do it.

Everyone creative seems to be doing about a hundred things at once. There are so many people who are “Photographer/Writer/DJ”s. Do you guys have other things going on as well as the label?
Conny: We would like to use LookyLooky as an agency to do work for other people’s magazines and stuff like that. I wouldn’t say everything that we do is creative in the end it's just a fun thing what we do together. Creativity is just an excuse for not being the math and algebra hero...

Julia: Of course the 3 of us have a "normal" job where we earn our money. It’s the goal to earn money with the one thing that we love - LookyLooky. The jobs we are doing now are only the first steps to be better, to learn more and to get the right contacts to put it all into LookyLooky. So everything we do is in the end of every day for LookyLooky.

Luise: There is a new creative platform in Berlin called "MADE". It’s opening in march and I work for this now from January on. Besides that we create t-shirts for other labels and do a lot more creative stuff for other brands...

MADE in Berlin from Made Blog on Vimeo.

I see from the photos on your blog you must love the cyber sampler cameras- are you all really into photography?

Conny: It’s a mood thing sometimes I am not leaving the house without a one way/disposable camera.

Luise: I love this- playing with pictures! I’m more into Polaroid, but it’s so expensive...

Julia: I always try to take a camera with me; sometimes it works, sometimes not. But I am really into tumblr. On Sunday I’ll check a lot of tumblr blogs to find new pics.

I hear you guys have your own lingo...?

Conny: I would say every group of friends have their lingo, it comes by the time and has their fashion too.

Luise: When you always spend time together, you have your own style and we don’t really care how we say things because you don’t have to explain so much to tell friends what you mean when you are really close... so first of all we did the blog for us and our friends so this is the language we still have.

Julia: It’s a puzzle that fits from different fields. Movies, TV series, music, friends and the Berlin dialect which Conny and Luise dominate because they are from Berlin.

How is the music scene in Berlin?

Conny: The music scene is quite colourful maybe cause of the low price apartments and studios and stuff? Berlin is a broke city which is good for any kind of art or music. I start liking techno music a bit more and quite good DJ and producer is Santé.

Luise: It doesn’t matter what kind of music you like, you can always find clubs, people and spaces in Berlin to share it with friends... Also a good friend of us is Adam Port, who is also doing fantastic electronic music. But I’m more into this rap thing and like the live demo parties very much. They are a mix of live and DJ music...very good concerts and very nice people behind it.

Julia: you have to listen to all the DJs and producers of the small independent label Keine Musik! Besides that, there is also good hip hop music in Berlin. I really like the fact that all the musicians in Berlin don't take themselves that seriously. They are very grounded and down to earth. And it’s quite interesting how many musicians from other cities are living in Berlin, like Peaches, Zombie Disco Squad and so on. And yes, I also think that it’s because of the prices here in Berlin and tons of really good clubs in Berlin, like Berghain, Panorama Bar, Bar25 or Golden Gate. And another point, in Berlin there is no closing time. A lot of clubs are open from Friday till Monday or Tuesday. I think tats one huge point why a lot of electronic DJs and producers love Berlin.

Top 3 BELONGings
Conny: Our crew, our crew, our crew.

Luise: Haha I don’t know if a crew is really a belonging, but when yes, that’s the most important thing! Besides that my phone and lap top.

Brownies or triple chocolate cookies?

Conny: brownies but with vanilla ice cream

Luise: triple chocolate cookies with a lot of cream...maaaamaaaacitaaaa.

How do you (if you do) want to change the world?
Conny: Is this the point to say world peace?

Julia: I’m not that emo or so, but yes world peace would be fantastic. Mmhh, how to change the world? Start with a smile and always be honest.

Ava Luna

2010-03-20T12:25:00.009Z

This Brooklyn-based group mix the kind of uplifting gospel-type singing you might hear spilling out of the jubilee churches with electro and somehow it actually isn't a train wreck. The soulful front man and doo-wop backup singers mesh with incredible bass lines to make this grinding post-punk sound that you won't be able to stop yourself from shaking to even just a little bit. Honestly.

www.myspace.com/avalunaband

Theatre Review: ENRON

2010-03-10T22:13:00.005Z

ENRON- The Play (www.enrontheplay.com)

At the Noel Coward Theatre until Saturday 14th August 2010

Tickets from £12.50-£50.50, £25 seats released daily at 10am

Written by: HANNAH MARSHALL

Pouring over the theatre listings in The Independent last Saturday (in a slightly desperate attempt to get out of watching my mother squeal like a fourteen year old over Olly Murs at the X-factor live tour) I wasn’t sure if ENRON was the play for me. For one thing, I’ve never decided to compose songs about the stock market, or dressed up as a businessman with a large plastic animal head for that matter. I’ve (sadly) never fought anyone with a green lightsaber, and as you can probably guess I’m not the CEO of a multinational energy corporation who keeps a pet dinosaur in my underground office.

Like me, you probably wouldn’t expect all of these things to happen in a play about accountancy. But that’s one of the things that makes ENRON so brilliant. The staging is awesome, if you’re a fan of awesome lighting effects, crazy symbolism (hence the plastic animal heads) and cleverly constructed sets then make sure you visit the Noel Coward Theatre before the season comes to an end.

Inspired by one of the most infamous financial scandals in history ENRON follows the story of Andy Fastow’s heady attempts to conquer the stock market using the somewhat illegal methods in order to please his idol, Jeffry Skilling. Also trying to manipulate her way to the top of the company is the shrewd and spoilt female executive Claudia Roe. As the action unfolds and the implications of their actions on those around them become clear, all three must resolve their own conflicts of power vs. morality.

Lucy Prebble, does a fantastic job of making the ENRON financial scandal completely entertaining, I was on the edge of my seat, especially as the company’s tortured genius turned slimy capitalist CEO, Jeffry Skilling, (played wonderfully by Samuel West) rages at the stock market screen as he watches his share prices crumble.

ENRON is a play about greed; the characters are motivated by a mixture of self-interest and a lust for power. The relationships that they formulate are empty and based on the potential for personal gain. Whilst this could lead to a slightly hollow and unsatisfying theatre experience (I prefer my heroes in love and my endings happy!) the shy brilliance of Tom Goodman-Hill’s Andy Fastow and his childlike awe at the system that he creates redeems the play’s emotional centre.

The show has some great lines, made even greater by the worrying reflection of the unremorseful mentality of the show’s protagonist in big business and governments of today. Okay, so “This is where you belong” is a place for people who want something different, but ENRON’s final line highlights the worrying fixation that seems to drive the majority of our society today.

“All these things make up our humanity, there’s love, faith, greed and lust, and the greatest of these? Is money.”

Barbara Frankie Ryan Interview!

2010-03-08T22:48:00.009Z

** Sorry this took so long to put up, problems with new laptops and blablabla boring stuff **

Barbara Frankie Ryan does her own thing:

“At my school the art teacher was like the trunchbull and everything had to be drawn from life and tonal. A camera can do that, what's the point? I think it's way better to come up with something from your head.”

Barbara Frankie Ryan (yeah, I just kind of feel the need to say her full name every time) : 17 years old, Londoner, owner of a brilliant zine called BFR mag (www.bfrmag.blogspot.com). Oh, and she used to be a DJ but she “just kinda stopped when I started sixth form it was probably the distraction of boys to be honest. I went to an all-girls school for five years and now I go to an all-boys school with around 120 boys and about 40 girls so there was a lot of adjusting to be done.” Despite being exhausted from having just done 2 hours solid at the gym (! Exercise is my kryptonite!), she still managed to be witty and wonderful. Well, see for yourself...

Barbara? Barbara Frankie? BFR? Babs?
My name's Barbara, my middle name is Frankie, but at my current school everyone calls me Babs. And I sort of love initials and that's what BFR is for - Barbara Frankie Ryan. Not so simple eh?

What made you want to start your own zine?
I've always kept notebooks (moleskines to be exact, because they're the best). And I guess I just put all my poems and drawings into it. I wasn't really aware of what a "zine" was until other people started to refer to my mag as one. And I love magazines full stop. Even the ones you get free in the sunday papers.

Do you plan to continue BFR mag and perhaps build it up to a magazine one day?
YES! That would be brilliant, all glossy and available in WHSmith! Fan-tas-tic. But I'm not too sure about that. I wouldn't mind working in fashion journalism whether it is for myself or someone with a similar mindset and ideas. But, I'll definetly continue. Every few months I go through a "i'mgonnastopmakingbfrmag" phase, but then one of my friends will ask me when the next issue is coming out or I'll get a cool email from someone and then I get into the mag even more so.

Speaking of fashion journalism, you’ve had a few internships with fashion magazines, right?
My Dad is so cool, (he's an artist and does lots of illustrations and collaborations with mags) so he managed to fix me up with internships at ELLE, Rubbish/The Daily and Eley Kishimoto (fashion designers) and I'm really greatful for it.

What were they like?
I guess being an intern, you just have to be really down to earth and helpful, no one wants a grumpy girl who would rather pick her split ends than archive past editorials. Like at ELLE everyone was soo lovely, I was in the art department. And it wasn't like the Devil Wears Prada or Anna "from hell" Wintour nonsense if you get me?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Working in a magazine perhaps?
Crikey, I don't even know what I'm doing next weekend! Next year I'm doing a foundation in Art & Design, which I'm really excited about and I'm really looking forward to. I'm not sure if I'd want to work in a magazine that soon (I guess I’d be 27), at the moment I'm thinking more of an illustration or fashion design route, but nothing is certain. Yet.

Are there any artists/designers that really inspire you? In particular, the people (or even places or things) that have inspired your art and writings?
I guess you can draw parallels between me and Daisy de Villeneuve's work (check her out she is awesome). David Hockney is awesome, "A Bigger Splash" is my favourite painting. In terms of inspiration Marc Jacobs always gets my heart thumping- he's something very special.
And I guess like if I’m at a party and someone says something really funny or witty, I'm like that would make a sick picture and then I play with the words and make a picture in my head. Or sometimes I'm pissed off with people or really happy with them. I guess people are just really good at fucking around with your emotions and I love that. That's what I like.

How would your perfect day go?
Wake up, no alarm clock, sunshining. then me and my parents would have fry up and the best bacon in London from the farmers market. Then I would go to school and all my lessons would be cancelled and we'd hop on the 148 bus to Hyde Park and play twister and have waterfights. Then we'd go to Patisserie Valerie for lunch and then i'd come home and watch the Come dine with me omnibus. And I would eat lasagna for supper and go to bed full. I think I'm easily pleased.

Name your top five BELONGings.
(see what I did there)
That was cool.
1. My 2009/2010 diary. has everything in it.
2. Coats. The barbour + the fake fur. Essential for the nightbus home.
3. All my harry potter dvds (I'm such a loser)
4. My phone, I have a blackberry but I'm not one of those annoying people who are on them all the time
5. My glasses - 'cause I would be blind without them.

Triple chocolate cookies or brownies?
I'd pass and go for a rockyroad.

How do you (if you do) want to change the world?
Less hungry people and less greedy people.

BFR RECOMMENDS...

Places in London
I love Pimlico for charity shops and all the mad people who live there.
I like Covent Garden for shops, as it has everything you need and not too busy.
I like Columbia rd for things you want but don't need.
Holland Park for skiving lessons.
And anywhere near to the river.

New bands
My mate Sam is in a band, which I guess I should plug. Called the Myth Machine. They make lovely sounds from violins and ukuleles and xylophones and do covers of Andre 3000 and kelis and sean paul and stuff, but it sounds really beautiful even though it's songs you'd usually bump and grind to. http://themythmachine.tumblr.com/
I'm always raving about I Blame Coco. She's sick, but I like most things.

Vinyls
Firstly, I love 7"s because they're cheap as chips. I’d rather pay like £3 for something I can hold with a lovely cover than pay 79p for something with no substance off iTunes. The sound is special. But it's quite annoying at the moment, I need to change my needle, so I'm currently playing no records in fear of scratching them up.

Zines
Verity Pemberton (she's wicked, she's like 20 and makes costumes for Florence + The Machine) she makes a zine called Don't Know Yet which is really really fashion-y and ridiculously cool. Also the Eel and ME magazine

Magazines
Like every month I always buy Vogue, i-D, ELLE and TeenVogue. Then others are LOVE (twice a year), POP (if I have money) and The Economist (which is really good). But my dad has subscriptions to Vogue Italia and Harpers so I steal those off him!

Making A Zine
Don't make it similar to BFR! Haha. Just do it how you want, don't want to sound cheesy. But if you're into collecting stamps make your zine about that.

1. Always carry one with you, because when people hear "oh yeah I have a blog" they switch off because everyone has one these days. But if they have something physical they can read on the toilet they're more likely to remember you.

2. Find your target audience. I wanted pretentious kids, so I left mine inside 7"s in rough trade off Brick Lane and so on. Also leave them around school. That’s always good.

3. Send them to everyone you know. find the editors of all your fave magazines and send them a copy of your zine and a suck up letter and who knows you may get a reply!

4. Don't make it about money. ’Cause your mind-set will change. You probably will make a loss, but if you love doing it who cares!

5. Make friends with the school librarian so you can get mates rates photocopying.

End of.

see previous post: http://thisiswherewebelong.blogspot.com/2010/03/barbara-frankie-ryan-and-why-she-is.html for extracts from her zine or, more sensibly, just head over to her site now for the entire things http://www.bfrmag.blogspot.com/ .

Free (Music) Friday -on Monday, I know, whatever.

2010-03-08T21:03:00.001Z

So, Free (Music) Friday (on Monday) anyone?

The nicest track I've found being given away for free recently is Under Construction by Solange. Do not call her the other knowles. She's brilliant in her own right. Her music is not like Beyoncé's, although her voice kind of is, and she is just fabulous. She also writes her own songs. I love people ten times more when they actually came up with the material they put their name on by themselves. This said, I still love Beyoncé's music, but I'm really in love with Solange right know.

Head over to her "Damn Blog" (http://www.mydamnblog.com/) now to get it!! It's lovely.

Don't Miss This!

2010-03-07T12:17:00.002Z

We will be chatting with the extremely talented artist Miss Led very soon!!!!! (can you tell I'm excited?)Here's 6 reasons why she's amazing (plus, ofcourse, the fact that she is our first- and only atm- follower):

See more of her work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_joanna_h and here: http://missled.co.uk/

A Letter To... My Schoolmates

2010-03-06T22:36:00.018Z

Send in a letter about something you want to get something off your chest.
(After the sweetness of my last post, I suppose it's time balance that out. Don't take this too seriously if you go to my school and have somehow found your way here)

Dear Schoolmates,

There are so many things I’ve always wanted to tell you. I just didn’t know how to put my feelings into words. I wish we could have gotten along better, spent more time together. Maybe then I would have had the courage to say all these things that have just been burning up inside me. I’m writing to you now because it's hurting too much to keep this from you. I'm writing because I can't take the thought of saying this out loud and I don't know any other way to let you into my heart. I hope you understand and know that I will always love you*. Here goes…

The thing is, Uggs are not the only shoe. I’d go on to say please stop constantly fucking up your outfits with this boot, if it wasn’t for my next point which is-

Abercrombie and Fitch, and Jack Wills are not the only two stores in existence. There’s a whole world out there. I’d be happy to show you.

Twilight and New Moon, the books and films, were not that good. Robert Pattinson is also not that hot. You totally saw him in Harry Potter and you didn’t give a crap about him then so why now? It’s because you’re projecting your fantasy of a dating hot, pasty 107 year old boy onto him, that's why. And don't you think that’s kind of weird? So please stop wearing hoodies that say “Property Of Edward Cullen” and ink tattooing yourself with the words “Bite Me”. You’re making all the sane people feel deeply uncomfortable.

I wish you would stop pretending to be more drunk than you actually are at parties just so you can kiss that guy your friend likes and do c-raaaaaazzzy things so you can have “great” stories to tell on the next school day. More than that, I pray you stop talking about what a wild night you had and how wasted you got, ’cause everybody knows you only had half a drink.

Listen carefully: "gay" is not an insult. Don't make me slap you.

I know we’re in an all-girls school, but you don’t have to gain respect by talking about boys like you’re an authority on the subject. Going on about how much easier they are to hang out with than girls because they’re "so much more chilled out" is just insulting given that your audience is entirely composed of girls. It’s also plain stupid since we've all seen that you're that girl - the one who acts annoyingly flirty when hanging out with guys, which simply makes them want you to piss off, ’cause they’re trying to chill out here, alright?

Schoolmates, I'm sorry to end on such a sad note, but there is one last thing that I need to tell you because it's weighing down on me so heavily I fear it may crush the last breath out of me if I don't say to you now: please stop deluding yourselves that omfg Skins is just sooooo amazing cos its just like a breath of fresh air on british tv you know i mean like it just actually represents the lives of us teens and its like totally not afraid to show what we get up to.... Um, WHAT THE F---?!! Seriously guys? Seriously. As much as I loved Skins (series 1 & a bit of 2), it does not represent your life, don't lie. If you lived in that world you would not be sitting on your ass on a thursday night watching fictional kids have a wild time, you'd be coked up somewhere getting wild yourself. And y'all know it.

*not all of you. And not always for some of you.

Six Sweeteners

2010-03-06T21:37:00.004Z

Because this world should be more delicious like patisserie.

1. Draw someone without them knowing. Give them that drawing. It’s nice to know someone is paying attention to you when it’s so easy to feel invisible in the world. But try not to be too stalkerish about it, okay?

2. Smile at people until at least one person smiles back, even if said person’s a crazy.

3. Give that food you know you’re gonna end up wasting to your local soup kitchen. Better yet, go out and buy them some Krispy Kreme doughnuts for desert.

4. Find something you like about a person you’ve never really talked to and tell them.

5. Make someone a mixtape of your favourite music of the moment for no good reason. Maybe even leave the mixtape (with a note attached) somewhere an unknown person is likely to pick it up.

6. Sing aloud in public. People need to know it’s okay to act like you’re in a musical once in a while.

Camera Chic

2010-03-03T23:15:00.004Z

Blogs, facebook, twitter, flickr, tumblr (anything else ending in -er?) and all the general wonderful sharing ways of the internet mean everybody's a photographer all of a sudden. Illustrating our lives is apparently essential.
If you are one of those people who takes photos of everything and everyone almost every time you go out, I say ditch the boring cameras (especially if you use a camera phone, agh!) and get yourself a hot one to complement whatever look you're rocking.
But attempting to follow the above philosophy was actually rather difficult when I realised that ill cameras are not that readily available. After far too much time spent searching, here are a few of the cute and daaaamn good-looking cameras I found:

Lomography cameras also take seriously beautiful pictures:

Oh and, Jacobs - that cracker company- once made cameras as well (wtf? Interesting promotional tool, I guess...):

Know of any worthy cameras? Email a pic to zita.thisiswherewebelong@gmail.com with "Camera Love" in the title.

Do Something Brilliant, or maybe just so-so (part 1/2)

2010-03-03T22:13:00.005Z

I suppose you'll have heard about Chile. And before that, Haiti. And many other disasters before that (if not, then stop pissing around and pay attention to the news once in a while, yeah?).
Perhaps like me, it makes you want to do something to help them. Maybe something more than just donating £10 (or less, you cheapskate) online? Well, how about setting up a charity gig?
(Haha, I just read that back and realised how much it rings like a bad advert...)
Anyway, I'm here to help you raise money and enjoy music (and meet bands, the best part of organising this kind of thing, I suspect. Other than the rewarding feeling of doing something good of course). So a while back I was determined to set up a charity gig for the Amnesty International Youth Group I used to run. That dream died fast. Mainly due to my laziness but whatever. Anyway, when I was all about that I got plenty of good advice on how to go about setting up a live musical event from Rob Alderman of the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang nights. The back and forth emails between us are below, no point in letting that all this knowledge go to waste, huh?

Dear Rob,

My name is Zita[....]and I run the Amnesty International Youth Group at [my school]. We want to hold a benefit concert in aid of Amnesty. I love a lot of the amazing bands/artists you've had at your KKBB nights such as:

New Cassettes
Lightspeed Champion
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Johnny Foreigner
Pete and the Pirates
and The Holloways (even though they haven't performed yet)

and I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me some information on how to go about booking these bands and how much it would cost?

Thank you very much for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Hi Zita,

Sounds like a cool idea!
With all of the bands you listed (except New Cassettes), they have an agent which is the person you'll need to contact about gigs. Most agent details (usually an e-mail address) can be found on the myspace or website of the band. There are 3 or 4 main agencies - Primary, WMA, ITB and Coda but there are others out there too.

So, contact the agent who looks after the band. They'll usually want details of the gig (where it is, what date, what capacity the venue is etc etc) so I'd put this in the first e-mail to stop e-mails going back and forth. When you first e-mail them, I wouldn't mention any money, it's best first to see if the band are available. Also, do a bit of research into the band you're booking (i.e. do they already have a gig on the date you want them? Will they suit your target audience?). This all helps when contacting the agent. To warn you, agents can be quite blunt. They obviously get hundereds of e-mails every day asking for bookings so often reply with a quick yes or no and quick explanation (sometimes not even that much). Also, it's probably worth writing out a list of a good 20 bands and split them into first choice bands, 2nd choice etc. I'd e-mail maybe 3 or 4 in the first instance as not all agents will reply...you don't want to throw all your eggs in one basket and wait to hear back when a reply may not be forthcoming.

Once you've e-mailed, if they e-mail back (and the band are available), they'll ask for an offer. As you're not a "regular customer" to them, this may be a slightly higher price than other promoters that often use them to book bands. It's difficult to judge the price of a band these days as cost has gone up. It's difficult for me to say what you could offer without knowing your budget so maybe if you e-mail through your budget and the bands you're thinking about, I can give you an idea of where to aim for.

Once the offer has gone back, if they accept, you'll then go through the stages of having a contract which will need signing and returning. Also, by law, you'll need to fill out a Terms of Business with the company you're booking through as, legally, they must do this to deal with you (this will all be sent to you). They often ask for 50% of the fee to be paid as a deposit also.

When thinking about your budget, don't forget to add everything in. Most bands charge VAT and will want a rider (food and drink), which, on average, can cost about £50-£100, depending what they're asking for. Add sound equipment, sound man, lights, staging etc to that just to make sure you're budget can cover the gig.

Bands also will send through a tech spec with their rider. This details what sound equipment they expect to use when playing. They can be quite particular about what sound equipment they use so, if you plan to book a bigish band, make sure you're not using cheap equipment because otherwise the band can refuse to play or you will have to hire the equipment they request (we learnt this the hard way) and you can lose the deposit as it is your responsibility as a promoter to make sure the venue meets the requirements in the contract.

Sorry for the essay. I don't mean to bombard you! Just a lot more than you realise to think about when you book a band of certain level.
I hope it is of some help.
Feel free to e-mail me on this address again for help. It's good to see people getting up and doing something cool for the music scene around these parts!

Good luck!
Rob

Do Something Brilliant, or maybe just so-so? (part 2/2)

2010-03-03T22:00:00.000Z

By The Way: THIS IS NOT A COMPREHESIVE GUIDE. But I'm sure you know that already.
(Also, do not take the bands and artists I mention here to be indicative of my music taste. Many I still love, but I have grown and changed.)

Rob,

Thank you so much for the "essay"! It has been very helpful in making me realise what goes into planning a gig. You are right, booking a band takes WAY more than i realise (I admire you greatly).
Its a lot more confusing, complicated and generally difficult and expensive sounding than I realised, but I'm still going to try to do it because it could be great, and its for charity too...

So I hope you don't mind if i ask you a few more questions.
I have a very long list of mostly indie bands and artists who I was planning to ask, and I actually emailed some of them before I received your email back, so I wish I had waited.
Some of them were just "NO"s but some had explanations which was nice.

I am being considered by:
Johnny Flynn
The Metros
Lo-Fi Culture Scene
Athlete

but they all want "more details"!
but I still haven't got emails back from:
Pete and the Pirates
The Holloways
Gold Teeth

and I have yet to contact:
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
TV On the Radio
Laura Marling
The Whip
The Courteeners
Noah and the Whale
Crystal Castles
Golden Silvers
...and some others.

So before I send emails out to any of the other bands on my list please could you help me with these questions:

1. I was going to hold it in the school hall, which is a very nice place for a school but it does only fit about 600 standing. Do you think the bands will refuse to play for only 600 people?
Would it be better to hire a local venue? (like the [...] which can take 1000 people standing. and has had bands like Hadouken and Foals playing there).

2. The Lo-Fi Culture Scene's people said that they would cost "a couple hundred". does that mean just £100-200 for the band, excluding the "rider" and the equipment.

3. Do I have to BUY their equipment? Are you kidding? Can't they just bring it them selves... How much does equipment cost?
4. When you say "sound man" would that be a sound man that they brought with them or one that I would have to hire?

5.Please please please guesstimate what it might cost altogether (excluding food and drinks for the audience).

6...Can I hire a "promoter" or someone to do all this for me? But then again they would probably cost hundreds as well.

7. Will the agents that have replied be a lot less inclined to agree to a gig if I don't reply straightaway giving them these elusive "more details" that they speak of?

I know you are probably extremely busy booking bands for KKBB, so please just reply whenever you can.
Thank you very much

Zita,

I'm happy to help. I'll try and answer all of your questions...

More details will be what I said before. Say what the event is for (charity wise), where it'll be held, the capacity of the place etc. etc.
1. 600 is fine. Our capacity is 250 upstairs and about 400 down so 600 should be plenty for what you're aiming for. But, the Civic probably has a good quality PA in place to use for gigs so may be worth giving them a shout to see if they are open to hiring out the venue and at what price.

2. Sound like £200 flat. They may then ask for rider on top. Not sure if they are a big enough band to be VAT registered so I'd guess at £200 + rider

3. No no! Not buy haha. I'm talking as in the PA system. They will bring their own guitars/amps/drums etc but you'll be providing the PA system for them to play through.

4. Most venues have an "in house sound man" who does the system. Bands the size of Lo-Fi Culture Scene wouldn't have their own sound man so you'd need an experienced sound man to sound check them. Bigger bands (such as The Holloways and Pete and the Pirates) will have their own sound men but this is never confirmed until after the band are booked and a fee agreed.

5. All depends on the band really! Athlete will be very expensive I imagine. Difficult to guess but I'd say close to the £2000 mark (possibly more). It really is difficult to say but I think you have to judge it against your budget. So if Lo-fi Culture Scene are saying £200, Holloways will be more than that...sorry, I know that's vague but it really does vary and also depends on what the agent is holding out for!

6. You could try and involve a local promoter. Find out who promotes the gigs at the [local venue] and see if they'd be interested in helping out. Remember, it'll help their profile as well.

7. Try and reply asap. They tend to lose interest/forget things easily! Just try and keep the replies quick and readable so they're not looking at a massive bunch of text!
Any time, any time. As I say, it's nice to see someone getting involved in promoting. And don't let what I wrote above, put you off. It's tough but it can all come together with hard work and a bit of negotiating!

Keep at it!
Rob.

Hey, Theatre Junkies

2010-03-03T21:40:00.003Z

Here's your fix for the week: two theatre related opportunities I've come across lately, both of which are pretty damn awesome. The first is for the writers, the actors, the directors and producers. It also serves as a holiday. The second is only for the writers. The second is . Get on it people. Deadlines are coming up fast!!! And getting into any aspect of theatre is tough, there aren't opportunities like these just lying around all the time. Both are in association with IdeasTap http://www.ideastap.com/ so you need to get an IdeasTap account to apply. But it's free and you'll find out about more opportunities through it so it's all good. (Plenty of interviews with film, tv and theatre professionals giving great advice on there too by the way)

1. Kevin Spacey's (yeah, Kevin Spacey) TS Eliot Exchange

This coming April, 50 actors, writers, directors and producers will travel from London to New York to engage in a week of cultural activity and artistic development, hosted by The Public Theater, an NYC institution and home to some of America's most exhilarating theatre. The following month, 50 American artists will travel to London to take part in a similar program at The Old Vic, the legendary home of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, and now under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey.

During The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange you will spend a week living, learning, and developing theatre in a vibrant and intense city. You will be able to build your contacts within the theatrical industry and have the chance to learn from some of the finest and most successful people in the business.

http://www.ideastap.com/newsdetails.aspx?articleid=879

2. WordPlay Script Competition
Being a fledgling writer can be a lonely business. It's all late nights at the computer and sitting alone in front of empty pages wondering when you might get your first big break. But sometimes, all you need is a nudge in the right direction.

That's why the National Youth Theatre is looking for new writers who need a bit of guidance. They'll invite five writers to attend a two-day development workshop with professional mentors and directors. From that workshop two of the writers will be selected to have their plays put into full production at a London venue as part of NYT's 2010 season. The plays will be performed by members of the Playing Up 2 course, part of the National Youth Theatre's Creative Learning Programme.
Fifteen further writers will be chosen to receive written feedback on their work.

For now we don't need the full play, just an outline of your idea and some indication of how it will work. You need to fill out an application form (link to form here) which will ask you for the following:
- A detailed synopsis of your idea for a play. It should relate in some way to one of the four topics below and be no more than 500 words
-Detailed character breakdowns for 10 defined characters or a detailed description of how your play could be performed by an ensemble of 10
-A draft of four completed scenes of your play. We need to get a feel for you as a writer so we would like at least 10 pages in total.

We're looking for ideas that best represent the experiences of the Playing Up students so we'd like to see work around the following themes: mental health, asylum seeking/immigration, the rise of political nationalism in Britain or class conflict. Feel free to use more than one of the themes and to interpret them literally or abstractly. They're just a pointer to some of the work the students have been exploring so you don't need to stick to them too rigidly.
There are 20 members of the Paying Up 2 course, so we're looking for two ensemble plays that offer strong character roles to at least 10 performers. There are no restrictions in terms of gender, and the National Youth Theatre encourage you to think creatively and experiment.

http://www.ideastap.com/briefdetail.aspx?briefid=103

Good luck.
P.S. NYT plays get reviewed by The Times and the like. It's no Kevin Spacey but still pretty damn good

Barbara Frankie Ryan, and why she is awesome

2010-03-01T22:18:00.003Z

Barbara Frankie Ryan of BFR Mag (bfrmag.blogspot.com) will be the first featured person on THIS IS WHERE WE BELONG. Keep your eye out for the interview, coming soon...

But in the meantime here are some reasons to love her. Click on the images to see them bigger and more clearly. And head over to her site once your done here.

Penny Byrne

2010-03-01T17:37:00.002Z

When researching the Looky Looky Posse, I came across the Mayorettes blog, formerly known as Mayoress, (www.mayorettes.com) which by the way is too cool. Go by their site some time. Anyway, the Mayorettes then led me to PENNY BYRNE. My new favourite artist.

You know those boring, saccharine sweet figurines that tend to live in old people's sitting rooms and in jumble sale stalls? Well, Penny Byrne (also part ceramics restorer and part lawyer) has taken those and made them killer.

"Art is an opportunity to say something about the way I'm feeling in a way that a lawyer is not necessarily able to do," says Byrne. "By doing it in a lighthearted way, it is not forcing it down people's necks, but it's still got a powerful message. People get suckered in by the cuteness, but there's these other levels".

Looky Looky At This

2010-03-01T16:38:00.003Z

The L sign. For so long it has proclaimed “LOSER”, and it has been handed out to shame losers by everybody from those fools at primary school (of which you may have been one, admit it) to the kids on Glee. But now, L is for Looky Looky. Double L signs for good measure, it signals that you’re part of the Looky Looky Posse, which is definitely bad ass.

Looky Looky is your new favourite clothing line. You might be tempted to call it streetwear but don’t because Luzi, Conny and Julia, the three Berlin-based and self-proclaimed femmes fatales originating the Looky Looky Posse, hate words like “street wear and edgy” even though their clothes surely fit the description. The girls want to change it up with their light-hearted unisex tees – no girly streetwear stuff, just items for people who can Work It. Their T-Shirts are fun and fresh with brilliant cartoon fonts, bright lipstick, gold earrings and chains printed over bold colour. Their lookbook showcases some dangerous girls (and a guy) flashing L signs and matching the tees with dope leggings and kicks as they hang out in a darkened, underground Berlin that is deliciously inviting.

In the lively cut-and-pasted prints, you will find an original feel that is all about making your own style and keeping it fresh. Looky Looky is also about loving your girls: “We are strong through our posse and love. Not through cotton”. And so they are. Their philosophy, CREW LOVE IS TRUE LOVE, is emblazoned on comfortable grey crew neck sweatshirts in block print.

They also say they are “pushing forward the boundaries of girlpower in the realms of design and togetherness”. The Looky Looky Posse is gonna be running things. Right now though, they are still small, homegrown and all about loving their posse. The label began by simply making t-shirts for themselves, and then for friends who’d seen and liked them. So, there’s not much available to order on the site yet as they only really make what friends pre-order, so I recommend you get online join the crew, then party like a Berliner. L for Loud and Living It Up. L for Looky Looky. Remember that.

* Be sure to check out their blog, but be warned: it is all in German. However, for those who can’t understand, don’t let that put you off because you’d be missing out on some beautiful photos (they are big fans of those cyber sampler cameras) that pretty much transcend the language barrier.*

www.lookylookyposse.de

UPDATE: Interview with the Looky Looky girls coming soon!!!

Hoodlums

2010-02-28T21:49:00.003Z

Hoodlums = Five Londoners offering a polished and ridiculously infectious melodic pop, the nostalgic "Forget a Friend", will most likely be dancing around your head for a while. And I can't get enough of the hauntingly melancholy strain that lies beneath the upbeat-ness of this particular song. See them at the Lexingotn on the 26th March.

www.myspace.com/hoodlumsband

Check out their cover of M.I.A.'s Paper Planes for Indie Ghetto (below). It's very nice. Really, it is.

JJDR's House of Bijoux

2010-02-28T16:27:00.008Z

The two awesome sisters behind the funky JJ's Dolly Rockers label have launched their House of Bijoux, a jewellery boutique of vintage-feel and deeply gorgeous accessories that drip luxury. Yet the prices are ridiculously affordable. I love it even more than their clothing line and almost feel like asking them why the hell they aren't charging more for these gems but I won't for fear they'll realise they may have been undercharging.

http://www.jjdrhouseofbijoux.com/

The above items are my favourite. I just can't freaking get over the peas in a pod necklace! Ah...I think I could stare at these forever.

Breakdown: Films About Dance

2010-02-28T16:20:00.003Z

Following the sudden outburst of reality TV dance shows going by creepily similar names (Got To Dance? Love To Dance? Time To Dance? What?), some genius has decided to make a UK teen dance movie brilliantly entitled, “StreetDance”. It is shot in 3D and “tells the story of a group of street dancers rehearsing for the StreetDance Championships but when they lose their rehearsal space and are forced to team up with a group of ballet dancers, the dancers are challenged to succeed in a whole new world”.

Um. You know that's the plot of like 10 other films, right?

Will somebody please tell me why on earth these flops keep being churned out? Even the spoof that looked to address the general awfulness of dance movies was terrible. Enough is enough. Dance movies have been rehashed, reworked and remixed and I refuse to watch another. They are weaving a really unoriginal web here and they must be stopped.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Step Up 2 and I have watched Save The Last Dance more times than is healthy, however teen dance movies are honestly beginning to merge into one repetitive mash-up of dance sequences in my mind.

But for all the budding directors and people generally looking to make some easy money out there, if you too are interested in sneezing out one of these rip-offs of rip-offs here are the simple foolproof steps to do so:

1. Find some good-looking great dancers in possession of deeply questionable acting talent.

2. Hastily make up a script with the following crucial element:
A boy/girl from the wrong side of the tracks is somehow thrown together with a girl/boy from the right side of the tracks. There must be a spark between them and if you want this can be demonstrated through a sexual dance scene.
e.g Step Up 1&2, Dirty Dancing.

3. Merge 2 dance styles in a “new” and exciting way-- that has already been done in at least 5 other dance films. Ballet plus street dance is always a favourite but you must take care to ensure that the street dancers are predominantly urrghban black kids with heaps of attitude and/or spicy latinas and sexy latinos.
e.g. Save The Last Dance, Take The Lead and every single Bring It On movie ever made (for the purpose of these instructions, cheer movies count. Cheerleading is basically dance + gymnastics anyway.)

4. Have around 10 minutes of straight dancing for the culmination of the film, preferably at an audition or dance off between kids from opposing track sides (and please, don’t feel free to branch out).
e.g. You Got Served and Make It Happen

Ok, let's get to the point: the main problem with the dance movies of these times is that the acting and/or the storyline are really half-assed. It's simple - amazing dancing will never make up for poor lines à la “What do you want Sarah? Do you want Juilliard? Then you must DANCE!” and other more cringe-inducing rubbish. The pretty decent acting is what made Step Up 2 for me, while Jessica Alba’s insincere ballet teacher harbouring a secret desire to be a hip hop video choreographer (seriously, wtf guys?) meant that, despite using basketball moves to make an awesome dance, Honey still makes me want to gag. I can only hope that StreetDance will not follow in the dance steps of its predecessors and instead, bring it. But with a plot like that, I highly doubt that even its 3D-ness and George Sampson starring as “the loveable Eddie” could save it.

Curly Hair

2010-02-28T16:17:00.000Z

A trio of English art students who, interestingly enough, seem to only really have wavy hair, at best. What they really do have, however, is an arsenal of sweet lyrics and glockenspiels, adding up to a charming sound that will twirl you right back to girlhood. The funky guitar strumming as well as the soothing and occasionally-Noah-and-the-Whale-esque vocals that sweep around you, taking you for a fantastic little flight, make for lovely pop.

Crystal Fighters

2010-02-28T15:51:00.002Z

Nu-rave is BACK people, in the form of Latin electro/folktronica (yeah, it’s a real genre) and it is going to make you party. Crystal Fighters are two girls, three guys, all Spanish, all pretty sexy. A big favourite is their fun tune, “I Love London”, where a beautiful, flirty and Spanish-accented voice laughs and sings over beats and basslines that may just run you down. They even manage to make the train station, Watford Junction, sound really exciting. Their music makes use of Basque instruments (think Spanish guitars and drums) that make you feel the heat, as well as ethereal harmonies under building up synthesisers. You are guaranteed to lose yourself in it all. And be sure to check out their Hey You and Black Magic remixes, okay? Time to rave.

Catch them at the Kitsuné x Ponystep event :

This Is Where You Belong

2010-02-28T14:44:00.012Z

MISSION STATEMENT:
Love and discover music, film, art, fashion, literature and the like. Have triple chocolate cookies, innovation and find inspiration. Do not wait for anyone else to do things for you - we are the ones we've been waiting for. Keep your eyes on what you want and get it, but don't forget what's important, and don't forget to give to others.

This is just the start. One day THIS IS WHERE WE BELONG will be a website, a magazine, a string of live events, an empire (a charitable one).

CONTRIBUTORS: Hannah Marshall.

Drop me a line (zita.thisiswherewebelong@gmail.com) if you want to contribute to the blog or to the printed mag, want to help out with the site design, want to suggest an article idea, want to send love or anything. I promise to reply asap.

This Is Where You Belong.

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