Just a quick re-blog to all new susbscribers. I will soon be closing this blog site and everything will be on the new one. Thanks for the follow! Ellie
We have a new home! Which means we will no longer be posting articles on this site. If you’ve subscribed to this blog, we are sorry for the inconvenience, but please make sure you sign up at www.eggmag.co.uk so you can be kept up to date with new posts and EggMaggy goings on.
Thank you!
We have a new home! Which means we will no longer be posting articles on this site. If you’ve subscribed to this blog, we are sorry for the inconvenience, but please make sure you sign up at www.eggmag.co.uk so you can be kept up to date with new posts and EggMaggy goings on.
Thank you!
‘Introducing elements of the handmade into your home will make sure you stand out from the crowd. When something is made by hand it is totally unique – no matter how hard the maker might try to make a replica, the way he or she holds the brush, moulds the clay or grips the pencil will alter slightly from piece to piece. This ‘perfect imperfection’ is what makes the handmade increasingly sought-after.’
So say Mark and Sally Bailey of Bailey’s Home & Garden shop in their new book Handmade Home. And they’re right. It’s no different to turning up to a party wearing the same high-street-bought top as someone else. If you’ve ever had a friend round, who commented on having the same Ikea armchair (or even if you haven’t) then this book’s for you.
The Baileys revel in craftsmanship and the reader cannot help but be inspired by their passion and ideas. By leading you through the ‘elements’ of creating a handmade home, they explain the importance of colour and texture, discuss the effect that textiles and handmade pieces can have on your living space, and finally reveal how to collect and display objects in your home. We are then presented with twelve very beautiful and different case studies for you to draw inspiration from – such as Dutch farmhouse, Tokyo space and Finnish forest house (my personal favourite, pictured below).
The beauty of this book is that it generates ideas and you can take as much or as little influence from it as you please, be it a full-blown refurbish or two or three touches to an already furnished room. Although, if it is the latter, be warned – you may not be able to stop there…
Handmade Home by Mark and Sally Bailey, £19.99 (hardback) is published by Ryland Peters & Small
Roots Manuva – Here We Go Again feat. Spikey Tee
Here’s another class tune by Rodney Smith (aka Mr Manuva) from his latest album 4everevolution. This time the UK rapper has teamed up with ragga-soul singer Spikey Tee (best known for his work with Mr Scruff, Sindecut and Jah Wobble) to produce an intense but soulful track about the childish nature of ‘street life’ and good friendships gone bad. Once again we’re hit with a deep groove and a dose of frank, genuine home truths to nod along to.
You’ll like it if you like:
– British hip-hop
– A filthy bassline
– Honest lyrics
The single is released on 4 December 2011. Buy / preview it on iTunes
Come one, it’s Christmas, we needed to make our gift-guide look nice. Flick through and download our guide EggMag Guide to Christmas.
(NB – you can download the document by clicking on the furthest-to-the-right grey icon, underneath the first page when you hit the link above. It’s the little box with a white downwards arrow inside.)
Jaguar (Panthera onca), Pantanal, Mato grosso, Brazil © 2002 Staffan Widstrand, All Rights Reserved
© Per-Anders Pettersson
Amazon is a free exhibition, currently being held at the brand new East Wing galleries at Somerset House. Showcasing photography by Sebastião Salgado and Per Anders Pettersson, the exhibition brings together some stunning and remarkable images that highlight the plight of the Amazonian rainforest – and the people living within it (see above).
If you are, yourself, a budding snapper, you’ll be interested to know that WWF and Sky are running a competition in conjunction with the exhibition, to find out what ‘Your own Amazon’ looks like. Get out your iPhone or your fancy camera, step into your own local environment and get photographing. In doing so, you will not only help raise awareness of the Sky Rainforest Rescue and their vital work in tackling deforestation in North-West Brazil, but you could also be in with a chance of winning an SLR camera worth £800. Plus, the chosen winning entry and four runners-up photographs will be selected for exhibition in Somerset House for the final week of the exhibition.
You can submit pictures by Tweeting @SkyBiggerPic and including the hashtag #SkyRainforest. All the images will be collated on the SRR Facebook page and winners will be selected on the 22nd November 2011. For terms and conditions and further info, please visit Sky Rainforest Rescue.
When? 2 November 2011- 4 December 2011, open daily from 10am to 6pm
Where? The new East Wing Galleries, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2
Web? http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/amazon
Wonga? Free
Mack the Knife – Ella Fitzgerald
Ok, so I know it’s not a new track, but I was listening to it the other day and it struck me that anyone who hasn’t heard this, should.
This recording of Ella singing live at a concert in Berlin is the perfect showcase of what an incredible performer she was. The jazz singer forgets the words as she enters the second verse but makes up some clever alternatives, with a bit of a scat thrown in, all while holding up those incredible vocals. Mack The Knife is a great song as it is, but this has to be the best rendition, by arguably the best female vocalist that has ever lived.
You can hear it on YouTube here, but the quality’s not great.
You’ll like it if you like:
– Music
– Music
– Music
Frankly, I believe you’re not human if you don’t like it. Ella, I salute you.
Translating epistolary literature into cinema can be very difficult because the form, by its nature, is highly episodic, a much bigger issue on the big screen than on the page. We Need To Talk About Kevin skilfully navigates this problem by cutting up the narrative and operating in several different timeframes simultaneously. The early marital bliss of Eva (a career best Tilda Swinton) and Franklin (John C Reilly) contrasts with Eva’s attempts in the present to live without her family in the aftermath of an horrific event everyone seems to blame her for. We watch Eva bringing up their detached, manipulative and sociopathic son Kevin. That he hides his deviance from his Father pushes Eva’s ability to cope to breaking point. But the two share a strange chemistry which is in part what makes the film so riveting. We Need To Talk About Kevin is not an easy watch but it is a fascinating examination of a disturbing relationship, superbly acted and confidently directed by Lynne Ramsey.
Director: Lynne Ramsey
Rating: 4/5
Review by Garreth Hynes
Get your ghoul on this weekend with some of the capital’s creepy offerings.
1. Alice Cooper: Welcome 2 My Nightmare Movies, £13 (concs £9.75 & members get £1.50 off)
On 28th October, this famously theatrical rocker will walk the ‘black carpet’ to the BFI Southbank and discuss the effect that film has had on his song-writing, performances and life. Alice will present chosen a range of film clips to illustrate his talk before putting questions to the audience. The night includes some special guests and freakish performers, and finally a screening of the classic horror film, Halloween.
When: Fri 28 Oct, 6.30pm
Where: NFT1, BFI, Southbank (nearest tube Waterloo)
Web: bfi.org.uk
Box office: 020 7928 3232
2. Belle Epoque Party: Halloween Special, £20
Step into a spell-binding world of absinthe-tinged fantasy, daring dancers and vampish drama with the Belle Epoque’s seasonal party this weekend. The music hall venue will be draped in velvet and the organisers encourage costumes as elaborate as you dare… Men should look ‘devilishly dashing’ and ladies, you are asked to ‘reach into your inner desires’. Ooooh. Expect a lavish night of cocktails, enchantment and trapeze artists throwing shapes above you.
When: Sat 29 Oct, 8pm-2am
Where: The Grand Hall, Euston Road, London, WC1
Web: belleepoqueparty.com
3. You Make A Cake Halloween Parties, £28 each for groups of age 5+, £35 each age 5+ if attending a workshop
Children (and adults) will love these fun workshops and group baking sessions. You Make A Cake provide all ingredients and utensils, so all you need to do is turn up, follow some simples steps, give your kids a major sugar-overload and come away with 12 delicious cakes. Classes and workshops to help you create creepy cakes are currently being run in the build up to Halloween.
Parties for groups last about 90 mins and workshops attended by individuals last for about two hours. Under-8s must be accompanied by an adult.
When: Until Sun 29 Oct
Where: You Make A Cake, 10 Bellevue Road, London, SW17 7EG
Web: youmakeacake.com
I ask you. How can it be that a grown man, possessing reasonable intelligence, a relatively even temper and a history of movie going that would suggest he should know better, can end up cheering and rooting for one robot boxer to beat the other robot boxer in the climax of Real Steel?
Directed by Shawn Night At The Museum Levy and starring Hugh Jackman, Real Steel is basically Rocky with robots. It’s also Rocky 4 with robots to the point where the “evil” robot is trained by a Russian and during the climactic fight the crowd end up chanting the underdog’s name. The underdog here is Atom, a sparring robot who has no chance in the big leagues. Discovered by down-on-his-luck robot trainer Charlie Kenton (Jackman) and his estranged young son Max, they embark on a journey that takes in every cliché known to man. Will Father and Son repair their relationship? Will Charlie rediscover his inner boxer and become the fighter he was born to be? It’s an avalanche of corn and I was at least six scenes ahead of it at every moment but damn it if I wasn’t on my feet shouting “Atom! Atom!” by the end.
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 4/5 (for sheer Hollywood nonsense)
Review by Garreth Hynes
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