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FOR THE REST OF US

ISS 37/JUNE

# FEATURES / REGULARS

/ ISSUE 37 . JUNE / 2010

folloown us tter Twi t e r . c o m /

t .twi g w w w osjackma wh

#7. Jack..........................Jack Loves.......................................Wildfox. #8. Music.......................Tinie Tempah...................................Loving his tea and his successes, Tinie won’t be passing out just yet. #14. Film..........................June.................................................Mark’s round up of what’s hot in the release lists. #15. Fashion....................Fashion for the Boys......................Deck Shoes. #16. Fashion....................Fashion Pages.................................Dark Summer : evening at the pool side. #24. Jack..........................Pick of the Month............................New venues, new films, fashion, art and Jack Eats. #28. Jack..........................Get Fit Without Hating it................A slightly more fun look at the more enjoyable fitness classes out there. #29. Art.............................Prism Party People.........................Two little ladies causing a storm with their art inspired events. #31. Music........................Death of the album Cover.............In our digital world does the album cover still bare relevance? #35. Jack..........................My 2-4-1 Pound Life.......................Lucy stuck in an awkward situation at an amorous house party. #36. Fashion....................Fashion Pages.................................Pretty in Pink... and yellow and blue : this seasons pastels. #46. Film..........................Eye Of The Tiger..............................Mark shows us how to get epic-ly fit on film. #48. London....................The Dating Game...........................Georgina dates a quirky guy. #49. Art............................Baked Beans and Champagne......Furniture designer, Beauvamp. #50. London....................My London......................................Pearl from Pearl and the Puppets tells us her favourite London hangouts. #52. Music.......................Electric Memory Box......................We introduce these 4 boys from Eastbourne and they tell us about their dogs and their first sexual experiences. #54. Fashion....................Beauty.............................................Cassie takes a look at our must have beauty products for this month. #56. Art.............................Dr D.................................................Leah chats to the illusive artist making very visible waves. #60. Fashion....................Leila Lovees....................................Leathers and man bags. #61. Music........................Review One Liners........................James tells us what you should bin, download and buy this month. #63. London....................Steak of The Month........................Four O Nine. #63. Jack..........................Bucky Litch......................................Our lady’s getting into heels. #64. Jack..........................Get On : Ride Before a Fall............Adam shows his wears on two wheels. #68. Jack..........................I Love You For Loving Me..............Erin is feeling unfulfilled. #69. London....................Cooking Around The World (from London)............Luke starts the first of his new 8 part series. #70. Art............................An Underrated Art Form................Donna looks at Art House cinema. #74. Jack..........................Gambling........................................Katrina looks at how gambling can take a downturn. #76. Fashion....................Georgie and James........................The Kredit Krunch Katwalk Krew do another make over. #78. Jack..........................Arthur Cadaver...............................The next installment in Marco’s segmented novel. #80. London....................Scene Stealer..................................Who’s Jack Party, Movida

/ STOCKISTS Size? - (in London stores): Beyond the Valley: Number 22: Paper Dress: 55 DSL: Camden Blues Kitchen: Old Queens Head: Chateau Roux: Miss La La’s Boutique: Tatty Devine: The Hawley Arms:

Carnaby Street, Soho, W1F 7DW 200 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, W11 1LB 37a Neal Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9PR www.size.co.uk 2 Newburgh Street, W1F 7RD www.beyondthevalley.com 22 Carnaby Street, London, W1 114-116 Curtain Road, EC2A 3AY www.paperdressboutique.blogspot.com 10A Newburgh St London, W1F 7RN www.55dsl.com 111 - 113 Camden High Street, NW1 7JN www.theblueskitchen.com 44 Essex Road, Islington, N1 8LN www.theoldqueenshead.com 17 Newburgh Street, London, W1F 7RZ www.chateauroux.co.uk 18 Monmouth Street, WC2H 9HB www.misslalasboudoir.co.uk 44 Monmouth Street, Seven Dials, WC2H 9EP www.tattydevine.com 2 Castlehaven Road, NW1 8QU www.thehawleyarms.co.uk

Shock and Soul: Howies: The Westbury: The Hospital Club: Rough Trade: Fopp: Mint: The Book Club: Behave: Sanctum Hotel:

46 Essex Road, Islington, N1 8LN www.shockandsoul.co.uk 42 Carnaby Street, W1F 7DY www.howies.co.uk 34 Kilburn High Street, NW6 5UA www.westburybar.com 24 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9HQ www.thehospitalclub.com 130 Talbot Road, W11 1JA www.roughtrade.com 1 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LL www.foppreturns.com 20 Earlham Street, WC2 H9LN www.mintvintage.co.uk 100 Lenard Street, EC2A 4RH www.wearetbc.com 14 Hanbury Street, E1 6QR 50 Lexington Street, W1F oLR 20 Warwick Street Soho, W1B 5NF www.sanctumsoho.com

Also with online orders of Urban Outfitters : www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk See an up to the minute list of stockists online, if you would like to stock Who’s jack contact:: press@whos-jack.co.uk

/ ABOUT Who’s Jack is a multi media platform that encompasses a monthly London centric magazine, both online and in print, a magazine style website and Jack TV which is unique in the way it offers click to buy opportunities alongside bespoke content. This, as well as Facebook, Myspace groups, Twitter outreach, events, launches and experiential opportunities make Who’s Jack Ltd one hell of an umbrella.

/ FROM JACK It feels like every month Jack gets busier and busier and this month so much has happened that I barely know where to begin. We’ve taken on a new food writer, Luke, who from now on will be doing a monthly feature on how to cook foods from around the world from specific pockets in London town. As well as Luke joining the Jack family we’re also very excited to let you know about a new regular night we’re going to be running at Proud Galleries in Camden. The launch on 28th July (put it in your diaries now) will see us hosting an event to close each of our issues showing all the elements of the issue as true to real life as we can get them. We can’t give too much away at the moment but we’re going to have some great performers, give-aways, things on sale and exhibitions all going on over one night – all of which will be straight from the pages of Who’s Jack. A live magazine if you will. Keep checking whosjack.org in the coming weeks for more details. This month, myself and Laura also jetted off to Spain for 24 hours with the lovely people at Renault in a private plane to check out the new Renault Megane Coupe-Cabriolet. And all this was fitted in amongst meeting our cover star Tinie Tempah, new band Electric Memory Box, welcoming another photographer, James Lincoln, to the fold and organising fashion shoots galore all for this, your June issue of Who’s Jack. We hope you enjoy it and see you on the 28th July. Lu x

Jack Loves You More.

/ HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Whether you are a band, a brand, a designer or simply want to tell us about something, get in touch. General enquiries can be sent to: press@whos-jack.co.uk, contributions can be sent to: contributions.jack@ googlemail.com, finally, advertising enquiries can be sent to: tom@whos-jack.co.uk. Who’s Jack likes a good collaboration, event or campaign. We can work with you or for you. Get in touch.

/ ON JACK TV THIS MONTH This month we take you behind the scenes of the Get Tested shoot for the forthcoming World Hepatitis Awareness day, we chat with masked band, Is Tropical and see what happened when we took to the streets for Adidas and Footlocker.

/ TEAM JACK /CONTRIBUTORS

Luke Farrell Cook

Katrina Black Freelance Writer

Donna Marie Howard Freelance Writer

Currently trekking around Thailand in search of more recipes, Luke is the one to talk to when searching for a culinary option that is a tad different. From this issue onwards he will be working his way around the world of cuisine by visiting a different area of London and dropping us in some appropriate recipes each month.

Katrina came on board last month when she told us all about her many friends who loved to gamble a little too much! We later had a feature and long may they continue. Welcome Kat! x

An avid arts enthusiast and part of the ongoing Courtauld exhibitions Donna always comes to us with great ideas for arts features. Now working under Ruthie, our arts editor she has submitted some great pieces.

JACK LO ES

WILDFOX

Mixing the perfect amount of sexy with humour Wildfox’s Summer range is hot. But then, every range is hot. Super comfy, super flattering clothing that doesn’t break the bank but brakes the heart of anyone that doesn’t own an item. www.wildfoxcouture.com

jack Editor/Creative Director : Lu Orcheston-Findlay : louise@whos-jack.co.uk // Deputy Editor : Laura Hills : laura@whos-jack.co.uk // Advertising : Tom Ayres : tom@whos-jack.co.uk // Fashion Editor : Leila Dante Hartley : leila@whos-jack.co.uk // Arts Editor : Ruthie Holloway : ruthie@whos-jack.co.uk // The Jack-Father : Edward Fitzpatrick // Film : Mark Williams : mark@whos-jack.co.uk // Music : Laura Hills : laura@whos-jack.co.uk // Comment : Adam Roan Henderson : adam@whos-jack.co.uk // Pick Of : Lu Orcheston-Findlay : louise@whos-jack.co.uk // Laura Hills : laura@whos-jack.co.uk // Stylists : Georgie and James // Leila Dante Hartley // Sarah Vale Rapp-Nickel Photography : Barry Macdonald : www.barrymacdonald. co.uk : info@barrymacdonald.co.uk // Kristoffer Myhre : www.krismyhre.com // Stuart Leech : www.music-photos. co.uk // Andrea Bono Tempo // Jim Lincoln : jimlinc@yahoo.com // BriAnne Williss : www.brianne-williss.com // Matt Watkins // Contributing writers : Marco Casadei // Jason Gregory // Lucy Hancock // Jo Hunt // Erin Daniel Mckee : erin@erindmckee.com // Donna Marie Howard // Georgie and James // // Matt Hamm // Georgina Childs // Cassie Powney // Luke Farrell // Leah Borromeo // Emily Jupp // Illustrations/Artwork/Layout : LOF // pandamilk : www. pandamilk.co.uk Models : Tani Fujimoto // Max @ D1 // Alice @ Bookings Hair & Make up : Luke Stephens // Ruby Riewer // Soichi Inaqaki // Cover Image : Jim Lincoln // Want to see your work in Jack? Contributions : contributions.jack@googlemail.com Thanks to : The sun, Renault (especially the every forgiving and patient Mike), Kettners : Kettners.com, Clare Gleeson Landry at A Quarter Of Sweets : Aquarterof.co.uk, Annie and Jess

Who’s Jack Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part with out the permission of Who’s Jack. The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the opinions of Who’s Jack. Who’s Jack Ltd can not be held responsible for any breach of copyright arising from any material supplied. Who’s Jack, 93 Barker Drive, Camden, London, NW1 0JG

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JACK COMES ALIVE! In July Jack transforms for one night only and then once a month thereafter into a living, breathing representation of itself.

The Magazine Comes ALIVE MORE SOON * JULY 28th *

He brings the stars out, he brings the women and the cars and the cards out and on his latest song he’s getting Frisky. Yes, Tinie Tempah is a man on the top of the world at the moment, with his first single, the critically acclaimed Pass Out, going in straight at number one in the UK charts (beating the likes of Rhianna) and going in at number 7 in the European top 100 chart and with everyone from MIA to Bashy queuing up to work with him, it’s fair to say things are going pretty well for this 21 year old. ‘T’, as those around him regularly refer to him, originally grew up in a poor area of London and spent his every hour outside of college as a telesales man words : Laura Hills | images : James Lincoln selling double glazing to earn enough money to shoot his first video for track, Wifey, which went on to be an unexpected hit on the urban music channel, Channel U, spending a massive 10 weeks at the top of their chart. Among those singing his praises are radio Djs up and down the country with Zane Lowe calling Pass Out ‘The hottest record in the world today.’ In fact, not since Dizzee Rascal first burst onto the grime scene has a young grime artist received this much attention. So with his second single, Frisky being released next week and his first album, the aptly named The Disc-overy, released later this summer it seemed like there was no better time for Who’s Jack to sit down with ‘T’ over a cup of tea and find out what life looks like when you’re sitting at the top... Tinie Tempah describes himself and his sound as a ‘pure product of his environment’. Tinie was born in Peckham and spent his first 12 years living on a rough council estate. ‘When I was 12 my parents decided they’d had enough and moved us all to Plumstead in South East London. They didn’t want me living in Peckham anymore, it wasn’t a nice place to bring a kid up in,’ remembers Tinie. ‘Plumstead was way more suburban and the people there were far more cultured. Nothing was one dimensional anymore. It helped me to appreciate different cultures, religions and backgrounds and I think that’s really shaped my music,’ says Tinie. ‘I feel like I’ve had the best of both worlds because now I’ve seen some of the good stuff and I’ve seen the bad stuff too. And now I’ve seen what the good is like I just want more of it.’

And how good it all appears to be. You can’t look at a festival line up this summer without seeing Tinie Tempah’s name appearing somewhere near the top of the bill and Youtube views of his second single, Frisky have already topped well over one million (it isn’t even released for another week). But it wasn’t always about music for Tinie, music was something he discovered a bit later in life. ‘I’ve always liked music,’ says Tinie. ‘But it never hit me as something I wanted to be my career until I heard So Solid Crew’s, 21 Seconds. It came on music channel, The Box and it looked like any other glossy American video but they were from South London. They had this real, ‘I-want-to-get-out-of-here-and-do-something- good’, attitude that I could relate to.’ It was from there that Tinie Tempah started getting into pirate radio with the likes of Ironik and Chipmunk. ‘Ironik had a small home studio that myself and Chipmunk used to record in and then we’d all go on pirate radio together. We all used to battle for the one microphone. Those times really taught me to write lyrics that would keep the listener entertained and also other MCs too,’ remembers Tinie. In 2006 his first independent video was made for track, Wifey, which cost him £800. The song was a massive hit on the underground urban scene and it seemed like Tinie’s big break was finally within reach. ‘After Wifey did so well my cousin said he wanted to manage me and so we decided to start our own record company called Disturbing London Records and every six months we’d record a music video,’ says Tinie. But things weren’t as easy as they’d hoped, ‘I just ended up only getting played on the same one channel that had backed Wifey and we weren’t moving any further past that,’ remembers Tinie. ‘So in 2009 I decided there was no point in wasting all that money on big budget music videos when I wasn’t getting anywhere so I started up a blog called Milk and Two Sugars. I went to Currys in the January sale and brought myself a little hand held video camera, a bright red one so people could see me coming, and decided to document everything I was doing. I had a fairly busy career on the underground circuit so I’d film gigs I played at as well as other MCs. I even got invited down to the Jay Sean and Little Wayne video shoot. I took my little red camera along and filmed behind the scenes stuff. Before I knew it the blog was picking up crazy views. It went from 2,000 views in the first month to 5,000 in the second and then 10,000 and so on. Now it gets over a million views a month. It was the stuff I was doing on my blog that got me invited to play Wireless festival two years in a row and then all the record labels started to want to say hi and I went from there really,’ says Tinie. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, 100 miles away from the nearest radio or TV for the past few months you’ll have heard the first single, Pass Out, which went on to score Tinie Tempah his first ever UK number one with many

critics praising it’s freshness and surprising amounts of originality. ‘It’s an unconventional song,’ explains Tinie. ‘It was nearly five minutes long and most of the radio stations didn’t even cut it down which is almost unheard of. It was crazy times man, I couldn’t believe it.’ And it wasn’t just Tinie himself who was excited about the record, suddenly everyone wanted a piece of him. ‘I got a feeling of genuine excitement from people in the industry, radio stations, taste makers, my fans and other artists too. I went to the Brit Awards and everyone was telling me I was going to be number one, other artists were saying that they felt the same buzz about Pass Out as they had about their own number ones, even heads of record labels were coming up and praising me. For me to get to number one was crazy though, it seemed so far fetched,’ he says. And how does a young urban star in the making go about celebrating his first number one? ‘I did everything I spoke about in the track!,’ laughs Tinie. ‘We had a party as soon as Reggie Yates announced it. Chipmunk came, so did Tinchy Strider, Keisha from The Sugababes and Bashy and yeah, I passed out.’ Tinie’s next single, which is released next week was produced by Labrinth, the same producer who worked his magic on Pass Out. ‘We’ve got such a good vibe together, we have crazy energy whenever we’re in the studio together. We’re about the same age, we come from similar backgrounds and neither of us like working in conventional styles. We think, why can’t a track be 6 minutes long? If they have to do a radio edit let them, we don’t care,’ says Tinie. Entitled Frisky, Tinie says the next single is about being in a club, party, or festival environment and working out who you’re going to end up getting off with because there’s too many options

‘What did I do when I found out I was number one?... Everything I spoke about in the song!’

(a problem we all obviously have to deal with on a regular basis). ‘It’s about not knowing who to choose from and trying to go off with all of them. I’m trying to bring the word frisky back.’ When speaking to him, it’s immediately obvious that Tinie has his head pretty screwed on and where other artists like the aforementioned Dizzee Rascal changed their style to sell more records it doesn’t seem like Tinie has any intention of going down that road. ‘I never try to conform to any expectations of what a pop record should be and I think that shows on my album,’ says Tinie. ‘I’ve just done what I wanted on every single track, without thinking about chart positions or radio play. I’m really lucky that the people around me believed in me enough to let me do it my way. A year or so ago I was just a kid waiting to be discovered and waiting for something good to happen and that’s what this album shows, it’s my shot to prove myself so I have to do it my way,’ says Tinie. The tracks on The Disc-overy, similarly, are what we’re coming to expect from Tinie Tempah, \honest little glimpses into his new found life style. ‘There’s a song called Let Go and it’s one of my favourites on the album as it’s a personal one to my fans. It’s about how I’ve had to sacrifice my relationship with my family to do what I’m doing now because I rarely get to see them anymore. I’ve also had to sacrifice relationships with women, the wifeys, and I know it’s not going to be all roses and good times from now on. There might be times when I’m in a club focusing on my performance and I can’t take pictures with everybody and I’m just explaining all that to my fans because I want them to understand,’ says Tinie. ‘There’s also a track called Invincible which was written about my management and what we’ve gone through to get to this point. There were times before I was signed that I would drive to gigs and could only afford to put enough petrol in my car to get there. But I’d think, ‘It’s OK I’ll get paid when I get there,’ and then they’d tell me to invoice them. I’d have to drive back to London not having enough petrol in my car to get home,’ remembers Tinie. ‘I learnt a lot from my time on the underground scene because of that though. The biggest lesson being that you have to stay on top of your game. There’s always someone younger and fresher waiting to take over so the minute you sit down and chill some kid will run past and be better. I wont let that happen to me.’

[STOP! Jack Time]

Tinie Tempah, this is your quick fire round, please complete the sentences below: The bus I used to run for was... The number 53. It starts in Elephant and Castle and runs all the way through South London including Plumstead where I live. I used to fall asleep on the night bus all the time, I’d end up having to go all the way back on myself. This summer I will mainly... Party with lots of women. The worst thing anyone could say about me is... That I’ve changed. If I could describe myself in three words they would be... In. Describe. Able. If I could share my tent with any celebrity this summer it would be... Olivia Lee, Alan Carr and Dynamo the magician to spice things up. I’m really into magic and comedy. I’d probably get Russell Howard in too and Fern Cotton just for a chat. It’d have to be a big tent. If I were Prime Minister the first thing I’d change would be... The Congestion Charge because I keep getting loads of bloody tickets. I’m most likely to lose my temper if... Someone around me has bad hygiene. You may not know this about me but I... Like foreign films. Amélie is my favourite.

Frisky is out on 7th June on Parlophone and The Disc-overy is out on 7th September

“The indie flick par excellence”

“Excellent performances”

FILM 4

UNCUT

“A leaner and meaner ‘American Beauty’”

“A deliciously dark and offbeat comedy”

★★★★

“The year’s quirkiest coming-of-age film”

VARIETY

BIZARRE

TOTAL FILM

BBC RADIO 5

a film by

DERICK MARTINI executive producer

MARTIN SCORSESE 13

ALEC BALDWIN

KIERAN CULKIN

RORY CULKIN

JILL HENNESSY

TIMOTHY HUTTON

The American Dream Sucks

CYNTHIA NIXON

EMMA ROBERTS

Contains strong language, violence, sex and soft drug use

www.networkreleasing.com

IN CINEMAS 2 JULY

R E L E A S I N G

Hierro

film W

ith summer upon us, cinema-going can often drop. People see that it’s a sunny day and suddenly the idea of sitting in a dark room for a couple of hours isn’t as attractive as it is on a wintry December evening. But don’t forget that you live in Britain and while the calendar may say ‘Summer’, this is essentially a meaningless gesture to fool us into buying barbecue equipment. So rejoice in the fact that there will still be plenty of rainy days for you to go and check out any of the films described hereinafter. words: Mark Williams

Kicks (4th June) is director Lindy Heyman’s first feature length film and is the story of two girls whose obsession with fictional footballer Lee Cassidy (Jamie Doyle) goes to worrying extremes. Jasmine (Nichola Burley) and Nicole (Kerrie Hayes) are the kind of fans any celebrity could probably do without, and when they discover that Lee Cassidy may be on his way to Real Madrid in a big money transfer, they are determined not to let him go. It’s a twisted, yet somehow logical progression on contemporary celebrity/ W.A.G culture that is so much a part of the lives of girls like Nicole and Jasmine. Kicks is an off-kilter psychodrama which may also offer up a solution to real-life Liverpool fans should Steven Gerrard get itchy feet. www.kicksthemovie.com Ever told a lie that got a bit a little bit out of hand? This is the situation that Jeanne (Emilie Dequenne) finds herself in, in The Girl on the Train, out on 4th June. By fabricating an anti-Semitic attack on herself on a train, Jeanne becomes the centre of national media attention as she is believed to be the victim of a senseless hate-crime. Good Hair (25th June) is an intriguing looking documentary presented by Chris Rock. We follow the comedian as he learns more about the lengths that black women in America go to just to make their hair straight. He looks at the harsh chemical treatments, the bizarre trade in importing straight Asian hair into America and examines why straight her is considered by many to be more attractive than curly hair. www.iconmovies.co.uk/goodhair Women Without Men (11th June) is a film based on the novel of the same name. I’m sure there’s plenty of sexist jokes to be made at the expense of a title like that but let’s all rise above that just for a moment and look at the film. Director Shirin Neshat is primarily known as a photographer, so you can expect a

beautifully shot tale of five women in Iran in 1953,all with very different lives that lead them each to the same garden. Iran wasn’t the easiest place to live in 1953 if you were a woman with your own ideas of independence, free speech and equality, and these are just some of the themes examined in the film. www.womenwithoutmenfilm.com If you liked The Orphanage and Pan’s Labyrinth, there is a large chance that Hierro will be right up your street, out on 18th June. A tense thriller about a mother who believes her son was kidnapped and The Girl on The Train

For low-fi, emphasis on scripting, clever indie-type comedy, look no further than Please Give (18th June). We all get the feeling every now and then that we could be doing more to help those less fortunate, and this is loosely the basis of Nicole Holofcener’s latest effort. www.sonyclassics.com/pleasegive And finally, in this month’s round up is Wild Grass, out on 18th June, which appears on first glance to follow the basic premise of why shouldn’t old people have love stories too? It’s not very often that the grey brigade get a bit of on-screen romance unless it’s a humorous side-plot, and if anything, at their age they probably know all the best chat-up lines. Not wanting to make it sound too simplistic though, Wild Grass also has a darker edge to the straightforward OAP boy meets OAP girl scenario. www.lesherbesfolles-lefilm.com Even the most ardent filmgoer can’t always squeeze in everything they want to see on the big screen, and this is where cinemas like the Prince Charles come in handy. If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s just off Leicester Square, but luckily that doesn’t mean it charges upwards of a tenner a ticket like the other big cinemas nearby. And it tends to show films that have finished their initial run, thereby giving you the chance to catch up on anything you might have missed, or perhaps you feel the need to see The Human Centipede again… www.princecharlescinema.com

DVD ROUND-UP

lost without trace years ago, begins to receive mysterious phone calls to the contrary and returns to the island of El Hierro to investigate further. www.optimumreleasing.com I don’t know why it is that only lefty, liberal types tend to get their documentaries seen. There seems to be an endless number of people trying to destroy the world a bit at a time, and you think they might make climate change denial films or a pro-fast food documentary that would be just as popular as Supersize Me. H2Oil (18th June) however, highlights the utter devastation caused by huge-scale oil drilling in Alberta, Canada, that the Canadian government is allowing to happen. Almost all of this oil goes straight to America, leaving behind toxic puddles big enough to be seen from space. www.h2oildoc.com

Ponyo | 7th June : For fans of Spirited Away and the like, this is Hayao Miyazaki’s latest Studio Ghibli animé. A Prophet | 7th June : A Superb film about a French Muslim who goes into prison with little or no criminal expertise but soon learns the ropes. Micmacs | 21st June : The whimsical story of a man who plays two arms dealers off against each other with the help of his misfit friends. No One Knows About Persian Cats | 21st June : An Iranian band tries to make it big in a society where western-influenced rock music has been banned. Solomon Kane | 28th June :Ye olde swords and sorcery adventure starring James Purefoy as a notorious pirate with a westcountry accent. with their indie band.

Jason Gregory

FASHION FOR THE BOYS Deck Shoes I’m reliably informed that this month sees the return of the World Cup, which means, of course, another summer of indecision, worry and heartache for men across the country. But I’m not here to talk about the football, and the pain of watching England struggle to another inevitable quarter-final exit against substandard opposition. I am, in fact, raising the issue of what we men should wear on our feet. As I myself established in this column last summer, what passes as appropriate footwear for men at this time of year can be a divisive subject. You only have to consult the August 2009 edition of Who’s Jack, for instance, to see me posing awkwardly in a pair of socks and sandals. Although at the time it was a look deemed ‘on-trend’ by the fashion world, it was, with hindsight, as misguided and embarrassing as a friend had warned it would be. You can imagine then, my fear when designers (clearly negligent to the trauma that last year’s ‘must have’ caused

me) began championing the deck shoe as this summer’s key piece of footwear for men. After staging an understated revival on the catwalk, the shoe is now back in the mainstream - or at least at a level of notoriety similar to David Beckham’s torn Achilles. Indeed, one could perhaps draw comparisons between Golden Balls and the deck shoe. After attracting initial praise in their original incarnations (Beckham as a humble footballer; the deck shoe as a practical boating accessory thanks to its thick rubber sole), both have experienced rocky relationships with their disciples. Beckham, for example, married Victoria, and in doing so broke the hearts of the entire female population of Leytonstone, while the deck shoe became notorious with holidaying English toffs and preppy Americans - both of whom wouldn’t know, or care, where Leytonstone was even if it inherited a harbour and renamed itself Long Island. And even now, in 2010, while Beckham continues to mould himself into football’s equivalent of Mother Teresa, the deck shoe is undergoing its own transformation. In a bid to stave off any nautical connotations, styles this season include everything from practical slip-ons to fashionable Hi-Tops. Designers haven’t held back on colour schemes either. Shoe Lab have created a pair with a soft denim canvas finish, while UCS offer eye-catching styles in both bright yellow and shiny metallic deigns - the latter of which could turn into more of a talking point than the football this summer.

DARK SUMMER Photographer: BriAnne Wills (www.brianne-wills.com) Model: Tani Fujimoto Hair: Ruby Riewer Wardrobe Stylist: Sarah Vale Rapp-Nickel

Img 1,2 : cape and body suit: stylists own | shoes: bcbg img 3 : Fur coat : Rokit img 4 : tights : Mytights.com

BRONCO BULLFROG

CONVERSE AT FOOTLOCKER Converse have teamed up with Footlocker to bring out the Padded Collar II in both men’s and women’s styles. The campaign for the shoes is fronted by Italian DJ duo Crookers, meaning that if you go in store and buy a pair of Padded Collars you’ll also walk away with a free voucher enabling you to download an exclusive Crooker track. Sounds alright to us. Available only at Footlocker, in store and online with prices from £54.99. www.foot-locker.co.uk

Bronco Bullfrog, directed by Barney Platts-Mills and starring Del Walker, Anne Gooding and Sam Shepherd is re-released by the BFI on the 11th June at BFI Southbank, Genesis Whitechapel and in key cities. This is the new digital restoration of the 60s film that rose to cult status as one of the finest records of Mod culture in British cinema. The film was largely improvised by an entirely non-professional cast and has been described by one critic as, ‘the first film Mike Leigh should have made’. Bronco Bullfrog centers around the difficulties of young love, uptight parents and the teenage frustrations of having little money and little to do. Very true to 60s life, the film grew out of the young cast’s own experiences after actors were involved in a documentary by director Barney Platts-Mills about a workshop for young people, the Playbarn project. The project was run by theatre director Joan Littlewood and aimed to steer teenagers away from petty crime by teaching them acting and improv. It was the kids themselves that pushed Littlewood to create the film, with inspiration from their own encounters and life stories. Get to a special preview screening and a director Q&A: BFI Southbank, Thur 3 June, 20:40 www.bfi.org.uk/go/broncoeventwhosjack Curzon Soho, Sat 19 June, 16:30 www.curzoncinemas.com For more info and to watch the trailer, visit www.bfi.org.uk/go/broncowhosjack BRONCO BULLFROG (UK 1969 | Cert 15) Opens in cinemas nationwide 11th June BFI Southbank, Genesis Whitechapel, IFI Dublin + Curzon Soho on 19 & 20 June.

LALA BERLIN We are loving these scarves from Lala Berlin. They have a great selection of designs and muted colours, from peachy stars to creamy leopard prints. Lala Berlin aren’t just about the scarves however, their summer 2010 collection sees delicate chiff and equally as delicate patterns to create feminine, sexy elegance. You can shop online for these scarves that start at around £125.00 www.lalaberlin.com

WOLF AND BADGER CONCEPT STORE, 46 LEDBURY ROAD, NOTTING HILL Concept store, Wolf and Badger is still fairly young. Supporting and showcasing many lifestyle products by independent designers such as jewellery, homewares, lighting and furniture. The store are currently accepting submissions for their Graduate Design Awards until the 14th June. Categories are fashion, jewellery and product design. Winners will get to have their work in store and attend a prestigious awards evening attended by buyers and press. www.wolfandbadger.com

PIMP Making a gallant return to the big screen after getting his column snubbed by lads mag Zoo Magazine for inappropriate comments, Danny Dyer takes the lead in the film Pimp. If the marketing team were clever they might have thought to twist the uncomfortable advice given to a man whose girlfriend cheated on him into an advert for the film as it centers around, you guessed it, violence, women, violence and London (Soho to be exact). This is not to say, however, that it’s not a good watch. We all know what Danny does best and he fits right in in this gritty Brit gangster flick. Anyone that likes a good bit of British violence and cockney slang won’t be disappointed. In cinemas now. www.pimpthefilm.com

JACK’S PICK OF THE MONTH WHERE TO GO Many a new bar, shop and venue have been opening over the past two months. A sure sign that the lady London is getting back on her feet. These are the best places to pop to this month. Hopefully just as we get out of the coldest May since God knows when.

TANQUERAY NO TEN MARTINI TERRACE, HARVEY NICHOLS. Tanquery No Ten have taken over the 5th floor at Harvey Nichols with fake grass and an atmosphere reminiscent of a private bar at the polo. A bit of luxury available to everyone. www.harveynichols.com

SILVER BULLET, STATION PLACE, N4 2DH.

THE WHITE BLACKBERRY BOLD What with every passing day bringing another broken iPhone and being denied phone call after text message on O2, the Blackberry is winning over even more of the public’s Apple soaked hearts. Now Blackberry releases the white bold. No doubt a further temptation to any devout Apple user. The sleekness and aesthetic qualities of these white phones is undeniable, next month we’ll be pitting this against the much loved iPhone to see who should really get your money when it comes to smart phones. www.blackberry.com

The Silver Bullet launched last month to DJ sets from Rough Trade and live performances from Duran Duran. The bar will now stay in Finsbury Park, an area that rarely has a whole lot of excitement, for the next 7 months. www.thesilverbullet.co.uk

DEBUT, WESTON STREET, LONDON BRIDGE Debut is another new bar that opened at the end of last month. Set to storm the capital’s music scene, Debut will not only put on huge live acts, they will also have a regular boutique cinema, comedy nights, art shows, and mini festivals and outdoor street events in the summer months. www.debutlondon.co.uk

POP UP PIRATES

STAR BLOGS THIS MONTH www.wearechocolatecake.blogspot.com Some guys that contacted us from Cape Town, fashion and sexy times. www.theanimalinme.com A wicked collection of images, features a lot of tattoos and great inspiration.

The people behind the Book Club and the Queen of Hoxton have joined forces with the Central Illustration Agency and Pirates to open up a new pop up bar in Clerkenwell. This bar cross art installation is open for three months between May and August. The team for this ambitious project are CIA’s fresh talent, Pirates, a collective of artists/art directors that use a mixture of spray paint, set-design, paper, film and photography. www.wearetbc.com

Jack eats:

Jack’s suggestions include pricey to mid range to bargain depending on your fancy and your pocket and cover as much as London has to offer.

Royal China www.royalchinagroup.biz 24-26 Baker Street, W1U 7AB After the mild confusion of walking into the Royal China Club a few paces down the road we finally made it to Royal China on Baker Street. Royal China is run by a family and their family values obviously extend to their customers considering how many families were eating in the restaurant at the same time as us. We tucked in to deep fried baby squid with chilly and spicy salt and Vietnamese pancake rolls to start which were both delicious although pretty filling. We then moved on to order lemon chicken, squid and peppers in black bean sauce, vegetable noodles and broccoli with ginger. The food was great but we were full up before we could even get through half of it, and that was with us sharing the noodles and vegetables so our recommendation would be to share a main if you’re dining with a friend as the portions are extremely generous. Royal China is a chain of restaurants that are well known for their dim sum but as this ceases to be served from 5pm each day we had to miss out on that. However the staff ensure us that it’s great so we’ll definitely be popping back to try it out. Boyds Brasserie www.boydsbrasserie.co.uk 8 Northumberland Avenue, WC2N 5BY 020 7808 3344 When we went down to Boyd’s we were lucky enough to get a guided tour by the man (Boyd) himself. The building is part of The Northumberland Hotel and the setting is beautiful with marble walls and original features from when it was used by the MoD in the Second World War. The prices at Boyd’s are very reasonable indeed, more reasonable than you would expect from a restaurant that looks like it could charge the prices of similar high end eateries. We ate tiger prawn cocktail and glazed Kidderton Ash goats’ cheese, shaved fennel and beetroot salad to start and then moved on to fish and chips (all hand made including the sauces) and Gnocchi with crayfish, peas and roquette. We finished off (not that we had much room left in us) with a banana and toffee slice and vanilla roasted peaches, raspberry jelly, peach puree with vanilla ice cream. The portion sizes at Boyd’s are just about right and the staff are attentive but not in a way that can become annoying. This is the perfect little place for an after work drink or smart meal out. Deliverance www.deliverance.co.uk If you have a garden but want to feel like you are at a restaurant then Deliverance’s summer menu is what you need. Deliverance has kitchens all over London where food is freshly prepared with a wide range of ethnic and British favourites on offer. These include Indian, Chinese, French, Italian and American Grill and in turn makes this no average takeaway option. This is restaurant food to your door. Our menu favourites are the American burger that’s just perfectly medium rare, the pizza pictured with Goats cheese, asparagus and sun dried tomatoes on a puff pastry base and the Thai green curry is to die for. Such an enormous range of options means it is impossible to disappoint, maybe quite possible to get food envy though regardless of your choice... PS. The Creme Caramel has to be tried.

Rubbish in Camden Lock. We are continually saddened by the amount of crap in Camden Lock. Bottles, cans, crisp packets, dead hedgehogs... Please can the council clean it up a bit? The fact that birds are using Hob Nob wrappers to make nests is pretty heart-breaking.

blowing

Lottery winners. If you win 84.4 million pounds you really should tell friends and family and if you know any of us here at Jack and your not telling us that’s just not on. Basically, can we borrow a tenner? Or maybe a million?

Weeing in public. The next time we get a naked weeing willy wobbled towards us because we glance up at the wrong time down a London back ally we might just be sick. It’s really not attractive. Find a Maccy D’s.

AGYNESS DYEN TEAMS UP WITH UNIQLO

IOSSELLIANI

Aggy Dyen and her sister, Emily have teamed up with Uniqlo to bring out a range of long, sometimes sleeveless, always sloganed Ts. The shirts are a great flattering fit and that kind of soft T-shirt material that is now just a necessity for any T-shirt criteria. The other necessary criteria being price and here they don’t disappoint either retailing at £12.99 www.uniqlo.co.uk

It’s all about layering your jewellery girls (and boys) from rings to necklaces and we reckon, later in the year, bejewelled belts. Get a head start with an amazing selection of rings that come ready-layered from Iosselliani. This one below comes in at £133 and is full of semi precious stones and gold plating. Iosselliani can be found online or in Liberties. www.iosselliani.com

ART See one of the best of the elephants that have descended on London by Carrie Reichardt and Nick Reynolds. Cromwell Rd London SW7

www.nhm.ac.uk Tel: 020 7942 5000 Nancy Boy. A collection of British art lent by UK collectors. 9th June 29th July The Book Club 100 Leonard Street EC2A 4RH

www.wearetbc.com Tel : 020 7684 8618 Surface Warp Factor. A collection of artists Open : 26th June – 25th July The Aubin Gallery 64 - 66 Redchurch Street E2 7DP

THE AUBIN GALLERY Opened last month by our good friend, Jack contributor and artist Stuart Semple, The Aubin Gallery is already the hottest art spot in town. It saw the Feeling, Alex James and Ben Grimes grace it’s opening and has a staggering line up of artists ready to grace the newly painted walls. Above is the current show, This is England, curated by Stuart and including many of the artists he champions such as the lovely Sarah Maple. Catch this one while you can as on the 26th June it changes to Surface Warp Factor, another collective show that is equally worth visiting. The Aubin Gallery, 64 - 66 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, E2 7DP. www.aubingallery.com 0845 6048476

www.aubingallery.com 0845 6048476

glowing Goth Boots. We don’t care what you say, we say they are cool, and in, and trendy, and anything else along those lines. They can even look sexy when on the right person in the right outfit. gothbootsdirect.co.uk

Jason John Whitehead. We recently saw comedian, Jason perform at Highlight in Camden. A funny guy and one to watch, even better when he vocally rips apart slaggy looking women that heckle him. jjwhiteheadthecomic.com

Birdemic. This amazingly low budget, special effects, love horror has to be a hit. The guy drove around the Sundance Film Festival with dead birds, frozen blood and eagle attack noises coming from his van after being refused a screening. Ledge. birdemic.com

get fit without hating it Laura Hills

Kangoo GymBox We defy anyone who doesn’t have a good time during a session of Kangoo. For the class you put on shoes that look like ski boots with giant springy circles attached to the bottom of them… just Google it, it’s pretty hard to explain. During each lesson you carry out a series of exercise routines all the while bouncing around on the Kangoo boots to some really loud music. www.gymbox.co.uk

It’s that time of year again when cries of ‘I really need to lose some weight’, can be heard coming from the mouths of men and women all over the country. Now that the sun has (finally) got his hat on and the thought of parading our bodies to a beach load of people is getting nearer and nearer to becoming a reality Who’s Jack thought we’d look into the 5 best ways to get fit without wanting to kill yourself in the sweaty process.

Fit for a Princess Boot Camp various London locations Fit for a Princess is the original gym alternative for women and we even know a couple of people who have tried it out and loved it. The boot camp lasts for one week and will see you joining a group of like minded ladies outside every morning for a few hours of intensive work outs whether this be a bike ride, run or general work all taking place in a field or park depending on your location. The best thing is that you can fit it all in before you go to work in the morning. It’s tough but has guaranteed results. They also offer online exercise classes for those who can’t make the boot camps. www.fitforaprincess.co.uk

Zumba Virgin Active Zumba is a dancing trend that has swept the US and has naturally found itself upon our shores. This dance sensation is the brain child of creator, Beto Perez and its tag line is, ‘Ditch the work out, join the party,’ so we reckon it’s a pretty fun way to get fit. Zumba mixes Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program which celebrities such as Heidi from the

Hoopswhirled Muswell Hill or Redbridge

hores Whites

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Polestars Various locations Here’s a revelation, pole dancing isn’t just for sleazy back alley clubs, it actually helps get you super toned and super fit really quickly. Polestars have spent the last six years offering classes to hen parties, groups of friends and businesses alike all over the country. The best thing of all is that with the promise of a pole dancing lesson comes the promise of laughter which you wouldn’t normally associate with a work out session so grab your hot pants, some friends, and book up a lesson. www.polestars.net

Believe it or not everyones favourite playground pass time has been proven to benefit the mind and the body and is one of the latest get-fit-quick fads sweeping the UK. Hoop classes quicken your heart rate and within a six week course the results are proven to help you lose weight and tighten up stomach muscles without even feeling like you’ve done a proper work out. www.hoopswhirles.com

Sugababes are massive fans of. If it’s good enough for them it’s definitely good enough for us. www.virginactive.co.uk Mixed Martial Arts The Third Space, Marylebone and Soho A combination of martial arts, as the name suggests, that tone and hone all the muscles you never thought you had. It is also a good way to stave off any unpleasant muggings or brawls you might get yourself into. This gym offers more than just Mixed Martial Art classes however, so if you want to be more specific and go for Thai Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or K-O Boxing there’s nothing stopping you. For you ladies the gym offers ‘Bitch’ boxing, being a woman’s only class. www.thethirdspace.com

PRISOM PARTY PEOPLE VICKIE HAYWARD AND CHRISSIE ABBOTT RECENTLY ORGANISED PRISM PARTY, A COLOURFUL EXPERIMENT OF AN ART COME MUSIC SHOW BACKED BY THE SMIRNOFF CREATIVE GRANTS. EMILY JUPP UNCOVERS THE PARTY ORGANISERS THAT ROB DA BANK THINKS ‘COULD BE RUNNING THEIR OWN FESTIVAL IN FIVE YEARS TIME.’

MEET THE PRISM PARTY PEOPLE: Vickie and Chrissie (as they are known to their friends) run the arts collective, Shula’s Wigwam. Vickie is sat in Jaguar Shoes, the east-end bar of which she is creative director (she designs and builds window displays and hosts a night there, amongst other art-y tasks). She wears a casually slung on denim shirt, her mousey hair is scooped back. Chrissie arrives late and bubbles with apologies. As soon as she sits, her voice mingles with Vickie’s own and their chatter happily intersects and flits from one subject to the next. Vickie on her own, was slightly serious, but together they giggle loudly, and often. I find myself laughing along, even when I don’t quite get the joke. Chrissie has chipped red nail polish, brown lace-up shoes and peachy round cheeks. Both girls are young – early twenties, they have clean, open faces and a distinct lack of the practiced cynicism that’s all too often found on this strip of the Kingsland Road. The duo received a £5000 grant from Smirnoff, giving them carte blanche to create and host their own club night. The Prism Party was at the Pattern Cutting Studios in Dalston on 30th April, and a series of other similar

nights are set to follow. ‘All we had to do was write an idea on a bit of paper and we got the gig!’ says Vickie, down playing the gargantuan effort required to organise an epic club night. ‘Smirnoff didn’t try to influence the night at all, they have just been really supportive – like the rich dad we never had!’ exclaims Chrissie. All guests were asked to wear white, to soak up the projected colours in each of the themed rooms. ‘We wanted to make a night that wasn’t pretentious,’ says Vickie. ‘Fancy dress is a great leveller: when you wear it you’re all in the same boat.’ The event: The Pattern Cutting Studios were full of great DJs and the many friendly revellers were more inclined to chat to strangers than at a normal club night. I spoke to Rob da Bank who is on the judging panel for the Smirnoff nights and he is clearly a big fan of the Prism Party girls: ‘It’s clear that Vickie and Chrissie really care about what they do and that they’ve tried to do something a bit different. High praise from someone who created and organises Bestival every year. There were seven rooms at the Prism Party and you entered through the ‘prism’:

a white room, after which you were greeted by music from Prince in the purple room, cheesy pop and daffodils in the yellow room, a pink room with a smoke machine and disco, a red room and a blue room with a bubbles machine. There are also trippy abstract visuals from Palace Skateboards in the surrealist green room. Cherise & Oh Juliette! and Leftfield dance and indie beats came courtesy of DJs involved in the project, including Daniel David Freeman and the niché record label, Upset the Rhythm. Present at the event were many musicians and members of music promotions teams dressed as wizards – an apt touch to such a creative pursuit. Prism Party marks more than just one night - it’s the culmination of many years of hard work and it has brought together all the talented people Chrissie and Vickie have met and befriended along the way. In essence, it’s a fantasy party. Have you ever been asked, ‘If you could have a huge party with all your friends, with any theme and any bands you wanted what would it be like?’ The Prism Party is Chrissie and Vickie’s answer. ‘It’s a whole new level’ says Vickie, ‘a Willy Wonka style project,’ she adds amusedly.

the window for a while and then I might do some colouring in.’

Their history: They first met four years ago, after bumping into each other a few times at mutual friends’ parties. It was then a meeting at Vickie’s birthday party where they hit it off properly and have been inseparable ever since. They are so in tune in fact, that they often speak in unison and finish one another’s sentences. ‘We always like working together, we try to do as many things together as possible, because we always have fun.’ Vickie says. Chrissie responds, ‘Sometimes we speak in unison,’ to which Vickie adds: ‘We have ideas together and then we think of different aspects of the same idea.’ Followed by Vickie who completes the sentence: ‘Like a two-pronged attack!’ Both Chrissie and Vickie dabble in different art forms and have never felt that they had to do just one thing for a living, so their work varies greatly. Vickie is a silversmith and has a degree in jewellery design. Her dad was a party planner and she followed him as an informal apprentice from the age of ten. By the time she was twenty-one, she was organising her own events. She also built props, designed window displays for Harrods, and turned her skills to becoming a blacksmith, before coming to Jaguar Shoes. Chrissie is a seamstress but also an illustrator, being somewhat of an expert with colour. Her psychedelic, 60s inspired designs with slogans like: ‘You look great when I’m high’ and ‘It was all meant to be so different’ have graced the pages of the Guardian and New York Magazines, and appeared on Dream Machine Festival posters as well as becoming a limited edition t-shirt for Urban Outfitters. ’There are no average days; generally my alarm goes off at nine am, then I press snooze for two hours!’ laughs Chrissie. ‘I may then do some costumes, I look out

Average day: So what is an average day at Jaguar Shoes like? ‘I try to do anything creative, so I could be printing t-shirts or looking for the next project.’ says Vickie. ‘Sometimes I’m painting, so I’ll be up ladders all day. In Jaguar shoes, I do designs and windows for them and I get to pick what talent we showcase which is great – it’s all funded by the bar so you don’t have to worry about which artists will sell, I just get to pick artists who are doing something different.’ It’s hard not to envy their lifestyle. ‘It’s great, you get to be yourself. Your drives are welded to your lives,’ says Chrissie. These girls however, are not fantasists when it comes to hard work and know what it entails. ‘You have to be very self-motivated, otherwise you wouldn’t ever do anything. It’s a good life, but it’s not all perfect.’ But then again, as Vickie points out, ‘there’s no point in whingeing about it!’ When they say it’s not all perfect, they are referring somewhat to the financial side of things. There is not always a steady stream of funding for their projects, but the Smirnoff Creative Grant has - albeit temporarily - offered a cushion of financial stability. On Creativity and East London: Their ability to simultaneously follow a multitude of careers seems to be something that could only evolve in somewhere like London or Berlin, where in some pockets, rent is minimal and artists are able to pursue their creative whims without the pressures of needing a hefty pay cheque. The ‘too-cool’ snobbery that has become synonymous with Shoreditch is clearly an attitude the girls don’t subscribe to: ‘People can take themselves too seriously but the best things happen when you just have fun.’ says Vickie. ‘East London can be clique-y and silly, but there’s no other place for creativity in London,’ she says. Chrissie agrees: ‘I used to hate east London before I came here. It was just like one big in joke, but now I love it.’ Vickie continues: ‘With the Olympics, maybe creativity is being blocked in a way...

Will it be disastrous for East London? I don’t think so, because there will always be people like us and a need for a creative hub. People will just migrate out to areas where rent is low.’ But is the lack of security that often goes hand in hand with creative independence a sustainable way of living for them? ‘One day we’d like to own our own venue. You know the Cake Shop in New York? [a multi-arts venue – also selling cake] it would be a bit like that, with different artists and musicians. We were discussing this recently and we decided we want a permanent venue one day, something that’s completely ours.’ Their friends and collaborators are all in a similar situation in that they have all elected to do what they do best, regardless of the financial rewards, (or lack thereof) in the hope of complete artistic freedom in the future. ‘The people we collaborate with are all people that are passionate about what they do. They are all nice people and they are happy to work together on things,’ says Chrissie. ‘A few years ago it wasn’t like that, but people seem to be less snobby about just sticking to their own thing – imagine the exciting things that can happen when you collaborate and just have fun.’ On hot hobos: Later when I stop scribbling in shorthand the conversation (somewhat bizarrely) moves on to hot hobos, and I am given an insight into how the duo bounce off each other to develop ideas: ‘There’s a really handsome man who came in to the bar to ask for money - I thought he was too good-looking to be homeless, but it turns out he is,’ says Vickie. ‘The kind of tramp you’d be happy to take home to meet your mother,’ interjects Chrissie. Vickie considers, ‘He probably has a trust fund,’ to which Chrissie replies: ‘Maybe that should be our next website?’ to which Vickie says, ‘Yes! Handsome tramps dot com!’ If this five-minute brainstorming session is anything to go by, their club nights are going to continue to be works of surreal genius.

Is Album Artwork Still Relevant ?! We want you to think back… When was the last time you bought an album because of its artwork?! In fact, when was the last time you bought an album in person at an actual store and not in your Y’s in front of a computer screen?! As the ongoing battle of ‘good and evil’ bubbles and froths between digital and CD/vinyl, so does the relevance of album artwork. Back in the day, when the streets were clean and you could leave your door open without fear of being burglarised, LP artwork was a special package of cardboard, artistic joy. Music fans would flick through countless amounts of albums and singles, making striking and interesting album sleeves an extremely important sales tool. The aesthetic budgets of record companies could reach the dizzy heights of £50,000, with designers and artists spending time creating canvases of wonderment.

This figure has now dropped to around a tenth of that at a mere £5,000 – pocket change right? So is it us, as a generation who have begun to approach music in a different way, focusing on what we know because of television, radio and the internet; are we no longer able to take a chance on something that has grabbed our eye on the shelves? The first thing to note is that we shop differently. The internet has revolutionised the way we live, work and spend money, blah blah blah…you know all this already. But more critically it’s taken away the age old charm of interaction between shopper and product. Much like shopping for food on a Sunday in your flip flops in Tesco’s (other chains are available) certain things will invariably grab your beady eyes. You may not have gone into the store with the sole purpose of buying a Wild Mushroom pate but you’ve left thinking that you’d like nothing more than spreading that bad boy on a lovely toasted muffin. And online, that charming spontaneity is lost. We now spend time on iTunes, zavvi. com, CD-Wow, Amazon…hunting for what we know we’d like, skipping through hundreds of 100x100 pixel images that are too small to coax that air of intrigue out of

our pale, withering, computer keyboard obsessed bodies. STAT TIME: Brace yourself campers… the rise in legal internet downloading has finally boosted the music industry, creating 20% of all the industry’s annual income in 2009 which is great for the industry. But the continued fall of ‘physical music format sales’ over the past 6 years, declining by a further 6% last year; just shows the plight of the music store. Things like Independent Record Store Day last month showed clear signs that the hard option will not go down without a fight, drawing bands and music lovers from all over to show their support and embrace the dwindling record store. But check the high street. HMV is pretty much the only high street record store chain still running that hasn’t gone bust and turned into a solely online sales service. Independent chain Fopp, very recently went under but were thrown a bone by His Master’s Voice and saved to keep their 25 year reign afloat however their numerous outlets (totalling roughly 105 stores) have now been taken down to a measly 8.

It’s stores like HMV that have to stand strong but also adapt, during this period of unavoidable transition. ‘The stores still make up most of HMV’s sales, with online still only topping 15% of our income’ says Gennaro Castaldo, HMV’s Head of Press & PR. Chatting to Jack, Gennaro explained that amongst all this general worry, where commentators pessimistically look on at the record store and physical album, it is overlooked that ‘as young consumers grow into their twenties and have more expendable income, their approach to music evolves. Their interests broaden and they often begin to enjoy music to a further extent’. Whilst he agrees that album artwork has indeed lost its relevance in a wider sense, Gennaro doesn’t believe that it will go anywhere soon: ‘Go back to the 70s, the zenith period for the vinyl format; arguably album artwork was as important as the music and lyrics themselves in how bands wanted to express themselves to their fans. The Stones, Bowie, Led Zeppelin, all have iconic sleeves and to any music fan these are just as memorable and exciting as the music within. Music shouldn’t be a purely functional thing, as the involvement of the internet sometimes makes it; there is an emotional element too’.

Back in 2007, London lad-band Hard Fi made a stand against the fall of artwork by releasing their second album, Once Upon A Time In The West, with a cover that simply read ‘No Cover Art’. It was both commended and scrutinised by many, but lead singer Richard Archer felt it was a strong point to make that cover art was losing its potency. The front-man was quoted as saying ‘an album is like a book, and the book cover is an important detail. The sleeve used to add another dimension to an album, but that seems to be disappearing, which is really sad’. And he had a point. So what’s changed since then? Well, the introduction of streaming sites for a start. Spotify, We-7 and M-Flow all allow users to listen to new music for free, in the comfort of their own home or office or coffee shop or park… You get the idea. Providing a cushty, click to buy button if they like what they hear, completely bypassing any use for a music store or album artwork. The iPod generation has created a shuffle approach to how we interact with music, jumping back and forth between tracks, removing the story painfully sweated over by the artist, that’s lost without track by track listening in the order originally intended… and naturally also then, the relevance of the album’s artwork as it flicks onto the tiny screen in the darkness of your pocket. Gennaro and HMV have seen this trend rise, the disregard of an entire album, the consumer instead focusing on singles rather than seeing an album as an entire concept. He believes, ‘the truth is that people are cherry picking album tracks,

creating an environment where the album as a concept is under attack. Bands are starting to fit in with this, thinking this is a selection of our work not, we went into the studio to make a body of work that works together like a story.’ So instead, we are left with acts who are recording a bunch of songs that they are happy to release one by one as singles. Queen’s Brian May agrees that the album cover isn’t seen enough because of the iPod. Speaking to Jack he commented, ‘it will always be important to pin a visual image to a musical work. I think the decision as to what the flag for the project looks like will always be vital.’ Dr May raises a good point. The artwork still stands as a ‘flag’ that’s waved for the album and for the band. But are we able to pin point the exact moment when the album sleeve began its decline down the slippery slope of irrelevance? Maybe it was the introduction of CDs in the 80s, causing the large card-boarded space a vinyl provided to be shrunk into a smaller, plastic and some might argue, soulless, functional object. As technology found ways to make everything smaller and easier to manage, music began to become a functional exchange, rather than an emotionally engaging experience. Maybe what the industry needs is for someone to really impress and amaze us, the consumers, with a new, original approach to album artwork that will kick start its importance once again. Go back three or four decades and Andy Warhol shines out as a beacon of influential cool

bringing Banksy to mind as an example of a possible enlightening, artistic savoir. But unless you have a time machine, it is difficult to tell. What is most important to remember, is that music is a love affair, simple as that. Yes album artwork has fallen down the ladder of what is important in producing an album, but fans will always be fans- obsessed with the paraphernalia and all things involved with the band they hold close to their hearts. The acts themselves also have a role to play here, ensuring that their albums do not become a collection of standalone songs without thought of a concept. After all, aren’t musicians artists themselves in some way? Drawing from influences all over and taking interest in the beauty of all forms of art? With this in mind it’s difficult to imagine they’ll suddenly forget about the album sleeve as a means to express themselves. Never one to point a finger, this has kind of turned into a call to action… OI BANDS AND ARTISTS and other musician people – album artwork’s not dead; it just needs some Red Bull and a few Berocca…so, over to you.

words : Matt Hamm layout : pandamilk

Exhibitionism: The Art of Display This June Exhibitionism will be open at The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London on 12th and 13th June. East Wing Nine brings you this piece by Roger Ballen, among the work of sixty other amazing artists, both famous and up-and-coming. Opening times: Saturday 12th June | 11am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6pm Sunday 13th June | 11am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5pm Head to the web site for more information on all artists and special events: www.eastwingnine.co.uk

We all know about Britain’s social constipation. We sit with our fellow tuberiders plotting daily rebellions against the man eating the onion bahji, the commuter with the rustley newspaper and the young guy playing 2Pac’s greatest hits directly into our aural cavities. We dream about the witty things we might say to the bus driver that refused to break our note. The spine crushing lyrical pounding he would receive if only you had the balls to say anything, absolutely anything at all. We queue, we roll our eyes, we tut; but never really do anything, too terrified of being accused of being a paedophile or a rapist. Whilst there is something altogether quite charming about the great British social paralysis, there is a point at which this attitude becomes a bit of a burden I am going to take you all back to a recent party I attended. It was four a.m. and having attempted to drink my way through the searing toothache attacking every nerve in my head I gave in and headed for the only free sofa in the house for nap time ready for the emergency dentist in the morning. It looked pretty uncomfortable. One of those nasty black leather jobbies with ruched bits that dig in, but I managed to wedge myself into a vaguely comfortable slot in the corner. Just as I had closed my eyes, two giggling voices (one discernibly male) jostled and squeaked their way onto the sofa beside me. In too much pain to really cause a fuss I decided to grin and bear the various limbs jutting into my spine in the hope I might get some sleep once they

stopped talking. On the plus side they did stop talking. Unfortunately, what they did next will be burned onto my memory forever. The room was deadly silent apart from the odd lip smacking sound, which although worrying I interpreted as an innocent kiss. It couldn’t possibly turn into anything kinky I thought. I am clearly lying right here. The person next to me could

actually feel me breathing. It was only when the lip smacking sounds became more rapid and I felt the body next to me writhing around that my aching head filled with fear. I think the most offensive part of the whole experience was the audio. There is something truly horrendous about intermittent whispering punctuated by the sound of naked flesh squeaking on a shiny surface. Of course I thought about saying something. In fact, I concocted all sorts of hilarious put downs in my head. I was also well aware that the longer I stoically endured this ordeal, the more I would look like a creepy sex pervert

words : Lucy Hancock

lurking in wardrobes and pressing glasses up against walls. It was at this point I considered the thought that any self respecting human being would put a stop to this. Apparently I am not a self respecting human being. It was then that the thrusting began. Slow at first, then inconsiderately violent. As my head ricocheted off the rough, battered leather of the arm, I wondered if I closed my eyes and tried hard enough whether I could actually make myself pass out with shame. I tried to force my head down the only available crack in the chair hoping this would block out the noise. As it turns out, my proximity to the squeaky leather only magnified the sound of stifled moans. I realised the burrowing made me a sort of weird sex snake, picking up my erotic vibrations from the crumby cracks of friend’s 35 sofas. FINALLY, in a way that only an English person could, I mustered the courage to quietly clear my throat. I felt the body next to me stiffen. ‘Lucy..?’ and I instantly r ecognised the voice of my oldest friend. ‘Yep’ I shamefully croaked. ‘Are you not asleep?’ ‘Nope’ I mournfully replied and hung my head limply to one side. And that was it. That was all I had to express the sentiment of the most distressing fifteen minutes of my life. A few hours later sat in the dentist chair mid root-canal I contemplated whether it is possible to die from a hangover and reflected on the previous night’s experience. What with the combined motion of the whizzing chair and the far too familiar and pungent smell of leather, I quickly raised my hand. ‘thcuse me. Tan you path me that kidney dith pleath? I am

Pretty in Pink... and Yellow, Blue, Purple and Green stylist: Leila Hartley photographer: Kristoffer Myhre hair: Soichi Inagaki using Keihl’s and LOVE Lovehairextensions.com make up: Luke Stephens nails: NailGirls Nailgirls.com models: Max at D1 and Alice at Bookings location: Kettners Kettners.com cup cakes: Clare Gleeson Landry with A Quarter Of Sweets Aquarterof.co.uk thanks to: Annie and Jess

Max wears : Striped t-shirt : Asos £10 Asos.com | Hoodie : Hummel Atlantic £55 Hummel.dk | Trousers : Asos £25 Asos.com | Shoes : Asos £20 Asos.com | Watch : LTD £50 Ltdwatch.com

Alice wears : T shirt : LNA £58 at Harvey Nichols Harveynichols.com | Bangle : CC Skye £117 at Oxygen Oxygenboutique.com

Alice wears : T shirt : MariaFrencescaPepe £130 at Amélie Boutique Amelieboutique.com | Harrington jacket : Rokit £30 Rokit.co.uk | Ankle socks : American Apparel £8 Americanapparel.net | Shoes : Feiyue £45 Fieyue-shoes.com | Rectangle ring : Lola Rose £65 Lolarose.co.uk |Watch : LTD £50 Ltdwatch. com

Max wears : Shirt : Comme des Garçon at My-wardrobe.com | Shorts : Rip Curl £50 Ripcurl.com | Shoes : Feiyue £83 Friye-shoes.com | Cardigan : Rokit £20 Rokit.co.uk | Watch : LTD £50 Ltdwatch.com

Max wears : Same as above | Alice wears : Jacket : Urban Outfitters £48 Urbanoutfitters.co.uk | Dress worn as top : Sea NY £310 at Oxygen Oxygenboutique.com | Liberty print skirt : Sea NY £250 at Oxygen Oxygenboutique.com | Ankle socks : Jonathon Aston £4 at Mytights. com | Bracelet – Asos £12 Asos.com Pink flower ring : Lola Rose £80 Lolarose.co.uk | Purple flower ring : Lola Rose £80 Lolarose.co.uk | Watch : Baby G £70 Babyg.co.uk | Clogs : Jeffery Campbell £95 at Oxygen Oxygenboutique.com

45 45

EYE OF THE TIGER Mark Williams

The more observant among you may have noticed that this month the World Cup kicks off, and there’s going to be nothing on the telly except wall-to-wall football. Whether or not your interest in the game extends past John Terry’s, off the ball activities, the World Cup will be all pervading this June. But there will be gaps in the football, and you may find that having watched a couple of matches, Come Dine With Me just doesn’t cut it as a visual spectacle any longer. You need action, competition; you need winners, losers, glory and infamy. And Gary Lineker’s increasingly orange hue. Well, if sporting triumph is your thing, look no further than the Who’s Jack pick of the best sporting films. Ok, let’s start with the big one (or the big six if you include all the sequels), because they don’t get much more iconic than Rocky. Just about every cliché in the book of big fat clichés is thrown in, which just makes it even better really. Ok, so he doesn’t win at the end, but he’s just gone 15 rounds with world champion, Apollo Creed, and that’s not bad for a good-for-nuthin bum from a rough neighbourhood. Like golf? Neither did Happy Gilmore until he discovered his hidden talent for it. Even then he still didn’t like it very much. But he had to compete in enough tournaments to buy back Grandma’s house from the taxman. Shooter McGavin: You’re in big trouble, I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast. Happy Gilmore:

You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?!

We’ve all found ourselves watching a football match and thought that things would be much livelier if the players had superhuman, Kung-Fu skills. No chance of a grindingly dull nil, nil draw if the strikers can kick the ball so hard it bursts into flame is there? Shaolin Soccer will tick the kung-fu football box for you then, if there is such a box.

The form of the athlete has many guises, from the lithe sprinter to the powerhouse weight lifter and the tennis player with lightning reactions. Being a pro ten-pin bowler requires none of these attributes, as Kingpin with Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray aptly demonstrates. A mighty comb-over certainly helps though.

Televised death-sport set in 2017 anyone? Does it star Arnold Schwarzenegger, does he utter the line ‘I’ll be back’ and does he wear a skin-tight yellow jumpsuit? Yes, yes, emphatically yes, and it’s called The Running Man. Arnie is Ben Richards, a man wrongly convicted for a crime he didn’t commit (said in a classic growling film-trailer voice), and is forced to take part in the most popular television programme of the time. It’s a bit like Gladiators, except that the Gladiators are trying to kill you in varying elaborate and entertaining ways.

The fish-out-of-water comedy is always a good place for attempted sporting endeavour, and none more emotionally so than Cool Runnings. If you don’t shed a tear when the Jamaican bobsleigh team carry their sled over the finish line then you’re probably dead inside. They may not have captured the gold but they did capture everyone’s heart…

Top Five Sports Film Clichés Overcoming adversity

Always battle against the odds. Maybe you come from a rough part of town and no one will give you that lucky break. Or maybe you’ve fallen on hard times and are battling your inner demons as well as your opponent. Either way, if you’re already the best and you cruise to victory, it won’t make a very interesting film, so pull yourself out of the gutter, sober up and go for glory!

The slow-motion training montage

If you need to show how hard you’re training and how much you’ve improved, but in a condensed amount of screen-time, the training montage is a stalwart of the sports film. Shots of you getting up at the crack of dawn to go running, cut with shots of you hitting meat in a factory, cut with you visibly getting better/ fitter/stronger (or all three) is how to tell the audience you’re ready for action.

Stirring motivational You can’t always music win This really goes hand-in-hand with the training montage, and the more eighties guitar-rock it is, the better.You may also want a reprieve of the song as you go for victory in the film’s finale too, just to remind us how hard you’ve worked to get there.

Sometimes the odds stacked against you are just too high but don’t worry if you fall at the final hurdle. You’ve been enriched by the experience, you’ve bonded as a team when everyone thought you were a bunch of misfits and you’ve given your all in honour of your recently deceased coach. And there’s always next year because you’ll probably want to…

Leave things open for a sequel

So you didn’t win the first time round? Not a problem, because if the film was a success then you’re almost certain to get a sequel – Hollywood bloody loves ‘em! And if you did win and get the girl, then maybe the success went to your head; you got rich, got sloppy and now there’s a new young upstart out to get you. But he hasn’t got a montage like yours.

THE DATING GAME words: Georgina Childs

Where: The Marksman, Hackney Road How long did it last: 4 hours Score: 8/10

The Quirky Guy

dress David Cameron as a mermaid. Then we had to ‘show and tell’ the rest of the pub our creations and found ourselves explaining why we’d dressed all three party political leaders as women. Never my favourite ‘round’ at school, this version of show and tell was surprisingly good fun. Extra points to Quirky Guy for effort and maybe even some for creativity - although some of his colouring-in did go over the lines.

We skipped dinner in favour of shortbread with strawberries and cream We skipped dinner in favour of shortbread with strawberries and cream – why wouldn’t we - and Quirky Guy told me all about his job as a photographer. He chatted away about his latest project, photographing homeless people, including one guy with an infected foot – yes I know, yuck (although by this point, we’d finished the strawberries.)

As you might be beginning to notice, I’m quite a judgemental person. So when Quirky Guy turned up to our date on a bicycle complete with basket, and a Fruit of the Loom jumper, I was doubtful. He couldn’t have been more different to my ‘type’ – blonde hair, blue eyes and did I mention he was on a bicycle?

I thought I’d be feigning interest by now at least, but to my surprise I was hanging on his every word. (Though this may have been those big blue eyes again). But before you think he spent the night talking about himself and practically hypnotising me, he didn’t, we had our fair share of chat about me too. He very politely broached the subject of my age – asking if that was an inappropriate question. He couldn’t understand why I found it so funny, until I told him that last month, my date asked me how much I weighed.

But somehow, he managed to pull it off, and rather than making me cringe, it actually really made me smile (although this could have been something to do with his blue eyes, which were very beautiful… but we’ll move onto that later).

My only qualm about Quirky Guy… At the end of the date, when I had to head back to lovely ol’ Essex and he back to trendy Brick Lane… He cycled off - on what turned out to be a women’s bicycle and didn’t walk me to the station.

Quirky Guy took me to an ‘alternative pub quiz’ in Shoreditch (where else). Now, pub quizzes normally bore me - I have zero general knowledge and I hate the sports rounds. So when the first question was, ‘What luxury company does David Cameron’s wife work for?’ – I was well chuffed, because I knew the answer. The alternative quiz was about fashion and media - it looked like I was going to be in for a good night.

Now, I know it’s the 21st Century, and call me old fashioned, but surely it being the 21st Century is even more reason to walk me home. You don’t know who’s lurking in the alleys late at night in East London. He could have at least given me a backie.

He managed to pull it off, and rather than making m cringe it made me smile The rest of the quiz included an arts and crafts round where you had to dress politicians using an interesting selection of materials. And to my delight, Quirky Guy had no problems with my suggestion to

Eden Park Releases its first ever Sunglasses Range

It’s officially summer and with that comes the realisation that last years sunglasses simply won’t do. With a lean this year towards tortoise shell and, or, pastel for the more feminine of readers it is lucky that this year Eden Park have decided to give us an extra option away from Topshop, Ray-Ban and Sunglass Hut and include the summers latest trends. This, Eden Park’s first ever sunglasses range is a good one. Leaning on fifties Parisian shaping and keeping it unisex these guys have made themselves a serious contender for your summer wardrobe budgeting. www.eden-park.com

BAKED BEANS & CHAMPAGNE There are so many ‘eco-friendly’ lighting, furniture, jewellery and fashion brands in the world of retail right now that it’s quite hard to decipher which ones firstly, are good quality and secondly, stick faithfully to being environmentally-friendly. Beauvamp, the lighting design company set up by designer Alice Courtis, happily adheres to both requirements. Oh, and did I mention that it’s super-cool, original and looks like it could have come straight out of Liberty or Squint? ‘BeauVamp’, says Alice, ‘is a luxury brand specialising in bespoke vintage lighting, offering a personal consultation service tailored to achieving a unique piece for each client.’ If you’re going to run your own bespoke lighting company, you would rather it didn’t involve manufacturers, mass-production and you would also want to venture away from selling it at Ikea prices, it’s not going to be easy, especially in the current economic climate. Most of us second-hand shoppers seeking out the best of bargains are aware that we can get some pretty funky (albeit unwanted) interior household objects for free, (courtesy of Gumtree mainly) if we are willing to find the transport to pick it up. And let’s not even start on swap shops and jumble sales for the feel-good bargain factor. Add to this, the fact that technically, we have made an environmentally-friendly purchase (because it’s second-hand right?) and there you have it: we are smug, yes – but also fine examples of people who engage in ‘recycling’, no? Tick that box you, you and you! Well, try this for an alternative. The designer I’ve found this month runs a brand that sits nicely under the label of ‘sustainable luxury’. The style of the collection echoes that of high-end interior design but all have been recycled: cue the aforementioned Beauvamp. Inspiration for Alice started as a youngster when she would rearrange her furniture in the ‘sanctuary’ of her bedroom. The notion of re-using old or unwanted furniture and lighting was ‘part of my upbringing’ she explains, ‘and the idea of reclaiming things has stayed with me ever since.’ Early influences of a greener nature have followed Alice into her adulthood and she continues with this dedication to re-working and re-constructing something old or unwanted into something fresh and new. I have seen some of her collections at a few east London galleries in recent

WIN

words : Ruthie Holloway

Candidate: Beauvamp www.beauvamp.com | www.glimpseonline.com

months and it would be quite fair to say that they whole-heartedly embody the notion of breathing new life into something old. A combination of talent, skill, a taste for the kitsch and vibrantly colourful are what makes Beauvamp lighting so desirable. The formula for sourcing materials and unwanted lampshades has helped make the designing and making process easier too: ‘I use traditional lampshades and apply fabrics from vintage couture dresses ranging from the twenty’s through to the eighty’s and also sometimes Indian saris. I also salvage retro curtains and occasionally use limited-edition designer prints too. The lamp stems I reclaim are all vintage originals and made of good quality hardwoods such as antique pine, oak and mahogany. These are lovingly restored and prepared, ready for re-dressing in paints and fabrics to match the lampshades.’ Three years since business first began and Beauvamp has flourished. Alice retains a wealth of knowledge about the materials she uses and is even knowledgeable about the smaller details such as cleaning instructions. A master of

her trade in the designing and making department, she is also no stranger to the business side in terms of marketing and49 sales. Alice also offers a bespoke lighting consultancy so that clients can seek advice on colour palettes and fabric-matching. She has also taken on the PR side of things and has landed press in numerous magazines as well as having her work shown on TV. ‘I am also lucky enough to have my lampshades featured in the Best Of British Gallery room at Grand Designs Live this year, which is going to be very exciting.’ So it seems Beauvamp is speeding down the road of success in a very eco-friendly manner. So where can we get a piece of this sustainable luxury for our humble abodes? ‘You can buy all of my products from the website, but I also sell through a variety of other online shops as well,’ she tells me. ‘One in particular has really helped me on my way with great advice called Glimpse Online. It provides a sound platform for creative start-up businesses. I would definitely recommend them to any new businesses looking to sell fashion, jewellery, art or interior products.’

N O I T K P I R AC C S J B S ’ SU HO S R W A E O Y T

Get to www.whosjack.org and put your name on our mailing list to be entered in to win one of 4, 1 year subscriptions to Who’s Jack Magazine, normally £30

51 Pearl is the lead singer of new, band of the moment, Pearl And The Puppets, who are originally from Scotland. You may recognise their first single, Because I Do, as it was featured in a Vodaphone advert and their song, Make Me Smile was also used in a Victoria Secrets advert in America. Here Pearl, real name Katie, tells Who’s Jack about the things she loves and hates about London. KOKO The first time I ever came to London I was taken to KOKO. It was such a great night.....it always is! I love seeing bands at the venue as the sound is fantastic every time. If you don’t fancy dancing to the music on the floor downstairs and getting all sweaty, you can just chill upstairs on the balcony with a great view. You’re call! PIZZA EAST, SHOREDITCH I’m a big fan of parma ham. I’m a big fan of pizza. I’m also a big fan of Pizza East Shoreditch’s parma ham pizza. It’s delicious! I love the decor downstairs, it’s a little dark but very cosy! It’s always very busy, but that can only mean that the food is just too good! THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON PUB This pub, just off Balls Pond Road is one of my favourites. The staff are uber friendly as are the punters. It’s perfect for a quiet relaxing drink with some board games. At the same time it’s open pretty late which is also a bonus if you wish to have late night drinks! THE EVERYMAN CINEMA I love going to the cinema and watching films. I always get inspiration to write songs after watching a good film. The Everyman Cinema in Hampstead reminds me of my favourite cinema back home in Glasgow. You can purchase a sofa and drink alcohol whilst watching your movie.

It’s just like being in your own living room! There is nothing better than relaxing on a sofa with a great film and a glass of red vino! SUSHI-SAY Since my first visit to London a few years ago I have got right into sushi! I love Sushi-Say in Willesden. It’s the best Sushi I’ve had in London! It has a nice , chilled atmosphere with amazingly fresh fish. I love coming here after a hard days work in the studio! LONG BENDY BUSES I’m not a fan of the buses in London...I think it’s more to do with the fact I don’t know their routes that well. The amount of times I have ended up in the wrong place.... I never know when to get off! Even worse are the long bendy buses. It seems to take forever to get from A to B in them and they are always causing traffic jams! I’m not used to them. I think I’ll stick to the tube thanks! LACK OF IRN-BRU AND CHIPS, CHEESE AND CURRY SAUCE I suppose this is down to me being used to walking into any supermarket or off-license and being able to purchase IRNBRU...... which is essential for a hangover in my book. It’s not too bad finding IRN-BRU in London..... it’s diet IRN-BRU that is impossible! Another purchase which is great after a night out is the well known chips, cheese and curry sauce. Everytime I ask for this the person working over the counter looks rather confused..... just as well I don’t ask for a fried mars bar! Pearl will be performing at Secret Garden and T in the Park festivals this summer and her new single ‘Make Me Smile’ is out on 12th July Pearl - Pearl and the Puppets

ELECTRIC

In the Who’s Jack office we love it when we hear a new band that we can’t stop listening to and for the past month that band has been Electric Memory Box. EMB are four guys from Eastbourne who go by the names of Marc (drums), Chris (guitar/ singer), Glenn (bass) and Adam (electronics/keys). The band were all, at some point or another, part of another outfit that went by the name of Acusis and during their three years together they made a name for themselves on the Eastbourne and London music scenes. When Acusis’ lead singer, Michael decided to leave the band six months ago the three remaining members (Adam, Chris and Glenn) decided it was time for a change and got back in previous Acusis member, other Chris, to form what is now known as EMB. Confused? We’ll let the boys explain... ‘We were all local boys floating around the same kind of music scene when we met so we soon decided to form our former band Acusis,’ explains Marc. ‘But that band perished,’ laughs Adam. ‘The thing people used to love most about Acusis were the vocals and when Michael left we didn’t want to carry on with the band. We’d naturally progressed away from the type of music we were making with Acusis anyway and wanted to try something different. So we got Chris back in, who had left the us to tour with other bands, and we’ve been working from there ever since.’ They’ve also been lucky enough that fans of Acusis have crossed over and supported EMB explains Adam. ‘We’ve had great support from people who liked

us before. We’re obviously hoping to gain a few more fans from being in Who’s Jack too!’ It was only six months ago that the foursome started writing and recording together but they already have people from various record labels queuing up to work with them. And it’s not only record labels who have taken an interest. On their track, Hero’s from their as yet unreleased EP they enlisted the help of singer and model Amber Anderson. You’ll probably know Amber from the match. com adverts, she’s the one who plays the piano in a music shop while having an accidental duet with a man she’s just met. ‘I’d heard the track Amber sang from the advert on the TV and I thought it was really cool,’ says Marc. ‘The next day we were in the studio and it turned out that Adrian, who was working on our tracks with us, had also worked with her. He said he’d ask her if she’d record a song with us but after five days we still hadn’t heard back so I decided to Facebook her and she said yes straight away. It was like a week turnaround from the day I heard it till the day she came in to the studio with us.’ And it seems like the boys were smitten. ‘I love her a little bit,’ says Chris. ‘She’s amazing. I wrote Hero’s about a group of girlfriends I had...’ A group? ‘Yep, there were a few overlaps. I didn’t write it with a girl in mind but it worked really well,’ continues Chris. ‘It couldn’t have been just any girls voice on it, it had to be one that sounded right and I think it helped the track come to its crescendo,’ says Glenn.

For a band that are really only just starting out EMB seem to be attracting a lot of attention. ‘We’ve hit the ground running,’ says Marc. ‘We’ve been very lucky. We’ve had a great response already, considering that with Acusis it took us about 3 years to get noticed but with Electric Memory Box it’s taken us literally 2 months.’ Right now EMB are busy in the studio putting the finishing touches to their EP which will be released later this year. ‘I’d describe our sounds as an electro fairy tail,’ explains Glenn. So what does the sound have to do with the name? ‘We spent so long trying to pick a name. We were originally going to be called Our Planet Home but we thought that made us sound a bit eco and then I came up with the name Memory Box, it’s from one of my favourite lyrics. And our music’s electronic so that’s how the name was formed,’ says Adam. ‘Oh, and Electric Memory Box is also essentially what a computer is so that’s pretty cool.’ The boys are also concentrating their efforts on live shows so that they can start touring outside of their home town. ‘The music scene in Eastbourne is so shit,’ says Glenn. ‘I have a rule,’ explains Chris. ‘If you’re not in Electric Memory Box then you’re a c*nt,’ he laughs. ‘It’s funny because it’s true,’ says Adam in his defence. ‘There are a couple of younger rock bands that are pretty good but other than that there’s just no one that does the type of music we do. People normally just go off and play in Brighton as it’s deemed to be cooler, or if you’re into metal music you’ll

MEMORY BOX

play in Hastings. There’s a very clear divide and Eastbourne doesn’t really get a look in,’ he says. ‘We had a band called The Noise Pilots supporting us at a gig in Eastbourne once and beforehand they were on a forum completely slagging us off. I mean, not just criticising us, but completely slating us,’ says Marc. ‘So Chris made a t-shirt that he wore on stage which said, ‘The Noise Pilots Can Lick My C*nt’. It was the worst thing ever but you have to stand up for yourselves in somewhere like Eastbourne or that town will bring you down. We just can’t wait to get out of there now and show everyone what Electric Memory Box are capable of.’ To learn more about EMB head to www. myspace.com/electricmemorybox or join their page on Facebook. words : Laura Hills

]

Time k c a J top!

In front of us is our version of an electric memory box, aka a box with pieces of paper folded up in it. On each piece of paper is a word, I want you to tell me your favourite memory associated with it. You get two words each.

Marc: Summer : Every year up until the age of 16 I’d drive with my mum and dad to the South of France. It used to take about 20 hours. At the time I hated it because all my friends went on planes and I didn’t but now it’s my favourite summer memory. Chris : We were driving through London and Chris really needed a wee but there was nowhere to stop. So he decided to piss in an empty sweet jar we had in the car. When he was done he chucked it out the window and it landed on a Mercedes that was driving next to us in the traffic, he went mental. It was like a scene from The Inbetweeners. Adam: Marc : I have so many memories of him. My favourite is a picture he showed me of him sitting on a bean bag playing Call of Duty in his pants. His girlfriend had a friend coming round for a dinner party and he sat there with his belly out while they ate. It’s pretty sexy. School : I hated school, I was bullied pretty badly for having curly hair and bucked teeth. Now I use humour to defend myself. I’d crack jokes in the hope they’d leave me alone. I added them all on Facebook now to show them how well I’m doing. Chris: London : Me and Marc went out drinking with a band called Go Audio and Sony

were paying for all our drinks. Eleven pints later we end up in Fulham where we suddenly realise Marc has left his bag in a pub a few miles away, we were trying to act so cool in front of them and we just failed. I passed out on the train on the way home and Marc threw up everywhere. First girlfriend : My first sexual experience was when I was 14 and she was really hairy and grey, down there, it has traumatised me for life. Glenn: Adam : We were all at Adam’s house and he told us that there was a time when his parents thought he was having an affair with his dog. They thought he was having sex with it. Obviously he wasn’t and just enjoyed its company but it’s still hilarious. Glenn : Chris always says his favourite memory of me is when we were having a conversation about God and creation. When I told him I believed in God he asked me to explain how dinosaurs existed if God made people first. My honest answer was that God created dinosaurs for man but that he didn’t put them in the bible because he realised they were violent and he’d made a mistake.

Ark at you! Chances are you dusted off your bikinis and backless dresses as soon as the first ray of sun peeked through the clouds, but have you considered the skin on your back? Innovative skincare range ARK have designed the Back SkinResponse Facial for those who suffer with problem skin in the hard to reach area. It includes a muscle easing massage, deep cleansing facial and steam extraction, and will have your back looking clean, smooth and blemish free after just one £60 treatment.

Who’s Jack Beauty It’s summer in the city and time to get pretty. Who’s Jack’s beauty writer Cassie Powney tells us how...

Ministry of Waxing De-fluffing ‘down there’ can be an ongoing trauma for us smooth-skin -seeking sisters (and misters), with whispered mantras of, ‘Pain is beauty, pain is beauty’ often morphing into screams of, ‘Will someone please shoot me in the frikkin head!’ at the tug of a wax strip. So it’s just as well we stumbled across Ministry Of Waxing, an anti-hair haven tucked away on South Molten street in W1. It promises a quick, painless and hygienic Brazilian wax without having to talk about where you’re going on your holidays, and the vibe’s really cool, think funky music and friendly technicians who seem genuinely un-phased by seeing things akin to a gynaecologist on a daily basis. Oh, and Jodie Harsh is a massive fan apparently... We’ve managed to bag first time customers a 30% discount throughout the whole of June, so make sure you mention Who’s Jack when booking. www.ministryofwaxing.com

The bold and the beautiful Yes, the pastel nail craze this spring was cute an’ all - but nothing says summer like these hot vibrant colours by VIE at home. Not many people know about this brand (in my ovpinion it’s the unsung hero of the beauty world), and these sizzling new varnishes prove it was only a matter of time before daring brights made a comeback. These miniature bottles of polish are priced at just £13 for 4, and come in Apricot, Coral, Pink Passion, and Deep Purple. www.vieathome.com

Best blow dry ever? Having a professional blow dry is all very well, but frizz is only ever a humid day away. Brazilian scientists obviously had this in mind when they developed KeraStraight, a treatment that incorporates Keratin with 22 carat gold to fortify the hair with extra protein for the ultimate in smoothing and straightening, so basically, a permanent version of your average blow-dry that lasts up to 4 months. Thank you Brazilian scientists, we could literally marry you! Prices start from £150 - £250 depending on hair length. www.vieathome.com

www.arkskincare.com

Posh perfume Ruth Mastenbroek has been a perfumer for the past 25 years, giving her more right than your average pop star to launch her own fragrance this month. ‘Ruth Mastenbroek’ boasts notes inspired by her childhood - Gingerbread, fresh earth and blackberries - as well as her exotic travels - Japanese jasmine, French orchids and salt sea air. Ruth told us, ‘The person I believe this fragrance represents is a woman of style, individuality, of sensuality.’ After smelling this sexy musky scent, we’d have to agree. www.ruthmastenbroek.com

Polaris perfection When actress Anna Friel revently denied having botox , admitted instead to having something called polaris laser treatment, I got straight on the phone to my nearest clinic to give it a whirl. Skin smoothing and tightening without a needle in sight? Yes please! The consultant at Wimpole Aesthetic Centre on Wimpole Street tried to convince me I didn’t really need the treatment at my age (love that man) but that if I was keen to give it a try, it certainly wouldn’t do any harm, and would leave me with a nice healthy glow afterwards. The practitioner applied a cool gel to my face before using a hand held device to zap the skin on my face a small area at a time. It works by combining radio frequency and laser energy to penetrate the connective tissue of the skin, stimulating the collagen fibres so that they start rebuilding their structures naturally, therefore plumping and tightening the skin. There was slight discomfort, it was similar to an elastic band being gently flicked over my skin, but when it was all over I had the nice healthy glow I was originally promised. I also noticed a difference in my skin a week or so later. There was a definite improvement in the tone and texture and I had a few, ‘you look well’ comments which surprised me. A few layers of over zealously applied red lipstick later and I might as well have been Anna herself – although theatre must pay quite well, because unfortunately my budget won’t be stretching to the £1,250 for the other 5 sessions they advise you to have. www.vieathome.com

Don’t you know who I am? Struggle sharing your air space with mere mortals during a trip to the salon? Hate them seeing you in your tin foil, or hearing you shout, ‘Yes, I’ve been single for three years now’, over the din of the hairdryers? Well leading hairdresser Paul Edmonds has just launched his very own VIP rooms, collaborating with Interior design company Brahm to create two luxurious spaces in his Knightsbridge salon. The rooms are gorgeous, and perks such as yummy smoothies and skin-boosting salads make the hire fee well worth it – so if you prefer to be pampered in private, Jack suggests you indulge in some anti-sociable behaviour and book yourself your own boudoir. www.pauledmonds.com

Billboard vandal and drinker of tea Dr D plies his trade in a West London warehouse nestled in a landscape of railway lines, telephone poles and refrigerator graveyards.

When we meet, he is ankle deep in cut-out letters, spraymount and a scattering of UK election campaign propaganda. He’s recently finished a two-storey high paste up outside Shoreditch’s Cordy House in support of the Robin Hood Tax – a simple suggestion whereby .05% of profits made by big business gets allocated to social services and charities. To erect the behemoth on brick, it took one scissorlift, twelve hours and a sea of paper and paste. “So this is where the magic happens?” I ask. “Hardly. I don’t really work like that.” Known for altering a billboard of Amy Winehouse with the words “I hear Duffy’s selling coke” and likening Tony Blair to Darth Vader this most unlikely graffito is unconvinced of his status as a street artist. “Artists lock themselves up in studios and create something from nothing. I drive past a billboard and think up gag lines. I have a quiet chuckle and I come here and knock something up”. It doesn’t take long. “I drove past a nice low billboard advertising the UK Independence Party on the M4. I got some paint and parked up a lay-by. Walked - in the rain - and painted ‘Kilroy Silk Woz Ere’ then fucked off.” You can probably see it as you land at Heathrow. “I work on my own. So I’m carting along ladders, buckets, paper, everything. And a camera. It’s not that I don’t have any friends – though that’s true too. Just that nobody I know fancies heading out at three in the morning in the London piss to put posters up.”

My first encounter with Dr D was through an East End billboard reading “HMP London / Open Prison / I.D. must be carried at all times”. At the top right third was “dr.d”. Being an anorak of the vandal variety, seeing someone new sparks the curiosity. Seeing someone good sparks inspiration. There were rumours. Questions over Dr.D’s identity, gender, even whether Dr.D was a group or an individual. The same sort of buzz that surrounds any really successful vandal who hides under a pseudonym. But Dr. D was no Banksy. There wasn’t a constructed mystery wrapped up in a commercial venture. You had billboards, and you had the occasional poster knocked up for sale for a tenner at a group show. Whoever Dr. D was, they or he weren’t in it for fame or money. I found more and more billboards doctored with a laconic back-of-the-class-with-apeashooter wit. Evening Standard street displays that weren’t all they seemed. The Olympic rings with blood spattered on them reading “Made in China”. Police adverts changed from “Make a Visible Difference” to “Make a Risible Difference”. Dr.D was tipping the axis of how I viewed the streets of London by a few degrees. His humour was no different to me scrawling on toilet doors but D was scrawling on the walls of a bigger bog. This glue-stained scarlet pimpernel is, in my eyes, delivering overtly political messages with the aim of encouraging people who see his work to rethink their socio-political spaces. He’s less convinced. “You say it’s political, but I’d rather let the paper do the talking. I’m more of a piss-taker and a chancer. Politics and politicians are asking for it. They spend thousands on campaign posters begging for votes to get a job in Parliament. But the way they put themselves forward is

thousands on campaign posters begging for votes to get a job in Parliament. But the way they put themselves forward is totally laughable.” The last time he was caught by the long arm of the law, he was customising a then-new David Cameron “Year for Change” poster. “Must’ve been a pretty sharp copper because I was there in full hi-vis, all the kit and all the gear to make it look as if I’d been working. But he obviously spotted something that wasn’t right – the fact that that poster had been up for a few days. He came over, had a word and well… most of what I was trying to put up is in that pile over there.” He indicates towards a smattering of letters on a counter.

When he’s not covered in paper and glue, slipping under police radar he’s “a rat catcher. And if you bought any burgers out of a burger van in the East End in the mid-90s, you probably bought them off me. Not that the rats or burgers are connected.” I tell him that he doesn’t make life easy for himself. Is there a Mrs. D? “Who’s to say I’m not Mrs. D?” And where did the name come from? “It’s an old DJ name. Works nicely these days because Dr. D can also scan as ‘doctored’.” I’m taken to an alleyway behind his surgery. Stencils litter the earth floor and he picks up one of a cut-out man like the ones you see indicating the men’s loos. Beneath are the letters WC. “It’s World Corruption. I put a few of these up in the Foundry toilets in Old Street on copies of the Financial Times. I’m experimenting a bit more with stencil and lettering. My dad was a typesetter so I suppose that’s where my obsession with letters comes from. Oh…and an old art teacher knocked my grade down when I made a piece that spelled “magic” with a “k”.The national curriculum in this country seems to say that you can’t make good art unless it’s spelled right.” He’s reluctant to push himself as ‘the next big thing’ but walks about his studio with a quiet confidence. He makes good work that makes people laugh…and then think. As unassumingly humble as he is, he says the best feeling is when artists say he’s done something that’s influenced them. “I find it weird when I’m asked where I think my art will go because I don’t see myself as an artist. I wish I was. I wish I could paint and draw freehand but I can’t – the closest I’ve been to being an artist is living in a squat with artists.

59 I got into paste-ups after reading Naomi Klein’s No Logo and was shown the work that Ron English does with pop culture and billboards. Those two ideas came together and Dr. D was born – it’s a low skill way of expressing myself. Nobody else does it like me because it’s stupidly complicated, hugely inconvenient and a ball-ache. It’s a long way to go for a bit of a chuckle. What I do is a problem-solving exercise that comes out of pragmatic laziness. How can I adapt a board to say something in the easiest possible way? The logistics is what influences how the final piece looks,” says D. “What makes me different is not just the scale of what I do but the fact that it’s not my job. We all know artists who are under personal pressure to create, to come up with something new. They spend hours crafting, devising et cetera. I don’t. I see a billboard and think of ways of making it funny. Or I pick up on funny things my friends say.” Dr. D’s stock in the street art world seems to have risen. In reputation at least. One of the outfits he works with recently told me that D is their “golden boy…does the best stuff around.” Asked about this, the doctor hesitates.

“Sometimes I wish the guys who could paint, the ones I’m secretly jealous of, had more of a message that comes out in their work. Arty people are so…arty. I’ve hung shows where guys would turn up and not even have a screwdriver. And a lot of street art people don’t really get what I do. I know I’ll never sell huge amounts and most of my work is off the streets within weeks. And it’s big so you can’t nick it. That makes me a noncommodity. I don’t push to sell limited edition canvases or prints because that’s not really what I’m about. I think like an ad-man but I’m not promoting a product, I’m working for my own ends. And often times it’s just so I can drive past a board I’ve done and smile to myself.” Most of what I have written is true. But I have changed some details to ensure the good doctor’s work can continue. The messages, the jokes, the subversion – all of that will stop if I let my lips loose. The need to keep D as anonymous as possible is greater than any truth I can offer you. As of now, the doctor is in. www.drd.nu words: Leah Borromeo | images : Barry Macdonald | layout: pandamilk

s r a t s e e n i p l A Denic by cil Fo

a l i L e kes Li In 1951 an Italian gentleman called Tullio Crali invented the ‘borsello’, or man bag to us. Knowing he’d cause a scandal he attempted to enter the Louvre in Paris with his bag and was promptly escorted out of the museum on the grounds that only women could carry handbags. Luckily for you boys, times have changed and we’ve chosen the best man bags for you to use this summer without risk of being lynched on your way to the National Gallery. The Penfield striped bag is perfect for a trip to the beach or swimming at Parliament Hill but you should opt for block tan or navy from Bedouin for city trips. www.penfieldusa.com www.bedouinfoundry.com

s g a B Man

Anyone worth their salt in the motorcycle world wears Alpinestars - even Top Gear’s Stig. Leathers are a great look but if you’d rather something more feminine check out Denice Focil women’s wear range for Alpinestars. Each piece in the collection references the Italian company’s rich 45-year heritage with pocket details and quilted sleeves. Key pieces include the trademark soft, wrinkled, lilac leather cropped jacket and a cobalt blue satin bomber with quilted shoulder pads that nod to autumn/winter trends whilst staying true to the Alpinestars aesthetic. Of course, if you really want to channel motorbike chic you’ll have to fork out a cheeky grand for a one-piece supertech suit. www.alpinestars.com www.alpinestarsinc.com

REVIEW MUSIC

ONE

LINERS James Lynch

BIN: Drake Thank Me Later With amazing lyrics such as : ‘What am I doin’? Oh yeah, that’s right I’m doin’ me, I’m doin’ me I’m livin’ life right now, man’ on his enormously self assured album, Thank Me Later, it is probably fairly obvious that we won’t be thanking him later at all. Sorry Drake. www.universalmotown.com

BURN: Hurts Better Than Love They might look pretty creepy in their matching suits and side parted haircuts (especially when they watch the young girl doing ballet in the video) but proving that appearances can be deceptive, Hurts manage to make gloriously haunting electro sounds and also sing in that brilliant 80s monotone which seems to make everything much cooler. www.myspace.com/ithurts

LESSER KNOWN

BOOM: Two Door Cinema Club Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix) I’ve been looking for a way to sneak these guys in here after brazenly ignoring their brilliant debut album earlier this year. I think I’ve found my way in with this rather subtle and unstructured remix of possibly my favourite song of theirs… so now I’m happy. www.twodoorcinemaclub. com

BIN: Kele Tenderoni You may hate me for doing this and I think I hate myself a little bit too but I have a little game for you all… play the first couple of bars of Kele’s solo single and then play Wearing My Rolex by Wiley, can you notice any discernable difference between the two? www.iamkele.com

BURN: Band Of Horses Infinite Arms If my beard was in a band, it would be Band of Horses, who are so manly but emotionally connected that they are like a lumberjack crying as he takes the last swing that fells a mighty tree and then sings about the whole thing in the beautiful booming voice of a broken- 61 hearted man. www.bandofhorses.com

BOOM: Mystery Jets Flash A Hungry Smile It takes a brave band to add whistling into any song but when you are the Mystery Jets coming back to prove yourselves after your last, most widely acclaimed album you had better make sure that it works and it works f**kin’ well… which is pretty lucky for them really. www.mysteryjets.com

Worship The Dome EP With a second EP eminent download this one in preparation for both the second and the summer. Disco electro at its best www.myspace.com/worshipyour-

Is Tropical When O When With the music being much more important than seeing their faces these boys are causing little people all over to don a mask. www.myspace.com/istropical

Van Dar Vees Heart Attack Morrisy and Echo and the Bunnyman type tones from these boys already being picked up by Dazed and Time Out. www.myspace.com/raydarvees

Lissie Catching a Tiger With Ellie Goulding joining her onstage at The Great Ecape she already has a firm seal of approval www.lissie.com

STEAK

Because everyone loves a bit of meat

The new, slightly pink, Steak of the Month column from Adam Roan Henderson. South of the river. Like the stereotypical taxi driver, I’ve always been reluctant to go there. I know Dulwich is like a Cotswold village transplanted into London, and with the re-opening of the East London line Peckham will probably become the ‘new Shoreditch’. It has threatened to for several years but still, it just doesn’t sit right with me. Where are all the tube stations? Trips south always result in me getting the wrong bus and ending up somewhere God awful. It was with this nagging in the back of my mind that I searched for a restaurant in Clapham this month. It had to be nice enough for a special occasion (a rare parental visit) but not mind-blowingly expensive (I didn’t want to look cheeky). Trinity looked nice but I couldn’t offer to split the bill without holding my breath. Then I stumbled upon the details of a small restaurant called Four O Nine. Entering Four O Nine feels like you’ve found a secret club. A stone’s throw from Clapham North tube (an actual tube in South London, yay!) you approach an anonymous door next to the Clapham North pub. After being buzzed in, which always makes me feel special, you ascend the stairs to a little secret garden area and are ushered into the restaurant. Atmospherically low-lit and attractively decorated, Four O Nine made a good first impression. Budget conscious, I had booked the 50% off deal through Toptable, whereby you choose two courses from a special menu. For my starter I had the rather indulgent sounding foie gras and chicken liver parfait with toast. It was delicious and tasted rather like my mother’s own, homemade pate, which is a compliment. Now to the main event.The discount menu only had one steak, and it was a cut I’d never heard of. In fact I must confess I had to check with the waitress as to what exactly an ‘onglet’ steak is. Apparently it refers to a cut from near the centre of the diaphragm, also known as a ‘hangar’ steak. The steak came out cut into beautifully tender and juicy strips, and was served with a rich and tangy sauce. So tasty was the meal that I would place this high on my list of places to eat a great steak were it not for one problem. It was lukewarm. Not just mine, but my father ordered the same dish and both were tepid. There were no other problems with anyone else’s dishes all night but this was disappointing. Overall a lovely restaurant, and I’d definitely recommend visiting. With the Toptable offer it is good value and the food in general was excellent. The tucked away entrance and subtle lighting would be great for a date (or an affair!). It may be worth while checking what is on at the

Bucky Litch

pub below before you book however, as they hold a battle of the bands occasionally and the bass vibrations can be rather disconcerting! Four O Nine Restaurant. 409 Clapham Road, London, SW9 9BT (020) 7737 0722 www.toptable.com

THE HAPPY HOUR words: Laura Hills

Now that it’s summer time we figured it was about time we looked in to the capitals best places to get a cheeky after work cocktail during Happy Hour. But we’re not talking any skanky Happy Hour offering 2-4-1 weakened down Mojitos, no, this is the best London has to offer… The Bar: Brown Sugar (below) Location: 146 High Holborn The deal: ‘Happy Days’ runs on Monday and Tuesday and all prices are dropped considerably. The inside of Brown Sugar encourages you to relax after a busy day at work with several low hung lamp shades across the bar and comfy chairs it feels a bit more like you’re sitting in your dining room than in a bar in central London. On a regular night the cocktails start at a reasonable £5.50 but on Monday and Tuesday nights they introduce Happy Days which sees all the cocktail prices being slashed to a bargain £3.50 each. They also serve delicious Thai food which is perfect if you fancy a big meal or just some snacks to share with friends. www.brownsugarbar.co.uk The Bar: Navajo Joe Location: 34 King Street The deal: 4– 6pm daily Navajo Joe’s is renowned around London for its extensive range of tequila, mezcals and rums and has become a firm favourite of both the after work crowd and serious cocktail drinkers alike. The staff at Navajo Joe’s change the menu according to the season meaning you’re always drinking a cocktail that will best compliment the time of year. The décor looks more suited to a New York loft bar with exposed brick walls, spaced out seating and pictures of Che Guevara hung from the walls. www.navajojoe.co.uk The Bar: Prohibition Bar and Grill Location: St Katherines Dock The deal: 5-7pm daily The 1930’s Prohibition period in America was a pretty sad time for it was illegal to drink and thus the speakeasy was born.

Girls in Korea love high heels.

Their legs are the product of 19 year diets that their families put them on in order to ensnare the perfect man. Thin, weak and gamine like. Nothing like my own. Meh. I like to tell myself that one day I’ll meet a handsome bachelor with a fetish for a shot putter physique. The heels these women wear are so immense, just looking at them makes me freeze, my heels implode and my back arch in agony. They are insane. If Jimmy Choo had been a medieval torture master then this is what he would have been producing. My friends and I often kick back with a beer and people watch in Seoul, and a huge matter of consternation with us is that these women put themselves through such incredible physical pain. I’ve seen snapped ankles, bunions the size of onions, toddler-stylee grazed knees and full frontal face smash. They can’t walk or dance and have to be supported by their boyfriends, who revel in the length of their girl’s legs and stunted walk form. The late designer Roger Vivier said, ‘To wear dreams on one’s feet is to begin to give reality to one’s dreams.’ So what are the dreams of these women, and their reality? To perpetually be supported by their flat footed men? To permanently be hindered by their own vanity? To constantly assert their femininity through the height of their heels? Then I saw a woman with her friends fall in the street, bash her joints, lesion her limbs. She took a deep breath, stood up, much resembling Bambi in the early years and carried on her journey, back arched, head held high. I took a sigh of relief. I think this country is turning me into a foot feminist.

Prohibition Bar and Grill aims to recapture the magic of those times and along with that comes an exceptional list of cocktails. The bar is really busy so getting there as early as possible is vital to secure a table especially on a Friday evening. While there are many drinks available they specialise in cocktails and their trained mixologists are on hand to recommend one if you can’t work out which to pick. Unlike some bars, Prohibition doesn’t use cheap alcohol, instead they opt for higher range spirits in order to make your cocktail drinking experience as good as it possibly can be. www.prohibition.uk.com

RIDE BEFORE A FALL... Easy Rider, Terminator II, Mad Max, erm Torque: motorbikes look cool in films. So why haven’t I ridden a motorbike before? My two wheel experiences have been purely of the man-powered variety and my mountain biking adventures generally end in me picking myself out of a gorse bush or wading out of a stream. I’m sure greater speed and some nice soft tarmac to land on will be a great idea…

The throb of

machinery

between

your legs

(nothing homoerotic here)

To give novices like me a taste of biking, the Motor Cycle Industry Association have launched an initiative of free taster sessions called ‘Get On’. These sessions are provided by qualified (and patient!) instructors in a safe environment without having to first take your CBT (Compulsory Bike Training). You have a choice of twenty five sites around the country and you can find your nearest and book at their website. I headed to Bedford Autodrome to see if I wanted to join the biking gang. Firstly I had to get kitted out. A slim but well padded jacket and some menacing looking protective gloves from Weise later I felt hard as nails, and to complete the look I borrowed a helmet from top manufacturer Arai. With a bit of difficulty squashing it over my generously proportioned ears I felt invulnerable and looked a bit like The Stig. Looking around, I saw that a number of celebrities had turned out for the day as ambassadors of the campaign; Darren Gough, Danny John-Jules (Cat from Red Dwarf), Hollyoaks heartthrob, Stuart Manning and, well, international DJ Carl Cox. Now I don’t want to be mean about the big man, hell he’s a dance music legend, but he’s not exactly built for speed. I gained some confidence from this. With a cocky swagger I approached my steed, and a gleaming silver beast it was. Yes only an introductory model, a YamahaYBR125 which costs just £2,199 (the largest engine size I was allowed as a novice) but it really looked and felt the part. I must confess I was a little more interested in posing than paying attention to my initial talk from the instructor, something that probably didn’t help me in the long run. I straddled the bike and checked out the controls… right hand throttle and front brake, left hand clutch, right foot rear brake, left foot gears. Hang on, was that the right way round? Arghh. Not easy. One thing I learnt quite quickly; for a macho manly pursuit, motorbikes require a surprisingly delicate touch. Balancing the clutch to find the bite point needed a gentle, steady hand, and the throaty growls on the throttle I insisted on making didn’t help matters much. A stall, a stutter, a scream as I think the bike is going to fly away from under me. Rather than cool urban cowboy straddling his shiny steed that I wanted to be, I looked like a drunk on a bucking bronco machine. Finally I got the thing moving at a steady speed, in a straight line and stopped in a controlled manner, without a torrent of

helmet-muffled expletives. It felt A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. The throb of machinery between your legs (nothing homoerotic here), the balance and poise of the motorbike as you accelerate towards the horizon (OK I was doing about twenty miles an hour, but you get the picture). At that moment I got it. Biking just feels ace. The control, the power, just you and the machine. No seat belts, no stereo. It feels more raw than driving, more natural.

And then I fell off. Sadly there was another skill to master. Turning. It’s all well and good being able to confidently move off and later, stop, but that’s no good if you topple when a corner comes along. Red faced beneath my helmet I picked myself off, dusted off my jacket and my pride and hopped straight back on my iron horse. Turning isn’t rocket science; in fact the principle is rather simple. Look where you want to go and the bike will follow. Which is fine, except for when you are a) as easily distracted as me or b) you have a photographer capturing your inept movements. Ok it’s mainly a) that let me down, but it’s my story and I’ll apportion blame where I like. Eventually I got the hang of turning and felt proud looping and doing figure of eights, slowly and steadily but remarkably upright. Okay, so I was chasing the instructor around like a bull following a red flag, but he could run about in front of me out on the road couldn’t he? You may have gathered I didn’t spend my day at Bedford Autodrome hurtling around the track like Valentino Rossi. However I did get a quick spin round on the back of one of the very smart Virgin Limo bikes.

Wow that was awesome. Once I’d got over the fact my legs were wrapped around a hairy biker the acceleration was amazing. I gripped white knuckled to the grab rails trying to lean the right way around the corners. For the last couple of laps he put his foot down (what is the biking equivalent?) and the angles we were going round corners were incredible.

Okay so I may not have finished the hour session as a Moto GP rider, or even a competent biker, but I did catch the bug. The free taster ‘Get On’ session is just enough time to see if biking is for you. You can talk about the environmental reasons, fuel efficiency, reduced journey times and the aesthetic appeal forever, but the thing that gets you isn’t derived from cold calculations or logic. Biking roused in me the same buzz and thrill as skiing or surfing. The direct raw control, the balance, the speed; it’s just my kind of thing. See you at the biker bar Carl Cox, I’m off top buy some leathers.

www.geton.co.uk www.whyarai.co.uk www.yamaha-motor.co.uk www.weise-clothing.co.uk words : Adam Roan Henderson layout : pandamilk images : ©Matt Watkins/Forward Roll Media 2010

Stuart Manning

Adam Roan Henderson

I Love You For Loving Me A Life Not Just A Lifestyle A life without magic is unbearable. -David La Chappelle Since relocating back to London town and getting back into the swing of things, life has been a whirlwind. I have received much love and attention from friends new and old. My job as a celebrity publicist is going better than I expected and I am ‘wanted’. I have been invited to the most exclusive events, and been in the company of, and photographed with, some of the worlds most elite, famous and beautiful people. Blah blah bloody blah blah. You see I am great at networking, always have been. Such talents I (seem to) possess. Hmmmm A typical evening, like a couture groudhog day : I am in this crowded, gilt room. It’s so very full of people who are so very full of themselves. So crowded, yet so empty. I was told something years ago by the beautiful Kadamba Simmons, an actress/model, famous for being famous, from the Nineties and a fixture on the ‘scene’, whom I knew and adored. She said, ‘I want a ‘life’ not just a lifestyle’. So she promptly decamped to India to find herself. She ditched a life that had included relationships with the likes of Liam Gallagher and Nellee Hooper, and where Bjork was her best friend.Towards the end of the starry Britpop/ Browns club days, she had had enough of party hopping and star fucking and it was then that she left. On her travels she met a ‘normal’ person whom she fell in love with and in turn shunned her old scene upon returning to London. Soon after she was found murdered by him. The words that Kadmaba spoke have stuck with me. I am not sure if running off to India to escape the shallow pond I swim in is the answer though. Because indeed, in these crowded, sparkling rooms of glittery masked misery, I also search for happiness. Contentment. I see this when I look into my daughters eyes. Only then. Yet, I can’t imagine my life any other way. As I think I am trying to achieve balance, keep perspective, assimilate and not resent the lifestyle I radiate in, I fail. I cry tears of champagne. But don’t cry for me Southend – on- Sea. I am a lucky man. Perhaps it’s the ‘on’ button that I don’t know how to switch off in myself. Don’t any of you feel that? Especially if you are in the creative/media industry? Yes, it’s better than working in a post-it factory but sometimes, after a while it hurts to smile, or in my case, to pout.

With my GF and daughter still in Italy wrapping things up there, perhaps I miss the trappings of mediocrity. In Italia, boring, simple Italia, I missed my regular injection of shallow fantasy. Be careful what you wish for, I guess. I do know that my life without magic is indeed unbearable. But look, I am not complaining, I am just getting my head around an endless dichotomy and wondering if sustainable happiness is achievable. I watch those shows that feature suburban, middleclass people and they seem happy, and content. As I seem when strutting down a red carpet, being spoiled by the trappings of my life. The ‘normal’ people read about people like me and wish upon a star that they could meet Miss X. Or get front row at the X concert.

well attended but meet the very funny Ray Pathanki from Eastenders and a star of this film. He seemed to be enjoying his night as a film star and was very good in his role as Jazz. Eastenders was long forgotten. Gucci/ Mark Ronson Party Go to the Gucci pop-up shop in Covent Garden. Make friends with the beautiful Natalie from Gucci. She very kindly gets some extra people in for me and sorts us out a table. We are there to basically celebrate a shoe. A trainer, really. Odd, but fashion is. The party is hosted by my mate Jefferson Hack of Dazed and Confused. Wait for my friend Roger Taylor of Duran Duran to show. Hang with Simon and Yasmin Le bon and Nick Rhodes. They are very proud that the trainer collection has been titled The Chaufeur, as it is an old Duran track and was titled in homage to the band. Meet Mr Hudson and see my old friend amazing stylist Karen Binns. Gucci/ Mark Ronson After party, at Ronnie Scotts. Meet up with my friend Tina Barrett of SClub7 fame, her manager and Nelly Furtado’s former, Mark Lea. We are shown to the head of Gucci’s table and served. We are escorted to the front row of Ronnie Scotts to sit with Yasmin Le Bon and Karl Plewka. Mark Ronson perfroms with Sam Sparro. It is a very cool performance! Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes perfrom Duran classic, The Chauffeur, with Mark. See many old and well enhanced faces. Hang out with Mark Ronson after. He flirts with Tina Barrett. See Ellen Von Unwerth and chastise her for always rejecting me at castings when I was modelling. She is gracious and gives me her number. Am photographed with designer Rifat Ozbek. He flirts. On to Bungalow 8 for a nightcap.

But limosuines and sychophants, don’t leave me now. The truth is I just want to be happy. I’m just not sure what that means. All The Pretty People, A Party Round-Up. So readers, following my maudlin lament above, the following are a few ‘butterfly balls’ I attended this month. It’s A Wonderful Afterlife Film Premier: I arrive straight off the plane from Italy. I go to Ermanno Scervino, the amazing designer who has a boutique on Sloane Street. He is to dress us, myself and Mica Paris. for the event. Mica has done the theme song for the film. We arrive late. We look great. I rhyme. Film is cute. We are with the brilliant Garinder Chadra the director/writer of the film and famous for her earlier Bend It Like Beckham. Not that

The Back- up Plan Film Premier, Leicester Square. Lots of pink. Confetti everywhere. Take my new PR client, the singer Twee Lamb. She is late, but looks great. See I still rhyme. Funny, odd dancers perform on a pink stage. Kerry Kantona shows up. She is revelling in her reinvention. I am sad because I am not sure what the point of Kerry Kantona is. Hang out with JLo and her genius manager Benny Media pre film in VIP enclosure. She is stunning and sweet. But has a very big, birdsnest-like hair piece on her head. Leave after 2 mins of lame film. Go to… Pixie Lott/ Lipsy Party Full of 16 year-olds. We are ushered to a small VIP section. My friend Calum Best is there. I feel very old. They have popcorn and Icecream. NICE! Pixie Performs. YAWN. Then on to…Met Bar to watch Roger Taylor DJ. Then on to Jalouse, Maddox, and Jet Black with Roger Taylor, his wife Gisella, and Tina Barret et al. I feel old. And take double my Imedeen skin vitamins before bed. They really work! I love you for loving me!

London is the best city in the world to come back to after travelling. All the best

food and ingredients can be found right here, if you know where to look. Every continent has its ‘satellite’ versions here, from Chinatown to Edgware Road and to the Little Vietnam that’s popped up along Kingsland Road to name but a few. I guarantee if you cook your mates something from a great trip you’ve been on they’ll definitely be round for supper ten times quicker than when you promised to show them your great shots of sunsets, things you found on the beach and 200 shots of sand from your magical camel ride.

LITTLE THAILAND IN EARLS COURT.

There’s a growing number of Thai businesses around Earls Court, little Thai cafes, massage and nail parlours, hairdressers and a great supermarket down Hogarth Road called Art Muay Supermarket, where you can get almost every Thai ingredient possible. They even fly in some of the more obscure fruit and vegetables direct from Thailand. If find yourself on Hogarth Road needing a quick pick me up after some shopping, head to Addys restaurant on Earls Court Road for a noodle soup. Specifically ‘kuey teow ruah’ or riverboat noodles, so called because they were originally sold from boats travelling down the ‘klongs’ or canals of Thailand. Pork blood is used to thicken this soup, but it is just as happily served without for those of you that don’t eat meat. Remember to add the four flavours of, chillies in vinegar, chillies in fish sauce, roasted chilli flakes and sugar to your bowl until you get the correct balance of hot, sour salty and sweet. It feels like being Ko’d by a Thai kick boxer and dying happy. A lot of London’s Thai community are from the poorer North-East part of the country, here sticky rice is a favourite and the food in general is fiendishly hot. This recipe below is another absolute favourite, and one homesick Thais just can’t go long without. It is proper street food and can be found along the side of the road everywhere in Thailand with variations in Laos and Cambodia. Everything you need is readily available at Asian supermarkets. It works great for a picnic and the chicken tastes the most authentic when cooked on a BBQ. Next month Edgeware Road - The best lamb/chicken Schwarma that you can cook in the oven. Proper Moroccan mint tea and Baklava for dessert.

Proper Blow Your Head off Papaya Salad You will need: 3 birds eye chillies (scud missiles, to be authentic leave the green part on for fragrance, to be really authentic add 6 more!) 3 cloves of garlic (no need to peel) 1 tsp sea salt 2 tbsp fish sauce or to taste Juice of one lime 1 tbsp tamarind extract 1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar 1 green papaya, peeled and shredded (look for a good firm one, soak in iced water for an even crunchier texture) 6-8 plum tomatoes A small handful of roasted peanuts 2 heaped tbsp dried shrimp (available in packets, jeeny’s is a good brand) 3 string beans torn into inch lengths Method: In a pestle and mortar, roughly pound the garlic, chillies and salt. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, tamarind extract and palm sugar. Chop the tomatoes in half against the side of the pestle and gently bruise to release their juices, bash in a little of the papaya strands. Now remove a strand and taste. Does it need more salt from the fish sauce? More chilli? Sweetness from the palm sugar? Or sourness from the lime and tamarind? This is your salad, and only you know when the flavours truly zing. When you are happy add the rest of the papaya, dried shrimp,peanuts and string beans. Give the mixture a good pounding and fold over with a spoon to ensure everything is coated in the fiery dressing. Eat immediately, so the papaya doesn’t go soggy. This goes great with some cooling Thai basil and raw cabbage chunks.

North-Eastern Style Grilled Chicken. You will need: Spice paste 1 tsp chopped coriander root (can be substituted with the bottom of coriander stems) 1 tsp fresh turmeric root (use a pinch of turmeric powder if not available) 2 cloves garlic Pinch sea salt 1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar 1 tsp black peppercorns 2 tbsp fish sauce 4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs A good authentic sweet chilli dipping sauce. Mae Pranom is the best. Pound all the spices in a pestle and mortar then add the fish sauce and palm sugar. Pierce the chicken all over with a skewer or a fork and add to the newly made spice paste. Marinate for a few hours or even better- overnight and grill on the BBQ on a very low heat until golden and until the juices coming from the skewers holes runs clear. Serve with the sweet chilli sauce.

Cooking Around The World (From London)

Introducing the first of this eight part series. Who’s Jacks chef and denizen of the culinary underworld, Luke shows us how to recreate authentic recipes from London’s ethnic hotspots. This month – little Thailand in Earls Court. words and recipes : Luke Farrell

Sticky Rice You will need: 1 handful of sticky rice per person The same amount of water to rice. Microwave method Soak the rice in warm water for 20 minutes then transfer into a shallow microwave dish. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on a high heat. Remove, stir thoroughly and return it to the microwave, covered for a further 5 minutes, alternatively keep checking until soft, sticky and translucent. You can form the sticky rice into little patties and keep warm in a cool box for a picnic, they can also be drizzled with a little fish sauce and cooked on the BBQ until they go a little brown. You can also steam the sticky rice, though for this you will need a sticky rice steamer from a Thai supermarket.

71 Donna Marie Howard discusses the art form of the art-house film and its unfair dismissal by many.

“No...I didn’t really like it.”

words : Donna Marie Howard layout : pandamilk

The response from a friend of mine after I’d suggested we see Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s latest offering, Micmacs, or Micmacs à tire-larigot to use its full title. Whilst this wasn’t exactly unexpected, it made me wonder why this was said with a look of what can only be described as quiet discomfort, something I can only pin down to the film being of a different fare to that which most cinemas will usually screen, and indeed what he was used to. The genre of ‘art-house’ cinema is much maligned, deemed by some as experimental for the sake of it, compensating for a lack of plot with a whimsical set, exciting music and a cast of a more unique beauty than those who usually grace the silver screen; the lovely elfin Audrey Tautou is a case in point. I for one am thrilled that we were even able to casually see Micmacs without having to embark on an expedition to an obscure cinema on the city outskirts. Distributors simply do not want to screen these independent art-house films as they can pretty much guarantee the box office figures will be disappointing. Does this mean then that films of this ilk are automatically relegated to these hid-

den, quirky cinemas and destined for a delayed popularity generated not by original viewings but through word of mouth and online forums? The reason for the lack of cinema attendance conversely helps to expose the film for what it is: art. There are the blockbuster works by big names like Spielberg, Cameron (James, not David), and Scott, each of whom can pretty much guarantee sell-out audiences, as their name essentially creates a currency in itself. They are a brand, and audiences love a good brand. One of the most appealing factors of these films is that we know what we’re getting as they all boil down to the same set of requirements: there needs to be a set, a screenwriter and a cast to convey it. The narrative will have a beginning, a middle and an end. You’ll need the crew behind the camera and the director to conduct the whole affair. One might even call it a workshop. And so whilst ‘art-house’ cinema deviates from this catalogue of perceived requirements more than the mainstream film, they both rely on and embrace creativity in their production.

like Jan Svankmajer. The Czech director operated largely from the sixties through to the eighties, and largely with short films, each with his trademark, admittedly rather grimy-looking, stop-motion animation. In one of his most famous shorts, Darkness Light Darkness, an array of grey plasticine body parts fight to enter a room dimly lit by a single light bulb, and proceed to correctly assemble themselves to create a man.

They begin with an idea, which is then developed and fleshed out. It is illuminated through a particular medium, and ultimately results in an experience for the viewer. Film is art. In the most basic sense, there is an artistic identity forged by the collaboration of those taking part, the most explicit of these often being the whims of the director. The artistic signature of the director is just as valid as any named handling of the brush, or any handling of marble. The stylisation of Jeunet for instance is remarkable. Director of the aforementioned MicMacs, Amelie, and the wonderful Delicatessen, the Frenchman films with increased contrast and a touch of aging sepia and has a fascination with filming girls with big brown eyes who look wonderful when shot from above (an admission by Jeunet himself in a recent interview), and in using a cirque of recurring performers, makes us feel as if we are in a timeless Utopia, one where the villains always meet their comeuppance and discordant accordion music floats about everybody as they people-watch behind newspapers in the Gare du Nord. Such stylisation is, however, still evident in the mainstream. Beautiful, charming, and more than a little sinister, Tim Burton’s combination of

extravagant make-up, the repeated employment of Colleen Atwood’s neo-Victorian costumes and favourite subjects (a.k.a. wife, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp) render his ‘look’ as distinctive as that of Van Gogh or Rembrandt. One glance at a populated scene laden with dots and you know you’re with a Seurat. One glance at a tree with enthusiastically curled branches and you know you’re with a Burton. If, therefore, the visual signature of a director is as valid as that of any artist that works in a more physical medium, why is film being denied elevation (if you agree that’s the way it happens) to the realm of art? Before Nick Park and Wallace and Gromit came along, there were directors

Now if Svankmajer had installed these plasticine pieces in a gallery, I’m betting there would have been intrigue and suspicion, but overall a discussion of these as sculptures, as art works. But to see this reception suddenly eliminated the moment the plasticine is invested with life on camera is an interesting one. They are the same pieces, are they not? They are simply being employed after their initial creation, and are a means to another end. And yet they are automatically reduced to become movie paraphernalia. Is this then, the reason why films are widely received as separate to the world of art, in which video art is steadily increasing in reputation, no less; film takes pieces and uses them to create something else. Essentially, in this sense, film goes one step further. The music video also exhibits the very same artistic traits as film, but instead of working to progress a narrative, it has only a few minutes to respond to/complement a given song. The music video seems to range between extremes of acting as a platform for the music, i.e. documentary footage of a band on tour, or the artist alone performing the song (think of Kate Bush’s delightfully erratic and mime-like Wuthering Heights), to those which forge or reinforce a band’s visual identity. A perfect example of this would be the Michele Gondry-directed Around the World video for Daft Punk. Looking like futuristic power rangers, an array of dancers robotically negotiate a tiny dark set flooded with techni-colour lighting, essentially acting as a distillation of the band’s oeuvre and style in one fell, three-minute swoop. At the other end of this spectrum are videos which can exist as a piece in their own right, which almost abstract and oppose the music, or a short film that almost happens to have music in the background. The Avalanches’ Frontier Psychiatrist (dir. Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire) with its grainy texture, hauntingly charming music,

television-show set-up and let’s not forget the ghost choir, exists as a fascinating short that I actually remember more for how it looks than the music it was made for. In this manner, the music video is not afraid to embrace different modes of performance and work the source material in such a way that it actually exposes the gap between film and music.

It seems as if the most natural reason for our desensitization to film (mainstream in particular) and the music video’s artistic merits is due to overexposure. The manner in which ‘art-house’ cinema is not only named, but perceived is due to our unfamiliarity with it. It is still perceived as whimsical nonsense by some, undermined and entirely disregarded by

others, but, to be entirely honest, this is part of its charm. Seemingly impenetrable at times and beautifully crafted, ‘art-house’ cinema is a love letter to those who are too blind to see film as art. And so, though unfairly maligned, I think if so-called ‘art-house’ cinema helps to promote the clear artistry of film as a practice, then long may its critics reign.

The only time in my life I could have been described as a habitual gambler was as an eight year old child. Every Saturday I played the lottery with my Dad in Woolworths, every time I believed it would be our lucky break, and every time we slumped into despair when our numbers somehow failed to materialise. Yes I realise my brush with gambling is not exactly gritty. Woolworths isn’t your classically sinister backdrop, nobody’s knee caps were in jeopardy and anyway, after a wagon wheel with the Gladiators I was back on form. Still, it was pretty unnecessary disappointment on a regular basis and I’m not convinced that gambling is the best way to bond with your child. At least with casual shoplifting you win a prize every time. For some of us, coming away empty handed isn’t really an issue. A close friend and avid gambler describes the experience as ‘buying fun’ and assures me that buying a lottery ticket is in fact, ‘buying a dream’. I can understand that, but when it’s a recurring dream you bought from the corner shop it diminishes the sparkle a bit. Unfortunately, despite knowing the fantasy will escape us, it can retain a remarkable degree of control over

our behaviour. Rational evaluation very quickly pales in comparison to the allure of ‘luck’ because it’s nowhere near as exciting and it presents a much narrower chance for success. It also renders you powerless whereas good luck awards a feeling of control, something that comes in fairly handy when you’ve previously gambled away everything you own. Research has revealed that this ‘illusion of control’ is enhanced when choice comes into play; whether you’re choosing a dog, a horse or your lottery numbers, the process of selection makes the gambler feel that skill (rather than chance) is responsible for their success. My only other first hand experience of gambling was a rainy Sunday evening at the dogs and skill did not come into it. I can admit that I was expecting Snatch; I walked into Phoenix Nights on ketamine. The races lasted about 65 seconds and ‘Dr. Bones’ betrayed us so we left. I’m not denying that certain forms of gambling require a level of skill and talent, poker is a prime example. The only difference in these cases is that the player can believe their skill has the power to overcome all odds. Denying that you’re at the mercy of chance to at least some degree is an easy trap to fall into. It’s tempting to believe that the more you win, the more you can attribute it to your ‘lucky streak’, and the more you lose, the more likely you’re due a big win

soon. This is of course a delusion and is widely referred to as the ‘gambler’s fallacy’; when the player believes that the probability of winning increases after a lengthy run of losses. It helps to justify the compulsion to continue playing even when you are losing terribly, because even the most terrible loss becomes a sign that a big win has to be on its way. We know however, that the Roulette wheel has no memory of its previous spins; you have a 50/50 chance every time. I recently found myself in the delightful PLAY 2 WIN arcade, pondering this conundrum with a muscular lovely by the name of Julio. Julio left Italy for London about 4 years ago, when he used to be ‘obsessed with gambling, it was everything I lived for.’ He told me that when his best friend bet on his parent’s house and lost, he realised that things were somewhat out of control and decided to build a new life. It seems strange then, that he now works in gaming venues across the capital. I asked whether he thought his job was slightly dangerous, given that he is a recovering gambling addict. He shook his head, ‘No, I will never play again. I see these people – losing losing losing - I can see that I will never win more than I lose and I was never going to win enough before. Anyway, all the money I won was never mine, it was just more money for gambling.’

He tells me that suffering with a gambling addiction is worse than drugs or alcohol because you can hide it for so much longer. ‘You lose who you are, your whole life is going into this and nobody knows. And now you can do it on the internet in your family home and hide it forever, you don’t even have to leave.’ During Julio’s time in England online gaming participation has almost doubled. Obviously it’s possible to enjoy playing online without falling into addiction, but the tactics employed by sites in order to compete for customers are undeniably questionable. Although the Gambling Act in 2005 pledged to ‘protect children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling’, there’s been little progression in the regulation of sites. The use of customer tracking means they’re able to know more about your gambling behaviour than you do, and online trials/demonstrations usually have favourable odds to the games where your own money is used. Everyone has a choice, but as there’s not much public exposure of these tactics it becomes increasingly difficult for it to be an informed one.

There are a number of factors that research organisations believe are making online gambling appeal in a way that conventional gambling doesn’t, such as convenience, privacy and continuous play. It’s just that to me these things don’t make it sound like a particularly enthralling pastime; they bring to mind an image of myself in a small dark room wearing week-old clothes. However a large number of women clearly do see these things as attractive, as a number of sites boast that up to 80% of their customers are female. I suppose it removes the intimidation of the poker den or casino hall and allows women to feel comfortable. Websites like the ambitiously named ‘gamblinggirl.com’ also entice their lady clients with HunkMania photos and my personal favourite – the gambling horoscope. Like a normal horoscope, but tailored specifically for cosmic gambling advice and also known as ‘Slotoscopes’. See what they did there? My latest Slotoscope was surprisingly detailed, I was impressed. In all seriousness, it advised me that the omens

to steer clear of this month include ‘green beans, power cords, Dettol and chicken bones’, not forgetting that I should also ‘beware of Mr. Davis.’ I do know a Mr. Davis. But perhaps the most important thing for me to remember is the fact that ‘Dick Cheney is an Aquarius as well’ oh good, ‘but he is nothing like you - so stop feeling emotionally connected to him.’ Right, will do. I actually had a suspicion he wasn’t my spiritual soul mate all along. Alternatively, if it all sounds a bit powerless and depressing you could just follow this inspiring advice in a Ladbrooks promotion for Shortlist; ‘Always try again. You won’t win every time… just pick yourself up and give it another go.’ Quite right, nobody likes a quitter, especially when their perseverance pays your bills.

Words: Katrina Black Illustrations: Millie

Did you dress up as a child? Feel like you’ve forgotten that innocence and playful nature? Feel like you want to recycle and contribute to the planet but you are confused by all those green tubs? Well now you can do all of this in one swoop! Just contact GEORGIEandJAMES at georgienjames@ googlemail.com Become part of us. Become part of the revolution. The process is simple - we come to your house, we go through your Wardrobe, we create a look using your stuff. We give your character a name, we give your character powers, we add you into the ever growing story of THE KREDIT KRUNCH KATWALK KREW! For more info visit www.kreditkrunchkatwalkkrew.blogspot.com www.georgieandjames.blogspot.com

GEORGIE + JAMES THE KREDIT KRUNCH KATWALK KREW : The tale of one man and his dog. Well, one woman and her dog, or ‘the little bitch’ as she became known as towards the end of the evening..... Dog lovers out there, you know the story - girl finds dog, dog finds girl. Girl falls in love with dog, dog takes advantage of girl’s good nature. Well no, not really, as both the lady and the dog in question are rather a lovely little lasses.... This month, our lady transformee is the ‘hat maker general’ and by this we mean the lady loves all things hat-like, from fascinators to veils, hatpins to hat-tricks. Her East London flat is littered with the fuckers, making Lady Gaga’s hat cupboard look like Harry Potters (in the first book). We had arrived after receiving her request to transform her into one of our Kredit Krunch Katwalk Krew, but really all we wanted to do was try on all those hats. We’d been too embarrassed in the ‘head ornament’ section in John Lewis to REALLY get into it, trying them on and imitating unhappy mothers on their daughter’s wedding day. We’d been asked to leave Fenwicks for the same reason. So you can imagine how we jumped for joy at the thought of no judgemental throw-outs...... The lass in question showed us many of her creations from when she’d worked for Phillip Treacy, including a lovely felted

purple beauty which in no way was ‘a bit Boy George’. She prattled on about how important her hats were to her, she told us it made her feel ‘royal’ to wear them. Trampling through her wardrobe we realised that in fact, there was quite a love of purple going on. Purple shoes, purple dresses, purple accessories, purple pants, purple.....you get the idea. Then we got an idea....to channel a Pat Butcher vibe by way of Violet Beauregarde, we created an all purple outfit fit for a king (or Queen) thus Prudene! The Purple People Eater was born! What we hadn’t noticed in all our royal, hat and purple revelry, were the silent tears of her longtime companion, her little doggie that had been prowling the rooms, sulking like a little bitch. Not enough attention was being given to the poor sad sorry Lassie. We thought she may have been having a ‘red month’ as she was becoming a little snappy. This included not only running around, grabbing clothes on the floor and running upstairs with them, but also defecating in a pair of shoes (not ours fortunately). We knew that the only way to cheer this disgruntled bitch up was in fact to dress her up too. To involve her in this, the magic process that renews your soul and

invigorates your life. Suddenly, like a child who is given permission to shop in the toy aisle to stop showing up the mother in a supermarket, the whining was over and she was performing better than a ‘Whippet in Walthamstow’. In fact, we’ve never had a better candidate. Mainly because she couldn’t talk back to us. Amazingly she kept more still on her four legs than any of the humans we have transformed, even posing for pictures like a pro. However, once the make over was indeed, over, she was acting like a right little madam again... even refusing to take the wig off (see LADY LOLA - civilian form picture) we had created a monster. With that, we hot footed it and skipped away into the night. In our wake we were leaving one bewildered owner surrounded by a ‘pile-o-purple’, and one puffed up pooch with an ‘all new attitude’, ready to hang with the gang in Laguna Beach, or Hollyoaks, or god forbid, Jersey Shore. Do you want us to come and visit you? Do you have animals? A make-over from GEORGIEandJAMES may get you into Crufts. Or a call from the RSPCA.

Lady lola wears jumper by Libertys, glitter belt by Preen, rabbitfur dog biscuit pouch and crown from vintage store in Daikanyama, Japan, Bitch-like attitude, mongrels own. Civilian Lady Lola wears her very own weave.

Prudence the Purple People Eater wears: Purple Felt hat by Phillip Treacy, purple vintage 80s cocktail joker jacket, purple T and leggings by Uniqlo, purple ltd edt â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;death fanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by Mihara Yasuhiro / Puma, purple skull stomping boots by Sergio Rossi, purple gloves by John Lewis.

A segmented novel

By Marco Casadei Image by James Lightfoot Morning Has Broken

SNAP! I must have slept at some point. I was riding my bike through the countryside and the brakes weren’t working but they were doing the job just fine anyway. There were moments I should have fallen off but I didn’t. Light is eeking its way silently through the fabric of the curtains and I watch particles of dust floating through the glades of warm magnolia that bless my chest. The particles seem to be floating aimlessly but I see a binding force between them, a gliding awareness that prevents collision and embraces harmony. I allow them to rest on my chest when they like to and I sweep my hand gently through the glade in a playful swooshing motion. They are aware, everything is aware and everything knows I exist. I rise and put my feet on the rug covering the old wooden floorboards below and grab the threads with my toes, letting the sensations tickle my feet. This feels like my haven and I feel like it is protecting me just like I would protect it. We are one. I grab my towel from the back of the door and wrap it around me as I leave the room and head to the bathroom. Ruth is up and hogging the shower. Slightly miffed, I decide to forage for food in the kitchen and maybe make a hot drink. I grab all the ingredients I can possibly use to make a full English and bosh them together in a couple of pans. Eggs, bacon, sausages (89% meat), mushrooms, beans (you can’t have a breakfast without beans), hash browns and some toast. Instinctively I lay the table for two and pile on as many condiments as I can find including Béarnaise sauce for no good reason other than it’s position in the condiment family. I make coffee from a packet of Lavazza in the larder and the myriad of smells overwhelm me. Ruth interrupts my thoughts with a ‘WOW!’ I turn, pan in hand to see her drying her hair with a towel in her right hand. I can see the side of her right breast move from behind the robe, covered in tiny droplets of water from the shower. She makes me want to say bad things. ‘Ermmm, I thought I’d make some breakfast and there is no point just cooking for one.

You wanna eat?’ ‘The day I stop eating is the day my heart stops beating’ she says as she sits down and smiles at me through damp strands of red hair. ‘This breakfast might make your heart stop beating’ I quip and instantly regret the cholesterol related joke. She laughs anyway and, resting her head on her hand while stirring some coffee she tells me she has many more beats left before its her time to go. ‘So where’ve you been hiding?’ ‘I had a few people I needed to catch up with.’ ‘Ah… Was it interesting?’ I omit in desperation. ‘Interesting yes,’ she says putting a combination of egg and bacon in her mouth. I grab some toast and scoop up some beans. ‘And you…. how’ve you been?’ ‘I broke the hands off a dead man last night that turned out to be clumps of wood. But I feel really awesome this morning!’ She smiled. ‘The cemetery right?’ ‘Yep, the doctor said it was a visitation.’ ‘Doctors and their jargon. What did he look like?’ ‘Old, a bit like Ian McKellen, but emaciated, dead looking and he smelt damp. He was shrouded in black but it was dark. He tried to pull me through the iron bars of the fence’ She looked surprised and frowned. ‘Are you ok?’ ‘I am better than dead McKellan, those are his hands over there.’ and I pointed to the wood on the table to our right. She got up and walked over to examine them, picking them up. The two blocks of wood are surrounded by some kind of vines and a couple of leaves fall to the table as she picks them up. She looks closely, and starts to peel away the debris. ‘This isn’t wood Arthur…’ She says as she scrapes away the top layer to show me the white beneath. ‘This is bone.’ We stare at each other for a while and I am more than confused. ‘The doctor told me it was just wood’ She looks at me in a sympathetic demeanor. ‘Arthur, there is a lot that hasn’t been explained to you….’

‘Like what?’ ‘….I… can’t…. tell you. I know it sounds ridiculous but you are safe and you have to trust me.’ ‘I want to trust you but I can’t. I don’t trust anybody.’ I feel sad and stupid. She walks over and strokes my hair. ‘What have you got to lose in trusting me?’ Everything. ‘Nothing.’ I tell her, instinctively pulling her towards me and hugging her. She sits down on my lap and our heads lock. Everything is a whirlwind of new ideas, people, situations and smells. She smells so good. Her warmth draws me to her. I want to tell her everything and I don’t know why. I look up and I see her eyes locked onto mine and I kiss her. She doesn’t draw back. Our lips meet again and this time they are parted. Our tongues slide into each other’s mouths slowly. This feels so right and I squeeze her body as we devour each other sitting in our kitchen. When we pull away I can see she is as confused as me. ‘There is something about you I am so connected with Arthur.’ ‘I feel the same.’ I slide my hand inside her gown and feel the naked curve just above her hip and move it down her leg. We kiss deeper and deeper until I feel we are one person. Were we always one? Without a second thought I lift her onto the breakfast table, the gown falls open and I kiss her warm body all over. She gasps and knocks her head back as I move lower and lower down to my target between her wide, open legs. She tastes so good, and I flick her clit with my tongue before I run it down and then up between her lips. I can taste her juice flood over my lips as I rise up once again to her clit, while I slowly finger and rub her G spot inside her pussy. She starts to shudder and I feel her hand on the back of my head grip my hair. There is nothing more, just me and her on this table and her cuming hard against my face. I rise up and see her eyes staring deep into my own, her mouth open and her hair in a mess. ‘Fuck me.’

Jack had a little party to celebrate the May issue at Movida last month. Thanks to all that came, we had drinks a plenty, wicked Djs, old friends, slightly drunk friends and new writers all down to have a mingle. Keep eyes on the web for our next event at the end of July at Proud.

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At the risk of getting too political we’re going to start off this month’s SOTM with the election. Jack readers all over the country have been twittering and emailing us to express their annoyance with getting out of bed extra early to vote in an election which resulted in the main decision being made by the party leaders themselves. After two weeks of ‘discussions’ we now essentially have two parties in charge. Camlegg (see what we did there?) we wish you well, although we don’t envy you, we certainly wouldn’t want to have to work with someone we’d spent the last few months arguing with. Next we come to the sun burn. What is it about Brits that makes us think that during the first few days of sunshine we are invincible to its powers? In the last week we’ve seen more burnt red faces then we’d normally care to. Ever heard of sun tan lotion people?

OF THE MONTH

We’re also annoyed with things coming to an end. After six years of who, what, where, when’s and what the f*ck’s, Lost finally came to an end. The only problem being, we now feel more lost than we were before (pardon the pun). We still don’t really get it and the final episode felt like a bit of a cop out, so if the producers are reading this – thanks, basically, for nothing. Another of our favourite series now ending is Heroes, which has been axed by the US TV network, NBC. Now how are we meant to get our fix of cheer leaders fighting crime?

A special shout out must also go to a reoccurring SOTM theme, the underground. But this time we’re not talking about delays (although they are still ever present), we’re talking about the strange people that inhabit it. In the last month we’ve been threatened to be punched in the face, witnessed people rapping out loud (badly) to themselves while blaring Eminem out of their iPods PIGEON OF THE MONTH and seen strangers doodling pictures of the person sitting opposite them in their notebooks (stalker much?). All this though, does not compare to one NAME : Bert story we heard by Jack reader, Tara who was propositioned by a man on the tube and when she BREED | Common London refused his advances he followed her off, shouted at AGE | Old her for being rude and then proceeded to be sick all LIKES | Dirt, the underside of bridges and over himself before running away. As if our working when the sun comes out days aren’t stressful enough, we really don’t need to DISLIKES | Washing his feathers, people encounter such people on our journeys home. picking up on his orange eye. FINDER | Sarah, Croyden. And lastly, banks. Wouldn’t it be helpful if you introduced some more counters for the lunch time 83 rush so that we didn’t have to spend our entire lunch breaks in a queue? Either that or stay open later, we DO YOU KNOW A PIGEON WORTHY OF honestly don’t mind which, just so long as you sort it THE PIGEON OF THE MONTH BOX? out. Camlegg we hope you’re paying attention. Make his/her day, take a snap of your favourite London pigeon and send it in to Have something you want to include in SOTM? press@whos-jack.co.uk. We need a high Write to us and be heard at res image along with your pigeon’s breed, contributions.jack@googlemail.com age, likes and dislikes. We will partake in your pain and frustration and print it here for all to see. Sometimes we might even send the perpetrator a copy.

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