life! Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Gazette
in association with
BEAUTY OF THE BA L L E T Russian stars at The Grand
YOUR WEEKEND MAGAZINE: FREE ON SATURDAYS WITH THE GAZETTE
INTERVIEW: Page 5
MUSIC: Page 6
FAMILIES: Pages 16/17
PLUS: Your complete seven-day TV & radio listings
SEVENDAYS
TOUGH LIFE: Suranne
Your complete guide the week’s televis to ion
Seeking forgiven ess Jones plays Ruth
C
alm down Clint Eastwood fans, this isn’t a chance to see your hero in one of his most acclaimed Westerns. Instead, this particular Unforgiven (ITV1, Monday, 9pm) is rather different.
More often than on those who’ve not, crime dramas focus been wronged, people trying or the to catch the perpetrators.
YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpo
Slater in Unforgiven
So, a round of applause should writer Sally Wainwright, go to of rebuilding her who has come with this three-part new boyfriend life. She is helped by twist on the formula.up Brad, but still Unforgiven focuses put the past behind struggles to her, especially (played by former on Ruth Slater, thoughts of the Suranne Jones) Coronation Street star was forced to younger sister, Katie, she leave behind, life in jail after who has spent half of her Hanging Stones and Upper being sent down murdering two for haunted her for Farm, a place that has policemen. the best part of decades. As the drama two begins, she is from prison and released faces the daunting Ruth’s past slowly leaks out to those task attempts to befriend, which means she that
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maintaining jobs and friendships becomes increasingly difficult. “When she is released she just keep her head down and live tries to life but it’s difficult a low-key for her and takes strength of character,” real said Suranne. “She won’t look often because people in the eye very judged. Even she feels she is being though she’s been she doesn’t feel released she’s been forgiven.”
Saturday, January
10, 2009
life! 25
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THEMOVIES
View all the latest movie trailers at www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk
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Adapted from the legendary comic strip, this classic action-adventure-romance told by genre-twister Frank Miller is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime in Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson)is going to wipe out Spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader. Rating: Good spirits.
THE READER (15)
Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in Stephen Daldry's haunting period romance. It opens in post-World War II Germany, where ailing teenager Michael is ill with scarlet fever. Nursed to health by Hanna, he eventually recovers and decides to thank his benevolent caretaker in person. The pair quickly enter into a passionate yet clandestine affair until Hanna vanishes without a trace, leaving him heartbroken and despondent. A decade later he is a law student observing Nazi war crime trials - when Hanna enters into the courtroom and her past comes into focus. Rating: Winslet winner
AUSTRALIA (12A)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (15)
SEX DRIVE (15)
BRIDE WARS (12A)
THE SPIRIT (12A)
Director Danny Boyle is back on top form and tipped to be back in the Oscar chase with a vivid, choice moving and exciting mingling of fable, travelogue and social commentary. Skins’ Dev Patel stars as Jamal, an orphan from the slums who has made it to the last question in the subcontinent’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Convinced that he has been cheating, game show host Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) goes to painful lengths to prove Jamal is a fake. Rating: Pure delight.
✔ life!
DEFIANCE (15)
The name’s Bielski....Tuvia Bielski. James Bond actor Daniel Craig rings the changes again, this time emerging as one of three Jewish brothers hiding from the Nazis in the woods of Belarus. It’s a sort of Robin Hood with machine guns as the trio recruit a band of like minded refugees using guerrilla tactics against the occupying army. Last Samurai director Edward Zwick tackles the true story earnestly to dispel the stereotypical image of Holocaust victims – though with a little too much gung ho considering recent world events. Rating: Stirred not shaken.
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About to go to college and losing girls to his younger brother, likable 18-year old underdog Ian (Josh Zuckerman) feels he is the last American virgin.Then he meets Ms Tasty on the internet. She’s everything he’s ever wanted in a girlfriend – fun, sexy, and she really likes him – but she lives 500 miles away and thinks he looks like Brad Pitt. At the urging of his best friend, Lance (Clark Duke) and “borrowing” a car from his crazy elder brother Rex (James Marsden), Ian decides to confront his fear of rejection. Rating: Drive or drivel?
YES MAN (12A)
Based on a memoir by British author Danny Wallace, the story centres on a man who decides to change his life by saying yes to absolutely everything that comes his way leading him on a series of unexpected comedic adventures that turn his whole life upside-down. Jim Carrey stars as Carl Allen, a man who signs up for a selfhelp programme based on one simple principle: say yes to everything...and anything. At first it transforms his life in amazing and unexpected ways, but he soon discovers it can have its drawbacks. Rating: Carrey on trying
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A big budget romantic action-adventure set in northern Australia prior to World War II, centring on an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver (Hugh Jackman) to drive 2,000 cattle across hundreds of miles of the country’s most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia by the Japanese forces. Rating: Westerns go Oz
Successful lawyer Liv (Kate Hudson) and more subservient teacher Emma (Anne Hathaway) are best friends who since childhood have planned every detail of their respective weddings. At the top of their bridal “must have” list: a ceremony at New York’s ultimate bridal destination, the Plaza Hotel. Now, at age 26, they're both about to get married; they’re about to realize their dreams; and they’re about to live happily ever after. Or maybe not... a clerical error means they're to be married on the same date putting their friendship to the ultimate test. Rating: Chick flick.
BEDTIME STORIES (TBC)
A children's fantasy concerning a hotel handyman who gradually begins to realize that the imaginative bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew are beginning to manifest themselves in the real world. Adam Sandler is Skeeter Bronson, whose life is changed forever when the fictional tales he tells start to come true. He attempts to take advantage of the phenomenon, incorporating his own aspirations into one outlandish tale after another, but it's the kids' unexpected contributions that turn Skeeter's life upside down. Rating: Frothy fantasy
STARINTERVIEW
5MINUTES WITH Alan Dale
Benicio Del Toro talks about his role in a new cinema epic as iconic hero, Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara ...
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lan Dale, 61, was born in New Zealand. A former rugby player, he turned to acting in his 20s and found fame around the world as Jim Robinson in Neighbours. Since leaving the show in 1993, he has gone on to carve out a successful career as a character actor, featuring in series such as 24, Lost, ER, The West Wing and Torchwood. Dale also played King Arthur in the stage musical Spamalotand appeared in blockbusting action adventure Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Dale is married with four sons and lives in Los Angeles.
B
enicio Del Toro must be one of the most modest actors in Hollywood. The Puerto Rican star picked up an Oscar award for best supporting actor for his role in Traffic, and was nominated again in 2003 for his turn in 21 Grams. He is already receiving heavy buzz for his portrayal of revolutionary leader Che Guevara in Che, a film that has already won him best actor at the 61st Cannes film festival, and reunited him with his Traffic colleagues – director Steven Soderbergh and producer Laura Bickford. Yet he prefers to blow off any talk of awards, saying: “I just got lucky, you know. My guess (about the forthcoming awards) is as good as yours.’’ The 41-year-old says it was sheer good luck that led to his involvement in the twopart biopic, which he also co-produced. “Why did I have to play him? I don’t know,’’ Benicio admits. “I just got lucky. I thought this could be an interesting story – it’s got so many dimensions. I’ve always been a fan of underdogs, and I think that in a way, he was an underdog. “There’s something about that that I’ve been attracted to. I don’t know why. And I think that Che had elements of that. He never really quit. In the end, he’s like an underdog and for me, the fact that he was executed kind of also put a flame that this story should be told.’’ And he insists that he is merely portraying his interpretation of Che. “I knew a little about him but I didn’t know much about Che. I’m making an interpretation as other actors can make an interpretation of him,’’ he says. “So it’s Benicio Del Toro doing interpretations of moments of Che Guevara – it’s my interpretation of this character.’’ While admitting that his preparation to play the Argentine Marxist guerrilla leader was exhausting, Benicio claims he didn’t feel added pressure to portray him in the “right” way. “The process of playing Che was very different for me than other movies I have made,’’ he says. “I like to quote what Steven said to me – that I was like a deer in headlights. He said, ‘it’s impossible to play him or to do this film, but we’ll try’. And that was very liberating.
REVOLUTIONARY MOVIE: Catalina Sandino Moreno as Aleida March and Benicio Del Toro as Che
Portrait of a rebel icon “The other thing is, you do all the research you do. In this case, as a real person, you start with the man himself and what he wrote. This led us to seven years of research into what other people wrote about him. Even so, I always returned to what he had written himself.
“It’s a learning process and it can be a lot of fun. We got lucky, meeting a lot of people who knew him and spent time with him all the way to October 8, 1967, the day before he was executed. Meeting those people, reading what he wrote, there’s many photographs, there’s footage of him, and then you put all that together – but then at some point, you have to throw it away.
FACTFILE
■ Benicio (Beno) was born to lawyer parents and grew up in Santurce, Puerto Rico, but moved to Pennsylvania when he was 13. ■ He had small TV parts in the late 80s, playing mostly thugs and drug dealers. While he appeared in Madonna’s La Isla Bonita video, his breakout performance was in The Usual Suspects as the mumbling wise-cracking Fred Fenster. ■ In 2001, Benicio won a best supporting actor Oscar for Traffic, becoming the third Puerto Rican actor to win an Oscar. ■ The eligible bachelor keeps his love life under wraps although he previously dated British star Claire Forlani, and was engaged to Italian actress Valeria Golino.
YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
“You can’t go with this pre-conceived idea of what you’re going to do in every scene that you might be able to do in other movies.’’ One of the things he wanted to show was that Che was vulnerable. “I think one of the things what showed him as human was his asthma and being a sick man,’’ he says. “It’s easier to play vulnerability. If it was in the scene, then you would just play it. That’s it. I’m an actor, so vulnerability isn’t that hard to do.’’ Even so, the filming schedule was a challenge for the seasoned actor. “It was long and exhausting and we shot in five different countries. So it was like a touring band who was moving from Spain to Puerto Rico to New York to Mexico to Bolivia,’’ Benicio recalls with a grimace. He may play a political leader, but Benicio is eager to steer away from political talk about Latin America. “We could sit down and talk about that and political statements I’m not allowed to talk about because I’m not a political figure,’’ he says, with a smile. “I’m not really qualified to discuss what is going on in particular with these leaders.’’ ■ Che Part 1: The Argentine is now showing at cinemas through the UK. Che Part 2: Guerrilla will be released on Friday February 20.
If you had to be stuck in a lift with someone, who would it be? There are so many different reasons – it could be with someone who’s really interesting or someone who turns me on! Having said that, I do keep coming back to Barack Obama. He’s wonderful. What is your biggest fear? I guess death. The reason is I’m just having too much fun. Do you have any superstitions? I really particularly carefully don’t, though that in itself is probably a superstition because they can colour your life. If you could only have one song on your iPod, what would it be? The Lou Reed one – Walk on the Wild Side. I love it. What’s the most expensive item you’ve ever bought, not including property or cars? Paintings. I’ve got a couple by an Australian Aboriginal artist, Emily Kame Kngwarreye. I bought two and walked out of the shop and spent all of the money I’d earned in the past six months on them. Now, when we move house, which we’ve done a lot recently, the first thing we do is put the paintings up. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? There are lots, but Winston Churchill said never, never, never give up and I think I’m a living example of what happens when you keep on keeping on. When was the last time you cried and why? It was actually last week, and it was because I was reading a paragraph of my wife’s novel and I was sobbing. She e-mailed it to me and asked me what I thought and I wasn’t really able to because it was so moving. What’s your indulgence? My indulgence is one of the things that is good about me, which is saying yes to everything – but that goes for food too. I love it.
YOURVIEW
CLAIM TO FAME I met Danny from McFly in Pizza Hut in Bolton. He was really polite and posed for a photo with me – Student Kay Taylor
Have you ever got up close to someone famous. If so who and where? Let us have your claim to fame. e-mail life@ blackpoolgazette.co.uk
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life!
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MUSIC
New project is sheer poetry for Sir Paul
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McCARTNEY MAGIC: Sir Paul at the microphone
espite having passed the 64 years he once mused upon in a Beatles song, music legend Sir Paul McCartney has no intention of slowing down. 2008 was an eventful year for Sir Paul. There were a number of concerts, including the celebratory show at Anfield to mark Liverpool’s status as European Capital Of Culture, and another, more controversial one in Tel Aviv, not to mention that nasty divorce business. The less said about that the better. More recently, he and long-time collaborator Youth – or Martin Glover, to give him his less glamorous name – released Electric Arguments under their Fireman moniker. It’s no wonder he’s looking forward to some time off. “I get to a certain point, round about when the kids break up from school, and I think I should break up too,’’ he says in his Liverpudlian lilt. “I don’t like the idea of keeping going while they’ve all stopped,’’ he jokes. “We should all stop and have a break.’’
MUSIC MAKER: Sir Paul during a session to meet fans and sign copies of his new album in London last month
Electric Arguments is the third album released by Sir Paul and Youth, although it’s the first to feature vocals from the former Beatle and Wings man. Their previous two offerings, Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest and Rushes, were albums full of ambient instrumental music, with Sir Paul’s involvement only confirmed by then-label EMI after some time had passed. The title of the album comes from an Allen Ginsberg poem Kansas City To St Louis. Ginsberg and other Beat poets provided inspiration elsewhere on the album too. It was Youth who first suggested the idea of having vocals on the album this time around, but Sir Paul, unprepared and without any lyrics written, wasn’t so sure. “So I excused myself to everyone in the studio, and explained that it could be a highly embarrassing moment for everyone, but got up and started singing some melodies. Then we started looking in poetry books,’’ he continues. “We just wanted to find good-looking words, so that’s what I went for, inspirational words from people like
(American poet) Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Ginsberg.’’ The first song on the album to take shape was what became Travelling Light. “I’d been listening to a CD of sea shanties, and Youth runs a folk label called Butterfly,’’ he says. “Travelling Light is a folky sea shanty, and we took it from there.’’ Next up was raucous opener Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight. “It was something an old friend of mine in the 60s, Jimmy Scott, used to say,’’ Sir Paul says. It’s not the first song Jimmy sparked off, either. “I’d meet Jimmy and say hi, and he’d say ‘Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, man, life goes on,’ so he was the inspiration for that song too,’’ he says, referring to The Beatles’ 1968 track. Sir Paul, now 66, has a habit of doing this. Just as you’ve got over the fact you’re talking to a quarter of The Beatles, and, as the Guinness Book Of Records states, the most successful musician and composer of all time, he throws in a reference to knock you off your feet. We talk about Get Back being “just a jam’’ and says “It’s like I used to say to John,’’ once or twice too. That’ll be John Lennon, then. In 2009, he plans to start work on a featurelength animation of High In The Clouds, the children’s tale he wrote with Rupert/Frog Song collaborator Geoff Dunbar and is currently in talks with an American studio to see that happen. He’s also got a guitar concerto on the back burner, and of course, there’s always the issue of getting The Beatles catalogue onto iTunes. The Fab Four’s work isn’t available online due to legal wrangling between the two companies concerned - Apple Inc, those behind iTunes and the iPod, and Apple Corps, the company Sir Paul set up with the rest of The Beatles in 1968 to look after their affairs and recordings. ■ Electric Arguments by The Fireman is out now.
FACTFILE ■ Sir Paul, through his company MPL, owns the copyright to more than 3,000 songs, including the entire Buddy Holly catalogue, and the publishing rights to musicals including Grease and Guys & Dolls. ■ Sir Paul’s real name is James Paul McCartney. ■ Macca’s song Yesterday is the most covered song of all time, with more than 3,700 versions recorded. It appeared on the band’s Help! album in 1965, although wasn’t released as a single until 1976, six years after the Fab Four split up. ■ Sir Paul is the only artist to top the charts as a solo artist, as part of a duo [with Stevie Won-
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der], trio [Wings], quartet [The Beatles], quintet [The Beatles with Billy Preston] and an ensemble [Ferry Aid and Band Aid] ■ Around the time of Abbey Road’s release in 1969, an American DJ put together a string of unrelated incidents to claim Paul McCartney had died in 1966 and had been replaced by lookalike and soundalike. Some still believe the theory to this day. One piece of ‘evidence’ is that Sir Paul isn’t facing the camera on the inner sleeve of Sgt Pepper, although this can be explained away – he had a motorbike crash and cut his lip, causing a scar. He grew a moustache sooner after to cover the mark while it healed.
WHAT’SON
Chance for new talent
DUKE’S DIARY
Don’t look now – it might hurt
THERE’S a new look and a new name to the annual search for talent at the Queens Hotel’s Theatre Bar on South Promenade, Blackpool.
The Q Factor – which starts next Thursday – is giving away £100 at each heat with a grand final first prize of £1,000 plus a four hour recording session and a one off appearance with singing star Joe Longthorne.
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Anyone interested in taking part can ring or call in to the Queens Hotel or e-mail the venue’s host and compere at mikerossi.org
A dinner with Basil B
CLASSIC DANCE: The Russian State Ballet of Siberia will be on stage at The Grand
lackpool Grand Theatre sweeps away the panto dust and polishes its ballet costumes from COMEDY entertainment moves this weekend. into The Lowry Restaurant at Salford Quays next week with The Russian State Ballet of the Interactive Theatre of Siberia with the Russian State Australia’s production of Faulty Ballet Orchestra will be Towers…the Dining performing a trio of world Experience. famous ballets in three nights at Enter the world of the the theatre. snobbish, manic Basil, his Formed in 1981, the Russian domineering wife Sybil and State Ballet of Siberia has their hopeless languagechallenged waiter Manuel. This quickly established itself as one of Russia’s leading ballet two-hour interactive performance revolves around a companies and has built an international reputation for three-course meal, starting as delivering performances of guests are seated and outstanding quality and unusual concluding as dessert is depth. The soloists and corps de served. ballet never fail to delight The audience are the diners, audiences with their served by the Faulty Towers breathtaking physical ability and cast; the result is orchestrated mayhem. It's a feel-good piece dazzling costumes. of interactive, site-specific Tomorrow’s production is The theatre led by internationally Nutcracker (2.30pm and acclaimed actors. 7.30pm). This most famous of ■ Faulty Towers …the Dining fantasy ballets begins as night Experience. Tuesday January falls on a traditional fireside 13 to Sunday January 18. The scene on Christmas Eve. On the Lowry, Salford Quays, Greater stroke of midnight we are Manchester. Times: Tuesday – transported to an enchanting Thursday, 7.30pm, Friday and world where toy dolls come to Saturday, 8pm, Saturday and life, an army of soldiers does Sunday matinees,2pm. Tickets battle with a gang of mice and a (include a three course meal): Nutcracker is transformed into a £37, £42. Box office: 0870 787 handsome prince. This lavish 5793 or www.thelowry.com new production set to
A trio of treasures
Tchaikovsky’s captivating score will entrance adults and children alike. Tickets from £18.50 with concessions available. On Monday, Coppélia (7.30pm) sees mischief, mystery and comic chaos perfectly entwined. When eccentric toymaker Dr Coppelius creates a beautiful living doll, he unwittingly unleashes havoc in his local village. Delightful sets, charming costumes and dancing toys fill the stage in this joyous tale of mistaken identity and the search for the perfect woman. Tickets from £16.50. Giselle on Tuesday (7.30pm) is the most poignant of all classical ballets combines powerful emotions and visual splendour in a chilling and heart-rending tale of love, treachery and
forgiveness from beyond the grave. The wonderfully romantic story of Giselle and her aristocratic but duplicitous love Albrecht is set to a glorious score and brought to life by the magnificent costumes and virtuoso performances of the Russian State Ballet of Siberia. Tickets from £16.50. Call the Grand Theatre box office on (01253) 290190 for link and family ticket bookings and further information or book online at www.blackpoolgrand. co.uk Parking is available at a discounted rate at the secure West Street Car Park. Book your parking ticket when you book your show tickets from the box office and you can have parking from 5.30pm until 12.30am for £2.50.
The adventures of Billy Liar the dreamer THE University of Cumbria presents the first of two exciting productions performed by third year drama students at The Dukes in Lancaster next week. From Wednesday to Saturday at 8pm they will be presenting Keith Waterhouse Willis
Hall’s Billy Liar. Billy Fisher, a bored undertaker’s clerk in post war Britain, spends his spare time indulging in Walter Mitty like fantasies. He dreams of life as a comedy writer in the “big city.”
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However, with three girfriends on the go, his fllights of fancy come at a cost. ■ The Dukes, Moor Lane, Lancaster, Wednesday to Saturday ay 8pm. Box office (01253) 5980500
’ve got to stop looking up every time someone comes into the steam room at the De Vere Hotel’s health centre. I do it out of habit and in the hope that one day it will actually be some scantily clad, wonderfully attractive young woman or a fully trained first aider. Or, hope against hope, both those things clothed in the same tightly fitting costume and with a predilection for ageing, cash strapped, married dads. These days it’s about the only time I get to see the former free of charge in an enclosed environment, and likewise it’s generally the most likely place that I will require the latter. Obviously it very rarely happens and when it does the young lady in question is accompanied by a Brad Pitt, David Beckham or Buster the Bulldog lookalike. So more than a glance in her direction would mean I needed that first aider more than ever. It’s all a bit of a shame because I can remember when that hotel first opened and I would receive salivating tales from male colleagues of just how many models, WAGS and other beauties were hanging off the pool side and hovering in the gym. Clearly this was a wild rumour started by the health centre staff to lure susceptible males such as myself into seeking out a membership. I think I can trace the “looking up at the opening of a door habit” back to the days when I used the heady surrounds of Leeds Reference Library as my study base. This was, I have to admit, way back in the late 1960s when books were books not web pages and the nearest to state-of-the-art technology we had was microfilm. It was also the place where I met the first girl I’d ever seen down a whole pint of beer in one go. She was actually one of the reference librarians which made me love the place – and to a certain limited extent, her – all the more. The looking up thing was compulsory. I’d just left an all boys grammar school and was making the most of a mixed further education college in the hope I would finally settle down to some serious study whilst at the same time shedding my all too often monastic life once and for all. There’s a limit to how long you can keep your head down before the temptation to look up and see just who has come in takes over. That’s when I met and started going out with my second successive redhead. Blame it partly on my Jane Asher fixation and partly on the fact that most of my better looking friends shunned redheads with a passion for fear they had a giant X painted on their front door and would drag a man to a fiery hell for all time. The nearest I got to that was with the first of the two who once dragged me down a darkened warehouse aisle in the supermarket where we both worked. But that’s another story. This was, of course, all more or less before The Manager came on the scene. There was a slight cross over in my second year at college which resulted in an ultimatum, some tears before bedtime and the enduring fact that The Manager still can never pronounce the name Julia (the name of the second redhead) without adding an involuntary “aaaargh” to the end of it. That’s not bad going considering this was all some 40 years ago. robin.duke@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
Saturday, January 10, 2009
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FOOD&DRINK
LIQUIDNEWS
A hot toddie – Devon style
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Celebrity chef John Burton-Race has created a hot toddy recipe that’s unique to Devon. The Devon Hottie is John’s take on classic mulled wine. It combines award winning local wine with warming spices, peppercorns and West Country apple brandy to create a tasty winter treat. What you’ll need… 1 bottle of Sharpham Red wine (www.sharpham.com) 350ml Port Zest of 1 orange & lemon Juice of 4 oranges & 4 lemons 2 vanilla pods split 10 juniper berries 35 peppercorns crushed 1 cinnamon stick crushed 2 star anise crushed 75ml apple brandy Pinch grated nutmeg 90g fresh ginger grated 2 bay leaves How to make it… 1. Reduce the wine by half add the port and bring to the boil again 2. Add all the ingredients re-boil and place cling film over the pan until cool 3. Drop through a muslin and reserve until required 4. Reheat as required 5. Serve in small measures as it’s pretty potent!
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Blokes who fancy themselves as cocktail whizzes might appreciate the Smirnoff Red Ultimate Cocktail Kit – a chic but ever-so manly set that includes a bottle of Smirnoff vodka, a cocktail shaker, a metal fruit knife and strainer, four glasses and a chopping board. It’s available from Selfridges and Whisky Specialists stores, RRP £50.
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Drink tea and slim? Dragonfly Pu’er Tea is just the thing. Pu’er tea has a full-bodied, earthy flavour and is known in China as the ‘slimmer’s tea’. The ancient brew is reputed to raise the body’s metabolism so that it burns more calories. Celebs like Victoria Beckham (right) and Jerry Hall are apparently fans Dragonfly Pu’er Tea is available in either organic or nonorganic form (RRP £1.89 for 25 organic sachets, RRP £1.79 for 25 non-organic ones) from stores nationwide.
YOURVIEW
MY RESTAURANT CHOICE
I recently enjoyed eating at Vincents On The Square. It is a high quality restaurant in Cedar Square, Blackpool, and the food is home-made and good value - Sally Brown of Clifton Drive, South Shore.
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his is a sweet pizza, using puff pastry instead of pizza dough and strawberries instead of tomato. You can add a sprinkling of white chocolate shavings to represent parmesan if you wish.
INGREDIENTS
For base: 250g ready made puff pastry Small punnet of strawberries Small jar of hazelnut chocolate spread (Nutella) Chocolate topping: 3 eggs (separated) 75g of caster sugar 150g good quality dark chocolate 15g butter
METHOD
Heat oven to 180 degrees
EATINGIN
with Paul Rowley of the Lindum Hotel, St Annes
HOTCHOCOLATE PIZZA Roll pastry out (thinly), prick with a fork and bake for approximately 7-10 mins Once cooled, cut out the pastry into squares big enough to fit an approximate 5cm metal ring, spread with Nutella and top with thinly sliced strawberries.
To make chocolate topping melt the chocolate and butter over simmering water and slowly beat in the egg yolks In a large bowl, whisk in the egg whites till stiff then slowly add the sugar (continuously whisking) Gently fold together the chocolate and meringue mix Place the greased metal ring over the pastry squares and pour in the topping mix Cook in a 180 degree oven for approximately eight minutes To start: Light refreshing tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad with fresh basil and balsamic syrup. To follow: Spaghetti vongole To drink: A small glass of Brown Brothers Orange Muscat (dessert wine) To book: 721534
FOODEXTRA
Lift the gloom with a taste of chocolate
FORGET the diet! Dark and bitter or milky and sweet – there’s nothing like chocolate to make a bad day better, especially in times of economic doom and gloom. Kathryn Hawkins, author of Just Chocolate (New Holland, priced £9.99), claims nothing else comes close to matching chocolate’s magical properties. Personal indulgence aside, Kathryn says chocolate is brilliant in the kitchen because of its versatility. “It’s an excellent subject for a recipe book because you can make so many things with it,’’ she says. Indeed, Just Chocolate has a dizzying spread of treats – from child-friendly cookies and muffins to more adult tastes like cheesecake and gateaux spiked with liqueurs. The difficulty will be stopping at
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making – and eating – just one! Try her recipe for Jumble Slice: You can put almost anything you like in one of these melted chocolate mixtures. Try different types of dried or glace fruits, and for a less sweet version, use continental plain chocolate.
INGREDIENTS
(Serves 12) 150g/5oz unsalted butter 500g/1lb milk chocolate, broken into small pieces 180g/6oz chocolate chip biscuits, crushed into small pieces 60g/2oz glace cherries, chopped 60g/2oz seedless raisins 60g/2oz mini marshmellows
125g/4oz Maltesers, lightly crushed
METHOD Line a 500g/1lb loaf tin with clear food wrap. Place the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Set aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile put the remaining ingredients together in a mixing bowl and stir well, making sure that all the pieces are thoroughly coated. Transfer to the prepared tin, press down well, cover loosely and chill for at least two hours until firm and set. Remove from the tin and discard the food wrap. Using a large sharp knife, cut into 12 slices to serve. Keep refrigerated.
FOOD&DRINK
EATINGOUT
WINECORNER
Jali, North Promenade
W
ith the traditional Christmas and New Year feasting over for another year, an Indian meal seemed to fit the bill. But we were determined not to skimp on that bill either. We had heard a lot recently from friends about this stylish restaurant alongside the Carlton Hotel on Blackpool Prom. What’s more, it had been voted the resort’s top restaurant in a travel guide and recently made a world record – for the highest tower of poppadoms (230). Trying it ourselves was something of a breakthrough in our household as my wife had only once before been in an Indian restaurant, where she ordered a steak. She even spent three weeks in Sri Lanka without tasting local cuisine. I was a keen aficionado of Manchester restaurants, including ethnic ones in Rusholme. In Blackpool, my Indian dining stretched from the old Everest in Central Drive to more recent restaurants. But entering the Jali’s bar and reception area was like stepping into modern India: a mix of contemporary comfort with traditional carvings and ornaments; an efficient but friendly welcome, and the scent of josssticks at a trendy bar. A large bottle of Kingfisher, India’s premier beer, was a considerable investment at £5.30, along with a Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic (£3.80), but refreshing. Even on a blustery Wednesday a score or so of diners were dotted about the large, atmospheric restaurant. We sat in a window area facing the seafront and studied our menus. There were three of these, which I found a bit much. A winter special offered three courses and a drink for £15 and was the only menu with meals I recognised. A second menu listed “signature” dishes, while the largest and main menu also included a Pan Flash Bazaar section offering a choice for about £13 for traditional “kiosk-style” cooking – where you select items and sauces for pan frying. But tonight we were dining in style to mark our first Indian feast together. We ordered from the main menu, along with one “signature” dish and accompanied our choices with a chilled bottle of Banrock Station sparkling shiraz (£14.95), that was a little heavy going with the benefit of hindsight. My wife’s choice of starter proved a great success. This was Lifafa (£4.65) – delicate potato-cake-style envelopes with cheese filling, pan fried and served hot with a drizzle of green chutney and a tamarind coulis. My opener was Achari Fish Tikka (£6.95), flaky fish chunks marinated in a spicy pickle and cooked with that tandoor oven taste delicious. So far so good, now down to main courses. Mine was a “signature” Murg Kali Mirch (£8.25). This was large chunks of tender chicken breast in cashew cream sauce rather like a mild satay and very nice too. Across the table, the choice was Methi Gosht (£8.25). This was lamb simmered with fresh fenugreek (rather like spinach) in an onion and tomato sauce. This impressed with quantity, quality and tenderness of meat, though I suspected she would have
CONTEMPORARY COMFORT: Jali at the Carlton Hotel
FACTFILE Address: 282-286 North Promenade, Blackpool Tel. (01253) 622223 Open: Mon-Thur 6pm-10pm; Fri & Sat 6pm-10:30pm; Sun 6pm-9pm Booking: not always necessary Parking: large car park Cards: most Access: steps to entrance, basement conveniences Vegetarian: good choice Extras: winter special threecourse meal and drink £15; Pan Flash Bazaar selection £12.50£14.50 Value for money: 7/10 Life! rating: 8/10 preferred a French sauce to this gentle, green curry. The accompanying Jeera cumin-tempered basmati rice with fresh coriander (£3.50) was almost as light and fluffy as our naan garlic bread (£2.95). We also had a sideplate of chef’s salad (£2.50) – mostly slices of raw cucumber, onion and tomato. Finally, for dessert, we went western with a
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tasty sticky toffee pudding and mixed icecream (each £3.95). Service was attentive and friendly but the background orchestral music rather too grand. Two coffees (£1.75 each) brought our total bill with 10 per cent service charge to £81.21.
Roy Edmonds
by Jacqueline Morley
S
ome great offers to be had this month as the sales continue. Somerfield’s got some cracking bargains such as Nicole D’Aurigny Champagne for £9.99 and Cava Brut for £3.99. Also try the stylishly sparkling Cordorniu Extra. This exemplary Cava is half price at £4.99 until Tuesday. An elegant fizz, toasty and exhilarating with lively mousse, it makes for a perfect aperitif. Buy all three now for Valentine’s or Mother’s Day – or just to lift the spirits from the post-party season doldrums. Enjoy cosy evenings with with friends and family and open a bottle or two of Somerfield’s Almena Real Rioja Reserva ’03, a top quality scented, fruitsome Rioja with light pepper, vanilla, spice, good depth and soft, round form. It goes especially well with roast lamb with rosemary and is also half price, at £5.99, until Tuesday. The chain, which has branches locally, also has three exceptional Hardy’s wines at half price this month, from £8.99 to £4.49. The Cabernet Shiraz Merlot is a gutsy, full-on fruited red, with tingling spice and balancing smoothness of herbs. Excellent with roast lamb and beef, steak and mushroom pie or pepper steak. Choose the Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc for its dry crispness and appealing, refreshing character. Great with roast chicken, creamy pasta or mild curries. The Rose has the deep pink colour of lightly smoked salmon and its rosehippy taste makes it a good contender for griddled, salmon, prawns fried with garlic or ham salad. Into Tesco to bag the following, at half price, for just £3.99 each until February 3, all good value for the price although, frankly, it’s stretching it at the usual £7.99: South Africa’s Kumala Eternal range offers Shiraz Cabernet, Chenin Chardonnay, and Rose, while America’s McManis Limited Release label unleashes the easy tippling Cabernet TOP TIPPLE Sauvignon and Keep the Chardonnay. spirits For something zinging decidedly different with try the (Spanish) Beringer Clos Ventana California Navarra Sparkling Tempranillo, Zinfandel £3 off, at £4.15 for a Rosé, a more resiny, raisiny light floral swig. offering Booths also has a from sun range of discounts soaked until Jan 24, California, including a couple bursting of Chilean with favourites, strawberries, citrus Valdevieso and bubbles, Sauvignon Blanc, refreshing acidity, and quite grapefruity in lingering finish, Asda, styling, and £1.50 Somerfield and Tesco off, at £4.19 and the £7.99 . heavily cherried sister Merlot, soft, ripe, medium bodied, same price. Now here’s a few others which won’t break the bank, and are widely available: Thandi Fairtrade Chardonnay ’06 has big buttery appeal, bursting with citrus, and a hint of vanilla, great with seafood, Tesco £6.99, if you prefer a classic cassis red, sample the sister Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot ’07 (www.everywine.co.uk) and a fiver (independent retailers) will bag great value Welmoed Shiraz ’07, rich but balanced fruit, with hints of cedar and oak.
Don’t forget to send your booze news, clubs, favourite finds, swigs and tips to jacqui.morley@blackpoolgazette. co.uk
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life!
9
TIMEOUT NEW FICTION RUMOURS: A LUXE NOVEL Anna Godbersen
Billed as Gossip Girl meets The Age of Innocence, the follow-up to the bestselling Luxe has plenty of gossip, back-stabbing and blackmail, set in Victorian-era New York. It opens in Manhattan in 1899, with society bidding farewell to It Girl Elizabeth Holland. Rumours continue to fly about Elizabeth’s untimely death – only her sister Diana and friend Penelope Hayes know that the socialite has run away to California to be with her true love, Will Keller. When Elizabeth hears that her mother is ill and the family are in financial disarray, she risks all to return to New York – with tragic results. Penguin, £6.99
THE BODIES LEFT BEHIND Jeffery Deaver
The master of suspense will not leave his readers disappointed with this gripping page-turner in which two women, one a small town cop, the other a designer-clad businesswoman from the city, escape two killers who have murdered a couple in a spooky, out-of-theway house next to a lake. Unarmed, the women battle the elements through dense, deserted woods, pursued by the killers. Deaver deploys his trademark twists and turns almost from the beginning, as the women outsmart the gunmen, tension building all the time as the killers stalk their prey. Pick up this book and you won’t put it down. Hodder & Stoughton, £17.99
NEW NON FICTION PUTIN AND THE RISE OF RUSSIA Michael Stuermer
CHILDREN’S CHOICE CINDERELLA FILES Alan Durant
Surely it was only a matter of time before Cinderella was put under the spotlight. After all, what do we really know about the infamous orphan who snagged a Prince with the help of a pumpkin, some mice and a so-called fairy godmother? In this new children’s book, Rumple Stiltskin is the Investigator-In-Chief of the world famous Fairytale Agency, charged by the king with finding out a little more about his son’s mystery woman. This interactive, scrapbookstyle book provides a charming twist on a traditional tale. Walker Books, £7.99
PAPERBACK CHOICE THE SECRET SHOPPER’S REVENGE Kate Harrison
New mum wants revenge on the stick-thin assistants who laugh at her post-baby tummy and post-baby budget. But frumpiness has its advantages when you’re wielding a secret camera – and sending damning footage to head office. Orion, £6.99
NEWDVDs DVD: PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
T
Drug lord murder mission
wenty-something slacker Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) pays a visit to his dealer Saul (James Franco) and procures an extremely rare and potent strain of marijuana called Pineapple Express. Under the influence of the heady narcotic, Dale witnesses ruthless drug lord Ted Jones (Gary Cole) murder a rival, abetted by dirty cop Carol (Rosie Perez). Unfortunately, Ted and Carol see Dale flee the scene and they give chase, determined to silence the accidental witness forever. Dale seeks sanctuary in Saul’s apartment but quickly surmises that a roach full of Pineapple Express, left behind at the roadside, will quickly lead Ted and Carol to them. So the unlikely pals hit the road, stopping off to make sure Dale’s girlfriend Angie (Amber Heard) is safe, before turning to Saul’s business associate Red (Danny McBride) for help. Pineapple Express is a deranged buddy comedy that casts a heroic glow on socially awkward misfits, who would be consigned to the sidelines in any other film. The script splices genres with giddy abandon, ricocheting between action, comedy and human drama. On a couple of occasions, David Gordon Green’s film threatens to
careen out of control entirely, but there’s a strangely appealing method in the madness of screenwriting duo Rogen and
(Cert 18, 112 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, DVD £17.99/two-disc DVD £19.99/Bluray £24.99/UMD £12.99)
FRENCH
DRAGONFLY
BLACK DIAMOND
Named after the resort they have never visited but would love to perform in, this French band must sound like fish out of water in their homeland. Their debut album is so English sounding you’d be forgiven for thinking they were just a drive down the motorway in Manchester or, in fact, were sandgrown. There’s a touch of Inspiral Carpets keyboards here (TV Show), Streets style vocals there (Ann) and even a nod the Modern Lovers (FFIYA). They’d come for expenses only. Is there anybody out there? Two Kidz Recordz
File under “where do we file this?” choice The prophetic The Sound of Halleluljahs based on a pre chart topping conversation with his daughter about Leonard Cohen’s X Factor anthem makes it worth digging out. Elsewhere numbers about World War One, the murdered Suffolk prostitutes, and a soldier killed by “friendly fire” make this a high spot in a surprisingly overlooked 20-plus year career. Hatsongs
MUSIC
Evan Goldberg, anchored by a touching camaraderie between the leads. A frenetic car chase, during which Saul attempts to kick out a shattered windscreen, is a loopy highlight. McBride is a lively sidekick, coming to the fore during a cartoonishly violent finale, while Cole and Perez sneer and snarl.
BUDDY COMEDY: Seth Rogen as Dale Denton, James Franco as Saul Silver and Danny R. McBride as Red
The two-disc version includes the theatrical version of the film and a new, extended version, plus a free digital copy of the film.
BOOKCLUB CHOICE CLOUD ATLAS David Mitchell
Making sense of Russian politics has never been a simple task and Professor Michael Stuermer uses his contacts in the former Soviet union well. Stuermer picks his way carefully through Putin’s rule, unravelling the complexities of postBoris Yeltsin Russia. Like all good powerbrokers, Putin has faded into the background just as
YOURVIEW
BOOKS
quickly as he appeared as an international figurehead. Stuermer shows great understanding of the history of politics in a country in which secret institutions and state organisations still hold considerable sway. He succeeds in giving the reader a better understanding of how politics works in Russia. Orion, £20
The voices of a reluctant voyager, disinherited composer and highminded journalist are just some of those which combine in this wonderful novel. In his terrfying vision of our future, Mitchell questions our ability to shape not only our own destinies, but the lives of those who will come after us. Sceptre, £7.99
THE LAST DVD I WATCHED
Mamma Mia – a great opportunity for an Abba singalong on a girls night in with lots of wine – Marking administrator Yvonne Lawrence who lives in Blackpool
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Blackpool
Reg Meuross
✔
life!
Baraka Som Sistema
The name may be unfamiliar at the moment but the word is fast spreading about this MTV Europe nominated band who have already captured the attention of Damon Albarn’s Africa Exprez project. It’s easy to see why with infectious Angolan Kuduro, Portuguese street rhythms and Euro dance floor techno fusions such as the body shaking Tiroza and the hit waiting to happen Kalemba (Wegue-Wegue). A mix of performers, dancers and producers, last month’s short UK tour was only the start – 2009 will be their year. Fabric
TIMEOUT
THE DVD RENTAL TOP 10
ODD COUPLE: James Franco as Saul Silver and Seth Rogen as Dale Denton
SOMERS TOWN Shane Meadows’s new film is a companion piece to the superb This Is England, crafting another coming of age tale, this time set against the backdrop of the titular area of central London buffered by Euston and King’s Cross mainline railway stations. Sixteen-year-old runaway Tommo (Thomas Turgoose) arrives in the capital with a bag full of clothes and a little cash to tide him over. Mugged for his
belongings as he wanders the streets, Tommo resorts to begging for food and shelter from a Scottish passenger (Kate Dickie). He eventually finds a friend in Polish immigrant Marek (Piotr Jagiello), whose father Marius (Ireneusz Czop) is a labourer on the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras. Marek agrees to hide Tommo in the cramped flat he shares with his father, and the two boys
1 (7) Hancock 2 (1) Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull 3 (-) The Mummy - Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor 4 (-) The Strangers 5 (8) Kung Fu Panda 6 (4) The Dark Knight 7 (-) Bangkok Dangerous 8 (-) Babylon A.D. 9 (-) The Accidental Husband 10 (6) Wall-E ■ Chart supplied by www.block buster.co.uk
become unlikely buddies, earning pocket change by performing odd jobs for local wheeler-dealer, Graham (Perry Benson). However, Tommo cannot live unseen forever in the apartment, forcing the youngster to make tough choices about his future. Shot (Cert 12, 68 mins, Optimum Home Entertainment, Drama/Comedy, DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £24.99)
GAMESGEAR SPORE PC
The Sims will only get you so far, when simulating life. And it’s about time a game upped the ante. Spore does that and then some, taking you on an epic journey from the origin and evolution of life through the development of civilisation and technology, and eventually all the way into the deepest reaches of outer space. From life as a microbe just trying to survive to launching your creature into the wide world populated by everyone else’s crazy creations, Spore is simply captivating. Fabulous graphics, an amazing array of creation tools to harness and a near-endless universe of other people’s take on ‘life’ – Spore is a must for all wannabe-Darwin’s out there. 5/5 £39.99
GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS PSP
Since the former Spartan general Kratos burst onto the PS2 a few years ago, the mythological action adventure series has captivated gamers with its perfect mix of Tomb-Raider-style exploration and bloodthirsty adrenalin-pumping combat. This PSP release brings an awe-inspiring cinematic experience to the small screen, making it the stand-out title of 2008 for Sony’s handheld, if not the best game to grace the system full stop. High praise indeed, but just an hour battling through the early stages of gorgeous graphics, jawdropping baddies and boss-men and crisp, atmospheric audio will prove that God is gamer, and he owns a PSP. 5/5 £29.99
FALLOUT 3 PS3
THE MIX 2009 Various
Lest we forget the passing of years, regular Blackpool visiting dance brand Hed Kandi is always there to remind us. As much an exit to last year as an intro to this one, the triple CD set contains a seamless mix of classic tracks including 16 new productions and remixes just for this collection including tracks by Dannii Minogue, Robyn and Dizzee Rascal. The first two albums get the party started in non stop fashion leaving the third to act as a recovery zone with chilled down-tempo tunes and sultry sounds. Hed Kandi
YONDER
If Stockholm doesn’t sound the likeliest home of the blues to you then it’s probably time to sample the delights of this appealing quartet. It’s far more campfire than fjord with the emphasis on mellow harmonica and acoustic guitar and a musical style that fuses gospel, old time church, mountain music and heartfelt blues. The gospel traditional Beulah Land – first revived by Mississippi John Hurt in the 1920s – starts the proceedings in impressive style with the band contributing most of the rest. Laid back is an understatement. Rootsy
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COBA COBA Novalima
Having formed a little over seven years ago the time couldn’t be better for this Afro-Peruvian fusion to make a breakthrough. For starters their music is a breath of warm wind in a cold winter. Then there’s the fact that their musical tradition stretches back to the times of Spanish colonial rule when African slaves were brought to Peru. Over the centuries the musical styles mixed and mingled with European and Andean influences resulting in this superb collection. From funk to reggae, dub to dance, it’s all in here. Cumbancha
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion brought next-generation RPGs to another level, and those little developing devils at Bethesda have been at it again. Where Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean dared to tread in Oblivion, Liam Neeson this time brings true cinematic quality to what can only be described as a video game epic that’s going to engross and astound PS3 gamers this winter. Post-apocalyptic Washington DC is the setting for a huge, incredible RPG experience, where every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders, and the many other dangers of the
WEBSITE
SiMPLY CAPTIVATING: Spore Wasteland. Neeson acts as the lead character’s father and brings a superb dramatic tone to proceedings, but one glance at the sheer size, visual splendour and audio quality of Fallout 3 will have you searching for superlatives of your own anyway! 5/5 £49.99
MIRROR’S EDGE PS3
This is no ordinary first person title - let’s make that very clear from the outset. And that alone should send you shooting to the shops to snap up this instant classic from EA. As Faith, a ‘runner’ in a world where communication channels are highly monitored and the movement of information is closely watched, you’re launched into a career as one of these high-octane adrenalin-pumping couriers. From the off, you’ll see first-hand how the incredible perspective and and pace of movement push this game to the limits, as you find yourself on the edge of the city, on the wrong side of the law, and out to discover the truth behind your sister’s wrongful framing for murder. Superb chases, intense combat – this is an awesome, high-flying experience. 5/5 £49.99
METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS PS3
If you’ve played through Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid masterpieces and now treat Snake as a close friend, this epic climax to the series should give you everything you could wish for from an adventure obsessed with detail, dialogue and the kind of delicious graphics that the PS3 has been crying out to display in all their glory. Go buy it. 5/5 £49.99
If you’ve ever wanted your own web site or blog but been put off by the need to learn new software, Posterous (www.posterous.com) might appeal to you. It’s a super-simple blogging service operated entirely by email. To add new content, all you do is email it. You don’t even have to sign up for an account you can start right now by emailing anything you like (including photos and video clips) to post@posterous.com. You’ll get an automatic reply telling you how to use the blog you’ve just created.
BROWSING AROUND
■ People Tree sells Fair Trade and fashionable clothing www.peopletree.co.uk ■ Sell your old books or buy second hand www.greenmetropolis.com
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life! 11
WELLBEING
Guide to the good life
DIETING WELL
Once the clocks struck midnight and the New Year dawned thousands of people jumped on the diet treadmill (writes Claire Spreadbury). I’ve been one of them every year for years because for as long as I can remember I’ve had issues with my body. But I’m celebrating 2009 free from the negative cycle of “diet, fail, and diet again”, and feel better about my body than I’ve ever done in my life. It’s not thanks to a wonder new diet, rather the opposite: I’ve literally changed my love-hate relationship with food thanks to hypnosis and as a result I’m also slimmer and fitter almost without effort. If it sounds like a miracle, it feels like one to me. My problems probably began in childhood when a friend teasingly called me “fatty”. I wasn’t fat but that word hurt and it stayed with me, and as a moderately chubby teenager I started dieting. I’ve spent years trying out the latest gimmicks and food fads looking for the perfect answer. At heart, I do actually hate my body so I was intrigued when I heard about Georgia Foster, a clinical hypnotherapist who specialises in helping people break free of negative emotions which can cause us to overeat and drink. After visiting Georgia on numerous occasions I discovered I’m a perfectionist so even a little “naughty” food moment means I instantly feel like a hopeless failure, have ruined a diet and I abandon it. Also my harsh “inner” critic regularly tells me “you’re too fat”, or “you never look good”. Constant undermining, that I subconsciously inflict on myself, also leads me to regularly comfort myself by eating all the wrong foods, with a sort of “what’s the point in dieting, it never works – I’m fat anyway so a bit more won’t make a difference” approach. My indulgences are especially bad when I’m stressed or feeling low. I’m not alone. A survey of my friends revealed only one in 10 was happy with their body, and they also suffer the drudgery of regular dieting or worrying about their (often non-existent) flab. So why is weight and dieting such a big problem? “Unfortunately, we’re influenced by the media and in particular by celebrities,’’ says Georgia, who confesses she struggled with food and self esteem issues for 16 years. “Being underweight is seen as ‘normal’ and people assume that how they look is the key to being happy, which it’s not. Eating when you’re not hungry is about feeding an emotional need which tends to be low self worth, loneliness and fear. This then becomes an unconscious habit which is extremely difficult to break consciously.” Under hypnosis, Georgia helped me realise the negative power of my “inner” critic and how to overcome it. She created a personalised CD which I listened to regularly to re-train myself into feeling not just more positive about myself but, crucially, more able to control my eating habits.
Georgia also taught me not to set myself up for failure by setting unrealistically high targets for eating and exercise. She showed me that one slip on one day didn’t mean complete failure, and I should persevere the next day. “There are people all over the UK who are slim but also extremely unhappy,’’ adds Georgia. “So people need to stop valuing themselves purely on their shape or body weight. “Once confidence increases, body image improves and binge eating and manic dieting is no longer necessary.’’ Is it really that simple? Well, actually, yes. It comes down to breaking bad habits, not beating yourself up about a Christmas over-indulgence, and focusing on a healthy way of life with the odd treats. And as your self esteem goes up, the weight comes down, because food stops being an emotional crutch. I’ve thrown away the scales, don’t measure myself by my weight, and feel (and I think look) like a new person. Embrace the freedom – you’ll love it! ■ A Weightless Mind (with CD) by Georgia Foster is £14.99. She also offers personal consultations; or a telephone consultation and a personal CD. For information and to order the book: Call: 0208 987 2718/www.georgiafoster.com.
LOOK WELL
It’s all too easy now the party season’s over to ditch all those efforts you’ve made with your appearance, and lapse back into old, rushed beauty routines. But perhaps the best New Year present you could give your face and skin is treating it to regular TLC. You won’t just be rewarded with a more glowing, youthful bloom, but it will also boost your spirits, according to beauty and wellbeing guru, Liz Earle. Her hugely successful Naturally Active Skincare range – it’s popularity’s grown purely through word of mouth recommendation as it’s never been advertised – harnesses the power of botanical extracts and contains only natural ingredients. Liz, an exceedingly youthful looking 45-yearold, says: “For me this year – which is probably going to be tough in many ways – should be about treating yourself in small and special ways. “Making a little ‘me’ time at the end of each day to massage in perhaps your favourite facial oil doesn’t cost the earth but can make all the difference to your skin and spirits. “By spending even a little more time on your beauty regime, you can feel pampered and look great without having to break the bank.’’ She suggests a slow massage of cleanser into the face, neck and decolletage to soothe and relax. Also treating hands and nails to a regular pampering and polishing session. Liz’s Beauty Best Buys for 2009: A Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, £12 for 100ml and two muslin cloths; and Superskin Moisturiser, £29.50 for 50ml. Range available from selected John Lewis branches, and online: 01983 813 913/www.lizearle.com
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KEEPING BALANCE: Camilla and her Strictly partner Tom Chambers
Dance star’s staying calm
CAMILLA Dallerup, the professional dancer who spun Holby City actor Tom Chambers to the winning post in Strictly Come Dancing, reveals her health and wellbeing resolutions for the future. She admits that when she wakes up every morning she rushes into her living room to see her glitter ball trophy: “It feels like a dream! But I know I have to keep my feet on the ground and stick to my normal routines, so my aim will be to keep a healthy balance between work and enjoying myself.’’ Camilla, 34, currently dating actor Kevin Sacre, 30, who used to play Jake Dean in Hollyoaks, says: “I treasure my time off as I believe it’s essential to relax and reenergise.’’ Her home is her sanctuary, furnished in minimal style, with pride of place in the
living room given to a large Buddha. “It helps my wellbeing to be in a calm, uncluttered, peaceful space after the rush and stress of touring, travelling and appearances.’’ Camilla, who weighs around eight stone and is 5’6” says: ‘’I daren’t let my weight drop as it would affect my energy levels, so I eat plenty of pasta.“ Her favourite: Carluccio’s Luganica, a pasta with a spicy sausage bolognese sauce. Her remedies: Protein enhanced energy drinks by Torq (www.torq.ltd.uk), and a daily teaspoon of Manuka honey; she believes the antimicrobial properties ward off colds, flu and viruses. New Zealand Comvita Manuka honey starts from around £10.95 for a jar. Call: 01753 701618/www.comvita.co.uk
HEALTH&BEAUTY
Be a smoothie
T
here’s nothing new about the metrosexual male. And no girl is going to complain about a man who looks well groomed and smells gorgeous.
Emma Harris, Gazette health writer and qualified gym instructor, with her weekly look at staying healthy
But she would rather he bought his own beauty products and left hers alone. Be a smooth operator and get shopping.
THE BIG QUESTION
Sharp buy: Many razors are reasonably priced, but then charge a fortune for the replacement blades. Just because a product is more expensive, doesn’t mean that it will be a better shave.
I have heard friends in the gym talk about things like drop sets and pyramids and supersets. What does this mean? The names you have mentioned are advanced methods of resistance training, which are beneficial because they help train the muscles by progressively overloading the body. They will be effective for improving muscle tone and strength. They are not suitable for a beginner, however, as they do require an existing muscular endurance or strength base from which to start. You can perform them using either free weights in the gym or the resistance machines. A system involving drop-sets would see you performing an exercise, let’s say using the leg press machine, at a selected weight until you reached failure and could not perform any more. Then, without resting, you would select a lower weight and perform the exercise again until you reached failure. Then, without resting, drop the weight again and repeat. Pyramids involve increasing the weight for each set, while reducing the number of repetitions. Say if you were on the pec dec machine to work the chest. Perform 15 repetitions at 70 per cent of the maximum weight you can do. Then, without resting in between, perform 10 at 80 per cent, then perform five at 90 per cent. And supersets involve working the same or opposing muscle group together with no rest in between. An example of working the same group would be performing chest presses with a barbell followed by dumbbell flyes without resting between. An example of opposing muscle groups would be to perform a set of tricep kickbacks, followed by bicep curls.
The King of Shaves Azor (main picture) provides a great shave without the ransom. It’s only £4.99 with three replacement blades and it’s the same price for four replacement cartridges.
Time fighter: Fight the ravages of time with an innovative unisex concentrate which helps eliminate the appearance of wrinkles on contact, evening out and smoothing away the look of the deepest, most visible lines. Use TriAktiline (left) where you need it most – on crow’s feet, laugh lines, anywhere facial expressions have left their mark. £24.99. Available exclusively at Boots.com and larger Boots stores. Male scent: Women love a man who smells nice ... L’Occitan EDT (left) is a peppery fragrance of nutmeg and lavender. EDT £26
Bright eyes: Give your eyes a brighter look with The Body Shop’s Maca Root Eye Serum (above) from its For Men Range. This refreshing and easily absorbed serum instantly revives and moisturises the delicate skin around the eyes. Helps to brighten the eye area and reduce the appearance of puffiness with regular use. £10 for 15ml.
EXPERTVIEW
SHAPINGUP
ATKINS DIET
Moisture rich: Don’t neglect your skin. The extremes of cold weather outside and central heating inside are really dehydrating. Use a moisturiser morning and night, try Trevor Sorbie’s Moisturising Cream (above) for Dry Skin £5.99
BEAUTY TIP
When dressing for winter, use non-irritating fabrics such as cotton, which doesn’t trap moisture on the skin’s surface and can be worn for warmth or coolness – Sue Simpson, Blackpool-based beauty expert Let us have your beauty tip. e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
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It’s one of the most controversial and talked about diets of the early noughties, and now it seems the Atkins diet is making a comeback. The low-carb, high protein weight loss plan was followed by stars from Jennifer Aniston to Geri Haliwell and was instantly popular with millions of dieters, but quickly fell out of favour. But now a new study has proved the Atkins diet is more effective at losing weight than a conventional low-fat diet.
SALTY SAUSAGES
If you think that swapping your regular burgers for a veggie variety is a healthy option, you could be mistaken. Recent research has found that some brands of veggie sausages and burgers contain the same amount of salt as five bags of crisps.
COFFEE CONNECTION
Drinking too much coffee can reduce the chances of a woman with fertility problems getting pregnant, according to a new study. Four cups of coffee a day can cause as many problems with conception as alcohol, smoking or being overweight.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life! 13
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FASHION&STYLE
Under wraps
SHAPE UP: Until the January detox is over we’ll all be living in control pants after seasonal excess. La Senza’s Jessica Shapewear lingerie is surprisingly sexy. Expect 50s detailing, lashing of lace and fiery red styles. Be quick if you want to pad out your undies drawer. La Senza has its Glamour range, including Shapewear, with 50% off (www.lasenza. co.uk).
H
ave you got the January blues? You’ve spent too much in the last month, eaten too much and are feeling the pinch on your purse and your waistline. You can’t afford to splash out on a new outfit, but are desperate to give yourself a little lift. What could be better than a cheap, cheerful and very witty knit?
GOODBUYS
Enjoy window shopping with life! in our weekly guide to tempting offers
Long lines: You’ll really be able to wrap up against the cold in this Argyle scarf £14.99 from River Island. Bobble on: Bobble chunky hand knitted scarf in chocolate or black £20 from Long Tall Sally
BUY NOW: Snap up Topshop’s Firecracker lantern skirt, £30....your fashion credentials will rocket! (www.topshop .com).
Winter cheer: Fun and cheerful this stripe scarf is sure to lift your spirits. From Next £18
Lace work: Lace is very much a part of the fashion story this winter. This lace print square scarf is £15 from Accesorize Colour charged: Give a plain outfit a blast of clour with this Fairisle scarf, £15, by Red Herring at Debenhams
YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
Stripe up: If stripes are your thing, take a look at this. Scarf £10, gloves £6, from Evans
NECK CANDY: Forget the designer labels. If there’s one must-have getting celebrities hot around the collar it’s Kendi Jewlz necklaces. Inspired by the queen of personalised necklaces, Sex And The City’s Carrie, stars just can’t stop reminding us of their names! Sarah Harding, Holly Willoughby and Lorraine Kelly have all been spotted wearing Kendi Jewlz necklace name tags, from £38. Create your own unique necklace at www.kendijewlz.com
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life! 15
FAMILIES TRIPTIPS
For your week ahead STEAM on down to the annual Preston Model Railway Exhibition, being held today and tomorrow. Layouts in various scales can be seen at the Sports Hall, Preston College, Fulwood Campus, St Vincent's Road. The Ribble Steam Railway will be operating in conjunction with the exhibition. Take a return trip on a Ribble Vehicle Preservation Trust heritage bus link for less than the combined admission prices. When you buy your combined ticket at Ribble Steam Railway, free parking is included. The exhibition is open until 5pm today and 10am-5pm tomorrow. Family ticket £15, adults £5 and concessions £4. Tel: 07879 823258
Skating rink stays open for longer SKATERS will be able to take to the ice in Manchester for another fortnight due to popular demand. A record 20,000 people have enjoyed the Manchester city centre attraction. It was due to close on January 4, but has proved so successful council bosses decided to keep it open until Sunday, January 25.
The rink, on Hardman Boulevard, Spinningfields, is one of a number of attractions that dazzled crowds over the festive period. An alpine snow slide in Piccadilly also attracted 20,000 visitors. The ice rink is open Sunday to Friday from 10am, with last sessions at 9pm. It is open Saturdays from 9.30am until 9.45pm. Tickets for one hour's skating, including
skate hire, cost £8.50 for adults, £7.50 for children aged 13-16, senior citizens and students (holder of NUS cards), and £6 for children aged five to 12. Under-5s skate for free. Family tickets at £24 cover two adults and two children or one adult and three children. Children must be aged 16 and under to qualify for a family ticket.
GARDENS of the future will be showcased at ● this year's Royal Horticultural Society show at Tatton Park.
A new Visionary Gardens category has been introduced to encourage designs emphasising artistic concepts, future fashions, environmental implications, climate change and the use of sustainable material. The six selected designers will get £6,000 to help create their entry. Tickets for the show between July 22-26 are now on sale. To book call 0844 209 0363 or visit rhs.org.uk/tattonpark Advance tickets for RHS members are £25 on preview day, July 22 and £19 for July 23-26. For the public, the price is £22, Thursday-Sunday and on-the-day tickets cost £24.
FREEFUN
SOCCER fans still have time to visit Only a Game? exhibition, making its only UK appearance at World Museum Liverpool, until March 1. On show are three pieces of top silverware, the UEFA European Championship (EURO) Trophy, UEFA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The exhibition explores Europe’s love affair with the beautiful game, featuring a selection of prestigious artefacts, trophies and memorabilia. Items in the exhibition include shirts, medals and trophies from great European players such as George Best, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore and Petr Cech, and visitors can also discover the city’s own dramatic role in European football with special items on display from the Everton Collection and the Liverpool FC Museum. Only a Game? ends with a question mark, encouraging the visitor to reflect on the social and cultural aspects of modern football. World Museum Liverpool is in William Brown Street.Admission FREE Open 10am-5pm every day Information 0151 478 4393, www.onlyagame.info
YOURVIEW
MY FAVOURITE DAY OUT The Lake District, especially Coniston because it is so pretty. I go on the gondola around the lake and enjoy the views - full-time mum Heather Baxter Let us have your top day out destination. e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
MOUNTAIN TRAIL: The Altura Trail at Whinlatter Forest Park
Take the high road
T
he longest purpose-built mountain bike trail in the Lake District has opened at the Forestry Commission’s Whinlatter Forest Park, near Keswick. Lord Clark of Windermere, the Chairman of the Forestry Commission, launched the Altura Trail, a 19 kilometre red grade mountain bike route which includes 15 kilometres of new single track. The Altura Trail is a true Lake District mountain bike trail. Whinlatter is England’s only mountain forest and the
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DAYOUT
trail has been built for experienced riders with good off road skills and a reasonable level of fitness. It has challenging single track sections and popular features like berms, jumps, rock gardens, skinnies, cork screws and table tops. There are also great views of Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite and the
surrounding fells. A Cyclewise Whinlatter bike shop and hire centre now provides a fleet of Cube mountain bikes for hire, Altura bike clothing and a chill out zone. Whinlatter Forest Park rises to 790 metres above sea level and offers spectacular views of the Lake District and into Scotland. More information about Whinlatter Forest Park can be found at www.forestry.gov.uk/whinlatterforestpark. For information on Altura visit www.zyro.co.uk.
FAMILIES
Where fun comes by the barrel load I
f the January weather’s leaving you a looking for a warming experience, head to the award ward-winning attraction, The Rum Story, in historic Whitehaven. The port in the Western Lake District is the spiritual home of everything to do with rum and, even today, the source of the finest dark spirit of them all – Jefferson’s Rum. Once the second largest port after London, the rum and sugar trade made Whitehaven bulge with sailors, slaves and smugglers and this is the historical canvas that the Rum Story brings to life. All is housed within the building from which the Jeffersons ran their profitable business, manned their fleet of merchant vessels and controlled activities on Antigua’s plantations. Three-floors of historical drama make a visit to The Rum Story an unforgettable experience, with the introductions taking place in the offices where little has changed since the Jefferson’s clerks scribbled in their ledgers. The story moves on to a rainforest in Antigua, where the noises of animals and insects in the trees capture the excitement and terror that English settlers would have experienced. A sugar workshop conveys the terrible conditions that slaves working the plantations would have faced. The deserted vault is pretty much the same as it was at the height of the rum trade, when barrels, boxes and sacks unloaded in the huge harbour would have been stored here. All the machinery is original, including the hand-corking machine and the lead sealer for the bottle tops. A rum making exhibition demonstrates how rum is still made in Grenada and how the sugar cane was made into both sugar and the molasses that formed the basis of rum. The African village area conveys the terror of families who fell prey to the slave traders’ raiding parties. The Slave Ship is an emotional look at how 80,000 slaves a year made a journey to the New World. The indenture in the exhibition shows the ages of over 500 slaves, aged from one to 50. Moving on to the Punch House, visitors get a glimpse of a world portrayed by the artist Hogarth, where the fruits of the slave and rum trade were enjoyed by rich citizens. The Jefferson Exhibition shows the financial impact the rum trade had on the family, as well as housing the bottom portion of a barrel that reached up into the floor above and which would have held £250,000 worth of rum. The Navy zone looks at the rum trade from the perspective of a sailor, examining diet, disease, press ganging and even how Lord Nelson was pickled in rum to preserve his body after the Battle of Trafalgar! The art of the cooper is then examined in the Cooperage area, before visitors are introduced to the illegal tactics of the smugglers who operated up and down the
DAYOUT BATH TIDY: When you have children, there’s bound to be clutter in the bathroom. The Skip-Hop Tubby bath toy organiser is soft, stretchy and most importantly, won’t drop off! The ‘stay-put’ mounting plate has four suction pads which enable the bag to be secured on to tiles or glass. Made of the same fabric used for wetsuits, it dries quickly and allows water toys to dry out between baths, keeping them mildew-free. The stretchy, wide mouth makes it easy to get toys in and out and the seethrough mesh porthole means kids can quickly spot their favourite toys. Available in orange or sky blue. £20. For stockists call 01293 774924
PLAYTIME
Children’s TV gets healthier
Cumbrian coast, smuggling goods in from the Isle of Man. Moving across the Atlantic, the focus shifts to Prohibition in cities like Chicago, where a swing in attitudes to alcohol led to illegal bootlegging, organised crime and the emergence of villains like Al Capone. The journey concludes in the Fun Rum Room, where TV chef Rustie Lee offers suggestions of how to use rum in recipes and cocktails, and where families can play games and have fun on a rum theme, before moving on to shop or a snack in the Courtyard Café. The Rum Story is open from 10am to 4.30pm. Admission costs £5.45 for an adult, £4.45 for concessions and £3.45 for children. Family
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tickets for two adults and two children cost £16.45. More details are available at www.rumstory.co.uk or by calling 01946 592933.
WIN WIN WIN We have six family tickets for The Rum Story which must be won. For your chance to win, simply name the family behind the Whitehaven rum business. To enter send your answer, along with your name, address and telephone number to: Rum Story competition, Life! magazine, The Gazette, PO Box 55, South Shore, Blackpool, FY4 2 GF. Closing date January 16. Calls no more than 25p. Winners will be picked at random from postal entries.
BETTER VIEWING: The amount of television advertising for unhealthy food seen by children is thought to have dropped by a third since 2005. Ofcom said the amount of advertising for products high in fat, salt or sugar seen by children aged four to 15 fell by an estimated 34 per cent. The regulator began phasing in restrictions in response to concerns about child obesity in April last year, including the banning of adverts for unhealthy food from children’s programming on most channels. All remaining adverts for unhealthy food will be banned from children’s channels when the final phase of restrictions are introduced at the beginning of January. PARENT HELPER: This government website parentscentre.gov.uk features information and support for parents on how to help with their child’s learning, including advice on choosing a school and finding childcare. Sections include Worried About..., web chat, news, and features on subjects including maternity and paternity rights.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life! 17
OUTDOORS WEEKEND CHORES ● Prepare a polythene shelter for outdoor peaches and nectarines, to protect them from peach leaf curl. ● If you did not prune and train your summer-fruiting raspberries earlier in the season, you can still do it now. ● Buy seed potatoes, shallots and onion sets. Sow onions in a heated propagator. ● Remove dead or diseased wood from apples and pears, including spurs with mummified fruit from brown rot infections. ● Harvest sprouting broccoli, Brussels sprouts, leeks and Jerusalem artichokes. ● Plan a rotation system for vegetable plots to ensure the same crops are not grown in the same beds year after year, to help prevent disease. ● Cut off old leaves of hellebores that produce flowers from ground level (including Helleborus x hybridus and H. niger) to expose the flowers and remove possible foliar diseases. alpine houses well ventilated. Remove dead leaves from around basal rosettes to prevent rotting.
GOODENOUGH TOEAT Red cabbage IT’S a winter favourite, cooked with apples, onions, vinegar and sugar or mixed with cranberries and served alongside hearty rich meats such as venison. Red cabbages are grown like a summer cabbage, cutting in early autumn for cooking or late autumn for storing over winter. Good varieties include Red Drumhead, which produces solid, dark red heads, and Ruby Ball, an F1 hybrid which you can start cutting in late summer. Seeds should be sown outdoors in April into ground prepared the previous autumn, with plenty of compost or wellrotted manure if soil is poor. They should be in a fairly sunny spot and you need to apply a general fertiliser a week before planting. Thin the seedlings to about 8cm apart when they have five or six leaves and water them the day before moving to their permanent spot. Plant firmly and water thoroughly. Protect seedlings from birds, hoe regularly and water plants in dry weather. Feed them with a liquid feed when the heads start to mature. Red cabbages can be cut in November and stored by removing the outer leaves and placing in strawlined boxes
E
ncouraging wildlife, growing your own fruit and veg and informal planting styles are likely to be in vogue this year, according to experts. Trends will continue to veer towards environmentally friendly techniques, less concrete used in hard landscaping and subtle colour schemes. Here’s what the experts predict will be big in 2009. Joe Swift, garden designer, author and ● regular on BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World: “I suspect we’ll see plenty of green at this year’s
garden shows, but with some subtle colours added for increased interest,’’ he says. “It’s a case of back to basics, looking for texture and foliage combinations and then complimenting those with loose seasonal colour in a naturalistic way, but not all out colour overload. Alien-looking exotics are definitely out. “Increasing biodiversity, especially in our city gardens, will be high on the agenda, which will lead to a more relaxed and informal planting style,’’ says Swift, author of Joe’s Urban Garden Handbook and design director of Modular Garden (www.modulargarden.com). He predicts that less concrete will be used, replaced by more porous materials to let the water back into the water table. “The popular ‘grow your own’ approach to fruit and veg will certainly continue as we all look to reconnect ourselves with nature, save a few quid and increase the understanding of where our food comes from,’’ he says. “Allotments will be harder to find than ever but I think we’ll see communities getting together in imaginative ways to grow on any spare or neglected pieces of land.’’
●
Award-winning garden designer Chris Beardshaw, presenter of BBC One’s Wild About Your Garden: “2009 will see an increase in more wildlife friendly and environmentally conscious gardens,’’ he says. “It has been a growing interest over the last few years as people realise the importance of our gardens not just as a pleasure space for us humans but as a resource in which to grow our own food, and to create feeding stations and habitats for our friendly wildlife, many of whom are seriously threatened. “I want to dispel the myth that wildlife-friendly gardens have to be messy as I believe it is possible to create a garden that suits our needs as well as the needs of our residing or visiting creatures, while also being a beautiful retreat. “Watching wildlife in the garden has become something the whole family can enjoy.’’ Adam Pasco, editor of BBC Gardeners’ ● World magazine: “Creating attractive gardens with emphasis on
their wildlife value is just way individuals can make a difference,’’ he says. “An increasing number of products are now available from bug boxes to bird feeders, hedgehog homes to frog shelters, plus nuts, seeds and even live insects to feed birds.’’
WILDLIFE FOCUS: Gardening expert Chris Beardshaw
A year for the wildlife INTHEGARDEN
Pasco says composting and recycling will be big on the agenda, while environmental concerns are driving many new product developments. “Rainwater harvesting systems can be installed under patios and grey water filters are available to allow bath water to be re-used rather than poured down the drain. “Improvements in rechargeable battery technology with the development of Li Ion batteries has led to great new ranges of power tools. But with rising fuel prices perhaps some gardeners will be giving up their petrol mowers, saving on gym membership, and getting free
exercise using a manual push mower as they cut their lawn. As solar panels improve in efficiency and reduce in price gardeners will see them available for many more uses, in addition to garden and shed lighting and powering pumps in water features. “Unlike the fashion industry, gardeners are more discerning and pick and choose from a range of current trends. Cottage gardening and its love of traditional plants and gentle colours continues to inspire, but garden centres in spring will be filled with bolder and brasher plants to cater for exotic tastes and impatient gardeners.’’
BESTOFTHEBUNCH
DIARYDATES Attention all garden clubs and societies. Send your 2009 programmes to to life! magazine, The Gazette, Avroe Crescent, Blackpool, FY4 4AU or e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
Saturday, January 10 The Alpine Garden Society Southport Group. Rosemary Cox, A Greek Odyssey. Emmanuel Church Hall, Cambridge Road, Southport, 2pm. Thursday, January 15 The Alpine Garden Society. Peter Bland: “The Pindhos Mountains”. Methodist Church, Greaves, Lancaster, 7.30pm
with Hannah Stephenson
Thursday, February 12 Kirkham and District Horticultural Society. Bill Poole. Bees and Beekeeping with Wild Flowers, Kirkham Grammar School (6th Form Lounge), Ribby Road, Kirkham, 7.30pm. Thornton Cleveleys Horticultural Society. Keith & Chris Buxton “Borneo – the Land Beneath the Clouds”. Thornton Little Theatre, Four Lane Ends, Thornton, 7.30pm.
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Mahonia IF YOU want a reliable, easy-to-grow evergreen shrub that not only produces vivid yellow flowers in winter but is wonderfully scented as well, look no further than mahonia. A good choice if you want a tall architectural variety that flowers in winter is M x media ‘Charity’, which bears deep yellow flowers. M aquifolium has spiny-toothed leaves that turn red in winter and clusters of scented yellow flowers that open in spring, followed by blue-black berries.
OUTDOORS
THEWALK
T
his lovely Yealands walk could be easily overlooked. Starting close to the M6, it is naturally a place that discerning country goers might avoid. However with a variety of terrains and superb views of south Lakeland, it is a gem.
THE WALK
1. Car park to canal. (250metres: 4 minutes) From picnic car park turn left onto Tarn Lane and continue across railway bridge to canal bridge. Access canal by gate on right. 2. Canal to A6 (2k/ 1.25 miles: 30 minutes) Turn left and walk beneath the bridge, along one of the northern reaches of the Lancaster Canal. Pass under the next bridge and look for metal gate a short distance beyond. Go through, turning right taking track as it crosses the railway and winds down to lane. At lane, turn right, walk through hamlet of Hilderstone. About 150 yards along look for bridleway on left. Turn into this lane, flanked by hedgerows and follow it for 15 minutes to where it brings you onto the A6, opposite Hazelgrove Lodge. 3. A6 to Yealand Storrs (1.6k/1 mile: 25 minutes) Exercising due care, cross road and turn left. 300 yards on right by a prominent tree, but hidden until you are almost on top of it, a sign post points to “White Moss”. Follow the direction of the sign towards some corrugated buildings. Keep to the right of these. With the nearer most building about 30 yards on left you will intercept a stile almost obscured by nettles. Cross stile and walk with hedge on left. At end of field pass through wooden gate and immediately turn right through another, onto a track that follows the edge of White Moss. Beyond a pair of gates, the way meets a substantial track to bring you past a small holding. Continue forward, through two more gates. At the point where the track turns to the right, take small gate into a pasture that rises gently to another gate. Through this, take the path to the corner of field that brings you onto a lane close by the Yealand Storrs sign. 4. Yealand Storrs to Leighton Hall. (1.6k/1 mile 25 minutes) Turn right and follow lane through village. Where the lane turns sharply right, turn left through imposing wooden gates, past Wood Cottage and through gate. The path, not easy to pick out, keeps to the left of a stone wall, through a large field. After a gate, with a hedge on left, the track sweeps round towards Leighton Hall, approaching Home Farm through a pasture. 5. Leighton Hall to Yealand Conyers. 1k/0.75 mile: 20 minutes) Turn left onto lane and follow around the left side of Leighton Hall. Beyond the tennis courts, as this service road meets the drive look for an obvious path on left leading up to the ridge. At the top of the ridge there is a trio of benches, inviting pause, and no wonder, for looking back must be one of the loveliest views in England. Continue straight through trees, reaching a stone wall. Enter a field by a
WALKONTHE WYRESIDE
with countryside officer Len Blacow LANDMARK: Looking towards Leighton Hall
Scenic gem close to M6 FACTFILE Start: Cinderbarrow Picnic Site, just off the A6 on Tarn Lane, on the right going north, 4k/2.5 miles north of M6 jct 35 Distance: 9k/5.5miles Time: 2.5 hours excluding stops Character: Mainly easy with one sharp ascent to ridge above Leighton Hall. Towpath, fields and woodland walking. Road walking along A6. kissing gate. Continue forward keeping to the left of a limestone outcrop. The path, less obvious until this point, descends through woods to a fork. Right leads to a lane, left takes you across parkland – both bring you to Yealand Conyers. On reaching its main street turn left. 6.Yealand Conyers to Cinderbarrow Car park (1.7k/1.25 miles: 30 minutes) Past the New Inn turn into Roseacre Lane on right. By a house called Blencathra on left, take footpath to “Well Lane”. This leads to a stile in a muddy corner of a field. Cross it then turn right through a
YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
squeeze stile, then follow with hedge on your left to the next corner to a wooden stile. Cross the next field to the end of Well Lane, on the edge of Yealand Redmayne. Turn towards the village but immediately turn right along a bridleway. Follow this track as it zigzags to Nineteen Acre Lane. Turn right on to lane. Soon you come to the A6 in sight of Cinderbarrow Picnic area. ● Walk by John Griffiths and Bob Clare. Hit www.lancashirewalks.com for more walks exploring the diversity of the Lancashire countryside
N
ew Year is a time for new beginnings as we forget all the excesses of Christmas and look forward with good intentions to a healthier 2009. And, if you make one promise to yourself this year, make sure it’s to get out and discover the wonderful coast and countryside we have in Fylde and in the Forest of Bowland. What better way is there to get fitter and healthier than being out in the great outdoors and enjoying the fresh air, fantastic views and wonderful wildlife? And in these ‘credit crunch’ days, walking is an affordable pastime. As well as being kinder to your waistline and your pocket, walking is better for your conscience, too, as it means your carbon footprint is smaller – something less for you to worry about. If time is your problem (you never have enough) you’ll be pleased to know you only need to do a little bit to enjoy the benefits. A few regular steps and you’re on your way to a healthier you. And here’s the really good bit. It’s an addiction that you can actually feel good about it. There’s something so satisfying about walking as it really does makes you feel happier and healthier. Maybe that’s why walkers always have a smile on their face –whatever the weather! Wyre’s Coast and Countryside Service arrange a year round programme of walks, events and health walks that allow you to discover Wyre’s rich variety of urban and rural landscapes and wildlife. If you are new to walking or thinking about starting to walk, join one of our guided walks or event. There’s everything on offer from themed walks to one-hour health walks designed to get people out walking before trying one a longer walk. And people with mobility problems don’t have to miss out either as we offer a ‘Tramper’ service – all terrain electric buggy, specifically designed for people with differing disabilities at Wyre Estuary Country Park and in Scorton. Midwinter is the best time of the year to enjoy some of Wyre’s wildlife spectacles. Around 30,000 waders and wildfowl winter along Wyre’s coastline. Having spent the summer in northern and eastern Europe, the birds spend the winter on our coast. A huge team of dedicated volunteers throughout Britain go out once a month to count all the birds around our coasts, estuaries and inland waters. Please put your best foot forward today and make walking your New Year’s resolution. Tomorrow: Join Fylde Bird Club and Wyre’s Volunteer Countryside Rangers for a 'Winter Warmer' walk along the Wyre Estuary to look at some of these Wintering birds. Join a circular walk from the Barn in Scorton Village through the Grizedale Valley over Nicky Nook and back to Scorton for a bowl of soup. Time: 10am-1pm. Cost: Adults £3, Concessions: £2 Further information: 01995 602125 For more information on Walks in Wyre please contact 01253 891000 or visit www.wyrebc.gov.uk
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life! 19
TRAVEL&HOLIDAYS
Here’s a selection of Gazette Travel offers... in association with Liverpool John Lennon Airport
O
LONGLEAT SAFARI PARK
May 29 or Aug 9, two days from £99.95
Experience incredibly close encounters with some of the fiercest, cutest and most magnificent animals from around the world when you visit the Longleat Safari Park. There’s no need to travel to Africa to view wild animals grazing in beautiful surroundings, since the Longleat estate in Wiltshire has been home to a fantastic collection of amazing and exotic wildlife for over 40 years. Includes coach travel, accommodation for one night in a twin or double bedded room with private en suite facilities, cooked breakfast and three course meals, passport ticket for Longleat Safari Park and a visit to Bath. Organised by Diamond Holidays ABTA W0552.
EDINBURGH TATTOO
Aug 14 or 21, two days from £119.95
Colourful and unforgettable are two assured ingredients of the 2009 Edinburgh Tattoo. A thousand performers from the four corners of the globe will come together for Scotland’s sensational international showcase of music, entertainment and dance in the amazing and romantic setting of Edinburgh Castle. Includes return coach travel, accommodation in a twin or double bedded room with private facilities at a Glasgow area hotel, full Scottish breakfast and a ticket for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Organised by Omega Holidays ABTA V4782.
MONKEY WORLD APE RESCUE CENTRE May 24 or Aug 31, 2 days from £149
Escape to the natural living world of primates, ponies and cattle that dwell in the south of England’s parkland on our enlightening animal kingdom break. Within the unchanged ancient landscape of the Hampshire New Forest National Park, ponies and cattle freely graze the land, whilst deeper in the forest, wild deer browse beneath the canopies of mighty oak and beech. Across the other side of Poole harbour in Dorset, over 150 formerly abused primates inhabit a woodland sanctuary, safe from their sad, exploited backgrounds. Organised by Diamond Holidays ABTA W0552.
N this specially arranged Easter holiday you will stay in Chianciano Terme, a fashionable and elegant spa resort right in the heart of Tuscany. The mineral springs of the resort were well known to the Etruscans and Romans. The modern spa, dating from the turn of the last century, remains the focus of this relaxing destination. It’s very Italian with broad, tree lined avenues and enchanting gardens. Your holiday begins with a flight from Manchester or Liverpool to Italy. On arrival you will be met by the tour manager and taken by coach to Chianciano Terme. After check-in you will have time to relax or explore your surroundings. The following morning is at leisure. The afternoon’s optional excursion takes you through the countryside of Tuscany and Umbria to Assisi, where St Francis was born in 1182. This beautiful town, surrounded by the gentle green hills of Umbria, offers visitors a profound sense of peace and tranquillity. The Old Town, which is still enclosed by ramparts, has hardly changed since the Middle Ages. Mementos of St Francis, combined with such a glorious setting, give Assisi a moving beauty of its own. Whilst here you’ll be able to visit the unique Basilica of St Francis and the church of St Clair. You will have plenty of time for sightseeing, shopping and eating in this most beautiful medieval town. The cost of this excursion is £20. After breakfast on Good Friday there is an included visit to Florence. Of all the cities in Italy, Florence is perhaps the most popular and most visited by the British traveller and today’s visit is a highlight of this memorable holiday. On arrival in Florence an optional sightseeing excursion will be arranged. This comprehensive excursion will include visits to the Cathedral, the Baptistry, Piazza Signoria, the Santa Croce and Piazza Michaelangelo. The afternoon is free in Florence, giving you a welcome opportunity to relax and enjoy the art capital of the world at leisure, do some shopping or see more of the sights. The coach will return you to the hotel in the evening. Easter Saturday’s optional excursion takes you to Siena and San Gimignano and costs from £22 per person. First of all you visit the truly delightful hilltop town of San Ginignano, where every visitor is captivated by its charm and beauty. Following your visit you we drive through the most picturesque countryside of Tuscany, with its Chianti vineyards, olive groves and cypress trees to Siena. Siena’s narrow Gothic streets invite you to stroll and discover the many sights including the Cathedral, the Town Hall and the glorious fan shaped square Piazza del Campo. This is a relaxing and leisurely excursion, full of variety, colour and splendid scenery, which will introduce you to some of the lesser known beauties of Tuscany. Easter Sunday is the visit to Rome and for many will be the highlight of the holiday. You will arrive in the Eternal City
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HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHT: A visit to historic Florence
Relax on a spa break CONTACTNUMBERS Call our 24-hour brochure hotline: 01772 838080 Other inquiries: Telephone as above or www.gazettetravel.co.uk in good time for the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing by the Pope at midday in St Peter’s Square, a truly memorable event. Throughout the city there are countless trattorias, restaurants, and pavement cafes where you can sit and relax at lunchtime as you watch the world go by. This afternoon we have arranged an
optional city sightseeing tour which includes both ancient and modern Rome, the highlights being Piazza Venezia with Victor Emanuel’s Monument, the Forums, the Circus Maximus, the Palatine Hill, the Colosseum and, of course, the Trevi Fountain. This holiday departs April 8 and costs from £599. The price includes return flight to Italy, coach travel in Italy, four nights dinner, bed and continental breakfast in Chianciano Terme (three dinners if on an evening flight), one night bed and continental breakfast near Rome, accommodation in twin bedrooms with private facilities in selected three star hotels, a visit to Rome on Easter Sunday and a visit to Florence on Good Friday. For a brochure please telephone our brochureline. Organised by Mistral Holidays ATBA V0669,
YOURVIEW e-mail life@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
Saturday, January 10, 2009
life! 23
SOCIETYDIARY YOUR STARS
With Cassandra Nye
For the week starting January 12 CAPRICORN (22 Dec-20 Jan) With so much enthusiasm, running ahead of yourself could exhaust you by the weekend. Pacing yourself may seem a boring option, but it brings better results. Apart from anything else, communications can be garbled and difficult and need extra thought. AQUARIUS (21 Jan-19 Feb) A real feeling of companionship in what used to be a quite fiery relationship comes as a surprise. It really shouldn’t, as things have taken a natural and predictable course. It is possible, though, that you have not been paying attention. That you should do so now is important. PISCES (20 Feb-20 Mar) This week you should get on well with those in authority. A subtle change in their attitude seems to have made a world of difference to you. It is not a time that is easy for many people, with Mercury the messenger retrograde. ARIES (21 Mar-20 Apr) It is a little more difficult to express yourself this week as Mercury turns retrograde. What does this mean to you? Simply that you need to think much more before speaking, especially on business matters. Keep your message simple and clear, with no room for misunderstanding. TAURUS (21 Apr-21 May) With original thoughts and ideas and flashes of inspiration coming your way, optimism and excitement are the order of the day. Some really weird conversations are likely to be due to Mercury the messenger turning retrograde. GEMINI (22 May-21 June) Being super-efficient today could mean getting down to some pretty tedious tasks. Be it working on a new filing system or doing your income tax, it will be worthwhile in the long run. Some communications can become unclear or even garbled so take extra care composing them. Simplicity seems to work best. CANCER (22 June-23 July) With the emphasis on business today, something that you dealt with some time ago may resurface. Have the confidence to stand your ground when you know nothing is wrong, or admit something could have been done better, if necessary. LEO (24 July-23 Aug) Making a link between your current relationship and your hopes for the future is essential today. Going ahead with plans that include someone else who may not fit in with them would be a waste of time. VIRGO (24 Aug-23 Sept) Trying for perfection this week could see you disappointed. With some things out of your control, going with the flow may be the best option. You are good at being flexible, Virgo, even if you do sometimes resent having to be so. What this time teaches you is to be more in control of what is happening around you. LIBRA (24 Sept-23 Oct) Going back over old ground may seem like a waste of time to you, but the instinct to double-check some things is well founded. In a business sense there is a lot to be gained by learning from the past. As you are trusting your instincts at the moment, give a thought to finding out what someone close is thinking. SCORPIO (24 Oct-22 Nov) Your instincts are guiding you to overcome obstacles. Be aware, however, that in order for this to work properly you need to be tuned in, which means getting enough rest and time to think clearly. If others seem a little strange and even awkward, don’t take it too personally. SAGITTARIUS (23 Nov-21 Dec) With a bit of time on your hands this week, you would be wise to use it to find out what is going on around you. Having been in a certain situation for a long time, it is possible that you only see what you expect to see and only hear what you expect to hear.
Tony Cole, Barbara Lewin, Alan Cunliffe, Pamela Lockwood, Derek Lockwood
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lackpool South Rotary Club members, partners and guests celebrated at their Christmas party held at the Carousel Hotel, New South Promenade, Blackpool.
Lucy Breeze, Elaine Fossett, Pauline Taylor, Paul Taylor
Gary Bell, Jackie Bell, Harry Davidson, Margaret Davidson
Steve Mannion, Mercy Mannion, Margaret Grant, Glenn Priestley
■ To order any of the photographs on this page, please contact our photo sales department on 01253 361867
Derek Lee, Scott Walker and Lex Hewitt
Julie Phillips, Kelly Calvert and Nikita Calvert
Charlotte Wilkinson and Michelle Pomfret
24 life! LOGON www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk
T
he Edge in Poulton held its first ever Christmas Present Ball with proceeds going to the Brian House Children’s Hospice and Ormerod Trust. There was live music from The Deadbeats, Blue Pig Orchestra and the Mike Lovell Jazz All Stars, a Santa’s Alternative Grotto, party DJs, plus guest comperes and resident host Ian Calvert.
Charles Kellett and Liam Calvert
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