Flush Magazine Issue #6

6 CULTURE

MUSIC

FASHION

TRAVEL

David Gilliver Huey Morgan Electric Superbikes

Marika Hackman The Datsuns Fang Island Ones to watch

Bundy and Webster We Are Handsome Julian Bern

Macau Bon Sol, Mallorca Thompson Toronto

WIN! Arcadie iPhone cabinets plus Devolo dLAN 500 AV Plus Starter Kits worth over ÂŁ100 each

6

06 The Hotlist 08 David Gilliver Painting with Light

We are Handsome The Enchanted

20 Huey Morgan Sings & Needles

26

26 We are Handsome The Enchanted 38 The Shirty Dozen Bundy and Webster

20 Huey Morgan Sings & Needles

76

41 Julian Bern Fly Session 48 Fang Island 50 Ones to Watch

Swiss Air

52 Marika Hackman Stepping Out of the Shades 56 The Datsuns Death Rattle Boogie

66

>>>

Competition

Cranberry Coated Truffles

122 WIN One of 3 Arcadie iPhone cabinets

Competition

123 WIN One of 3 devolo dLAN 500 AV Plus Starter Kits

52 Marika Hackman

105

48 Fang Island

Building Electric Superbikes

Cover David Gilliver

6

WELCOME Welcome to the latest edition of Flush magazine, as usual there is TONS to read. If I started trying to tell you about everything now, my writing would probably finish up somewhere around page eight.

Instead, just jump right in and read it for yourself.

Probably the hardest thing this time around was deciding what we had to leave out, special mentions go again to our amazing writers and contributors, all 100% unique, and all totally brilliant!

Something to look out for soon is a special travel-only edition of Flush Magazine, entitled ‘Flush Escape’. It will be packed full of amazing destinations, interviews and ideas to inspire, ignite and enthrall your imagination when you are deciding where to go on holiday, at home or abroad.

We’ve got the tan-lines and frostbite to prove it, and all will be revealed... until then...

Thanks for stopping by,

>>> 61 Wabi London 66 Cranberry Coated “Dulce de Leche” Truffles 68 Grape Expectations Female Sommeliers 71 Mallorca’s Greenest Hotel 76 Swiss Air 82 Grand Toronto 87 Macau - A unique destination 92 Fiat Panda 96 Bentley Rhythm Ace 100 On the Moveo 105 Building Electric Superbikes 112 Devil May Cry Game review 115 Antichamber Game review 116 Samsung NX1000 Tech review

Pete Graham, EDITOR

120 Black in Time Tech review

CONTRIBUTORS Amanda Penlington Amelia Harvey Casey Bowers Hana Karlasen Hannah Duncan Ian Hughes Kara Mclean Luke Lavelle Henry McMunn

Matthew Cooper Paul Martin Phil Blaney Priyam Chovhan Rob McSorley James Martin Samuel Law Steve Clarke Vanessa Sue Smith

126 Competition Win one of 3 Arcadie iPhone cabinets 127 Competition Win one of 3 devolo dLAN 500 AV Plus Starter Kits 124 My Favourite Movie West Side Story

THE HOTLIST The stuff of life

Conversely Timeless

Best Mates These Apothecary Bottles bring a touch of class to the bathroom not seen since the golden days of the Matey Bubble Bath bottle. You can also get similarly styled ‘Mr Selfridge’ his ‘n’ her wash bags.

Available at the Museum of London Shop www.museumoflondonshop.co.uk

Some things just seem to transcend fashion. Chuck Taylor All-Stars looks as good now as they did in 1917 when the Converse Rubber Shoe Company first started manufacturing them. Available in well worn, to prevent NTD (New Trainer Delusion), where you think everyone is starting at your shiny trainers.

PowerBank Beam This cute little device can give your mobile extra life when a full charge isn’t quite enough to last the day.

Perfect for uploading a pic of your kebab to facebook at 3:00am, or watching Netflix on the last bus home.

Available with or without a moustache, it plugs into your regular charger or computer and costs £29.95.

For more info visit www.theholdingcompany.co.uk

WIN!

One of 3 Arcadie iPhone cabinets

Crunchy Munchy Milk chocolate curls, red rainbow drops, super tasty white chocolate honeycomb balls and finished with a white chocolate love heart, a Chocolate Pizza is a unique Valentines Day gift (personally I’m still not sure if this is very wrong or very right.)

10” Chocolate Pizza - £16.95 from www.prezzybox.com

Knockout Sonic Editions have produced a limited edition range of stunning photographic prints of cultural icons.

Including such legends as David Bowie and Marilyn Monroe, this portrait of boxing legend Muhammed Ali is effortlessly cool.

For more info visit www.soniceditions.com

Central heating (for grown-ups) Normally adding water to porridge results in a wallpaper paste tasting solution edible only by people well into their golden years. Ooomph uses dried milk so it tastes yummy and comes in handy one portion sizes, so you can take one to work.

WIN!

One of 3 devolo dLAN 500 AV Plus Starter Kits worth over £100 each

Painting with Light A gift from David Gillivers family re-ignited a passion for photography that, together with his surroundings was too hard for him to resist. We caught up with David to find out more about his pictures and the process behind them.

Have you always been interested in photography?

My Mum is camera crazy and I think it must have rubbed off on me eventually. I was about 15 when I started to take a serious interest in Photography at school in Glasgow. I was very fortunate in that my school had a darkroom that I was able to use fairly regularly and that is where it all began. I was lucky enough to be accepted to study at the Glasgow School of Art in 1997 where I specialised in fine Art Photography until 2001 and this allowed me to further develop my skills, style and understanding of the medium.

How did moving to Guernsey change the way you felt about your work?

At just 24.5 square miles, Guernsey is fairly small in comparison to the world that surrounded me in Scotland in terms of scale. However Guernsey offers a way of life that I absolutely adore. I am surrounded by a beautiful coastline which is a playground for a photographer like myself. My photography suffered for several years after I moved to the island in 2001, but in 2008 my sister and brother in law bought me a Digital SLR camera for my Birthday and I decided that I needed to rekindle my love for photography.

Night photography was something that I’d never really given much thought to previously, but as I quickly learned more and more about digital photography I realised that long exposure photography was something that greatly interested me and digital cameras allow the photographer to experiment in ways that I had never previously considered mainly because the process of trial and error with a digital camera is far less onerous that I remembered it to be in the pre-digital era (I can view my shot straight away and just delete it if I am not happy with it and try again). Because Guernsey is that bit smaller, my journeys out on location with my camera are so much shorter than I was used to in

Scotland. Although the size of Guernsey is limiting to some degree, there are still many areas of the coast and island that I have yet to photograph and so I do not feel too restricted by it. I still travel up to Scotland from time to time to visit family and friends and I recently drove up to the Isle of Skye with my wife in order to photograph Skye’s incredible landscape and so these trips help punctuate my life on a smaller island.

How do you manage to create the amazing lights in your pictures?

My light paintings are produced at night using a very long camera exposure time (normally anywhere between 2-8 minutes

long). Once I have started the exposure running (my camera is firmly fixed on a tripod) I walk into the frame of the space that I am shooting and I add the hand-held lights to the shot. I will normally take several long exposure shots without any light painting in then in order to get my composition and the exposure length the way I want them.

Then it is time for me to begin light painting.

I use numerous tools to create different effects including small portable LEDs that I use to create my Orbs, fairy lights, powerful torches (to add light to the landscape) and my favourite tool is called a Lenser V24.

This is what I use to create the ribbon effect you will see in some of my work. Sadly they are very difficult to buy these days as the manufacturer stopped making them some years ago (I have 2 for sale if anyone out there is keen on buying one).

A lot of people struggle to understand why I do not appear in the photographs, but this can be relatively easily explained: because it is dark and I am moving around throughout the exposure’s duration, the camera is not able to detect me as I do not remain still for long enough. So long as I do not illuminate myself with the lights that I am using and keep moving around I will remain invisible.

The concept is very similar to the long exposure photographs you sometimes see of people that have created light trails using car head-lights and brake lights; the cars do not appear in the photograph, only the lights. The same principal applies to my work.

Do you have a favourite image, or one that came out better than you expected?

I think the photograph that remains dearest to me is the first light painting that I ever created. It is titled ‘Electric Vazon’ (overleaf).

I had worked out that I needed to use an exposure time of around 5 minutes to create the shot I had in mind, but mid-way through the exposure the heavens opened and I had to stop my exposure short at around the 2 minute mark. I felt certain that my efforts had been in vain and that the photo would soon be deleted from my camera but when

I got back to my car (having ran back with my camera tucked under my jumper as I tried to keep it dry) I looked at the shot and was more than happy with it. This photograph remains my most popular image when people buy prints from me and I love the fact that the weather was responsible for how it looks. I am glad it rained that night.

Do you have to spend a lot of time waiting for the right conditions before you can take a photo?

Sometimes, yes. Obviously rain is a big no-no and high winds can cause havoc during a long exposure (something that we get a lot of living in the Channel) but generally speaking I am able to make it out light painting fairly regularly. My favourite period for making my work is on the week leading up to a full moon and the week that proceeds it as the extra light helps. A clear sky is always welcome as stars trails can look great in the shot to compliment the light painting.

Where is your favourite place in Guernsey to take pictures?

There is a beach on Guernsey called Vazon, and that is definitely my favourite location for shooting at night. Vazon beach has

several rows of groynes in the sand which make for fantastic features to include in my compositions and add light painting to.

I use a Canon 5D Mark II which I love. It is perfect for night photography. Coupled with my favourite prime lens (EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM) I feel well equipped for landscape night photography. For light painting you will also need a fairly sturdy tripod and remote trigger to start and stop your exposure. And of course an artillery of portable light sources…

be familiar with called Photoshop Lightroom which is excellent for subtly altering things like exposure, white balance, saturation, cropping etc. All of my photographs are either SOOC (straight out of the camera) or have been very slightly tweaked in Lightroom in order to make any necessary minor adjustments. However, I feel it is important to highlight that all of my light paintings were created on location during a single long exposure – I never digitally manipulate any of my work – what you see was created on location.

Do you do any re-touching of your photos in post-production?

Where is the best place for tea and scones in Guernsey?

What sort of camera do you use?

I do not own the regular Photoshop programme and so my ability to retouch any of my work is very limited. I do however use a programme that many photographers will

The most important question of all! There are many places that serve great tea and scones on Guernsey, but I think my favourites are: Cobo Tearoom and The Farmhouse.

For more of David’s amazing photographs visit www.davidgilliverphotography.com

Sings & Needles Flush caught up with the Yoda of soul Huey Morgan, who together with Miami Ink’s Ami James have set up a beautiful new tattoo emporium in the guise of Love-Hate Social Club on the good vibe streets of London.

by Steve Clarke

Steve: Hey Huey how’s it going?

Huey: Hey Steve, how ye doin’ bro?...

I’m good man.

S: So, tell us about the Love Hate Social Club.

H: We’re on Portobello Road, right next to the book shop from the Notting Hill movie, it’s on a very travelled street.

The Portobello area in Nothing Hill, I’ve found is very close to New York city in it’s vibe, with all this different kind of stuff going on. We could have gone to East London, Shoreditch, visited by all the cool kids and stuff like that. That’s cool, but I don’t think it would have been us.

We really spec’d this place out, it’s world class, top end artists, all the equipment is completely amazing. We’ve got a bigger enclave (steriliser) than most hospitals.

My wife (Rebecca) was the interior designer, and she did a hell of a job.

And this guy Tom, and this guy Joe who built all these great things in there, the cabinetry work and stuff, like breathtaking. You walk in and it looks like it’s been here since the 1800s, kinda old.

It’s a store as well, Ami’s got millions of

fans all over the world. I’ve got some of my guitars up there that are for sale, stuff like that. It’s a mixture of what we want to do, like a boutique kinda thing going on. Ami’s tee shirt designs are amazing and there’s artwork for sale, and jewellery.

I’m like the curator of the music, I’ve got my music collection down there, I’ll play some records on the stereo.

A lot of people were wondering if it’s gonna be way overpriced. And no, it’s gonna be relative to what you’re getting and all that. If you want a little thing done, to a big back piece done.

Obviously these are world class artists who’ve flown in and they’re workin’ here for months at a time. Ye know it’s gonna be Tommy Montoya and (Grant) Cobb, a lot of the guys ye might know from the TV show are gonna be there. Guy ‘Neutron’s’ (Sahar) gonna be here for a while.

We’ll have rotating artists, there’s a guy from Ireland who’s coming in, does this amazing Celtic work. Some guys from Europe are coming in too. We’re picking the best of the best, to work at the best shop in Europe. This is the paradigm of body art.

S: I like the idea of you guys coming over and setting up and the shop being a catalyst, despite the negative (financial) things that are going on, that the shop can be a shining beacon. Inspiring folk like the Sex Pistols first gig or the Sex shop Malcolm (McLaren) and Vivienne (Westwood) had years ago.

H: Well, we kinda got into it cause Ami has so many fans around the world, and it’s actually for them really. If they wanna get ink they would have to travel to Miami or New York to have it done. If they are in Continental Europe or Ireland, or in some parts of the UK, it’s a train ride or a cheap flight to us, rather than the money you’d want to spend on a tattoo, rather than a plane ticket, and the hotels and that kind of shit. London allows us to help move tattooing to the next step.

And actually in the last 10 years or so, it’s become less of a taboo, you see more people with tattoos, than you have ever before.

S: It’s almost like a full experience as it should be when you’re getting a tattoo.

H: It is, and that’s what we kinda aim for.

It’s why we called the Love Hate Social Club. Like I said, it’s multi-faceted. There’s tattooing going on, there’s loads of other stuff going on too. It’s almost like an attraction for people, if they don’t want to get a tattoo, they can come in there and hang out, check things out. And maybe if they didn’t want to get a tattoo, they’d see how it’s done, and maybe they would choose to get a tattoo. The taboo is gone from that. I read recently that the UK is the most tattooed nation in the world.

S: It’s definitely not going to be the McDonalds of the tattoo world?

H: Nah, they’re one offs. When you see it (the shop), it just looks amazing, you have to stop and look at it. The windows are gold leaf, kinda like all old school, Georgian kinda look to it, it’s still got the

modern vibe to it.

F: Can you actually tattoo yourself?

H: No! No!, I’m not a tattoo artist.

F: Any plans of learning it?

H: Nah, I’m an enthusiast. Ami has tattooed me and hopefully he’ll finish the tattoo that he started 14 years ago right before he started Miami Ink. So I’m looking forward to having that finished.

I’ve always been a tattoo enthusiast since I was very very young, against my mothers wishes. After a while I realised that these guys are artists unto themselves.

F: I Love your radio show, how did that happen and are you going to be setting up residency, maybe broadcasting from the store itself?

H: (Laughs) Well I don’t think they have an ISDN line, but thank you man, it’s nice to be able to play my music for people.

Ye know I grew up listening to all types of music in New York, and throughout my travels with the band ye just get turned on to all these different styles of music, and it’s cool that people can dig it. I’ve

being doing the 6 Music show first for as many years as I have, and now doing the Radio 2 show, it’s like, really cool.

They don’t tell me what to play, it’s just do what ye do bro.

When they first asked me to play, Lesley Douglas was controller of Radio 2 and 6 Music. She just said “I love The Fun Lovin’ Criminals, I just want you to play what inspired you to make that kind of music What kind of music you listen to turn your engines”, and I was like, “No problem”. I try to do the Friday show with less talk and more music. The Sunday show is more interactive with the people, cause ye know, it’s Sunday, everybody’s at home, we get to chat, do like dedications, shout outs ‘n stuff.

I guess it would be kinda fun sitting in the back room and doing my radio show. You’d hear all the buzzing buzz, buzz, buzz.

Check out the awesome work, and make an appointment at www.lovehatesocialclub.com Huey and the New Yorkers album ‘Say it to my face’ is out now.

The Enchanted We Are Handsome

The Scoop One Piece RRP £200

We Are Handsome’s new S/S13 collection, ‘The Enchanted’ is a perfect seasonal antidote to early morning frosty windscreens and late night thermal bloomers.

A collaboration between Australian designers Indhra Chagoury and Jeremy Somers, each piece is limited edition, printed with high density inks for a rich, vibrant colour.

Become spellbound by The Potion, swept up in The Poisons, follow the path of The Spirit or sail off with The Calypso...

The Guardian Leggings RRP £190

The Guardian Silk Cover Up RRP ÂŁ355 Harrods

The Messengers Panel One Piece RRP ÂŁ245

The Spirit Scoop One Piece RRP ÂŁ200

Available in Net-A-Porter, Colette, Barneys NY, Harrods, Selfridges, ASOS, and Matches.

For more info visit www.wearehandsome.com

The Guardian Corset Bikini RRP £205 The Poisons Cut Away One Piece RRP £205

THE SHIRT We love Bundy and Webster!

Each Bundy and Webster T-shirt is a collaboration with new, up-and-coming artists and photographers, done on a strictly limited run of twelve. In less than a year Hannah & Suki have created a unique brand combining original designs with quality materials.

TY DOZEN Snap up an original fROM ÂŁ24 AT www.bundyandwebster.com

beautiful designs for life www.jizaro.com

fly

session by Julian Bern

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One of the most fun albums of the last year was also one of the most ambitious. Major, the latest album from the beloved Brooklyn positive power trio, Fang Island is brimming with the kind of epic indie guitar party anthems the cool kids, the tragically unhip and every manner of music lover in between can get with, get down to and do whatever comes natural or super awkward.

Fang Island Interview by Casey Bowers

Major is the kind of record that finds itself in unsuspecting places at all the right moments and it’s to be expected that you will love this even more than their debut. If you’re new to Fang Island’s music, count yourself among the lucky ones - you’re in for a treat and oh, how friggin’ sweet this triumphant rock ear candy is.

Recently, I caught the band on a break in between their super smashtastic tour to ask a few questions.

CB: Major feels more personal, emotionally. It’s still uber positive but there’s a level of emotional depth that wasn’t on your debut. Does that just come with growth as a songwriter or were you aiming for that connection?

JB: Probably a bit of both, we’re always emotionally connected to whatever it is we’re working on and we strive to have listeners become emotionally invested as well. This is always going to be subjective depending on the listener, and you never really know which element people are going to relate to.

CB: A song like Kindergarten is kind of deceiving. The lyrics reflect the spirit of your music but the somber tone of the minor melody sung is uncharacteristic of the band’s past. Is there room for a little sadness in your music?

JB: There is always room for sadness, it is a necessary counterweight to happiness. One cannot exist without the other. It has always been interesting for us to try and meld the two together, it makes for a powerful outcome when you feel them both at the same time.

CB:Overall, do you credit your creativity and music making to embracing that

One of our core ideas has always been that our songs would be all of your favorite parts of the song that other bands make you wait 8 minutes to get to.

We wanted to be the band that’s nothing but your favorite hooks back to back.

Jason Bartell, guitarist/vocalist

a few shows with him now and on top of putting on a great show, he seems very authentic and kind.

CB: What bands or albums past and present give you the most joy right now?

JB: Toby Keith’s “Clancy’s Tavern” CB: What artists or albums influenced you the most for this one?

JB: Steely Dan CB: Could you ever see making a “bummer record?”

JB: Yes. CB: There are bands who live to play live and get to make a record and then there are bands who live to make records and get to play live - which band is Fang Island?

JB: We are both!

childlike wonder you have before grade school?

JB: That’s certainly part of it, I don’t think we can credit it to any one thing. We try to draw from as many wells as possible.

CB: The piano riff/sample is the perfect intro to the album and it reminds me of Dan Deacon in a way. Was Deacon’s music an influence on this record?

Have you/would you ever play with him or collaborate in any way? (That show would be pure musical joygasm).

JB: I’ve never heard any of his piano stuff, but I’ve always appreciated his output or “vibe” if you will. We’ve played

CB: Any really big surprises that came out of the success of your first LP? Do you feel pressure to repeat that success or is the expectation to just grow as a band?

JB: We dont feel any real pressure, we just try and stay honest and excited when we write.

CB: Just so you know, I want to to live in the world inside your songs. It seems like such a fun place. Thanks for your time and for making such wonderful music.

JB: Thank you!

Listen to Fang Island here http://fangisland.com

Half Ton Destrier As Elephants Are

You know when you hear a new band for 15 seconds and suddenly they sound like they have always been a part of your life. The unusually named ‘As Elephants Are’ sounded like that to me.

Formed at music college in 2011

by Ben (vocals/guitar) and Harry (bass) they later recruited old school pals Joe (guitar) and Rob (drums) to complete the line up.

Word of mouth has led to radio plays and double A side “Youth Blood / “Lucifer” is available as a free download on sound cloud.

ACE! https://soundcloud.com/ aselephantsare/as-elephantsare-lucifer

Louise Golbey

Louise is the resident singer at the Sketch in London and also the newly renovated Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras. When she is not doing her day(night) job she’s releasing brill singles like her latest ‘Up to Me’. Catch her at the fabulous Kensington Roof Gardens on Sat 16th Feb 20:30 www.louisegolbey.com/

“Successfully combining metal, garage and punk into a screaming bundle of catchy, sharp witted horror stories and odd historical fact, Detroit based Half Ton Destrier, kick out more decibels than what you’d usually expect from your typical noise trio.

Currently leaving deep hoof prints on the Detroit scene, this fiery Púca of an outfit should be galloping your way soon enough.” http://halftondestrier. bandcamp.com

One’s to watch

Sivu Feathers

All girl group Feathers release their debut single “Land of the innocent” on March 4th, followed by debut album ‘If All Now Here’ on 15th April. Sounding like the heroin love children of Brian Eno and Bananarama, live their songs are darker, heavier and meander along slowly enough to let you enjoy the ride. Look out for them on tour. http://feathers.bandcamp.com

You know that friend you’ve got who always finds out about the cool bands just before you do. Well, if you are REALLY quick go and tell them about Sivu. He’s signed to Radiohead’s management, produced by Charlie Andrew (Alt-J) and good enough to take over from Beck and Badly Drawn Boy as the quirky singer-songwriter of the moment. Current song ‘Better Man Than He’ ‘s video was filmed using an MRI scanner and he’s still working in a call centre. Not for long. www.youtube.com/watch?v= _964dqQxQwY&feature=yout u.be

Wolf People

Not to be confused with Wolf Mother or M-People, Wolf People have been around for a few years now releasing ‘Tidings’ and first proper album ‘Steeple’ at their own leisurely pace. Perfectly out of kilter with any current fashions or trends, their new record ‘Fain’ is out on April 29th. Like Lep Zeppelin jamming with Fairport Convention on the Wicker Man island, their music sounds best in bed under the covers (with a torch). www.wolfpeople.co.uk

Marika Hackman

Marika Hackman’s music is the perfect antidote to the fast paced, modern world. Maybe I’m getting old, but her songs remind me of a simpler time before Facebook, X-Factor, CD’s even. There are shades of Nico in her voice and as in current song ‘Cannibal’, a twisted sadness behind the melancholy. Listening to her though doesn’t make me feel sad, the opposite in fact. There is a chance you may have seen her before - Marika was the face of Burberry sunglasses in a recent Advertising campaign, but behind the shades she is much more than a pretty face.

On tour in Feb and March, Flush caught up with her to find out more.

Stepping out of the Shades How did you end up modelling for Burberry?

My friend Cara showed the people at Burberry a video I did for The Bristol Couch, and they happened to be casting for their eyewear campaign, so i guess it was just perfect timing really. It all happened very quickly, a sort of surreal whirlwind experience.

Do you think the publicity has been good for your musical career?

I met my manager on the set of the video shoot, and we started working together shortly afterwards so that was a huuuuge bonus, and he’s helped me so much. Apart from that, the exposure has only really been aimed at a fashion orientated crowd, which isn’t really the route I want to go down. It was an incredible experience and I definitely learnt a lot from it but i’d rather people were listening to my music because they love music, not because I’m wearing posh sunglasses.

I don’t feel particularly comfortable in front of the camera - there’s definitely a skill to it, which I can safely say I don’t possess hahaha, never say never though, I don’t know what might crop up in the future, but for now I’m just concentrating on my music. Also everyone is always trying to squeeze me into size 4 clothes, so I just end up in pain from holding in my stomach all day.

The mini album is out in Feb, do you have a lot of material written?

I can’t wait to get the mini-album out. I had so much fun recording it with Charlie and I think its a bit different to a lot of stuff out there at the moment, so I’m intrigued to see peoples reactions. I’ve got a few songs up my sleeve, but I am in the

process of writing at the moment so hopefully in a few months I’ll have a lot of material. Hopefully.

The aim is to have an album out this year. Like I said I’m in the process of writing at the moment, and that’s with an album in mind. I’m going to have to be 100 percent happy with these songs before I record them though, so I’ve got to nail my song writing in the next few months I guess.

Did you enjoy the experience of touring with Ben Leftwich?

Yes so much! It was very nerve-wracking at first because it was my first tour and I didn’t know anyone and the prospect of living on a bus with ten guys for five weeks is quite daunting. It’s all about adapting to a different lifestyle and getting into the swing of things. An early

night was about 2 or 3 and we got up at about midday, then it was straight into loading in and sound checking, then grabbing something for supper and on stage. The first week I was knackered, but by the end it was just routine. All the guys were great.. would’ve been shit if everyone was arguing all the time, but the group gelled really well.

Are there any artists you would like to collaborate with in the future?

Sometimes your music sounds like it could have been recorded 40years ago... do you feel like you belong in another time?

What guitar strings do you use?

I think I’ve got my feet pretty firmly stuck in the 21st century, but I guess a lot of my music is inspired by stuff from different eras, like Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell. I also think a lot of my anxieties about the attitudes people have these days, and the strange place that our so called evolution has taken us, are reflected in my music. Living in another time would be great, but i’m here and I belong here, and maybe I wouldn’t be moved to write if I was where I wanted to be.

Do you listen to ‘contemporary’ music? If so who do you like?

Yeah I think there’s lots of great stuff out there at the moment, people are trying new things and getting recognition for it which is great. Alt J, Warpaint, Beach House are a few that I listen to a lot. I love the Staves’ single ‘wisely and slow’ that bit at the end where it all goes a bit mental is inspired. I’ve had one of those ‘who do you listen to’ mind blanks though hahaha‚

If we could bring Dusty Springfield and Kurt Cobain back from the dead, and we could all do a record together that would be great. In a realistic sense, all those I mentioned before, Justin Vernon would be pretty cool too.

On my acoustic I use Martin Acoustic strings, and on my electric I use Ernie Ball, but I haven’t tried out enough to see what actually works best. To be honest I’m rubbish with all that stuff, I can barely string my own guitar properly, but I’m trying my best to learn, I think I look like a bit of a prat if I cant do that stuff, but I feel embarrassed to ask because its got to that awkward point. Like when I was learning maths at school and I had just missed out that bit where everyone learnt long division, and it got to my GCSE year and I was too embarrassed to ask how it actually worked.

Finally, what is the best cafe in Brighton?

Billie’s on Upper North Street is definitely the place to go for an incredible breakfast. its like Kensington’s but if your mum was cooking it, with better value for money. Kensington’s is good for atmosphere, and the balcony, but after I had a legendary ‘Gutbuster’ and thought I was going to be sick over the balcony on to the top of several pedestrians heads, it sort of lost its charm.

Marika is on tour in Feb and March with Ethan Johns For more info visit www. marikahackman. com

Death Rattle Boogie

The Datsuns

Since the turn of the century, New Zealander rockers, The Datsuns have gone from John Peel Sessions to playing alongside the likes of Marilyn Manson, Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne, making brilliant albums along the way. Their latest release, Death Rattle Boogie is quite possibly the best one yet, taking the thunder of their early energy and channeling their song-writing towards new aural directions. Interestingly, they are also the band that live in 4 different cities in 3 different countries.

Amanda Penlington talked to bass player (Phil Somervell) to find out more‚ Let’s start at the beginning... What’s your first memory of listening to music when you were growing up?

My parents had a bunch of vinyl and tapes lying around, Mum was into Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen and John Lee Hooker. Dad was more into beat/R&B stuff like the Outsiders and Rob Hoeke.

But they were both into some bad disco too, I have a distinct memory of hearing “Disco Inferno” and ‘Funky Town”.

What were the first instruments that you played?

I learned to play Bass guitar first. I can kinda play guitar and some piano now.

But I don’t really play anything that well.

When you emerged over a decade ago there was a lot of excitement over here about a new band from the other side of the world (as if you emerged from a vacuum). Were you part of a particular scene in New Zealand?

I would have hesitated to call it a scene back then but looking back on it, yeah, I think there was something going on with us and our small groups of friends at the time. The D4 , Rock & Roll Machine, Shaft, Slavetrader, they were all part of a tiny

scene in Auckland playing, for lacking a a better word, garage. I always felt we were slightly apart from the rest of those bands as we were really such country kids compared to the rest of the groups.

In background and also in influence.

Those guys taught us about about Dead Boys and Stooges and we were into T.Rex and Deep Purple.

Has your songwriting process changed over your decade together?

Yes, for sure. It used to be more of a situation where Christian (our lead guitar player) would write some music/ song and I would finish it with lyrics and melodies. Now things are much less rigid. A song can come from anywhere, or just one tiny idea and grow in the practice room. Sometimes the best way to write something is to have that main idea or line that you may have overheard someone say and it strikes you as a great idea for a song. Usually in those situations the rest takes care of itself pretty fast. Now I’m more inclined to bring along whole finished songs as out logistic arrangements mean we have to be super practical with our shared time together. I constantly write or jot ideas down. The only problem with this is trying to finish everything off before you come up with something new which just distracts you from older ideas. For me creating something brand new is a massive part of why I enjoy this as much as I do.

Does playing live influence the way that you write?

This is a great question. More often than not you notice a lot more about a song the moment you attempt it in a live situation. Everything seems put together in another way and you learn what parts work and what really doesn’t right away.

We don’t aways want to write for that situation but because its a big part of what we do we tend to stick to songs that we know will shine on stage.

You spent many of your early years together touring constantly - what were your most memorable gigs?

I can’t think of any one particular show, but I think those early days seeing new

countries for the first time and being surprised and excited at all the new people discovering what we were doing was a pretty exciting time.

Especially seeing Japan, the John Peel Sessions and the first US tour, just to name a few.

Do you miss those hectic days?

Not overly to be honest, now I feel like I am part of something good, but on my terms. We have other things to do to!

You had a change in the line up since you started - how did that change affect your sound?

Believe it or not, Ben has been in the

band 6 years now, and before that we knew him really well. He comes from he same town as the rest of us and there is a lot of shared musical history and life experience. He is a very different drummer to Matt, far more diverse in style, so that has opened things up a bit to what we are capable of doing. A song like ‘Death of Me” for example we wool never have tried earlier on.

The riff level and the frequency of guitar solos seems to have increased in your music in recent years (noticeably on your latest album Death Rattle Boogie) - did anything in particular inspire that shift in focus?

Hmmmm, I think we are still very much into a lot of the same stuff we were into 10 years ago, we just interpret it a little differently. With Christian’s guitar playing we are always trying to push him a wee bit, force him to fight with his guitar a bit more. So he doesn’t get too comfortable.

How does the reality of living on different sides of the world affect the band in terms of writing for albums and rehearsing for a tour?

We have to be organised and pragmatic with our time. That means having finished songs to work on and also funnily enough relying on improvisation a lot more. So we tend to through ourselves in the deep end musically sometimes when we’ve recorded recently. But thats a good thing I think.

How does being together for a decade change your relationships with each other?

I think we appreciate each other more now, we don’t live right in each others faces so much so when we are together it’s much more natural. I love those dudes.

Did you ever envisage a long career for yourselves when you started out?

I’m not sure I thought we would still want to do this after we turned 30 to be honest, I’m 33 now. Still very much enjoy it.

You’re coming over to play the UK in February - are there any particular venues or cities that you’re looking forward to playing?

Well, this tour is for only around a month, I think we only really hit London and Brighton on this leg, that should be great. I’m hoping we will be back a little later in the year with more dates.

Who are your musical heroes?

For me it’s all classic stuff for the most part: Marc Bolan, Iggy Pop, Beatles, Stones that kinda thing but also a lot of local stuff was equally important to me growing up.

If you could recommend a current band for us to check out who would It be?

Mikal Cronin. That stuff is the shit.

The Datsuns are - Dolf de Borst : Phil Somervell : Ben Cole : Christian Livingstone www.thedatsuns.com

Your audience awaits...

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Wabi London

The teams behind the established Horsham branch of Wabi have st(e)aked their Sushi knives in a dimly lit, oak clad basement in London on Holborn Viaduct. I had to keep my eyes peeled for the entrance, it doesn’t scream ‘Eat Here!’ like most places on that stretch, but this adds to the experience. Making me feel more like I was eating at a member’s only club.

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Written by Hannah Duncan

Super polite staff in earthy muted tones stealthily covered the extensive floor and bar, their feet lit up by the bright yellow Asic Onitsuka trainers made famous by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill - Like über food boffin Ninja’s.

Wabi have clearly spent time engaging all levels of staff, showing them as much care and attention as the dishes they serve. When we asked what was good on the menu our waitress displayed such depth of knowledge and passion you’d have thought she had created the menu. If you can bear to

give yourself over and let someone else take control I would highly recommend doing so at this venue.

The menu is sectioned into headings such as Fire Roasted, Cold Raw & Salad and Something Crunchy. Dishes are served as small plates so you need to dip into all the sections for a broad taste of what ex Nobu chef Scott Hallsworth and his team have created. What makes his dishes a delight is the different tastes and textures you can be taken to if you are brave enough to veer off the well trodden path of Sushi and noodles most Japanese fusion restaurants offer up.

For those willing to shock their taste buds you can feast on Diver Scallops with Yuzu Truffle Egg Sauce and Yuzu Tobiko, the scallops nestled under a thick rich yellow sauce scattered with miniscule mushrooms. A Foie Gras Martini with Sweet & Sour Soy, Nashi & Umeshu Jelly is Scott Hallsworth’s signature dish, his depth of knowledge about this controversial ingredient (he has written a book on the subject) is astounding and in this he’s

created the oddest, utterly bonkers dish on the menu (it is worth trying).

For those perhaps used to a more traditional take on Japanese fusion cooking can tuck into Langoustine Tempura with Spicy Shiso Ponzu, the batter so light it’s almost air like, dipped into the accompanying fiery sauce. The Tea Smoked Lamb Chops with Smokey Nasu & Spicy Korean Miso were a firm favourite, possibly throughout the entire restaurant as every table I passed was tucking into huge bowls of them.

If I were to recommend only two dishes from my visit to Wabi however it would be Beef Fillet Tataki with Onion Ponzu & Garlic Crisps and the Kombu Roasted Chilean Sea bass with Spicy Shiso Ponzu.

Both so stunning I had to stop myself licking the plate. If you go make sure they make your final list.

Oh, and the sommelier also looks like the drummer, Matt Everitt from 90’s Britpop band Menswear in a bow tie.

Amazing.

Wabi is an establishment that recognises the importance of world class dishes being delivered to your table with equally world class service. It is a truly unique dining experience and even on a packed night you will be made to feel like the most important person in the room.

It may have felt like I was tiptoeing down to a secret basement on arrival but word of mouth is clearly spreading as by the time we were ready to leave there was barely a table spare. If you want to impress a client or loved one then do visit and be wowed. It’s not budget eating, but the dishes are worth every penny.

36-38 Kingsway London WC2B 6EY T: 0207 400 5400 For more info visit www.wabirestaurants.com

Cranberry Coated “Dulce de Leche” Truffles

By Vanessa Sue smith

Valentine’s Day is getting closer and since I’m a big fan of self-made gifts, the past days I’ve been only thinking about presents I can easily prepare at home and give out on this day. Valentine’s suggests one thing to me: Chocolate! Since I’m a Panamanian living in Belgium, I’ve decided to merge both cultures into one tasty Truffle recipe. I’ve combined Belgium’s high-quality chocolate with one of Latin America’s most popular desserts: “Dulce de Leche”. Dulce de Leche is basically condensed milk that (while in a can or recipient) is heated up in boiling water, giving it a light brown color and a more caramel-like taste.

Exactly what I needed to add that exotic taste to regular chocolate.

Hope you find this recipe useful and Feliz Día de San Valentín!

Ingredients (makes 12): l 2 tablespoons cooking cream l 100g dark chocolate (preferably 70% cacao) l 100g dulce de leche For the coating: l 20g dried cranberries l 20g walnuts Method 1. Using the “bain-marie” technique (also known as water bath in English), melt the chocolate and dulce de leche together.

2. Once melted, add the cooking cream and mix well.

3. Remove from the heat.

Place the chocolate mixture in a sealed recipient and let rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

This will guarantee that the mixture has cooled down enough to be shaped with the hands.

4. In the meantime, crush the dried cranberries and walnuts together with the help of a food processor.

5. After an hour has passed, you’ll notice how you’re able to manipulate the chocolate mixture.

6. With your hands, make medium-sized balls and roll them over the crushed cranberry and walnuts to create the coating.

7. Place them in a plate or tray lined with wax or baking paper.

8. Repeat the procedure until all the chocolate mixture has been used.

9. Put them back in the fridge, preferably overnight, so that the chocolate hardens up again.

Enjoy!

Grape Expectations To co-incide with International Women’s Day, the Dorchester Collection is sending three female sommeliers on a wine trip, hosting successive wine tasting events in London, Paris and Milan at their respective properties, starting appropriately enough on #WineWednesday.

The events are being held as a celebration of female involvement with wine-making, and wines from the Old and New World along with two selections from US, French and Italian wines will be tasted. Before the trip I thought it would be a good idea to find out about their personal favourites.

Alessandra Veronesi

Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan “I love what I do and nothing gives me greater pleasure than to discover small and unknown wineries. I’ve tried too many wines in my life to be able to choose just one, it’s impossible, but here are some of my favourites.”

From my Region – Veneto: Amarone Classico della Valpolicella Quintarelli / Valpolicella Superiore Dal Forno / Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant’Urbano Speri From Piemonte: Barolo Monprivato Giuseppe Mascarello / Barolo Bartolo Mascarello / Barolo Le Vigne Sandrone / Barbera Riserva di Famiglia Coppo From Tuscany: Brunello Tenuta Nuova Casanova di Neri / Apparita Castello di Ama From Alto Adige: Chardonnay Rarità 1990 Terlano From Pantelleria: sweet wine Passito Martingana Salvatore Murana From Champagne Region: S de Salon / Cuvèe Vive Claude Cazals From Burgundy: Clos de Vougeot Domaine Prieure Roch / Chablis GC Valmur’

Vanessa

Cinti 45 Park Lane, London FAV WINE: Pinot Noir Domaine Drouhin, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA, 2010 This wine has a beautiful flavour of cherries and raspberries with notes of orange zest and violets. Well balanced acidity and a long smooth finish. Perfect accompaniment to chicken with mushroom and tyme sauce, and pan-roasted halibut.

Estelle Touzet

Le Meurice Paris “It’s difficult to have one single favourite wine as many factors come into play when appreciating a glass of wine - The company you are with, the meal you have that accompanies it. A wine also needs time to show its charm and personality.

However, I will share with you one of the latest wines which I found particularly delicious. It was a red wine, from the Douro region in Portugal, produced from a grape in Touriga Nacional, Quinta Dos Roques, Vintage 2005.”

Wednesday, 6 March, London Thursday, 7 March, Paris Friday, 8 March, Milan (International Women’s Day) For more info visit www.dorchestercollection.com www.internationalwomensday.com

Mallorca’s Greenest Hotel You might think that ECO-Hotels are a relatively new concept, but the Bon Sol Resort & Spa in Illetas, Mallorca has been using ‘green’ philosophies since it was first built in 1953.

I

n 2002, the current owner Martin Xamena bought land in Costa Rica where the original rainforest had been destroyed and commenced with the planting of teak and local rainforest trees.

Since then together with his English-wife Lorraine they’ve been responsible for planting nearly 250,000 trees in the area.

It’s an ongoing project and helps to offset the Hotels carbon footprint.

Not only that, waste refrigeration heat is recycled to heat the swimming pool, waste air conditioning heats the water for baths and showers and that the 10,000 square feet of subtropical gardens are cleverly designed and maintained using minimum use of recycled water. If you combine this with a clever heating system that runs on Almond shells, it’s no wonder the Bon Sol is Mallorca’s Greenest Hotel.

F: In addition to the environmental benefits, have the ‘green’ technologies also been successful in reducing running costs at the Hotel?

Martin Xamena: Actually some green policies reduce running costs but others increase it.

Solar panels, the use of grey water for toilets, the use of reject heat from refrigerators and air conditioning, and the use of led lamps and more efficient machinery help to reduce costs, but at the same time the recycling of cardboard, glass, organic waste, electronic waste, bulbs and electrical appliances and storage in trees of the CO2 footprint (around 120.000 Euro maintenance cost per year) all actually increase our costs, but its definitely worth it.

F: How does the heating system work to run on Almond shells?

M: We have an almond shell burner that is attached to the hot water circuit. This consists of gas heater, gas-oil heater, solar panels and heat exchanger to use the reject heat from the Air conditioning in summer. The almond shells come from the Mallorcan almond production.

F: When is the best time of year to visit Mallorca?

M: All year is a fantastic time to visit the island. It all depends on the purpose of the visit.

Martin Xamena

Late Spring, Summer and Early Autumn are great for beach holidays, late Autumn, Winter and early Spring are good for discovering the island, hiking, culture, gastronomy, or just to relax in the gentle off-season sunshine.

F: Can you recommend some great places to visit in Mallorca that might not be as well known as some?

M: The public finca of Galatzó in Calvia offers interesting safe walks in the mountains.

The Monastery of Lluch and Sa Calobra - Torrent de Pareys with incredible scenery.

The Serra de Tramuntana mountains with spectacular scenery and beautiful walks.

The drive from Bunyola to Alaro through the picturesque village of Orient takes

you back 100 years.

F: (Apart for the Hotel), what is your fav restaurant in Mallorca? And what dish should I order?

M: It is very difficult to recommend one restaurant, as every one has it’s own specialities For Fish = Ca’n Pep in Sa Rapita Parrillada de pescado y marisco” For Majorcan dishes = Es Reco de Randa in Randa “Frito Mallorquin” “Lechona” For gourmet cuisine by the sea = Hotel Bendinat “Suckling Pig, Duck’s confit” For a good paella in the mountains = Ca n’Antuna in Fornalutx “Paella” For a typical very popular restaurant = Ca’n Pedro in Genova “Paletilla de cordero” (shoulder of Lamb)

About the hotel

The hotel, reminiscent of a grand private house, is built on a pine-covered hillside and has sub-tropical gardens extending to a small beach cove. A lift takes guests from the main building, past the villas and down to one of the pools overlooking the beach. There’s also a heated pool, tennis courts, boules, badminton, mini-golf and indoor games.

For families, there’s a playground and small children’s pool area and a very popular complimentary kids club with créche facilities and activities runs throughout the summer staffed with English nannies.

The Nirvana Spa and wellness centre at Bon Sol is a calming, zen-like retreat with a spacious relaxation lounge, wet spa and treatment rooms open 9 am – 7 pm daily. The spa menu offers a wide range of treatments and specialised therapies such as Ayurveda, Thalassotherapy, Balneotherapy and Algotherm to revitalise, regenerate and pamper and the innovative TMT (Transcutaneous Meodermic Therapy) System.

Also featured are Sothys® Paris, Bernard Cassière® Paris and Phytomer Paris treatments with a comprehensive list of well-being rituals and deluxe personalised skin and body treatments with therapist consultations.

In summer, a beach-side spa area offers guests an extra dimension to their spa experience in a quiet, private outdoor terrace offering stunning views.

There’s also a spacious gym and extensive leisure facilities with steam rooms, saunas, Jacuzzis, relaxation lounges and sun terraces. Guests can also enjoy complimentary exercise or yoga classes during the week.

Breakfast by the sea or in the conservatory, dinner in a medievalstyle restaurant and drinks on the poolside restaurant terrace with spectacular views over the Bay of Palma complete the scene and the food is superb! The hotel has 92 rooms with a further 28 villas and villas spread around the gardens.

With so many leisure facilities on offer, this is the perfect place to chill out and relax all year round, but is also just a short hop into Palma and all its attractions. It also makes an ideal base for exploring the western side of the island.

Classic Collection Holidays www.classic-collection.co.uk 0800 008 7288 offers 3 night breaks from £451 and 7 nights from £783 per person, based on 2 adults sharing a double room on half-board basis, including return flights and private transfers.

Visit www.hotelbonsol.es for more information

SWISS AIR A former partially abandoned Swiss Hamlet has been given a new lease of life by a company called Montage Alternative...

Montage Alternative heve renovated and restored farm buildings in `Commeire’ and created a wonderful boutique hotel type experience that will sleep up to 52 guests.

The accommodation consists of five properties and guests can enjoy the quiet, calm and tranquility of the spectacularly, spectacular Alps.

Choose between cooking your own meals or use a catering service for anything from shopping, to full board, to barbeques, picnics, and depending on requirements you a full time professional chef is also available.

The accommodation is completely harmonious with the village surroundings and efficient solar heating and modern glazing compliment traditional wood-burning fireplaces and weathered natural stone.

What to Do Extensive hiking and mountain biking tracks are popular over the summer periods, together with climbing and paragliding. Over the winter months cross country skiing, snow-shoeing or skiing in the nearby ski area of Verbier are all available to enjoy. There are also options to book workshops on a number of activities, from photography to cookery to yoga. So you can relax, get fit, or get fat.

Location Commeire is one and a half hours drive from Geneva and transfers and travel packages can easily be arranged. You can hire one room or the whole thing. Prices, depending on the time of year are 200 Euros per room, including breakfast (per night) to 500 Euros for a week, based on two sharing.

For more information call 0041 27 783 21 34 or visit www.montagne-alternative.com

Grand

Toronto The Thompson Toronto built in 2010 is situated in the artsy King West Village district of the city. Once a gritty industrial area, in recent times it’s become something of a chic rival to the more established Queen Street West.

Worth a mention is the 2,100sq ft Penthouse suite, all cool white juxtaposed with splashes of orange, luxurious carrera marble bathrooms with heated floors and built-in workstations.

Very nice.

The Hotel itself oozes sophistication, floor‐to‐ceiling glass on every level allow great views across the city. Its clean, modern interior designed by Studio Gaia, is softened by dark hardwood floors and comfortable furnishings. It’s big, bold and beautiful, but there is a soul to it all, and rooms retain a ‘boutique-y’ feel to them.

There is a private rooftop called Sixteenth floor compete with swimming pool, for those days when the weather is warm enough to dip a toe. When it isn’t, there’s an indoor lounge complete with fireplace and bar to get cosy next to.

If you want to explore, there are a number of funky (yes, I did say funky) bars and excellent restaurants nearby, including the famous local Wheat Sheaf Tavern. If you want to stay in, there are three excellent restaurants to choose from.

The Counter is a 24hr box car diner, Wabora Sushi (Min Soo’s fantastic Japanese restaurant), and Scarpetta, featuring the best in Italian food by Chef Scott Conant (try the Sicilian Spiced Duck Breast with smoked polenta, brussels sprouts & apple cider jus from inside the über cool dining pavillion).

Oh, and the Streetcar downtown is only a block away too, so you’re never more than a mile from a mullet.

For more info and special offers visit www.thompsonhotels.com

Macau A unique destination

Just 40 miles from Hong Kong in the Pearl River Delta, Macau carries serious cultural weight despite occupying only 11 square miles. The arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century created a melting pot of Chinese and Portuguese influences and a true ‘one of a kind’ in the Far East. Although Macau became a Special Administrative Region of China in 1999, the European influences remain from the architecture to the food, resulting in somewhere that is as distinctive as it is diverse. Extensive investment in recent years has created a vibrant contrast between the culture and heritage of yesterday and the world-class attractions and hotels of today resulting in one of the most fascinating destinations in Asia.

A foodie’s paradise

Renowned across the region for the quality of its food, Macau is paradise for food lovers whether they are looking for Michelin-starred restaurants or local cafes and bakeries. From dim sum and noodles to sardines and chouriḉo, both Chinese and Portuguese cuisine are widely available here along with international food of every kind. But for a true taste of Macau, Macanese cuisine gives a unique reflection of the territory’s history. The Portuguese explorers who settled in Macau brought with them the tastes of Africa, India, South America and Malaysia which were mixed with flavours from home and local Chinese influences to create dishes that truly deserve the term “fusion”. Favourites include African Chicken, Galinha Portuguesa and a local version of the famous “pasteis de nata”, delicious Portuguese egg tarts.

Diverse attractions

The jewel in the crown of Macau’s lineup of attractions is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Historic Centre of Macau.

With more than 20 historical monuments

of both Portuguese and Chinese origin, visitors will find beautiful architecture including the iconic Ruins of St. Paul’s with their imposing facade, A-Ma Temple, the oldest building in Macau, the Baroquestyle St. Lawrence’s Church, Senado Square, with its pastel-shaded neoclassical buildings, and the Dom Pedro Theatre, the first western-style theatre in China. Other options include the IM Pei designed Macau Science Center, with the world’s highest resolution 3D planetarium, the Giant Panda Pavilion, the A-Ma Cultural Village offering a fascinating insight into the age-old beliefs that underpin traditional Chinese lifestyles and a huge array of museums promoting everything from wine to Macau’s annual Grand Prix.

Nightlife and Entertainment

Macau comes to life when the sun goes down, with a glittering choice of cool bars and nightclubs, vibrant casinos and spectacular shows. The House of Dancing Water show at the City of Dreams features breathtaking high dive acrobatics and even somersaulting motorbikes!

Macau

The world’s tallest bungy

Those looking for adrenaline-fuelled excitement should head to the Macau Tower, which is one of the world’s tallest towers at over 330 metres high.

It dominates the skyline and offers breathtaking panoramic views over Macau and the Pearl River. Daredevils can experience the world’s highest bungy jump, as certified by Guinness World Records, reaching speeds of up to 200km/h during a 4-5 second freefall and stretching the 50-metre bungy cord nearly four times its unloading length before rebounding at approximately 30 metres above the ground. There’s also a unique SkyWalk and Mast Climb.

True contrast

Although famed for its lively entertainment scene, visitors can escape the hustle and bustle of the city on the islands of Taipa and Coloane, which are home to beaches, traditional villages, nature trails and picnic areas, and offer a host of sporting options, from golf and tennis to canoeing and windsurfing. Walkers can enjoy an extensive network of well-maintained trails with maps readily available at the trailheads, including a stunning trail through the waterfalls and gardens of this serene 20-acre natural retreat.

Events & Festivals

Traditional customs are an important part of life in Macau. Chinese New Year is widely celebrated with street parties and exciting parades filled with dragons and drummers; while the Macau International Dragon Boat Festival combines a traditional celebration with the exciting pace of a sporting event.

It originates from an event which took place in ancient years when Wat Yuen, a famous poet and royal minister, threw himself into a river when his king fell under the influence of corrupt officials and refused to heed Wat Yuen’s wise advice.

Alongside the traditional festivals are more contemporary events such as the annual Grand Prix, the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest and the Macau Music Festival.

The perfect addition to the Far East Getting to Macau is easier than many people realise. A 45-minute fast-ferry journey takes visitors direct from Hong Kong International Airport to Macau (or one hour from downtown Hong Kong). Macau Airport also offers excellent air connections to many Far East destinations, including cities across Mainland China and South-East Asia. Wherever you travel in the Far East, Macau also makes a truly fascinating stopover en route “Down Under”.

Who to call Wendy Wu Tours

Wendy Wu Tours has added two new Macau tours to its 2013 brochure. The brochure’s ‘China Your Way’ itinerary building section includes a new fiveday “Hong Kong & Macau Discovery” tour, which combines two nights in each destination with a mix of guided touring and free time. In addition, and for those with less time on their hands, travellers can for the operator’s new three-day “Taste of Macau” itinerary and enjoy a half-day tour featuring Na Tcha Temple, the Old City walls, Mount Fortress, Macau Tower, A-Ma Temple and a full day to explore Macau at their own pace. www.wendywutours.co.uk

Thomas Cook Signature

Tailor-made holiday specialist, Thomas Cook Signature, has introduced a new overnight Macau tour for 2013.

Brochured as an excursion from Hong Kong, it takes in the Ruins of St Paul’s, A-Ma Temple, the waterfront statue of Goddess of Mercy Kun lam, Senado

Square and Macau Tower, which stands an impressive 330 metres in height and boasts the highest bungy jump in the world. Customers of Thomas Cook Signature can enjoy free time to discover Macau at leisure on day two. www.tcs4agents.com

Attraction World

Attraction World, one of the world’s leading attraction specialists, has introduced a Macau tour from Hong Kong. It includes a ferry transfer, lunch at a hotel restaurant and visits to the Ruins of St Paul’s, Penha, Ma Kok Temple and Senado Square, a charming area cobbled with black and white stones with a grand fountain in its centre and surrounded by colourful 19th-century buildings. www.attractionworld.com

Where to stay Sands Cotai Central

Opened in 2012 on the Cotai Strip, Sands Cotai Central has become Macau’s largest hotel complex

featuring three hotels from the Conrad, Sheraton and Holiday Inn brands. The “integrated resort city” also offers 92 luxury retail outlets, three health clubs, two spas, 20 dining options and various entertainment spots all under one roof.

The Conrad and Holiday Inn hotels and the first of the two towers of the Sheraton opened in 2012. and, when the second tower of The Sheraton opens in early 2013 (becoming the largest Sheraton in the world and Macau’s single-largest hotel), Sands Cotai Central will offer a combined total of nearly 5,800 rooms and suites. www.sandscotaicentral.com

Flying to Macau Thai Smile

Thai Airways International’s light premium brand, Thai Smile, has made it even easier to twin Macau with Thailand after launching a new direct route between Macau and the capital city of Bangkok. Thai Smile serves Macau twice daily using an A320 aircraft that departs at 07:45 and 16:40, returning to Bangkok at 12:15 and 21:15. Thai Smile fares include 20 kg of checked

baggage allowance, seat selection, mileage accrual, a snack box and drinks, most of the services that are offered by full-service airlines. www.thaismileair.com

AirAsia

Thai AirAsia has added flights between Macau and Thailand’s northern cultural hub Chiang Mai. Launched in May 2012, the Macau service departs daily from Chiang Mai at 16:15 and arrives in Macau at 19:55. The flight returns at 20:45 and arrives in Chiang Mai at 22:30. Thai AirAsia already serves Macau from its main hub in Bangkok. www.airasia.com

Air Macau

Air Macau has increased its flight frequency between Macau and Tokyo from four flights a week to a daily service. These additional departures provide even more opportunity for visitors to combine two fascinating destinations on a single trip to the Far East. Both Macau and Tokyo are famed for their mouth-watering cuisine, renowned shopping and lively entertainment scene. www.airmacau.com.mo

FIAT PANDA TwinAir Lounge

by Rob McSorley

Why have four cylinders when you can have three?

Fiat have taken this one step further with their TwinAir which loses another cylinder bringing the count down to two, or you could say, this Panda has half an engine!

At just 875cc it’s pretty tiny but boasts up to 85bhp and average fuel consumption is said to be over 70 miles per gallon, but the question is whether it really is a fuel sipper when driving around day-to-day and also how good it is when fitted to the new third generation Panda.

As far as looks are concerned this new Panda ticks all the right boxes. It’s grown slightly in every direction but is still absolutely dinky. It cleverly mixes new styling cues with those of the previous car.

This time round elements from the 500 are evident in the cheeky face.

Everywhere you look you will spot what Fiat call ‘soft cubes’ which include the wheel arches, door handles and window areas. The rear sticks with the eye-level mounted light clusters from before. Our cars looks were spiced up a little more by the standard 15 inch alloy wheels.

The biggest improvements have undoubtedly been made in the cabin.

The old car although built well hardly got pulses racing. This new Panda is very different. The design itself is very attractive with good use of light and dark trim. Everything is logically laid out and works really rather well, the Lounge model I tried was well equipped for the price. I just wish the steering column would adjust for reach and the seat for height so that the perfect driving position would be easier to find.

Dotted about the cabin are lots of neat storage areas including a cavernous shelf above the glove box which pays homage to the original Panda. The slightly enlarged dimensions make for a surprisingly roomy cabin with enough room for four adults and a wellshaped deep boot that isn’t to be sniffed at.

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Build quality is robust rather than sumptuous but few will want more. Once again everywhere you look there are ‚Äòsoft cubes’, even the steering wheel appears to be slightly square thanks to its clever stitching. If you look closely you will also spot the words ‘PANDA’ pressed into the dash and door plastics. There is no doubt that Fiat have put a lot of effort into this cheeky critter’s cabin and it really shows.

The highlight of the Panda I tried was clearly the tiny twin-pot TwinAir engine and it didn’t disappoint. Originally I found the performance on offer a little lacking but felt this was forgivable given the cars urban intentions, then I discovered the ‘Eco’ button hidden neatly ahead of the dash-mounted gear lever.

When enabled ‘Eco’ mode limits the torque on offer, which increases fuel consumption especially during acceleration. With ‘Eco’ off the Panda thrums along with real vigour and a seriously sweet two cylinder soundtrack bringing back memories of small cars of old. Power delivery is linear and there is always plenty of power on offer for most situations although there is no denying that the Panda’s natural habitat is around town. That said when cruising a motoring speeds the engine is barely audible making long journey surprisingly relaxed.

Whilst with me I am pleased to report that the Panda is incredibly fuel efficient.

During mixed, careful driving in Eco mode I returned a very impressive 65mpg.

Around town this reduced a little down to a still rather good 50mpg. With the Eco function deactivated for quicker getaways economy suffers noticeable at around 40mpg overall.

To drive, the Panda does very little wrong. It has feather light steering which can be made even lighter thanks to a ‘City’ button on the dash. The gearbox is a gem with five well-spaced ratios and a good solid action. The little Fiat’s ride is also wonderfully supple and well-judged never failing to deal with the worst road surfaces. Handling is also pretty tidy with decent grip, relatively good body control and plenty of poise. It just falls short of serving up any genuine driver thrills as the controls are lacking in any feel and feedback, but few will be disappointed.

Price as tested: £12,315 Engine: 0.9 16v 85bhp 0-60mph: 11.2secs Maximum Speed: 110 mph Economy: 58.9mpg (urban) 76.3mpg (extra-urban) 68.9mpg (combined)‚

Emissions: 95g/km (Band A) VED (12 months): £0 Dimensions: Length: 3,653mm, Width: 1,882mm‚ Height: 1,551mm Wheelbase: 2,300mm

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On the Moveo Developed by the Antro Group of Hungary, the Moveo was five years in the making, weighs 25kg, is constructed of carbon fibre and will hit speeds of up to 28mph

On the Moveo The electric powered scooter has a range of 21.75 miles, and will fully recharge in around an hour.

Perfect for city life, and you will never be stuck for a parking place.

Just fold it up and take it with you.

Coming soon, for around ÂŁ2,000.

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Building Electric SuperBikes An interview with Mike Edwards by Ian [epredator] Hughes

Back in the late 80’s I was doing an Information Technology degree at Leicester Polytechnic and formed a great friendship with Mike Edwards...

We are both programmers and techies but had the same interests - standing in arcades playing Double Dragon and frequenting bars. We are still both gamers but Mike has taken on an amazing project to radically change the way Superbikes are created for the race track.

He is designing and building a new type of very fast electric bike from the ground up. Every time we meet he has told me something else fascinating about the innovation he is pushing for. It touches every part of the emerging technology world, green tech, 3D Printing and even crowdsourcing. It seemed about time to get him to share it in an interview and tell us a bit more about the amazing challenges and opportunities of their website helpusinnovate.com.

Ian: So Mike, tell us a about your background with racing bikes?

Mike: I started off as a road rider and quickly progressed to track days and then racing. I had some potential but often found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time as others tried to ride through, rather than around, me. My Achilles Heel seemed to be that I got hurt quite often so I realised I didn’t have a long-term future in the sport.

In 2003 a friend and I created the MiniTwins race series in the UK. The goal was to provide affordable, competitive racing that could be fun for all but also act as a stepping-stone for young riders. It worked so well that ten years later the series is still going strong with packed grids at a number of clubs across the country.

Whilst running the series I spotted a young rider who was starting to get good results but was hampered with inferior equipment. For the following season I built a bike for him and he won the championship during one of the most competitive seasons in memory.

The question was then how to help him progress his career so we formed a team and went off to race in the World SuperBike

paddock.

After three seasons competing at some of the highest profile events around Europe we returned for a couple of seasons in British SuperBikes and were destined for some World SuperBike wild card races before supplier issues put paid to that.

It’s been quite a journey, I’ve gone from not being able to adjust the chain on my road bike to being able to strip down and build a full SuperBike engine, program the complex electronics that make up the engine management system or work with the data logging to look at suspension settings or machine geometry.

Ian: What are the core goals of your Superbike project?

Mike: Having covered pretty much every aspect of building and developing toplevel race bikes I became more and more interested in the technical challenges and innovation available in the motorcycling world.

Electric motorcycles have generally started as engineering projects based around fitting an electric drive train in to an existing motorcycle chassis.Unlike an electric car where your key design decisions revolve around four wheels and two, or four, seats with a bike your design constraints are based on two wheels and the engine.

With an electric drive train you have removed the biggest design constraint, yet people seem intent on building petrol bikes without looking at the opportunities of having fewer restrictions in terms of layout, geometry, etc., i.e, not having a heavy engine that can only fit in one position with everything else bolted on around it.

I am a firm believer that pound for pound an electric motorcycle will give greater performance than a petrol one. Obviously we have a long way to go in terms of technology to achieve comparable weight, but after just a few years of development we are already seeing electric race bikes that are running just ten seconds off the pole positions times of the best riders and most advanced petrol machines

in MotoGP. More importantly these electric machines are still approaching things as if they were petrol powered, i.e. replace a big, heavy engine with a big, heavy battery pack and build the rest of the bike around it. If a class leading electric motor can make 200 hp and weigh around 22 kg I should be able to package the batteries in a way that I can maximise the performance from the rest of the chassis.

What started with 40hp air-cooled DC motors just a few short years ago has seen technology leap forward to 200hp liquidcooled AC motors that are available now.

They may be beyond the reach of hobbyists and those looking to build a top of the range electric bike in their garage but the future is here for those ready to embrace it.

The goal for our project is to demonstrate a new level of performance not seen in any electric bikes to date. An engineering challenge for sure but one that puts as much focus on the chassis opportunities as it does building an innovative electric drive train.

Ian: There are some electric bikes, as we saw in the TT what is yourtake on them?

Mike: The TT race proved that there were plenty of people interested in building electric bikes when it first started back in 2009 so the grid mainly consisted of home built bikes in the first year. Over time the grid sizes have fallen but the budgets have grown and now features what can only be seen as multi-million pound purpose built machines.

It was only recently that these engineering projects realised they still

needed a very skilled rider to get the most out of them. The contribution of the rider is much more important on a bike than in a car due to the lean angles and the weight distribution required at high speeds.

Having said that the TT is a 37.7 mile course on the roads of the Isle of Man, with all the bumps, blind bends and even hump backed bridges that you would imagine. Certainly not for the faint hearted at 170+ mph but also not the ultra smooth tarmac of a more traditional circuit.

This demanding fast road circuit requires different performance and handling characteristics compared to racing around circuits such as Silverstone, Le Mans or Monza. With the majority of investment in high performance electric motorcycles destined for the TT I feel there are some significant opportunities for the chassis design when designing class leading electric bikes.

Ian: Racing bikes need to be able to race against one another, how are the categories coming along? What happens if you revolutionise designs and get much faster and better?

Mike: At the moment there just aren’t the numbers of electric motorcycles racing to generate some of the packed grids and highly competitive races we are used to from their petrol counterparts.

This will change but it is important to be able to put on a spectacular show to get the interest of the spectators. In turn, this will help generate more interest and attract more competitors, manufacturers, etc. in to the sport.

We have seen with the MiniTwins series

miles an hour.

If we look in to our crystal ball, isn’t the future about selling electric motorcycles alongside the current petrol variants? We already know that range anxiety is less of a issue for bikes when an Aprilia RSV4 can barely manage 70 miles to a tank full on track and still costs £17k to buy.

that whilst people initially dismissed the relatively low powered 72 hp machines as not very glamorous or exciting most totally changed their opinion once they saw how close the racing is.

The biggest opportunity, in my opinion, is to change people’s opinions of what electric bikes can achieve. Ten seconds off the pace of a MotoGP bike is a great start, particularly with just a few years of development, but there are so many other factors that can close that gap.

Ian: People often talk about batteries and a lack of range, is that fair criticism?

Mike: A battery pack contains a finite amount of energy but you have much greater flexibility in how you use it than a conventional petrol engine. You can choose to use your battery over a longer distance but this will mean you will have to travel at a slower speed in order to complete the race. Conversely, if you were to make the race half the length then you can have twice the performance over that distance.

In essence, a bike destined for the TT has to cope with a little under forty miles of high speed racing but if you only need to race for twenty miles then you have a much greater opportunity to demonstrate the potential performance of electric bikes in general as you can travel faster for longer.

The other key factor with electric motors is that acceleration is a factor of the motor, so to accelerate as fast as possible doesn’t really use any more power than accelerating more slowly. The biggest power drain for an electric motor is sustained high rpm, i.e. travelling at high speeds. For example, the power required to race at 180 mph is significantly higher than racing at 160 mph.

A goal of racing flat out for just twenty miles may not seem like much but we are talking about speeds of up to 180 miles per hour. We could easily race for sixty to eighty miles if we limited top speeds to 100

Ian: Does the design of any racing frame change due to the dynamics and engineering of electric motors and batteries or is it just replacing the motor and fuel tank?

Mike: A petrol motorcycle is hampered by the need to convert four power pulses, one per cylinder, in to grip from the rear tyre in order to drive the machine forward. The trend has been to extend the swing arm to provide greater control from the rear, even if it requires changes to make the engine shorter.

An electric motor on the other hand has an extremely linear power delivery that already puts it ahead of its petrol equivalent in helping the tyre to maximise natural grip. Now imagine the scenario with a longer swing arm? The only thing preventing a longer swing arm in a petrol bike is that bike heavy engine. With an electric bike there is nothing stopping us having our swing arm as long as we want it to be.

Now imagine taking the best of our current crop of petrol SuperBikes and see what we can learn, or transfer, over to the electric bike project. It is common place to find sophisticated traction control in World SuperBikes or MotoGP. Rather than relying on the traditional, and somewhat dumb, power controllers founding most electric vehicle applications why not simply graft on the ECU from a SuperBike and take advantage of the launch control and traction control capabilities?

If we can build a bike that can find extra grip exiting a turn where the competition cannot then to put in the same lap times the bike might only need to hit 160 mph down the straight rather than 170 or 180 mph. We know that top speed is the battery killer under such circumstances so if we can get away with a lesser top speed then we will have even more range from our battery pack.

The only thing restricting the performance of an electric motorcycle compared to the petrol counterpart is the weight of the batteries. We have already seen the advantages from the power train and chassis for an electric bike,

especially as 200 hp electric motors are readily available today. Design a bike for the future, prove what can be done by the first high performance electric motorcycle and when the battery technology catches up simply reduce the number of cells to maintain the current performance or keep the same number for an even more powerful machine.”

Ian: This may be a leading question but... Is there room in the paddock for any other emerging technologies like 3d printing?

Mike: The bulk of any design work for a new motorcycle, whether electric or otherwise, is carried out on a computer.

From optimising the chassis design to give the desired degree of flex, improving the aerodynamics and identifying any potential temperature hot spots on the bike and even designing the moulds for the carbon fibre swing arm are all computer based.

Every single piece will then be machined, moulded or even 3D printed.

3D printing is already used in other motorsport arenas and has progressed to that point that bespoke plastic or lightweight aluminium components can be manufactured with ease.

Ian: An engineering project of this magnitude takes a lot of things to fall into place, takes a lot of people to work together. Are you finding people are willing to share more these days?

Mike: Resourcing has proved remarkably easy in most areas, helped by having a friend already interested in electric motorcycles who designs MotoGP bikes for a living. Between us we have most things covered, particularly as we already have a relationship with other specialist companies

such as Motec having worked with them for some years on our petrol SuperBikes.

Motec provide sophisticated electronics for top level racing with tried and tested traction control and launch control strategies. They are interested in working with us to convert their systems to meet the needs of a world leading electric motorcycle.

The core components are easy enough, Yasa make some of the most innovative electric motors in the world, Sevcon have worked with Yasa to produce the necessary controllers for their axial flux motors and both companies have been very supportive in supplying technical information, engineering drawings, etc. for our project as we undertake the initial packaging and high level design process.

This biggest challenge will be the electric power train itself. A simplified view would be to say whoever has the latest generation batteries is going to win. There has been a great deal of investment in batteries in recent years but the demands of a prototype electric motorcycle, particularly one that is going to be running at the cutting edge, has to package the most power and therefore must target the highest energy density.

Battery manufacturers have been busy innovating but it’s a different market if you want your Nissan Leaf to have a one hundred mile range and still be able to recharge the battery a thousand times, i.e. releasing energy slowly over a longer period of time presents a different challenge to being able to safely use all the energy quickly. Unfortunately most of the innovation and research in recent years has, understandably, focused on the electric car market whilst the rest of us have to make do.

It’s not all doom and gloom. It is perfectly feasible to exceed the manufacturer specifications as they won’t have tested the cells under the conditions we are likely to be using them in. If they need to still achieve a thousand charge cycles they may only rate them as being able to discharge over a specified period of time. As long as we undertake stringent testing to ensure we can discharge the cells at the rate we need we can live with a trade off of perhaps only getting a couple of hundred charge cycles, at least for our prototype.

To keep it safe the Battery Management System (BMS) must be quite advanced, especially if we opt to utilise some of the more volatile but higher density cells in our

it. It is far more mainstream than our usual audience when we race our petrol engined SuperBikes which I believe makes it an even more compelling story.

With a new year we are trying a new approach. Rather than try to finance everything in one go we are breaking the project up in to a number of work streams.

As we achieve the fund necessary to complete each step we will embark on that piece of development. basic knowledge of battery technology from one company before they politely bowed out when it became clear we needed to use some of the more volatile, higher density cell chemistry that they had no experience in.

Looks like we are going to have to do the bulk of the work ourselves although we do have enough friends in the right places to make sure our design not only works but follows our usual approach of over engineering the solution with numerous back ups and fail safes so we can be more than confident that we can successfully manage any potential situation before things get out of hand.

Ian: How are you approaching funding?

I people want to get involved can they?

Mike: Our initial plan was to secure enough sponsorship to allow us to build the bike and then race it in the TTXGP race series for electric motorcycles using the sponsor’s livery and branding. We thought that should be a compelling enough story, especially if backed up with a documentary following the progress of the project.

Whether it was just the timing of the project as the Olympics max-ed out most marketing budgets or whether we just weren’t selling the right package to the right people we had no takers initially.

One consumer electronics company complained that our plans didn’t seem to be technical enough, something I’ve yet to get to fully understand, or a well known brand with a massive spend on green energy that was happy that their sponsorship of one of the British teams in an Olympic event would hit all their marketing goals for the year.

One thing we have realised is that there is a massive interest in green technology and electric vehicles coupled with a scarcity of information about how to build them yet alone any behind the scenes type footage of people actually doing

The steps currently include: Initial Design – Define basic packaging, chassis layout, etc.

Detailed Design – Comprehensive design showing every component, fastener, etc.

Power Pack – Build battery pack with integrated cooling, Battery Management System, etc.

Drive Train – Build integrated motor and controller, wiring harness, etc. & fit to motorcycle Chassis Design – Carry out structural analysis, air flow analysis, etc.

Chassis Build – Build carbon fibre frame & swing arm. Fit to forks, yokes, wheels, etc.

In addition we intend to look for a sponsor to cover the cost of filming the documentary in return for the rights to the final film that I hope would be made available to their clients, customers or even just uploaded to YouTube with their branding.

Assuming a sponsor is interested in helping us record the development for posterity how do we plan to fund the rest of the work? Having worked second jobs and even sold my house to pay for some of our petrol racing exploits we are looking at a range of ways to both raise the funds and increase the profile of our project.

In the spirit of Kickstarter.com and the plethora of similar sites we have decided to follow the crowdsourcing model, i.e. encourage people with an interest in electric motorcycles to support the development of ours.

Crowd sourced projects usually involve contributing financially to a project and receiving a sample of that product in return. The one thing we can contribute in return, i.e. our ‘product’, is that we can provide detailed access to the design and physical build of each part of the project for those that are interested.

Given the number of people that are interested in green technology, electric vehicles and even motorcycles in general we are sure we can build a community

around our electric motorcycles project.”

Ian: What would your dream situation be?

Mike: This is an engineering exercise to prove our belief that pound for pound an electric motorcycle can have greater performance than a petrol engined equivalent.

There are still challenges ahead, particularly given the current state of battery technology, but as that develops the bike can either dramatically lose weight or significantly increase power.

With half the weight of the bike being the battery pack the opportunities for the future look promising.

In an ideal world the funding challenge would be easily overcome, whether through sponsors who fully appreciated the opportunity or through the crowd sourcing route.

The opportunity to race not just with other electric bikes but also against modern petrol bikes should provide a full testing program and a good demonstration of the capabilities of the project.”

Ian: Finally, Is getting a project like this, and running a team, as much of a buzz as riding in a race?

Mike:: Competing in a race is pretty intense although no where near as hard as running a team. Over the years more time has been spent building and developing bikes. The appreciation of what is required from the chassis, the engine and the fine tuning required with the suspension suggests that there are so many opportunities to be had through building an electric motorcycle than nobody has really explored yet.

This project will change how people thing about electric motorcycles. That is way more exciting than racing!

Be part of it at www.helpusinnovate.com Ian: Thank you Mike for that incredible insight into some very exciting innovations. Fancy a game of Double Dragon?

Mike: “Thank you too.

Ian is part of the ‘Cool Stuff Collective’ on ITV and on twitter @epredator The future can be found on his website www.feedingedge.co.uk

gaming

Devil May Cry

by Luke Lavelle

Time to grab your scythes, guns and crazy combos demon hunters, because Capcom’s Devil May Cry is refuelled and shifting through limbo to land in your disc trays.

This revamped instalment of the DMC series has been crafted in the fires of hell (well, OK, Cambridge) by the guys and gals over at Ninja Theory. First released back in 2001, Devil May Cry became a firm favourite in many gamers lives with a steady flow of releases adding three other titles under the same name through to 2008. Renowned for its mixed weapon combos and stylised combat scoring, DMC has always been appealing to a mixed variety

of gamers. Combined with great stories and smooth graphics (even in the intensity of battle) it’s easy to see why it’s been a huge success.

Main protagonist Dante, a half demon half angel Nephilim, has been drafted in to rid the demons and bring equality to the world.

Under Capcom’s orders, to reinvent Dante and bring a new generation into the DMC franchise, Dante is cast back as a teenager, rebellious, honing his supernatural powers alone in the parallel world of ‘Limbo City ’, home to the infestation of demons. Soon enough into the first, perfectly executed cut scenes, Dante is approached by Kat representing ‘The Order ’, an

organisation set to bring down the tyranny of a puppeteering, King Demon, Mundus and his pawns.

Throughout the game we learn of Dante’s forgotten past and his links to the stability of the human race in the future (still with me?).

Trying to keep with the classic DMC feel the weapons, reactions and combo system from previous titles have been kept in place, while a nip and tuck has been done to suit the modern gamers style. Weapons are unlocked as progression is maintained, along with upgrades to give you more bang for your buck when you stumble across ‘Boss’ levels, or advance onto one of the many tougher difficulty settings after

the first play-through.

When I moved through some of the levels I was captured by the way the two worlds have been presented, with mirrored detail between them, but both looking and feeling completely different at the same time. Blended in superbly with the environment is the audio, I played with both TV speakers and my Turtle Beach X12’s, as much as the X12’s add in more detail, I was still capable to hear every sword swing, gun shot or trapped soul calling out to be released.

There was a lot of doubt behind DMC when it was first announced back in 2010, but for the main

Trying to keep with the classic DMC feel the weapons, reactions and combo system from previous titles have been kept in place, while a nip and tuck has been done to suit the modern gamers style.

part it has delivered, and should be in every gamers collection. You may not enjoy all the numerous cut scenes, but they are shipable. Yes, you may get a tinge of boredom from executing the same combo’s, but try something different, challenge friends on the leader boards or look for the collectables in each level. DMC has brought forward nostalgia from my teenage years, but at same time created new challenges.

Let’s hope Capcom will publish a follow-up and keep Ninja Theory on board, because I like it... I like it a lot!

Publisher: Capcom Developer: Ninja Theory® Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 o: PEGI 16/ M (Mature)

gaming

Antichamber

by Jamie Rodgers

Everyone loves a good puzzle game – challenging your mind, testing your wits and training your brain to do backflips. Well, there’s a puzzle game out there that did more than make my brain do a backflip, it was performing a triple twist double turn with pike... through a flaming hoop... over a pit of crocodiles.

The culprit in question is known only as Antichamber, released on the Steam market.

As soon as I booted the game up, I wasn’t greeted with a main menu, or any sort of premise. I was thrown straight into a hub room, with a barren map. Once I clicked on the only room in view, then the trails began.

Unlike most puzzle games, you gain a basic understanding of the mechanics within the first few minutes, but Antichamber is much more cunning. You find yourself wandering the white halls, with no rhyme or reason, no idea how to advance.

You just... do. You interact with the game in ways that I’ve rarely seen in a puzzle game. It ranged from running in circles, staring at a wall, backtracking, or standing at just the right angle. And

You find yourself wandering the white halls, with no rhyme or reason, no idea how to advance.

You just... do.

you know what, I liked it. Whenever the layout changed, depending on your actions, I never saw any indication of the game loading a new set piece, or any lag when moving to a new area. It ran smoothly on my laptop, and controlled perfectly. Now, when I say the game made my brain do backflips in the first paragraphs, I really meant it. Whenever I walked through the invisible systematic flags, I was rendered speechless, as I had no idea what to expect. If I could juxtapose the game to something, it would be the rat

in a maze experiment, made famous

by Robert Tryon, and the pigeon experiments by B.F. Skinner. Both focused on behavioural association, more so the pigeon experiment. A pigeon was inadvertently convinced that performing a random set of moves would produce a reward, which was dispensed at arbitrary times. After a while, in the game, I was doing random actions, in the hope of advancing to the next section.

If I had to label the game with overused buzz words, it would be ‘crafty ’. Whenever you complete a puzzle, it displays a poster-like sign on the wall, with various proverbs to solving problems. Every new one I saw brought a smile, like I was saying “Oh you” to the game.

Antichamber is up there with Portal, Braid, Huebrix in the ranks of puzzle game. Never go into this game thinking you can conquer it, or it’ll conquer you.

Available on steam (PC) for £14.99 / $19.99, for more info visit www.antichamber-game.com

TECH REVIEW:

SAMSUNG

20.3 megapixels, HD video and Built-in Wi-Fi, but will it make you a better photographer?

For more reviews visit www.flushthefashion. com/tech

NX1000 Here’s the thing about digital cameras...

A basic compact is OK, you can pick it up and shoot a picture, but there isn’t really much scope for you to learn the craft and improve your skills from a technical point of view. The Samsung NX1000 is good because it bridges the gap between simple and difficult. The more you use it, the more the layers of complexity will unravel. Out of the box it’s an easy to use point-and-click camera, and the Smart Auto 2.0 function does a good job in the vast majority of scenarios. The results are clean, sharp and much crisper than your average digital camera.

For truly fantastic shots, especially in more challenging circumstances, e.g. low light, or action shots you will have to experiment more with the manual settings. For some people this is a pain, for others a foothold into the door of beginning to understand taking better photos. The NX1000 encourages you to experiment, its simple interface allows you to remember what you did, and if necessary, do it again.

One of it’s main selling points is not its photo-taking abilities, but the built in Wi-Fi. If you have a smartphone and a decent, or unlimited data plan, you can tether it to your phone and upload pictures to the cloud almost instantly. I took it to Prague with me for a few days, and linked the camera with my Skydrive account, batch uploading at the end of each day. You can also upload to social networks such as Facebook – great for sharing your holiday pics with your friends, before you even get back. A small niggle was that if you’re uploading quite a few pics, it’s easy to upload the same picture more than once. A function to say a pic had been uploaded already would be useful (Samsung make note).

The Smart link function where it uploads photos instantly works brilliantly if you have a compatible phone, sadly my Nokia 710 wasn’t. It would be nice to see Samsung

opening up the technology to everyone in the future (sharing is good right?) .

The Nightshoot mode with a maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and bulb mode of 8 minutes is perfect for static objects in poor light. I was also able to take excellent detailed Macro shots. The camera features an ultra-high-speed Auto Focus allowing up to the shooting of 8 frames per second.

The 20-50mm iFunction zoom lens included, while a decent enough all-rounder won’t be any good for Paprazzi style shots.

Purchasing an additional longer range lens is worth considering if your needs are more demanding.

The Smart Filters are a bit stock, (sepia, comic book, vignette etc) the old film one isn’t bad, but only for novelty (am still waiting for someone to do the x-ray effect).

The Panoramas are quite cool though, allowing you to capture a moving object at several points using a sweeping panorama, or alternatively a 3D panorama. You can also shoot full 1080 HD video too.

One thing I did notice was that photos often look fantastic on the small built-in 3-inch screen, but weren’t quite as sharp on something bigger. A few times I thought I

383g washed beige linen Gram is all about making sophisticated sneakers. We create shoes that fill the gap between sneakers and traditional shoes. Our roots lie in Scandanavian design aesthetic; design with clean lines and attention to detail. Each model being unique in its own simplicity. The brand is centred around the concept of weight, with each show being named after its weight in grams. At Gram we love shoes, in particular shoes you can wear at the office as well as on the night out. The brand started in 2005 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

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had nailed a shot only to find out later it was slightly out of focus.

The camera body itself while plastic and light is durable, and it will take the odd knock and bump. It looks particularly good in white, just don’t drop it in the snow.

It’s the little brother to the more expensive Samsung NX20 and NX210 (all 3 have the 20.3 megapixel APS-C sized sensor) but there’s not a huge amount to set them apart.

If your budget is tight the NX1000 is a solid choice if you want to upgrade, but don’t want to spend serious money on a DSLR The NX1000 will allow you to take much better pictures than a regular digital compact would, and has some useful features. How much better though is down to you.

Specifications 20.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor 1080 30p Full HD recording capabilities 8fps shooting 3-inch LCD screen built in wi-fi ISO range 100-12,800 Price from around £380 For more info visit www.samsung.com/uk

BLACK IN TIME Pure Black by Mutewatch

You have to hand it to the Swedes. As far as Nationalistic generalisations go, they have a knack of combining good design with ideas useful in every day life.

a clever vibrating alarm allows you to get up in the morning without disturbing your partner next to you. Very simple, but very clever.

Mutewatch is a good example. Originally available in Charcoal Grey and Poppy Red, their new ‘Pure Black’ touchscreen watch is a nice mix of minimalistic style and cutting edge technology. The LED display contrasts beautifully with its deep black colour rubber wristband and

Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak is a big fan and Karl Lagerfeld bought three of them from Colette in Paris on the day they were launched.

Availble from Selfridges for £215 For more info visit www.mutewatch.com

WIN

One of 3 Arcadie iPhone cabinets Have fun recreating the excitement of childhood visits to the fairground with these iPhone Arcadie’s, complete with cool downloadable free retro arcade games.

Simply slide your iPhone or iPod Touch into the rear of the Arcadie, then power up and you’re good to go.

With an authentic design, including an 8-way joystick and A & B buttons, it’s perfect for the bedroom or bottom drawer of the office desk (for when the boss isn’t around).

We have 3 Arcadie’s to give away (iPhone not included).

To enter the competition visit www.flushthefashion.com/win/arcadie or email your name and address to arcadie@flushthefashion.com Editor’s decision is final.

Closing date is 20th March 2013 Good luck!

WIN

One of 3 devolo dLAN 500 AV Plus Starter Kits

Flush Magazine and devolo are giving you the chance to win one of 3 devolo dLAN 500 AV Plus Starter Kits worth over £100! devolo is one of the UK’s leading Powerline networking specialists, helping you to create that perfect ‘home network’. The dLAN 500 AV plus is truly ‘Plug-andPlay’ so you can quickly and easily establish a network connection over the household electrical wiring with transmission rates of up to 500 Mbps. The starter kit contains two adapters, Ethernet cables and an installation disk so you have everything you need to get started.

Your favourite images and videos can be displayed in both HD and 3D streaming and the pass through plug means you won’t lose a valuable plug socket in your home!

To enter our competition visit www.flushthefashion.com/win/devolo Alternatively email your name and address to devolo@flushthefashion.com Usual Terms and Conditions Apply. Editors decision is final.

Closing date is 20th March 2013 Good luck!

For more information and to view more devolo products visit www.devolo.co.uk

my favourite movie

by Kara Mclean

West Side Story (1961) I learnt Spanish for West Side Story; studied it for seven years.

And all because, having seen this masterpiece for the first time at the age of 11, I decided that I was one day going to play the part of Maria. Naturally, being able to speak Spanish would give me a huge advantage over all other actresses, wouldn’t it?

I won’t say I wasn’t a precocious child.

But did I ever play Maria? Did I ever get to sing the glorious, soaring melodies of ‘Tonight’ or the gentle, loving duet ‘One Hand, One Heart’? Well, no. But then again, neither did Natalie Wood.

Oh yes, she played the part (and beautifully) but shedidn’tsing it, despite co-director and West Side Story creator Jerome Robbins agreeing that she would. Instead her part was sung by the queen of dubbing, Marni Nixon (a fact kept secret from Wood), the vocal chameleon who also provided onscreen vocals for Audrey Hepburn (My Fair Lady) and Deborah Kerr (The King and I).

In fact, very few of the main players sang for themselves in the film. Jimmy Bryant voiced Richard Beymer’s Tony and that’s not Riff’s (Russ Tamblyn) voice you hear in ‘The Jet Song’ but Ice’s (Tucker Smith).Tamblyn’s voice is used for his other numbers while Anita’s vocals were similarly dubbed; Betty

Wand singing for ‘A Boy Like That’ with Rita Moreno’s voice heard in ‘America’.

But none of this was very surprising for the time; movie musical vocals were often dubbed.What was different about West Side Story was the way it tackled a far grittier subject matter than previously seen in the genre.

Opening with the scored ‘Prologue’, all blaring horns and luscious strings, mambo rhythms and lyrical ballads West Side Story sets its store out early; this is no traditional musical comedy. With its audacious, virtually wordless opening sequence Robbins uses his choreography to give the audience all the information it needs.This continues throughout the film; choreography as integral to plot and character development as any dialogue.

Robbins managed to complete the filming of only four numbers (before the producers felt that he was running too far behind schedule and too deep into the budget and showed him the door) but his work on the film brings an indelible energy, immediacy and emotion to the screen.

‘America’, complete with explosive dancing on an apartment rooftop (they must have some forgiving neighbours) and the contained, pressure cooker of ‘Cool’ remain two of my favourite movie scenes of all time.

I’m a person naturally drawn to supporting characters and West Side Story has an embarrassment of riches in this department.Russ Tamblyn is cocky and compelling as the leader of the Jets and his dancing and acrobatics are sublime, Rita Moreno is a defiant yet empathetic Anita whose performance in the taunting scene haunts me to this day and Ned Glass is heartbreaking as the unheard voice of reason, Doc. What I really love about West Side Story is that, while it may start out with a sense of humour and lightness of touch, once things start to go wrong

“This is no traditional musical comedy. With its audacious, virtually wordless opening sequence Robbins uses his choreography to give the audience all the information it needs” they fall apart at a frightening pace.The speed of dialogue, energy of movement and Leonard Bernstein’s vibrant, driving score all lend themselves to the feeling of inevitable disaster.And Robbins and codirector Robert Wise really stick to their guns - no-one tries to cheer you up once events take a turn for the worse.

As I think about other films that could come close to being ‘My Favourite Film’ it strikes me that so many are emotionally similar to West Side Story and I believe that this brilliant, vital, devastating piece of musical drama has impacted greatly on the cinema I have enjoyed over the years.West Side Story has the lot ‚Äì singing, dancing, laughter and an ability to grab you by the jugular and never let go. That is what makes it my favourite film.

West Side Story on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055614/

Manny Castro - Think Young 2012 60 x 72 inches For more info on Manny, visit www.mannycastro.com

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