Hadleigh, Ipswich & Woodbridge Districts July/August 09
Your NEW LOCAL magazine for Smarthome living A pocket rocket info pack of home technology, gadgets, furniture & interior design
This months features
Interior Design: Jemima Withey gives us the inside track on colour The Complete Coffee History: Stuff you didn’t know about the nations favourite bean Music Festivals - uncut: Great headlines, but are they actually worth going to?
Image coutesy: Spectral GB/What Hi-Fi
Star Trek Gadgets: What Hi-fi Brand Director and Editor-in-Chief, Clare Newsome, tells us what’s hot for the coming year
Smartliving Now Magazine
Insert your headline here ( We thought we’d let our hand-made furniture speak for itself )
Publisher: Charles Woodthorpe tech@smartlivingnow.co.uk Editor: Janine Rea editor@smartlivingnow.co.uk Consultant Journalist/PR: Neil Farrow sales@smartlivingnow.co.uk Smartliving Now Magazine P.O. Box 101, Ipswich IP7 9BE Please recycle this publication when finished with. The paper used for this publication is from sustainable managed sources in North America & Europe only. Design, content and compilation of this publication are protected by copyright. ©2009 Smartliving Now. All rights reserved. While all reasonable care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information included in this magazine, the publishers take no responsibility for statements made by contributors or advertisers or for loss arising from non- publication of any advertisement. Smartliving Now magazine is in no way responsible for the outcome or quality of any business transaction between the advertised supplier and our readers or customers.
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With this, our first summer edition hitting your letter boxes Smartliving Now goes from strength to strength.
With the Met Office finally admitting they got it wrong, the summer, or what’s left of it, could be a bit of a mixed bag. So settle down and cheer yourself up with this sun packed summer issue and take a look at all the cool new products for the home that can tempt you out of the damp doldrums.
We are privileged to introduce Clare Newsome who will be sharing her wisdom on the luxury technology market. Clare has been with What Hi-Fi magazine for many years as Editor and more recently as Editor-in-chief and Brand Director. What she doesn’t know about the home audio visual market, quite frankly, isn’t worth knowing. New for this issue is a feature on the use of colour in interior design. Woodbridge based business woman Jemima Withey will be putting the record straight so we don’t get confused with all the conflicting messages from the plethora of interior programmes on TV. We also have the charming Azzouz from the Coffee Link in Ipswich who has put together a brief history of coffee which makes for very interesting reading.
With our title becoming more and more popular we have now added Boxford to the distribution list... London calling... maybe!
Be sure to check out our website www.smartlivingnow.co.uk and also consider sponsoring our good friend Stuart Melrose who is cycling 500km on an arm bike from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam through to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. He is trying to raise money for the charity that bought him a wheelchair when he first broke his neck. A ‘bit of pay-back’ as he calls it.
t. 01473 322020 e. info@nickbourne.com
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STAR TREK GADGETS ARE NOW A REALITY. Clare Newsome, Brand Director, Editor-in-Chief and Gadget Goddess at What Hi-Fi magazine reports
Forty years on from men walking on the moon and the far-fetched predictions of the futurologists (and David Bowie) haven’t materialised – we’re still earth-bound, and eating much more than protein-pills.
However, science-fiction got a lot more right. A recent report highlighted that many Star Trek gadgets are now a reality – from communicators (mobile phones) and wireless headsets to internet-style computer systems and flatscreen TVs. And the innovations continue. Just about however and wherever you want to enjoy your music, movies and TV, there’s now a new top-quality solution – and without an astronomical price tag.
We understand your vision Award-winning landscape design and construction from a team of skilled professionals. To embrace a new way of living, on time and on budget, please call us on 01473 401279. LANDSCAPE & GARDEN DESIGN HARD & SOFT LANDSCAPING BESPOKE PONDS & WATER FEATURES TIMBER BUILDINGS SEMI-MATURE TREE PLANTING LIGHTING IRRIGATION MAINTENANCE tel/fax: 01473 401279 www.nascentialandscapes.co.uk 2009 Award Winner
First up, take the dear-old telly. High-definition (HD) TVs have been around for a few years, but only now are the key elements in place – HD recording, playback and TV channels – for consumers to make the most of this serious step up in quality from standard-definition (SD) sound and vision. It’s almost impossible now to buy a flatscreen TV that isn’t at least HD Ready – that is, which has the resolution to display high-def TV or movie content. However, buying an HD TV doesn’t automatically mean you’re watching in high-definition. To enjoy that eye-popping pleasure you’ll need a subscription to an HD TV service – Sky+ HD and Virgin HD being the most popular; both of which come with a PVR (personal video recorder) unit – or a Freesat-enabled TV or set-top box/PVR, which (like Sky) also require a satellite dish. Freesat is the only service that currently offers free HD content – though that’s essentially only a selection of BBC and ITV programmes right now, while paid-for HD services offer a wider choice of channels of HD sports, movies, drama, arts and more. From next year, some HD content will be available via your standard TV aerial, with the arrival of Freeview HD. However, this will only be available in areas of the UK that have made the switch from analogue to digital TV (see www.digitaluk.co.uk to check your location). In addition, you’ll need a new set-top box or Freeview HD TV to enjoy that free HD TV.
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Another way of making the most of your HD flatscreen is a Blu-ray player. The successor to DVD, Blu-ray disc offers at least five times the amount of sound and vision capacity of a DVD, which means the space for far higher-quality content, plus a host of interactive extras. All Blu-ray players will also play all your existing DVDs, plus ‘upscale’ them to suit the higher resolution of today’s flatscreens. To make the most of Blu-ray’s detail-packed picture, you’ll need a top-spec flatscreen – also known as a Full HD or 1080p TV – which are becoming ever-more affordable and ubiquitous. Still with me? Good – because high-def is certainly worth it. From pictures drenched in detail and rich colours to cinema-style sound that makes anything from a football match to a blockbuster movie a real event. Roll in the fact that the TV sets themselves are getting more stylish and clever by the minute – boasting everything from internet connectivity to energy-saving features – and the goggle-box has evolved into a true home entertainment hub. For example, plug in one of Panasonic’s new range of Blu-ray recorders and not only will you be able to enjoy Freesat HD TV, Blu-ray and DVDs, but also your photo and camcorder content on the big screen – and archive the results. You can also manage all that entertainment – plus even rip music from CDs and turn your TV into a jukebox – from a standard remote control. Convergence continues with the new breed of streaming devices – such as the supersimple Apple TV – that’ll pipe all that tasty multimedia content, including downloaded music and movies, to your television and/or AV and hi-fi system. And yes, if you already have – or have always hankered for – a serious stereo system, the growth of computer-based audio doesn’t mean you need to wave goodbye to stunning sounds. A hard-disk drive capable of holding many thousands of songs in uncompressed, CD-quality (or even higher!) can now be yours for under £100. It’s legally acceptable to copy all CDs or downloads you’ve bought onto a hard-drive, from where you can stream them to your main system or load them onto an iPod or other portable player.
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High-end audio companies, including Naim with its awesome NaimUniti CD system/music streamer/internet radio unit and Chord with its stream-happy, iPod- boosting Indigo are getting in on the act, plus there’s a growing business in standalone DACs (digital-to-analogue converter), which can boost the sound quality of anything from
music files on your laptop to discs spinning on your DVD player! Cambridge Audio’s DACMagic (£229) is a superb, affordable example of these excellent digital upgrades. Another benefit of having your music stored on a hard-drive is how easy it’s becoming to enjoy your tunes anywhere – not just out-and-about on your iPod but throughout your home, via a multiroom audio system. Again, you can buy systems that integrate with all your existing hi-fi kit, or offer everything you need in a single box. The Award-winning Sonos system remains the simplest, best-of-both-worlds multiroom solution, allowing you to play music from a range of sources, access the entire online Napster music library as a giant jukebox, and be used to play either the same music throughout your home or different tunes to suit the tastes of everyone in the household. You can even control it via your iPhone or iPod Touch – via downloadable apps, those two Apple handhelds now offer a range of handy home-entertainment uses, from remote-control applications to room-acoustics analysis. A starter Sonos system costs £700, but if your budget can stretch far more on a multiroom set-up should you wish – adding a zero to that sum will bag you Meridian’s Sooloos system: an incredibly sophisticated music solution that’s is so compelling you may never leave your house again! Thanks to copyright-management issues, movie servers - storing all your DVDs - have remained a rare, pricey proposition. But with a specification just announced that’ll enable archiving of Blu-ray discs, expect to see HD Movie Servers (allowing to you manage your purchased movie discs and downloads as easily as you do your iPod music) hit the shops from later this year. As convergence marches on, it’s trailing fewer and fewer wires behind it, as products either hook up to your existing home wi-fi network or come with their own cable-free solution. Those streamers and multiroom solutions already mentioned are wi-fi ready, while KEF’s Wireless Speaker system can be added to any brand of speaker to cut down the cabling. Both Panasonic and Sony already offer wireless TVs (well, other than the need for a mains-lead), with Panasonic’s flagship Z1 set even able to be beamed full HD Blu-ray content. Yamaha’s new PDX-50 (£200) is a superb example of dock-free iPod
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entertainment, allowing you to keep your Apple in hand while wirelessly enjoying its sounds from the Yamaha’s speakers.
Let us create the right environment for you...
Cutting out ugly cabling is just one of the aesthetic advances on offer. As already mentioning, the humble telly has already had a makeover, to which you can add speakers, electronics and even the racks to hold all your hit. Furniture-grade home entertainment housing – such as Spectral’s gorgeous range – is a reality, complete with hidden technical touches, including all the cable management and support/ventilation equipment needs to perform at its best. If even the most stylish speakers – including B&W’s spherical PV1 subwoofer; more like sculpture than bass-box – are judged too intrusive, there are a wall and ceiling-mounted options, including Soundbars that squeeze the abilities of a home-cinema amplifer and speakers into a single box that slips under your flatscreen. Yes, it’s pseudo-surround sound rather than the full cinema monty, but with systems such as Yamaha’s YSP range or Marantz Cinemarium there’s surprisingly little compromise. The world of custominstallation (CI) takes things one step further, with almost invisible system solutions combining in-wall and in-ceiling speakers with cunningly concealed screens and players – all of which can be controlled from a single handheld device (and yes, that could even be your iPhone, too!) With CI getting ever-more affordable, it’s worth contacting your local specialist (find them via www.cedia.co.uk) to see the discreet delights on offer. Hopefully this feature has inspired to you explore the new worlds of home entertainment just as the crew of the Enterprise explored ‘new life and new civilisations’.
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Technology is boldly going where it hasn’t been before and these are exciting times. Now, about that transporter room and holodeck….
...technical solutions for your lifestyle
DESIGN LIGHT AUDIO CONTROL
0845 1700017 www.technovations.co.uk smartliving@technovations.co.uk
The CoffeeLink’s History of Coffee Established in Suffolk in 2005, the Coffee Link at Ipswich’s Neptune Quay, (and soonto-be new outlet at Ipswich railway station) started roasting only speciality coffees which are 100% Arabica and Rainforest Alliance certified. Speciality coffee is all about quality, variety and roasting methods. Azzouz and his team at the Coffee Link roast their beans in small batches ensuring a superior flavour and aroma.
The beans are very delicate and as an agricultural product, the variety can sometimes change with the seasons.
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Accordingly, the roasting method may have to be varied. Roast too quickly at too high a temperature and you’ll scorch the exterior of the bean, roast too slowly at too low a temperature and you’ll sap the bean of its flavour. My recommendation is to go along, breath in the aroma and the atmosphere and experience the tastes first hand. And while you’re there, if you can corner Azzouz, he can give you chapter and verse on every type of coffee the globe has to offer. Go on, test him! The Coffee Link 01473 210620 www.thecoffeelink.co.uk
And now the history bit... Out of Africa
The story of how coffee became one of the most popular drinks in the world is shrouded in mystery. It is thought that the coffee tree originated in the province of Kaffa, in the area known today as Ethiopia.
There is no real evidence to show exactly when, or how, it was first discovered that a rich and stimulating brew could be made from the bean, but it is thought that before coffee was ever appreciated as a beverage, native tribespeople may have chewed the ripe cherries and beans as food.
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There is evidence, however, to suggest that coffee trees were cultivated in monastery gardens 1,000 years ago. According to folklore, a goat herder called Kaldi noticed that even the oldest goats behaved like young kids when they ate certain wild berries. Upon hearing this, the Abbot of the local monastery decided to experiment. He found that a brew of these ‘cherries’ could keep his brother monks awake through long hours of prayer.
He enjoyed the drink so much that he gave it Papal approval. 30 years later a coffee house or ‘cafĂŠ' was opened in Venice. The growth of popular coffee houses, which became favourite meeting places for both social and business purposes, spread from the mid-17th century to other European countries including Austria, France, Germany, Holland and England.
CafĂŠ Culture
In Britain, the first coffee house was opened in Oxford in 1651 and by 1700 there were 3,000 coffee houses in London. Every man of the upper middle classes went to his coffee house daily to learn the latest news. Edward Lloyd's coffee house (founded in 1668), attracted seafarers and merchants and eventually became Lloyd’s of London, the world-famous insurers. Similarly, Jonathon’s Coffee House became the London Stock Exchange. Coffee drinking spread to the colonies and was indeed taken to Virginia, USA but it would not have become so popular in America had it not been for the Boston Tea Party. Americans turned their back on Britain and tea and instead adopted coffee as their national beverage.
Global Appeal A Mocha in Mecca
Commercial cultivation followed, although the first reports of this, from the Yemen, were not recorded until the fifteenth century. By the sixteenth century, coffee was being grown in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Its popularity was probably due, in part, to the fact that Muslims, forbidden alcohol by the Koran, found coffee to be an acceptable substitute. The first coffee houses were opened in Mecca, where coffee drinking was initially encouraged, and quickly spread throughout the Arab world. These, which developed into luxuriously decorated places where music, dancing, chess and gossip could be enjoyed and business was also conducted. With thousands of pilgrims visiting the holy city of Mecca each year from all over the world, word of the ‘Wine of Araby’, as the drink was often called, began to spread far beyond Arabia.
The last three hundred years have seen coffee make its way around the world, establishing itself in the economies and lifestyles of the main trading nations. Coffee is now one of the most valuable primary commodities in the world, often second in value only to oil as a source of foreign exchange to developing countries. Millions of people around the world earn their living from the coffee industry. At times in history coffee has been hailed as a medicinal cure-all, and at others condemned as the devil's brew - in the latter case usually for political or religious reasons, when coffee houses were at their height of popularity as meeting places. However, in the last half-century scientific research has established the facts about coffee, caffeine (responsible for coffee's mild stimulant effect) and our health: in moderation coffee consumption is in no way a health risk, and besides being a most pleasurable experience drinking coffee can indeed confer some health benefits.
East to West
Despite the fact that trade in coffee, a much-prized commodity, was jealously guarded by the Arabs to the extent that foreigners were not allowed to visit their coffee plantations or take fertile coffee beans out of the country, seed beans and plant cuttings were eventually taken out of Arabia and cultivated in the Dutch colonies in India and Java. The Dutch colonies became the main suppliers of coffee to Europe, with Amsterdam its trading centre.
From Sinner to Saint
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Venetian traders first brought coffee to Europe in 1615. Opponents to coffee were openly cautious and called the beverage the ‘bitter invention of Satan’. The local clergy even condemned it! The controversy was so great that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. Before making a decision however, he decided to taste the beverage for himself. Please mention Smartliving Now magazine when enquiring about features
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You, your music
your system
Name: Dan Moat
Occupation: Sales & Marketing Director Encore International Ltd., Energy risk manager's. Age: 41 What have you been listening to recently? Newton Faulkner, Lily Allen and Red Hot Chilli Peppers What audio system have you got? I mainly listen through my iPod/i-deck combi (a Monitor Audio iPod player). I listen to CD’s in the living room on a Denon system with Monitor Audio Silver 7 speakers. Will you be updating any time soon? I have been looking at a Bose Wave System, however I spotted the Roth Audio Alfie in the last issue, which has great reviews, so I need to do some more homework before committing.
Name: Lee Sands Occupation: Director, Morton Smith & Sands Estate Agents Age: 38 What have you been listening to recently? Paulo Nutini, The Ting Tings and Incognito What audio system have you got? I mainly listen through my iPod and occasionally through my 5.1 surround sound system when I get the chance Will you be updating any time soon? I am always on the look out for anything to do with gadgets, I love them! I have just bought a new 50” plasma tv after finally persuading the wife that it’s the right thing to do. I now want a Blue-ray player, a separate hi fi system, new iPod, and a 7.1 surround system.
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If you would like to be featured, send us an email including the answers to the questions and a small hi-res image of yourself. sales@smartlivingnow.co.uk
WWW.ICONIC-HOME.CO.UK Please Call to arrange a demonstration at our showroom. Home Control and Automation. Security and Lighting. Multi-Room Audio. Music and DVD Servers. Home Cinema Installers. Unit F, Bristol Court, Betts Ave, Martlesham Heath, IP5 3RY Tel: 01473 611131
ULTIMATE COLLECTION Thorens TD 309 Turntable
I had a sneeky peak at this luscious record player whilst at a show in Munich recently. Available is black or stunning red for around £1200, the yet-to-be-released turntable has a standard TP92 tonearm, but with an aluminium armtube cold-worked and rolled for strength.The sub platter is precision-machined Aluminium with a single ring micro-contact area. Speed control is via an electronic feedback system, automatically compensating for record weight and dynamic stylus drag, and the the deck also has adjustable belt tension todeal with belt stretch. Well, that’s all clear then!
Charles Furniture, Carlo Rossi Wine Table
Charles design focuses on creative solutions specializing in one-off furniture and lighting design. Carlo Rossi (a Californian wine company under the Ernest & Julio Gallo group) approached Charlesfurniture to design a range of furniture using their iconic wine bottle. A range of wine tables were created using a central aluminium connector that displays the bottle shape and structure. The concept of the structure was inspired by the image of the vine and grape. www.charlesfurniture.co.uk
Just looks and sounds fantastic, which is good enough for me.
Planika Fires
Without the need for installation or a chimney, these fires from Polish company Planika can be set in any desired space... even the middle of the room. The patented Digifire technology is the only system in the world that incorporates an automatic, fully electronically controlled Fanola (ethanol liquid fuel) feeding system. The technology lies in the process of burning eco-friendly Fanola fuel - pure ethanol, in a patented container. With a remote operated ignition, firing up and extinguishing has never been so easy to manage. www.planikafires.com
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Please mention Smartliving Now magazine when replying to any advertisements
Combining washbasin and WC into a single piece, and through the new Roca “water-reuse” technology, total water usage in the bathroom is reduced by up to 25% in comparison to a standard 6/3-litre toilet (Dual flush). The “water-reuse technology” reuses waste water from the washbasin to fill the toilet cistern. An automatic cleaning system has been incorporated for the first time in order to avoid flushing the bacteria into the W+W water cistern, and bad smells. This product is both safe and userfriendly and its cleanability and maintenance characteristics are thus assured, getting better quality water and avoiding wastage.
Neil Farrow reports
Powerful Pond Life!
While there are plenty of alternative fuel prospects floating around, a key factor in the widespread adoption of such fuels is whether or not they are economical. That is why a team of New York based researchers are so excited by their development of what they have termed ‘the first economical, eco-friendly process to convert algae oil into biodiesel fuel’ – a discovery they predict could one day lead to U.S. independence from petroleum as a fuel. One of the problems with current methods for producing biodiesel from algae oil is the processing cost. The researchers say their process is at least 40 percent cheaper than that of others now being used and, with a limitless amount of algae growing in oceans, lakes, and rivers, throughout the world, supply will not be a problem. Another benefit of the process is that there is no wastewater produced to cause pollution. "This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil," according to lead researcher and vice president of United Environment and Energy LLC, Ben Wen, Ph.D., "It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there are no water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster." A key advantage of this new process, he says, is that it uses a proprietary solid catalyst developed at his company instead of liquid catalysts used by other scientists today. First, the solid catalyst can be used over and over. Second, it allows the continuously flowing production of biodiesel, compared to the method using a liquid catalyst, which is slower because workers need to take at least half an hour after producing each batch to create more biodiesel. They need to purify the biodiesel by neutralizing the base catalyst by adding acid. With the new process no such action is needed to treat the solid catalyst, Wen explains. It's estimated that algae has an "oil-per-acre production rate 100-300 times the amount of soybeans, and offers the highest yield feedstock for biodiesel and the most promising source for mass biodiesel production to replace transportation fuel in the United States." Wen says that his firm is now conducting a pilot program for the process with a production capacity of nearly 1 million gallons of algae biodiesel per year. Depending on the size of the machinery and the plant, it is possible that a company could produce up to 50 million gallons of algae biodiesel annually. Wen also says that the solid catalyst continuous flow method can be adapted to mobile units so that smaller companies wouldn't have to construct plants and the military could use the process in the field. Also, unlike crop-based biofuels, the production of algae based biodiesel does not entail a decrease in food production, since it requires neither farmland nor fresh water.
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The Roca W+W
Washbasin and WC are two essential elements in every single bathroom. It doesn’t matter whether they are small or big, or even if they are installed in private or public bathrooms, at home or in the office. In small bathrooms, these two fixtures are usually placed very close to each other, or even on the same wall.
Living
COLOUR
Confused by all the interior TV programmes giving conflicting messages about colour? So are we, so we got local interior designer Jemima Withey to put the record straight.
Decorating your home should be a joy. Couples may often have very different tastes. To try and develop a scheme that works for both of you should be an enjoyable challenge. With our homes, as with any good design, we should never put form before function. The starting point should be to consider the many uses a room might have and the needs of the individuals who use it. A living room may incorporate a home office, comfortable seating for watching tv, suitable lighting for reading the papers, a large toy box and lots of storage for DVD’s and CD’s. However pleasing a scheme is to look at if it is not comfortable to sit down, there is no where to store your vast DVD collection and you get eye strain reading the Sunday papers the appeal will soon wear off.
Colour has far more power in a room than people appreciate. It can be used to change the proportions of a room. Pale yellow is highly reflective and can make a room seem larger and lighter. Blue is a cool colour and can work well in an overly sunny room as it absorbs light, but in a chilly or dark room it would make you uncomfortable. Red is a stimulating colour and can be very dramatic. It will make rooms appear smaller and cosier, but can be very oppressive in the wrong situation. Any colour you choose may change significantly when seen in natural light, dusk and artificial light. A harmonious scheme may suddenly clash horribly when the lights are turned on in the evening. It is always best to use large samples of any fabrics, papers and paints you are considering. Use a roll of lining paper and paint a sample that is at least A4. Always look at the samples in the room where you are intending to use them before deciding. Taking the time to consider your choices will save time and money and lead to a much more pleasing result
Property programs on television are guilty of many things. My personal bette noir is the ‘feature wall’. It seems to be used in every project and incorporate very bold, usually purple or green, flock wallpaper. Behind the head of a bed or on a chimney breast a feature wall can be very effective. But tread carefully before using different treatments on the walls of one room
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When trying to create a scheme that works from both a masculine and a feminine perspective, white is a great starting point. This could be bright white or a warm shade of white. We are very lucky in our region to have wonderful natural daylight. White walls work with this beautifully in any setting from a contemporary home to an oak beamed cottage. They do not need to appear harsh when they are combined with other colours and textures. There will be no arguing about the pattern on the wallpaper and it is easy to wash off any marks. You can break up large expanses of wall with groups of pictures or photos. The soft furnishings in a room are what bring the whole scheme together.
They should allow you to blend yours and your partners taste to create a harmonious scheme. Roman blinds in white linen or wooden venetian blinds can be combined with sumptuous curtains. A deep comfortable sofa in a plain fabric or leather can be dressed with scatter cushions of various different shades and textures. But always remember the cushions must be comfortable, not just decoration.
A master bedroom requires a relaxing and restful scheme. Darker more luxurious colours and fabrics can be combined with white woodwork to create the right atmosphere. It is best to steer clear of very vibrant colours in a bedroom, as they can be very stimulating. This is not ideal in any bedroom, especially children’s rooms. Many colours and textures can combine to please both sexes. Aim to create a classical scheme that is neither to hard and cold nor too floral! Fabrics or wall coverings in deep silver greys, warm aubergines, shades of gold or chocolate can create the right atmosphere. Most importantly a home should be about the people who live in it. Everyone has his or her own important mementos, photographs and heirlooms. Delicate negotiations may be needed to find the right spot to show case them.
If trying to create a beautiful home together feels like a quick root to separate bedrooms, then you can always call in a professional. 01394 384 673 - jemimasd@yahoo.co.uk
Great Grooming Essentials
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Charlie Woodthorpe reports
Take note: Women like the rugged man, but the rugged man who looks after himself with style. Clear? No, nor am I. Basically it’s a no-win scenario, so you’re best to suit yourself and hope it hits the spot. If not, suit yourself again with something different, you’ll pull it off one day. (in retrospect, a bad turn of phrase) As it’s a bit of a lottery, try a smattering of the following... Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme Marine Eau de Toilette Spray. £52. The scent is designed to evoke the natural freshness and vitality of the ocean, using ingredients such as neroli, grapefruit, white cedar wood and the aquatic plant posidonia, a key component of its Aqva Pour Homme predecessor. An exploration of the freshest and purest water. A contemporary aromatic aquatic signature. Dedicated to men seeking a unique, crisp and vibrant freshness. www.shedlifestyle.co.uk
Ultracalm Lemon Leaf Shavewax Experience the luxury of shaving with Molton Brown ultracalm lemon leaf shavewax. The rich thick cream wax is an alternative to shaving foam, it melts on contact with the skin to create a smooth oil preparation base for shaving. Ideal for those with sensitive skin, the shave wax delivers a razor glide like no other. 125ml. £19.00 www.moltonbrown.co.uk Australian Body Care Hand & Foot Cream 100ml - £7.99 A calming rich Hand and Foot Skin Cream enriched with 5% Tea Tree Oil and gentle Aloe Vera to soothe and restore dry or itchy skin on hands and feet and elbows. Suitable for all skin types
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renewables heat recovery systems air/water heat pumps geothermal systems underfloor heating solar thermal Call Steve Clark on 01473 657403 or 07850 326194 steve@heatsavesystems.com
Moisture rich aloe & palm body bar (£12) This is a Molton Brown men's classic! This bar generates a rich lavish lather which makes for an ideal shaving accompaniment. The high consistency of aloe vera in the bar provides both an excellent facial and body cleanser. Plus the deep mix of armotic oils smell great! www.moltonbrown.co.uk
Contains Aloe Vera to improve the cream's moisturising, soothing and calming properties Soothes and restores dry, itchy or cracked skin. Skin friendly pH Especially suitable for chapped hands, cracked heals, athletes foot, eczema, psoriasis and specific problem areas. www.shedlifestyle.co.uk Please mention Smartliving Now magazine when enquiring about features
As much as I love my little two dearly, they are small and unable to saddle up enormous amounts of kit onto their backs like Chilean Alpacas, so the straws may have been weighed in favour of our bigger two with the view that unloading and setting up camp would be a breeze.
Lazing around at
Neil Farrow just about remembers
Latitude (not)
I can only imagine it’s like having a baby... a few years down the line you don’t remember the pain and uncleanliness so you go through it all again with rose tinted glasses as a distant voice somewhere in the back of your mind tells you ‘Go for it, it’ll be worth it’. Having ventured Southwold way a few years back, my kids, whom I remember had a great time, never gave up the fight and eventually wore me down. I relented and started making plans for another music and camping extravaganza of gargantuan proportions. And believe me, with four kids, that isn’t an over-statement. We had learnt from friends the first time that planning is everything. Not just what to take, but more importantly, the schedule and timing of groups on each stage. T minus two months and my older daughters were frantically using the Latitude website, My Space and YouTube to find out who was playing where and crucially, at what time. Timing is critical. Heaven forbid if there was a conflict of interest on different stages at the same time. Last visit I remember jumping around to ‘We’re From Barcelona’ with my teenage daughter on my back at the Sunrise arena, then busting a gut to run through the woods, over the bridge and up the hill to catch the final track from CSS. (Note to fathers: planning also means getting fit for such eventualities - I nearly had a cardiac arrest!) What happens next is the ‘Discovery Phase’. You spend a few weeks tracking all the bands you have never heard of, filtering out the dross and honing in on the new young talent as if you were Simon Cowell with million pound record deals in your eyes. This works especially well, when, in retrospect, you can brag down the pub that, when said group hits the big time, you ‘personally discovered them’. It’s now T minus two days, and the packing begins in earnest. This is also the first phase of the marital arguments which rip through every family unit on camping expeditions. Don’t put too much emphasis on this phase, it will return frequently over the following days but will be forgotten... I imagine, almost like childbirth. It’s a hot day, the car is crammed full of tent’s, sleeping bags, wet weather clothes, food, booze and more booze and the top box is busting at the seems with booze as we draw straws to see who is going on the Thursday afternoon to set up camp and who is following the next day with car number two, which is full of, you guest it... wet wipes!
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I admit, I was a tad naive as to the teenage mind, and on my sixth trip from camp site back to car with a heavily loaded wheel barrow and a sack barrow, any thoughts of ‘lazing around at Latitude’ seemed a lifetime away. In the ensuing hours it seemed like millions turned up and pitched their tents, robustly guarding their domain, whilst giving off an air of nonchalance as only the British can do. Then there was a calm. A change of clothes and a few ciders later I was starting to chill.
The Rumble Strips
Friday came and starting the day off was the comedy tent with Marcus Brigstock and Lee Mack. Then it was swiftly off up to the Uncut tent for Aussie rockers The Temper Trap, onto the Sunrise tent in the woods for Charlotte Hatherley, back up to the Obelisk for Ladyhawke and The Pretenders, down to the Uncut again for Squeeze, who still have the magic, and back to the Obelisk for the Pet Shop Boys. Whatever the weather, I could have slept standing on one leg, having my eyeballs scraped with a rusty nail... I was absolutely cream crackered!
Saturday was much the same with comedians Sean Hughes and Ed Byrne, followed by the fantastic White Lies, the cool dude's from Manchester - The Doves and the ultratalented Newton Faulkner, who seems to have four hands playing at once. By this time the cider was flowing like the rain and it just seemed an endless frenzy of music, laughter and friends. Sunday started with a much needed full English, the best hangover cure on the planet. The morning shot past and suddenly we were running, and falling, down the wet slopes to see Sean Lock in the comedy tent (warning: not a place for little ones - as we found out as the jokes can go from harmless fun to full-on filth in a blink of an eye!). The effervesant Rumble Strips had a great set at the Obelisk in the afternoon and the Editors were value for money in the evening although, I do admit, I listened from the warmth of my tent with a large Pussers Navy Rum. Apart from the music and comedy there is a kids village where they can learn circus skills (unfortunately, no circus to run away with though), drumming and all sorts of crafts, a theatre tent, a TV and Film tent and hoards of food and bohemian market stalls.
By Monday we were dead on our feet and had yet to break camp (oh joy, another six runs to the car which was about half a mile away). The tents came down a lot quicker than they went up, even though they were wet, and the barrows were loaded like a train leaving Calcutta. Families were leaving anything that fell off, tents, gazebos, sleeping bags, kids, anything to get home quicker to bed. Would I do it again? Bloody right, it was awesome!
I was waiting for a train the other day and found I had ten minutes to spare. Like most people, I headed for the food & drink store on the platform and grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water. Without thinking I just put the change in my pocket with the receipt and made my way onto the train. I had been sitting for a few minutes when I pulled out the receipt and looked down at the item totals. With a sharp in-take of breath, I couldn’t believe the cost of the bottled water at £1.50! By mad coincidence I later picked up a newspaper and found a story about Hilden Water. Hildon is one of the poshest bottled waters. Captured at its source under the chalk hills of Hampshire, it isn’t sold in supermarkets, only at upmarket venues such as the Savoy, Royal Opera House and the House of Commons. Sick of being accused of harming the environment Hildon lost its cool and took a 20-page trade magazine advertisement attacking tap water. On one page under the headline “Is it safe?” it wrote: “Cancer drugs found in tap water”, adding further down: “Is there anything else they are not telling us?” In some insane way, you can almost admire there outrageous front but with all the evidence from environmentalists saying for years that the £1.5 billion-a-year business is an eco-catastrophe, creating millions of tonnes of emissions and plastic to contain, transport and sell something that flows freely out of the tap. Phil Woolas, a former environment minister, has labelled it “immoral”. So why is it in the House of Commons Phil? For decades bottled water sales rose, providing billions in revenue for the drinks industry. Now that has gone into reverse. At the end of March bottled-water sales in the UK were down 12% on the year, according to TNS Worldpanel, the research firm. Since 2006, sales have fallen more than 18%. These stats probably fuelled the onslaught from Hildon who in a last gasp defensive action thought they could turn the tide with a “Canute” stance. But think on this: Is it more immoral to produce and sell bottled water when it is readily available from a tap, or to repeatedly go and buy it, although it will cost you about 500 times more than water from the tap? The Water companies don’t help the arguement when I also read in said article that it loses more water through leaky pipes in one day than the bottlers produce in a year!
Simon Tweakerman He tweaks as he sleeps
Become an iPhone geek and impress your friends by copying our all-knowing Apple officianado’s latest exploits as an iPhone magician on our website. www.smartlivingnow.co.uk
What do men cherish alongside their technology, sport, booze and sex? FOOD of course! Mark ‘Marco’ David from the Cooking Experience lends us his expertise in the making of:
Marco www.cookingexperience.co.uk
MEDIUM LAMB CURRY (serves 4) 2 tbsp vegetable oil 900g Lamb Leg, boneless, trimmed and cut into 3cm cubes 2 Onions, roughly chopped 4 garlic clove, crushed 2 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated 1 tbsp ground turmeric 1.5 tbsp Garam masala 1.5 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp Chilli powder 6 cardomom pods 1 tbsp plain flour 6 large Tomatoes, chopped 600ml chicken stock 400g canned coconut milk 250g baby spinach leaves, stalks removed 200g plain yogurt 1 pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper
... and to follow
Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan, add the lamb and cook over a high heat to brown it quickly all over. Remove the lamb from the pan, place into a bowl and leave to one side. Add the remaining oil to the pan, together with the onions, garlic and ginger, cook gently for a few minutes until softened and golden brown. Add the spices and cook for a minute and then add the flour and mix well. Add the tomatoes and coconut milk and return the lamb to the pan. Add just enough of the chicken stock to cover the meat, and stir to release all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer very gently for about one and a half hours, until the lamb is tender, stirring occasionally. Skim any excess fat off the surface. Stir in the spinach and cook for a few minutes until just wilted, then stir in the yoghurt and season. Serve with plain boiled basmati rice. STRAWBERRIES IN CARAMEL SAUCE (Serves 4) 2lbs fresh strawberries 2 heaped tablespoons caster sugar 1oz butter 5 floz orange juice 1 tablespoon Cognac
Hull the strawberries. Melt the sugar in a frying pan until caramelised, add the butter off the heat, allow to melt and add the orange juice and cognac, simmer 5 mins
Santa Digna Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2008, Miguel Torres, Chile. Perhaps better known for his Spanish winemaking Miguel Torres has a smaller set up in Chile. This rose is the perfect summer wine and the ripe fruity redcurrant style makes it a perfect accompaniment to any spicy dish. £7.50 per bottle - reduced to £6.50 for the month of August.
Black Lagoon Southern Gold, Muscat de Rivesaltes, Vin Doux Naturel. Perfumed and clean - a delight with all puds, especially strawberries! £12.79 www.winesofinterest.co.uk
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Expert Panel The Smartliving Now panel comprises industry experts from every corner of lifestyle design and technology. These people know their beans so if you have any questions be sure to contact them direct. Alastair Gardner from Signals in Ipswich has been designing and building hi-end hi-fi systems for more years than he cares to remember. A two channel (stereo) nut, it would take a lot to convince Alastair of any other medium available that would challenge his views on the purity of hi-end music reproduction. alastair@signals.uk.com Graham Owens from Technovations in Gt Bentley, has designed lighting installations for theme parks and visitor centres worldwide. But, he also works in the residential sector, creating inspiring and relaxing environments and carrying out technical installations for homes all over the country. smartliving@technovations.co.uk Ian Mackenzie from Iconic Home in Ipswich is an ex Army Air Corp Computer Technician who has had extensive training in Home Automation and Security. Since taking over at Iconic Home he has created award nominated home automation designs for private clients all over Southern England. ian@iconic-home.co.uk John Kersley and business partner Julian Pawsey are working at the cutting edge of landscape design & construction. With 18 years of experience behind them they have also constructed gardens for various designers at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. info@nascentialandscapes.co.uk
Steve Clark from Heatsave Systems has become one of only a handfull of technical engineers in the country to be trained on the new Swedish NIBE geothermal climate systems, heat recovery systems and air & water heat pump installations. He is also a certified plumber of distinction. steve@heatsavesystems.com
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CONSERVATORIES . ORANGERIES . WINDOWS . DOORS
Beautifully designed contemporary conservatories Adding a well designed conservatory to your home creates the most idyllic of rooms for reading, dining, playing or simply sitting back in your favourite chair enjoying a glass of wine. Sounds tempting? Why not give us a call to arrange a free design consultation at your home, or pop up to our showsite within Notcutts Garden Centre for a coffee and an informal chat. We’d love to see you.
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www.countrysidehi.co.uk