The Transmitter issue 22

FREE

ISSUE 22 FEB 2011

A SOUTH EAST LONDON MAGAZINE www.thetransmitter.co.uk

We talk to filmmaker

CHRIS

We've got

BAFTA Nominees OSCAR Nominees

SHEPHERD for

THE FILM ISSUE

And other filmy stuff

Plus

EVENTS

GARDENING

with Valentine's bits

MUSIC

BOOKS

FOOD

149mm x 228mm:Layout 1

27/1/12

14:30

Page 1

Capel Manor College

Kick start your career…

Intermediate (Level 2) apprenticeships in Horticulture and Trees & Timber (Arboriculture)

• Earn as you learn – get a regular income, with college training underpinned by expertise and experience gained from working within the industry.

• Get support with your progress – assessors visit you in the workplace and help keep you on-track.

• Improve your prospects – gain a nationally recognised qualification enabling you to work in the UK and abroad.

• Achieve faster career progression – programmes are recognised and endorsed by leading employers in the land-based sector.

• Excellent training locations – sites include a 30-acre estate in Enfield, and grounds in parks across London.

Apprenticeships are a different way of obtaining nationally recognised vocational qualifications, open to anyone 16 and above, who does not have a degree and is employed within the industry. We work closely with employers and can use these links to assist our students to find employment in order to take advantage of the programmes.

Advice Sessions 5–7:30pm; Monday 27 February and Tuesday 27 March To apply ring 08456 122122 ext 1245 email employerservices@capel.ac.uk or visit www.employerservices.org.uk Crystal Palace Park, The Jubilee Stand, Ledrington Road SE19 2BS

Combining qualifications with experience

l

CAMRA SE London Pub of the Year 2011

l

Good Beer Guide 2012

The Grape & Grain

Spring Beer Festival 2nd - 5th March 2012

60+ ales and ciders from the very best micros in the UK Food available all weekend Discount for CAMRA members on food and 40p per pint discount on ales Live music on Friday, Saturday and Monday evenings and Sunday lunch 2 Anerley Hill, Crystal Palace, SE19 2AA Tel: 020 8778 4109 www.thegrapeandgrainse19.co.uk

Crystal Palace Overground Station 3 mins Crystal Palace Bus Station 1 min

10 Real Ales, 3 Real Ciders

Beautiful tea-lights, sumptious soaps, home frgarances, designer lighting, hand-made pieces from British craftsmen, unusual homewares

First Floor Opening on Saturday November 26th

4o Westow Street SEI9 3AH O2O 877I 55I7 www.smashbangwallop.co.uk

WELCOME TO THE FILM ISSUE PRODUCER

Andy Pontin SCRIPTWRITERS

Justine Crow Jonathan Main Howard Male Hannah McEwen Rachel De Thample Sue Williams CAMERA OPERATORS

Catrin Arwel Louise Haywood-Schiefer Andy Pontin SCRIPT SUPERVISOR

Annette Prosser PRINTING

The Marstan Press Ltd SPIDERMAN 3

www.thetransmitter.co.uk THE CONVERSATION

editor@thetransmitter.co.uk 020 8771 5543 THE TRANSMITTER IS PUBLISHED BY

Transmission Publications Ltd PO Box 53556, London SE19 2TL

H

ere it is - our first issue in this Olympic year of 2012! Anyway that's enough of the Olympics, let me move swiftly on to say it was great to get so much positive feedback after our Christmas issue (remember Christmas?), we're chuffed that you liked it.

So, what better way to kick off our Transmitter New Year than with a film issue. These challenging dark weeks are a perfect time to relish a moment or two of fleeting hibernation, cosied up on the sofa with some superior quality chocolates in front of a great film. As it's Valentine's season, we've dusted the issue with a little romance too.

In our new regular Vox Pop (p.32) you can read about the celluloid tastes of a few lovely locals. The 3D gimmick-orglory debate is chewed over by Howard Male (p.22) and we decided to go a bit Liz Taylor with our jewellery shoot (p.26). We also have an interview with local filmmaker Chris Shepherd (p.28), which is, incidentally, the first in a new series of filmed interviews with local filmmakers we are doing (mainly to try to ingratiate ourselves with the filmmaking community in case there are any free DVDs in it for us). See The Transmitter Website for details.

As well as all this filmy stuff we have all the regular features you have come to tolerate love: Sue Williams continues with her horticultural tips and tricks (p38), Jonathan Main starts the new year off with some fantastic reads (p42), Howard Male keeps his ears open for something different (p47) and Rachel De Thample makes a suggestion for a special diner a deux (p40).

Enjoy!

Cover Crystal Palace based filmmaker Chris Shepherd. Portrait by Louise Haywood-Schiefer

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CONTENTS FEATURES 20 IT'S ALL ABOUT FILMS

We round up some SE19 related movie titbits

22 3D or not 3D?

That is the question. Howard Male asks it, unflinchingly

26 CARRY ON CLEOPATRA

We celebrate the wonderful Liz Taylor in her iconic role

28 AN ANIMATED MAN

We talk to BAFTA nominated filmmaker Chris Shepherd

34 GINGERLINE

Justine takes a trip to Forest Hill for some pop-up food

REGULARS 32

VOX POP

A new regular thing featuring you lot and your views

38 GARDENING: PALACE PATCH

Sue Williams talks pink for Valentine's

40 FOOD: MY CHEESY VALENTINE

Rachel De Thample with a 70's classic to share

42 BOOKS: THE BOOKSELLER

Jonathan Main reviews the first batch for 2012

47 MUSIC: THERE’S A WORLD OUT THERE!

Howard Male listens to music from 'the world'

5

EMAIL US: editor@thetransmitter.Co.Uk

LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS

WE CAN'T KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING BUT HERE'S SOME WE DID

Lift at Crystal Palace Following some admirable campaigning work from local residents, it looks like work to install lifts at Crystal Palace railway station is set to go ahead in 2012.

While the station is undoubtedly one of the handsomest in London, the amount of stairs are certainly challenging to many, and lifts will be most welcome to those passengers who require easy access to platforms.

If you are interested in progress, you can join the facebook group that has been set up at www.facebook.com/groups/ liftsatcrystalpalacestation

STOP PRESS SAVE THE LIBRARY Upper Norwood Library is under serious threat of closure after 111 years community service.

If you care about keeping this vital resource open, now is the time to act, contact: Deirdre Mahon Communications Upper Norwood Library Campaign www.unlc.org.uk 07976 138842 deirdremahon@hotmail.com Twitter: @saveUNlibrary Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/ groups/269577509754920/

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Friends of Beaulieu Heights If you fancy starting the new year with a touch of the great outdoors, then the Friends of Beaulieu Heights have some dates for the diary: 28 January, 10.30am-12-midday: Big bird count 4 February, 10.30am-3pm: Plant a tree. Lunchtime food provided 3 March, 10.30am-3pm: Cut a tree using hand tools and create a log hotel for a stag beetle – Britain's largest beetle. lunchtime food provided 17 March, 2pm-3.30pm: Join the family stroll in search of the signs of spring, and make a nest to take home.

All events meet at the South Norwood Hill entrance of Beaulieu Heights, and all tools are provided.

For more information on the 16 acres of woodland and meadow, go to www.beaulieuheights.org

Beer festival The Grape and Grain are once again set to hold another legendary beer festival. Taking place from 2-5 March, they promise to have at least 60 ales and ciders on offer, with a focus on the best microbreweries across the UK. A diary must for all local hopheads – but we recommend taking a pen and notepad if you want to remember what you drank the next day!

Calling all triathletes...

2012 sees the return of the popular Crystal Palace Triathlon on Sunday 20 May. Organised by Crystal Palace Triathletes (CPT), the race comprises a 750m swim in the 50m pool at the National Sports Centre, a nine-lap cycle park circuit (closed to traffic), followed by a two-lap run around the park – finishing in the renowned athletics stadium.

Places will be allocated on a firstcome, first-served basis. There will also be novice training days for those who are taking part in their first triathlon or just want to learn more. You can sign up for these at the time of booking.

To find out more, and to book a place, go to: www.crystalpalace-tri.co.uk

...AND Triathlon success And while we are on the triathlon theme, congratulations to local girl Lexie Webb who completed the BHF Olympic Triathlon on 18 December 2011. Lexie swam 1,500m, rode 40km and ran 10 km – quite some achievement for a 10-year-old! All the money raised went to the British Heart Foundation, as her grandma had had a heart operation earlier in the year. You go girl!

STOP PRESS CRYSTAL PALACE FESTIVAL As we go to print we heard the confirmed date for the next fantastic festival event here in the fresh air suburb, it is June 16 so put that in your diaries.

John Ellner JOANNA's Obituary John Ellner, who has died aged 63, changed the look, as well as the taste and social attitudes, of Crystal Palace restaurants. When, with his wife, Chris, he opened Joanna’s (named after Cockney rhyming slang for piano, a number of which decorated the original room) in April, 1978, he not only introduced a wonderfully relaxed brand of American cuisine – burgers and steaks, a la Hard Rock café – but also broke the monopoly (one Indian, one Chinese and a busy Wimpy Bar) of places to eat at the Palace at that time.

People told him he was mad to even think about opening a restaurant in such a culinary desert as SE19 Moreover – a former print worker and, briefly, an upmarket publican – he had never run a restaurant in his life.

I first met John the day before he opened. He was handing out leaflets in the high street offering free glasses of wine to potential customers. I told him the area sorely needed a good restaurant and wished him all the luck in the world.

‘If you’re any good, we’ll be back,’ I said.

‘Oh you’ll be back,’ he said in his cheery and confident manner.

‘We’re going to be the best dining experience in the neighbourhood.

You see, I know the jargon already!’

But he knew more than that. The food, the atmosphere, the music – he was a Frank Sinatra nut and played his tapes constantly – and the service were superb. While John’s warmth and ebullience made him the star of the business, Chris watched over the business affairs. It was a perfect combination.

Within a year, Joanna’s was a flourishing success. It had a comfortable chic that drew customers from miles around. At

weekends, people queued to buy the best burgers in town. In 1986, he bought the baker’s shop next door and doubled their capacity.

Today, Crystal Palace has thirty restaurants catering for world-wide tastes. Indeed, he came to a barren land and made it flower.

But John Ellner was always his own man. He took up flying and yachting, acquiring a professional skill at both. Above all, he had the gift of friendship. He loved nothing

better than to entertain his friends at a Sinatra concert at the Albert Hall.

When he spotted friends on the High Street he would invite them in for a coffee, or a glass of wine. It was impossible to say no to him.

I miss him dearly. One son, Edward, is working in marketing, whilst the other, Will, now runs Joanna's with the same pride and care his father did for more than thirty-three years.

Peter Evans 7

UPCYCLING IN FOREST HILL

Wedding Salon

JUNIOR CAMPAIGNER LILY

New art gallery and restaurant, Canvas and Cream, is open to the public from Saturday 17 February.

The venture comprises an artistsdesigned upcycled restaurant/ dining room alongside a gallery/ project space and creative events program. There are also seven artist and artisan studios and an alternative therapy room. A social enterprise, with an environmental and community focus, it’s the brainchild of artist Joanna Gore and family. Described as a vast DIY public art project, the theme of upcycling is at its heart: materials have been sourced from skips; everyday objects ‘repurposed’; and local people involved, often learning new skills. Their vision is to ‘combine arts innovation, health, wellbeing and a unique social dining experience all under one roof’.

3 local businesswomen are bringing their talents together for a Wedding Salon in Crystal Palace on Sunday 4 March. The Wedding Salon is aimed at south London ladies who are planning their nuptials and are looking for ideas and local, high quality suppliers who can offer bespoke services.

In November 12-year-old Lily Devereux was selected by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to participate in a lobbying event taking place at Westminster later this year. JDRF, the world’s leading charity in its field, has chosen 60 adults and children with type 1 diabetes to speak to MPs about the issues and challenges they face. On finding out that she was going to be involved in the event, called Type 1 Parliament, Lily was thrilled: ‘I felt so excited. I can’t wait to be part of such an important event’. The condition affects about 350,000 people in the UK who face daily injections and finger prick tests.

The space is one of a growing number of arts venues along our South London section of the Overground line, which is proving instrumental in opening up the area to new visitors.

The weekend of 18/19 February will provide taster workshops, an opportunity to meet those involved and a screening of documentary Garbage Warrior at a pop-up cinema . You’ll find all the information you need at www.canvasandcream.com (and have a peek at our food review to see their recent collaboration with Gingerline).

Catherine Shaw of Allbone and Trimit (bespoke wedding dress design), Sarah Gilfillan of Sartoria Lab (personal stylist for men) and Jackie King (wedding photographer), are staging their Wedding Salon at the newly refurbished Sparrowhawk pub.

In a desire to promote local trade, the three women have handpicked the other participants from successful south London businesses to cover mens’ tailoring, wedding planning and wedding cakes.

'The three of us have all been to large wedding fairs which can be a bit impersonal and overwhelming.

We wanted to offer something more intimate. We have invited exhibitors who cover some of the key wedding services, offer the same high quality and customer care on which we pride ourselves and are local to south London,' said Catherine Shaw. 'We are delighted to be at the Sparrowhawk, whose recent refurbishment makes it a perfect venue for an intimate reception.'

Congratulations to Lily for taking such an active role in helping to push awareness of the condition further up the medical agenda, and we wish her luck on 25 April when she’ll be telling the big guys just what type 1 diabetes is like for her and around 26,000 other children in the UK - every day. If you’d like to find out more, go to www.jdrf.org.uk

The Wedding Salon is free and will be open from 12noon – 4.30pm at The Sparrowhawk pub, SE19.

Lily Devereux Catherine Shaw www.allboneandtrimit.co.uk

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Alhambra Home & Garden Rugs and Runners from Southern Spain

Handwoven from soft recycled cotton and machine washable, our rugs come in many beautiful colours and a range of styles and sizes.

We also stock exquisite encaustic floor tiles, both new and reclaimed, in a variety of designs.

Alhambra Home & Garden 148 Kirkdale London SE26 4BB Tel. 020-3417 6385 www.alhambrahome.co.uk www.alhambratiles.co.uk

Hand-picked originals Open Thursday-Sunday 12-6pm (Fridays 12-8pm) The White Hart, 96 Church Road, Crystal Palace, SE19 2EZ Annette 07949 552926 | Dawn 07982 184657

ge flyerNEW V1 blue.indd 1

26/04/2011 21:34

mediterranea restaurant 21 Westow Street, Crystal Palace SE19 3RY 020 8771 7327

Sign up for Sardinian cooking lessons Learn secret recipes from a real Sardinian Chef!

4 lessons + final gala night Choose: Wednesdays (5 X Wednesdays from Feb 15) Mondays (5 X Mondays from Feb 20) Tuesdays (5 X Tuesdays from Feb 28)

Sardinian wine and cheese tasting in the upstairs room Thursday Feb 16 from 7.30pm

New!

Breakfasts at weekends from 9am!

Full English with Sardinian twist Starting Saturday 3 March from 9am

Also

Early Bird menu 6pm — 7.30 weekdays Mon-Thurs

...a little sardinian something

new private function room with own bar open on 1st floor 9

Exclusive boutique costumiers Original Fancy Dress Authentic theatre costumes Historic and Vintage fashion Personal styling and fitting

We create any look Suppliers to: Film, TV, Photography, Theatre 40 years in the area Open for New Year Up to Sat 17th December Then Wed 28th to Sat 31st Dec

www.costumehirelondon.com 020 8699 1913 High Street Buildings, 134 Kirkdale, London, SE26 4BB

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CELEBS, CAKES & ...OUCH, CANCER

By Andy Pontin: Photos by Catrin Arwel

Beating Bowel Cancer is a UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of bowel cancer and Crystal Palace local and fundraising whizz Dafydd Jones invited me and some other lesser known local celebs to a fundraising bash at Soulcialize UK.

Nadia Sawalha with Dafydd

B

um cancer. That's not a very nice thing to say is it? It's not, for example, a phrase I would reach for sitting in the Yak and Yeti, just as the starters arrive. Well, it's not a very nice thing to have either. Bowel cancer, to give it its proper title, is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer – claiming 16,000 lives each year – yet it is one of the most treatable cancers, as over 90% of cases could be successfully treated if diagnosed early.

Dafydd was a seasoned campaigner against bullying when he was himself diagnosed with bowel cancer and switched his activities to supporting the BBC (no, not that BBC). Since then he's been up Ben Nevis, up Snowdon, bungee jumping in Windsor and generally encouraging lots of celebs to flog some of their collectable bits and pieces on his regular eBay auctions for the charity.

Lots of local folk turned up to support the cause, try the delicious, specially prepared 'bum cakes' from January, the owner of Soulcialize, and play games that Daf and fellow campaigner Russell had set up. We pinned the donkey, guessed the number of sweets in the jar and lucky dipped along with all the kids.

All in all it was a right larf.

The other celebs who came along

were great fun too. Daf chatted away (for quite a long time I thought) to Jo Elvin (Editor of Glamour – a magazine I believe) and Nadia Sawalha, who wrote recipes for The Transmitter and then got picked up for a dance show on TV. I gently tried reminding Nadia that she never said thanks to us for her break into showbiz, but she was busy pinning the donkey and I don't think she heard me.

I also tried to give Jo Elvin a few tips on magazine editing, just in case she ever wanted to take it up seriously.

She too seemed preoccupied with donkey tails and nibbling cake. You just can't help some people.

What are the symptoms?

• Bleeding from the bottom • A change in bowel habit lasting more than 3 weeks • Severe abdominal pain • A lump in your tummy • Weight loss and tiredness Don't Sit on your Symptoms www.beatingbowelcancer.org Tel: 08450 719300 follow @Daf_FJ on Twitter

Jo Elvin

All photos © Catrin Arwel

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TRADING PLACES things keep on changing around these parts

Let’s have a party!

La Belle Jolie

The Scarf Gallery

A date for your diaries! On Thursday 1 March Vintagehart will be celebrating their 5th birthday with a bit of a do at the White Hart. All are welcome to have a peek at what’s new on the rails and to enjoy a glass of celebratory pop. Redhead Ruby Rose from La Belle Jolie (see right) will be on hand, bobby pins at the ready, with tantalising tips on vintage hair & make-up; milliner Dawn will be bringing her latest creations so you can have some hat chat; and there’ll be a prize for the outfit the Vintagehart girls love the most. There’s no specific dress code, ALL decades welcome, but come on girls and boys, this is your chance to show some style!

Anerley Road just got one heck of a lot more glamorous with the arrival of Ruby Rose and her hair & beauty spa. As a perfect complement to the vintage vibe of Crystal Palace, La Belle Jolie offers all the usual beauty treatments as well as specialising in hair and make-up with the vintage look. This is very exciting news for all you retro-themed partygoers as Ruby – who has over 20 years experience in the industry – will be able to whizz up some victory rolls or a beehive in a thrice, making you the belle of the ball. Pop into her cute Deco-inspired cornershop (almost opposite Tesco) for a chat and to marvel at what a little new styling can do for you. Certain members of Team Transmitter cannot wait ...

Continuing the area’s love affair with combining art and retail to produce venues with intriguing window displays and interiors, Church Road’s Scarf Gallery is enticing curious Palacians in to find out more. With a mission statement of Art as Adornment – focusing on sumptuous scarves, hats and bags – inside you will find a delicious mix of fine art paintings, sculpture, jewellery and couture. Upcoming exhibitions feature work by two local artists, Lukas Kasprowicz (2 March to 31 March) and Pat Keay (20 April to 31 May). The gallery is open Wednesday-Sunday.

For more information visit: www.thescarfgallery.co.uk

From 8pm at the White Hart. Follow @vintagehart for updates

The Milkhouse Candle Co A candle shop has sprung up just along from the White Hart in Church Road, introducing us to soya and beeswax candles (no chemicals, no black smoke) created in the US. There’s a distinct homeon-the-range feel to the products, presented in glass milk bottles (nicer than the ones here in Blighty) and earthenware crocks, and around 40 fragrances are available. As well as traditional fruity or floral scents, how about Crisp Cotton? or maybe Twilight (will Robert Pattinson suddenly appear)? Prices are from £10 for a 35-hour burner. Manager Alfred Angelo and able assistant Amine will help you sniff your way through the many choices.

La Belle Jolie, Anerley Road, SE20 Open Wednesdays & Thursdays 11am-9pm, Fridays 11am-7pm and weekends 10am-6pm 020 7018 1209 www.labellejolie.com

Theme nights are back Efisio, owner of Mediterranea on Westow Street, has relaunched the theme nights we so loved back in the day. On the last Thursday of every month there will be a fixed menu and music (until all hours as we recall!).

Perhaps a bit stung by all these gastro pubs popping up on the Triangle and competing for the local foodies attention, he is also bringing more guns to bear on these upstarts with a Sardinian wine and cheese tasting evening on Thursday 16 March, and a series of Sardinian cooking lessons.

Also, and this one has us really champing at the bit, from March, at weekends, he's offering full English Breakfast with a Sardinian twist.

We can't wait!

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The most provocative documentary of the year...

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE

“Remarkable - a moving but scandalous story.

BLACK GOLD has extraordinary power” - The Daily Telegraph

“Excellent – angry, good-humoured and essential”

Crystal Palace takes a step for Fairtrade Lots of exciting events will be happening in and around the Triangle during Fairtrade Fortnight (27 February -11 March), organised by the Crystal Palace Transition Town group, linking the themes of ‘Local’ and ‘Fairtrade’. Keep an eye out for more information during those dates, but here are a few highlights: Launch of Fairtrade Fortnight Sunday 26 February Kick-off is at 7.30pm at the Gipsy Hill Tavern with the multiple awardwinning film Black Gold hailed by critics as ‘riveting and jaw-dropping’, ‘scathing, vivid, galvanising’, and ‘angry, good-humoured and essential’. It tells of the struggle of an Ethiopian coffee farmer against the might of the multinational companies that dominate the international coffee market.

Big Day of Events Saturday 3 March 11am Bicycle-powered smoothiemaker and chocolate fountain Fancy having a go at creating your own energy to make a Fairtrade smoothie? Or how about some fruit dipped into an endless flow of chocolate? Outside Sainsbury’s from mid-morning to mid-afternoon

- The Observer

“Everyone should see it” - The Daily Mirror

2.30pm Fun for kids at the Library Storytelling“Rousing followed bystuff” yummy - The Times things to eat, made with Fairtrade ingredients

“Provocative

4pm Fashion show with a and well-made” difference - Sight & Sound If you’re into ethical fashion, or “A galvanising just like fashion shows, pop along to the Gautama bar to see some wake-up call” - Dazed and amazing clothes andConfused accessories that are either made from Fairtrade and Fairtrade organic cotton, or are locally-designed, locally-made and sold in your local shops, modelled by local people. We’re looking for men, women and children of all sizes so if you fancy strutting the catwalk, we’d love to hear from you (see below)

W OU T N OD O N DV

6pm Wine tasting

www.blackgoldmovie.com www.dogwoof.com

Guatama bar continue to play host with a Fairtrade wine tasting with Fairtrade nuts (including Harry Hill’s very own non-profit-making Harry’s Nuts). Enjoy the music and stalls where you can buy some of the things at the fashion show, and more...

If you would like to come and help out at events, please contact lynn@ crystalpalacetransition.org.uk

Crystal Palace Transition Town is part of a wider movement in which communities are taking their own steps towards a more sustainable future, living greener lives, having fun and getting to know their neighbours. Visit us at www. crystalpalacetransition.org.uk

13

10

ways to stay fit in winter!

1. Kettlebell Training -The best tool for losing weight and build a core of steel. Just don't drop the kettlebell when you train at home!

2. Core Exercises -Plank, Side Plank, Jack Knives, Russian Twist and a 100 more -Get started, no excuse: you can do them anywhere.

3. Pilates -Works on the deep trunk muscles and gives you a strong core -Good bye to back pain.

4. Stretching -Keeps your body young! After a few sessions you might be able to climb trees again ;) 5. Running/Walking - Good for your heart and builds up your cardio vascular fitness, increases metabolism and tones your legs.

6. Get plenty of water & keep your body hydrated -Try one glass every hour!

7. Thai Boxing - Builds a strong and lean body, burns fat and builds a great posture.

8. Aerobic/Cardio - a sweaty 45 min workout can burn 500 calories 9. Pre/Post Natal Exercises -for mums to keep fat accumulation away and strengthen the joints, release muscular pain.

10. Stay fit and join our blog for nutritional and fitness information: www.trainingpoints.co.uk/blog.htm

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Fitness Training & Massage Group SeSSionS Please check timetable online as it is subject to change Monday

TueSday

WedneSday

ThurSday

Friday

SaTurday

Sunday

09.15 to 10.00 Stretching & relaxation

07.00 to 07.45 Stretching

12.00 to 13.00 Core & Balance

11.00 to 12.00 post natal w/ baby under 8 months

06.45 to 07.30 Strength & posture pilates Method

09.00 to 10.00 Fat burning

09.00 to 10.00 Strength & posture pilates Method

10.00 to 11.00 post natal w/baby under 8 months

13.00 to14.00 pilates

14.00 to 14.45 12.15 to13.00 reconditioning/ Gp refferal Keep Fit – mild Walking Group level of intensity

12.00 to 13.00 Core & Balance

11.30 to12.30 Circuit & Kettlebell

10.00 to 11.00 Leg, Bum & Tum’s

12.00 to 12.45 18.30 to 19.30 Zumba pilates BooK aT STudio

18.30 to 19.30 Self-defence

14.00 to 14.45 19.30 to 20.30 reconditioning/ Body Keep Fit – mild Conditioning level of intensity

19.30 to 20.45 Thai Boxing

16.00 to 16.45 pre-natal

18.30 to 19.15 aerobic/Cardio

18.30 to 19.15 aerobic/Cardio 19.15 to 20.00 pre natal 20.00 to 21.00 Core & Balance

CLaSSeS onLy £10 – onLine BooKinGS – BooK More pay LeSS! • 6-8 People per group – £10 per session booked online (minimum 4 sessions) • Block book sessions and save up to £50 – Drop in sessions £12 Please call or text to check availability • Please see class description on our website

aLSo aVaiLaBLe • 1 to 1 Personal Training • Train With A Friend • Nutrition • Sports & Holistic Massage • Osteopathy

CaLL: 07986 764 553 Crystal Palace Triangle

Gift

vouchers available

www.trainingpoints.co.uk

Mood Food They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but food and love are equally good bedfellows for the fairer sex. So this Valentine's Day, why not spice up your love life with some foods to get you in the mood.

Palace Nutritionist Stefan Passchier suggests trying these five flirty foods Stefan Passchier www.mindfulnutrition.co.uk

For Lads

Celery Boosts androsterone, an odourless hormone that is believed to attract women.

For Lasses

Avocado With high levels of folic acid, B vitamins and potassium, this fruit helps promote female libido.

For Everyone

Salmon Rich in the essential fatty acids (EFA) Omega-3, Salmon supports sex hormone production and improves circulation, two things which increase that loving feeling.

Nuts Also rich in EFAs, nuts are high in minerals too, including magnesium (which improves blood flow) and zinc (an important ingredient for optimum male and female health).

Dark chocolate Cocoa contains numerous minerals and chemicals which support the production of happy hormones in the brain.

One such compound, tryptophan, is used to make serotonin, a neurotransmitter that produces feelings of pleasure.

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Free class for newcomers. Booking essential !

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Private sessions at home available

Call Jamie at 07973 567 895 Valentines & Birthday gift vouchers

personal yoga in your home 17

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SINGING CLASSES In Crystal Palace

7:00pm Beginners A fun class for anyone wishing to improve their voice.

8:15pm Improvers Group and solo work for those with a little experience.

Classes take place on Wednesday evenings at The Salvation Army Halls, Westow Street Upper Norwood

DYNAMIC YOGA GROUP CLASSES IN SYDENHAM WWW.YOGA-BALANCE.CO.UK

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For more information contact Adam Murby: adam@yoga-balance.co.uk 020 8659 2344 / 07932 402 404

To find out more or to book a place visit www.kateproudlove.co.uk email kate@kateproudlove.co.uk or telephone 07931 543650

KATE PROUDLOVE SOPRANO

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Catrin arwel PhotograPhy • Children’s portraits • Family portraits • Birthday party dress-up shoots Capture these special moments before they grow up! www.catrinarwelphotography.com 07866 717442 catrinarwelphotography@yahoo.co.uk

19

ITS ALL ABOUT FILMS CRYSTAL PALACE FILMMAKER NOMINATED FOR OSCAR Crystal Palace animator Grant Orchard's film A Morning Stroll (prodced by Sue Goffe, Studio AKA) has been nominated for the Short Animation BAFTA at the 2012 Awards and also nominated for the Short Animated Film Oscar 2012 Loosely inspired by a real life event recounted in Paul Auster’s brilliant book True Tales of American Life, A Morning Stroll tells the story of one New Yorker’s early morning encounter with a chicken, an event that plays out over 100 years.

Director Grant Orchard was looking to do a quick project as a break from a large, ever more complicated script he was working on, and had always loved this one paragraph account of a city dweller’s casual encounter with a chicken. Sweetly humorous and

intriguing - but also brilliantly slight - the story seemed ideal. Ultimately this new ‘small, quick project’ ended up taking two years to make during studio downtime, and in addition, instead of simply making one short story, Grant decided the story would be three times better if he made it three times in three different ways!

I know they're thinking - 'Well that'd better be a f***ing masterpiece."

Grant says; 'There is something in the constant repetition of the story that intrigues and yet underlines the utter whimsy of it all, and I like the narrative conflict in that.’

Equally at home collaborating with artists or developing his solo projects, Grant consistently challenges every attempt to categorise his work and continues to confound expectations at every turn.

The film was entirely self-funded by Studio AKA, utilising people’s talents in-between commercial work.

Asked how it feels to take such a long time to make such a short film, Grant reveals "Well, it sucks. When I've told people how long it's taken to make the film and how short it is;

Grant has a truly Idiosyncratic style.

He followed his first film Welcome To Glaringly with the unique Park Football; which in turn led to a series of Love Sport shorts for (now defunct) Italian broadcaster Qoob.

The BATFAs are on Sunday 12 February and the OSCARS are on 26 February so keep all your fingers crossed for the lad. www.studioaka.co.uk www.cartoonbrew.com/tag/grantorchard

ld be

a ha.

Still from A Morning Stroll © Studio AKA 2011

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RIP KEN RUSSELL

Ken Russell, who died last November, was a director known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style.

Russell settled for a while in Church Road, SE19 and while there directed many films including the 1967 Harry Palmer film Billion Dollar Brain with Michael Caine and Tommy. In Transmitter #8 we tracked down Ken's fab wallpaper in his old house (below).

He most likely discovered this area while filming a 1960 BBC short A Journey into a Lost World in which John Betjeman takes a boat trip around dinosaur island.

Russell was a regular sight in Crystal Palace, going about in his sandals and long hair, prompting Oliver Reed to call him “Jesus”.

fast girLs in CRYSTAL PALACE stadium

Crystal Palace Pictures

Fast Girls (2012) is a new British feature film, Starring Lenora Critchlow (Being Human), Lily James (Clash of the Titans 2), Noel Clarke (Kidulthood) and Bradley James (Merlin),

We couldn’t have a film issue without giving a big shout out to Crystal Palace Pictures, our fantastically cool cinema experience, where you can watch great films on a big screen (yes, much, much bigger than your flatscreen).

The film follows four girls in their quest to win gold in the Women's 4x100m Relay.

The cast and crew were filming in Crystal Palace Stadium recently and some locals truned up to be extras in the crowd scene. The scene was set in summer, so although it was actually darned cold that day the extras had to dress in shorts and bikini tops. Brrrr.

Fast Girls is due for release in June 2012.

TIPPI AT THE FAIRFIELD What a treat in Croydon on Saturday 17 March when star of Marnie and The Birds, Tippi, Hedren, will be on stage at the Fairfield Halls regaling the audience with personal tales of her time on the big screen and working with Alfred Hitchcock. The evening will feature clips from lots of films, along with music performed by the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra led by great American conductor John Farrer - full Hollywood treatment guaranteed! www.fairfield.co.uk

Held in the spacious but cosy back room of The Gipsy Hill Tavern, their programme contains an eclectic mix, sure to provoke plenty of chat amongst you filmgoers, and it’s a complete bargain to boot at £5 per film which includes free food.

What’s not to love? Titles coming up include Australian modern gangster movie Animal Kingdom (featuring Oscarnominated Jackie Weaver); the fabulous Singin’ in the Rain (perfect timing to revisit this much-loved film about the arrival of the ‘talkies’ in the 1920s); and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1970s classic The Conversation starring Gene Hackman (below). In mid-May, don’t miss the treat that is The Long Good Friday, perhaps the greatest London film of all time. It stars Bob Hoskins in a role he was surely born to play, Helen Mirren, working the early 80s look to the max, and includes a fine role for Derek Thompson, preCasualty (you’ll never look at Charlie in the same light again ...).

Every other Thursday at 7.30pm.

See www.crystalpalacepictures.com

21

DOES 3D CINEMA HAVE A FUTURE, OR IS IT A DIMENSION TOO FAR? 3D

or not 3D? That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune without thinking they will land in your lap, or better to enjoy the thrill of believing the oppressor’s sword might take thine eye out. OK, enough parodying Shakespeare, this is a very serious issue. 3D is potentially as revolutionary a step for cinema as when sound or colour first entered the picture palace. The only difference being that it simply doesn’t agree with some people. Regardless of aesthetic considerations, eye strain, headaches and queasiness are not uncommon. So if every mainstream film does end up being made in 3D (and more seem to be coming out in the format every month), we may still get a 3D U-turn in a few years’ time, leaving our struggling cinemas struggling once more, as millions of us decide stay at home with our DVDs and online streaming.

Since the first time I looked into a View-Master as a child, I have

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enjoyed the lure of three-dimensional imagery. By making a slightly different still image available to each eye, this modest-looking Bakelite toy created the wholly convincing illusion that you were peering into a different universe through its binocular-like lenses. It kept both children and adults amused for several decades.

In fact, slides and viewers are still being made today (perhaps because 3D cinema has revived interest in the immersive pleasures of the stereoscopic image). For most of my adult life I have been collecting View-Master slides of everything from Biblical and fairytale scenes to seductively vintage views of Paris and the Grand Canyon. Each image offered a window on to a world and a window into the past. But despite this borderline obsession with all things 3D, I have reluctantly come to realise the limitations and flaws in its revival as a cinematic experience.

Here are a couple of reasons why this might be.

One of 3D cinema’s problems is that there’s a conflict between the new freedom the medium gives us

to look right into the illusory space of, say, a landscape or a room (and the people, furniture, cars, trees or whatever that populate it), and the instinctive desire we all have to fully explore this scene with our wondering eyes. The problem centres on the fact that the film director will generally have focused the camera on, say, the figures in the foreground while leaving other parts of the scene out of focus.

This wouldn’t matter with a twodimensional image because there is no implicit invitation for the eye to enter the illusory space with a two-dimensional image. But with 3D, the brain has been tricked into thinking it is experiencing reality, triggering a desire to visually explore this perceived reality. But when we, say, try to focus on those distant hills, if the director has chosen for them to be atmospherically blurred, we are powerless when we try to focus on them. We therefore become frustrated (even if it’s only subconsciously) by this conundrum of perception. It’s this disjuncture between our instinctive visual needs

and the immutable reality of what’s on the screen which I suspect makes 3D viewing uncomfortable or unsatisfying for some people.

an involving storyline. In other words, the best 3D films make you forget you are watching a 3D film by not being too 3D.

So what’s the solution? Well, maybe we’ll adapt, just as the earliest cinemagoers learnt not to flee the cinema when a train appeared to hurtle towards them (a moment in cinema history that Scorsese pays tribute to in the best 3D movie to date, Hugo, released last year). Or maybe filmmakers will gain a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t work, in what is essentially a new medium. The most astute directors have already reduced the number of scenes in which something (say, a sword, a fist or the villain’s face) is thrust into the collective audiences’ faces as if to say, ‘Look what we can do with 3D cinema!’

The irony with such 3D-heavy shots is that they tend to shatter the viewer’s suspension of disbelief rather than enhance it, bringing us back to the fact we are being entertained by a nifty illusion rather than by believable characters and

But despite the fact that 3D has had false starts in the past (in the 1950s and another brief flowering in the 1970s) it is still early days for its most technically successful manifestation to date. This year there are more films than ever being released in the format, with heavyweight directors such as Ridley Scott weighing in this summer with his greatly anticipated Alien prequel Prometheus. (I’m already wishing away the next six months just so I can see it.) Will we be forced back into our seats by the illusion that Scott’s dribbling alien is after our popcorn? I somehow doubt it. If Scott does set a new 3D benchmark with Prometheus it will be because of the script, direction, pace, performances and design, not the fact that its terrifying creature can effectively enter our own personal space, and we can effectively enter Deep Space.

H O W A R D

The trouble is, we film fans are surprisingly sophisticated. Take for example computer generated imagery. To begin with (think back to Terminator 2) we were delighted by such magical technical wizardry; dinosaurs had never looked better, earthquakes never more convincing. But then as CGI began to appear in every other TV commercial, we began to take it for granted. Now we see right through it, complaining that the spectacular explosions, megalithic monsters and unlikely landscapes conjured by obsessive perfectionists at computer screens are, ‘just CGI’.

For the latest Mission Impossible movie, poor old (well, 48) Tom Cruise had to actually dangle himself off the world’s tallest building in order to sate our CGIjaded appetites. We now see right through what was once stunning, unbelievable cinematic magic, and we want the real thing again, Ben Hur stylie. So, 3D or not 3D? I don’t think we’ll know the answer for a few more years yet.

M A L E 23

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Headband from Antoinette Costume Hire, Plexiglass gold cuff by Dynasty from Smash Bang Wallop, Arm bracelets from Fortyseven, rings stylists own.

CARRY ON CLEOPATRA I

nspired by the romance that ignited when Richard Burton and Liz Taylor met during the filming of Cleopatra, we borrowed a few bits and shot some Cleo pictures.

Oh, and here's some trivia too...

Cleopatra (1963) * Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox, the budget eventually totalling $44 million â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the equivalent of $320 million in 2012, making it the most expensive movie ever produced. This was partly due to the fact that the film's elaborate, complicated sets, costumes and props had to be constructed twice, once during a botched shoot in London and once more when the production relocated to Rome.

Photographs by Andy Pontin Makeup by Lucy Young

* The Roman forum built at Cinecitta was three times the size of the real thing. * 20th Century-Fox's virtual bankruptcy meant that the film lacks a big final battle sequence.

The studio simply couldn't afford to do one. * Elizabeth Taylor reputedly threw up the first time she saw the finished product. * Elizabeth Taylor became the first actress to earn a million dollars when she agreed to star in this film. Her overall take of seven million is equivalent to about $30m today. * Fox chairman Spyros Skouras allegedly screamed, "Cleopatra must have a chest. A chest will mean $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 extra for us."

* The production was so huge and demanded so much lumber and raw materials that building materials became scarce throughout Italy. * So many boats and ships were used for the scene showing Cleopatra's navy that it was said at the time that 20th Century Fox had the world's third biggest navy. * Cleopatra's spectacular entrance into Rome was nearly scuppered when all the enthusiastic extras started shouting "Liz! Liz!" instead of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!". * Joseph L. Mankiewicz was never proud of this film and only made it out of sufferance for his friend, Elizabeth Taylor.

At one point he even tried to have his name taken off. He was, however, paid $3 million for making it, a then unheardof sum for a director.

Cleopatra (2013) Angelina Jolie is going to star in an adaptation of Stacy Schiffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bestselling book Cleopatra: A life, to be directed by David Fincher. Brad Pitt may play Mark Antony.

David Fincher says that it will be a character study rather than a "giant sword-and-sandal epic".

Headband & Shawl Antoinette Costume Hire, gold sequinned dress from Vintagehart, Necklace Coconut Trading.

AN ANIMATED MAN

WE TALKED TO LOCAL FILMMAKER chris shepherd Photos by Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Do you go back to Liverpool much these days?

Yeah it’s so different now, well I’m probably biased but I think it’s probably the best city in Britain. I mean the city centre’s amazing. It’s not as big as Manchester or Leeds, you can just walk from gallery to gallery and you can walk from place to place, go from pub to pub, restaurant to restaurant. It’s great, there’s lots going on there. Up in Anfield, where I was born, it’s all boarded up - there’s a different vibe there - but the city centre’s amazing.

A lot of artists, a lot of things going on. It really inspires me going up there. I love it.

What was your Liverpool childhood like?

In Liverpool, either you play football or you play in a band, and I was rubbish at football. I grew up on Anfield Road and used to see all the other kids going up to the ground and I’d be terrified of them, beating each other up, so I used to just stay at home and watch the telly. I used to watch films, Dennis Potter, Play for the Day, this and that. The teacher took me aside one time and said why’ve you got all these bags under your eyes, are you a drug addict? I went er, no, I’m not a drug addict, or well er, do you sniff glue, and I was like no I don’t sniff glue. I was just watching TV late at night, I was addicted to TV.

didn’t have a camera, I didn’t have any lights so I was a bit scuppered.

I made these plasticene models.

Everyone thought I’d gone crazy.

What was the first film you made?

A film called Safari and I was always really proud of it. I think my mother had always despaired of me playing the music, and then I did this film and she was just mesmerised by it.

She’d been ill for a long time and I remember her jumping out of bed, giving me a hug when she saw it cos it was like magic…cos you couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

I didn’t know what I was doing so I shot twelve minutes of footage then cut it down, to a two minute film.

I worked there and I sort of learnt.

Even though I was the production manager I learnt a lot of stuff by watching what they did. Then I got commissioned by Channel 4 to do a film called The Broken Jaw, and that was about how pubs change hands over time, about change in a way. A bunch of old guys are in a pub and one day it changes, it’s made over, it’s made over into like … … like Crystal Palace?

Ha! Yeah, well into a karaoke bar, and they can’t deal with it, they’re ousted.

I made that film and that got quite a bit of attention, and from that I did [BBC TV comedy sketch show] Big Train, with Graham and Arthur*.

What happened next?

How did Dad's Dead come about?

Art College, then working in London as a Studio Manager in a company that made the Vitalite commercials.

I always wanted to make a film about where I grew up. I did The Broken Jaw and it was very

So that’s where the love of film came from, how did you get started?

I’d been taught by Dave Clapham on a Foundation course at Liverpool Poly and sort of discovered animation then. I used to just shoot live action and then edit out all the gaps. I’d take a second-long shot and make it a single frame. Then I went to work at the DHSS and I was totally depressed, it felt like life had ended because I’d got a proper job. I met Dave in the street, he told me to go see him, and so I went to work in the studio.

I think I just wanted to express myself really. I had tried music, I played gigs, but they always ended up in trauma. I wanted to make a film, but I didn’t know any actors, I *Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, writers of Big Train (and Father Ted).

30

cartoony, but I wanted to make something more … more about my walk to school in a way.

And then I had this experience where I went back home one time and my primary school had been burnt down. I climbed inside and looked around and I could see that everything was trashed, the corridors were dark except for the light wells - there was this light shining down from the ceiling... I remembered where I got told off

by Mr Graham upstairs, and I could hear the corrugated iron blowing in the wind. In the hall all the parquet flooring had been ripped up and there was graffiti all over the walls, it was really weird and I got this really amazing flashback. I could remember reading the Harvest Festival poem to the rest of the school, and it really had an effect on me: in a way it was like the place where all the rules had been put into me - and there I was standing there - and it was all destroyed. It was quite a profound thing. I came back to London and told somebody about it, a fellow director, and he said ‘you want to make a film about that’. So I tried to capture the feeling of it, and with Dad’s Dead I made something that was completely off-kilter. In a way I wanted to make a film that nobody liked.

When I finished it people were just gobsmacked by it, you know people were really quite alienated by it, and I thought great!

It suddenly became really popular, people were desperate for this film, ad agencies etc, people wanted it. Because it was different. And I suppose that’s the lesson to be learned: I think that with filmmaking you’ve just got to be true to yourself, and be different. Cos the more you are, then the more people will want you.

You’ve got to go with your gut with a film. Iif something moves you, you’ve got to clock it, keep it for later. I remember somebody told me once, if you read a book - if you get bits of the book that move you - write them down. Cos if you can get those moments, string them together, you can make a film.

So what are you up to currently?

Somebody’s asked me to do a film about going to the dentist. Cos I had a very surreal experience when I was a kid with the dentist. I’ve just done the animatic for it.

What is an animatic for readers who don’t know?

It’s like the film storyboard so it’s a way of testing out a film. There are key differences between live action and animation. I always like to think in animation that you can kill somebody by dropping an anvil on their head, you know that would be totally acceptable. But if you kill somebody in live action, you can kill them with a look. It’s about subtlety,

live action, about believing reality.

Whereas with animation you can be as bold and big as you want and the bigger the better in a way, cos it’s very much like a non-real world, people expect it to be like a cartoon.

Do you see yourself as an 'animator' or simply a 'filmmaker'?

I think in a way people don’t know what box to put me in. I write the story first and then I think of the style. I met this great screenwriter and he said to me, if you can tell a story in the pub, keep somebody engaged, then you’re on to something. But if you’re in the pub or and the story’s complicated, and you can’t explain it, you’ve had it.

You lose the audience.

Where did the idea for Bad Night For the Blues Come from? [recent work filmed on location in Crystal Palace] It was a story about my Auntie Gladys, a real live event. She did really go crazy in a minute’s silence, it was one of those stories I told people and they’d be laughing their heads off. Someone said they needed a comedy and I thought, well, I’ll write my Auntie Gladys story down, and they thought it was really funny.

So it was a commissioned piece?

Yeah it was commissioned. I remember when it all happened. I quite often carry a sketch book with me, what happened that night was Continues page 50

Still from Dad's Dead (2002)

31

VOX POP

Photos by Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Richard Good Taste Food and Drink, Crystal Palace www.goodtaste-fd.co.uk Favourite Film Genre I like films where you have to engage your brain. Thrillers.

Cowboy films are a favourite too.

I like ambiguity in films. The George Clooney film, The American is a great example.

Favourite Film The Searchers with John Wayne is one of the greatest ever made and the David Lynch film Dune is a great film too. Its set in space but the main characters are barons and princesses.

Fan of the Rom-Com? Yes Favourite Romantic/Rom Com film An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr is good Have you ever cried at a film?

Too many! Some of the 1950s postwar films are particularly poignant.

Jade Vintage clothing merchant, Crystal Palace www.stores.ebay.com/ hawkanddovevintage Favourite Film Genre Film noir. Visually and cinematically its brilliant. The films are generally quite sexy and dark and have great female protagonists. I love art house films too.

Favourite Film I dont really have a favourite although one which springs to mind is The Fabulous Baker Boys with Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Fan of the Rom-Com? Yes. Favourite Romantic/Rom Com film I love The Notebook.

Have you ever cried at a film?

Yes, often. The Notebook is an example of that.

If you could be any character in a film, who would it be?

I would be Brigitte Bardot. Any film.

Any character.

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James Interiors Photographer, Crystal Palace www.thetrianglese19.blogspot.com Favourite Film Genre Film noir and Hitchcock films.

Visually they are brilliant.

Favourite Film The Third Man is a really good film Fan of the Rom-Com? Im not really a fan of the current wave of romantic films. The best ones are the old Doris Day/Rock Hudson classics.

Have you ever cried at a film?

Yes Ive cried at plenty!

If you could be any character in a film, who would it be?

Well this is a coincidence because I went to a fancy dress party recently as James Stewart in Rear Window. I wore a nice suit and a fancy dressing gown, and took one of my cameras.

FI LMS Rebekah Community Publisher, Sydenham www.crystalpalacepeople.co.uk Favourite Film Genre I like Thrillers. Taken is a good recent example.

Favourite Film Maybe The Kite Runner.

Jerry Owner of ID vintage furniture, Church Road, Crystal Palace www.idforlondon.co.uk Favourite Film Genre I like gangster films and I like films which have a twist in their narrative eg. Shutter Island and The Sixth Sense. Films that make you think.

Favourite Film There are lots of films I like.

Goodfellas is great and sort of has a moral story about staying away from drugs, Scarface, L.A. Confidential, A Clockwork Orange.

Kaya Soulcialise, Crystal Palace www.soulcialize.co.uk Favourite Film Genre Comedy Favourite Film I like the Godfather trilogy although the first one is the best.

Fan of the Rom-Com? Yes Favourite Romantic/Rom Com film Love Actually

Fan of the Rom-Com? I like Ben Stiller films. He always makes me laugh.

Have you ever cried at a film?

Yes but I cant remember which ones. Possibly Pretty Woman.

Favourite Romantic/Rom Com film Along came Polly was funny. I liked Marley and Me too.

If you could be any character in a film, who would it be?

Hermione Granger from Harry Potter

Fan of the Rom-Com? I dont mind them. I have to be in the mood for them though. Like when Im with the girls.

Favourite Romantic/Rom Com film Pretty Woman Have you ever cried at a film?

Yes, Im a big softie. I cried at Pretty Woman, but the most embarrassing one was 50 First Dates!

If you could be any character in a film, who would it be?

Erin Brokovich. Shes a power woman and really made a difference.

Have you ever cried at a film?

I dont do crying!

If you could be any character in a film, who would it be?

James Bond. Simple.

33

Gingerline Pop-up restaurant & Arts Space

I

have sampled langoustines in a chateau before flying off in a balloon, eaten fish grilled on a dhow moored in an Aegean lagoon, and coaxed a black olive out of the driest martini known to man in, well, Manhattan, but one of the most exciting and dare I say it, sexiest eating adventures I have ever experienced started on a dull old evening in SE19 unpacking books from a box and waiting for a text message.

34

It was an anxious wait. The bookseller and I are notoriously hungry and have been known to abandon real children in pursuit of a good meal. Right now, our dinner could be anywhere from West Croydon to Highbury & Islington, twenty-three stops of culinary mystery wrapped in bold orange Overground livery.

The message clanged in like a bone in a bowl. Forest Hill? Our

surprise destination might have been gritty glamorous Hoxton or the industrial majesty of Rotherhithe but fortuitously for us, it was just minutes away. As we skipped down the glorious staircase at Crystal Palace station lit by a bright half moon (I skipped, he descended in a dignified manner), doubts rose – what would it be like? After all, we’d been to plenty of do’s in the past that positively glittered with promise, only to be fed a half pound of raw

carrot batons and a shared tub of porridgey hummus. Ah, but then they hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been charmed by the Gingerliners.

We were about to meet them, but first we had to follow the clues across the cobbles to a mews doorway to join an expectant queue bantering in the darkness. Some were old hands who had enjoyed previous events ranging from a submarine supper complete with

35

pay-off) but we all had one thing in common – less than an hour ago we had no idea where we would be.

And if we were worried that it was all style over substance as wooden ruminants on strings roamed around us ghosted by their keepers, the delicious first courses of creamy mackerel pate with sourdough and deeply earthy beetroot soup zipped up with orange zest yanked the doubt from under us. They were our masters now.

porthole installations to a Victorian feast at the Brunel museum, while the occasion at New Cross Gate was inspired by Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus – blimey, imagine the how’s-yer-father that went on there! We novices kept our own apprehensive counsel, tummy grumbles notwithstanding.

Beneath the strung lights, we could smell the poultry confit before it arrived on a hummock of pumpkin and sweet potato mash infused with something herbal. Cumin, surmised my new friend Catherine, her senses not quite fully mesmerised as she passed the greens. And Madame Greedy, ie yours truly, didn’t need to be nervous because there was plenty to go round.

We needn’t have worried. On cue, the flat-capped and waistcoated hosts guided us through a labyrinth of doors and peepholes and periscopes, handed us an ice-breaking G&T and sat us at a meandering table within an intricate stage set of suspended furniture and sculpture, serendipitous bric-a-brac and darker, gothic marionettes. In the flickering candlelight and with constant stringed motion twitching in the shadows, the effect was thrilling.

The show among items ‘fond or dis-loved’ (I wrote in my notebook) continued with the puppeteers bringing their charges to life on a makeshift stage while an astonishingly pretty meringue roulade arrived wrapped in crumpled brown paper that Catherine expertly cauterised so that the fruit, flaked almonds and mascarpone held together in a precious slice. And the Gingerliners were enjoying themselves as they carried their guests around and the laughter rose and all the while a little goat was dancing at my feet. And I wanted to keep it. Lorks, I’d been bewitched (though possibly that was the gin).

The hotchpotch of tumblers, chairs and china were vintage eclectic, as were the forty odd crowd of guests.

Strangers for a moment, suddenly we were friends. There was a feisty couple from Islington asking for proper wine glasses (ah, bless) and some from Sydenham who had generously brought more claret than they hoped to drink (though lucky Carl was placed next to an exquisite beauty, so there was a

So much so that when I finally had the opportunity to speak to Suz who – along with the other two core members Kerry and Syd – collaborates with chefs and designers to create these captivating eating experiences, I found I didn’t want the answers to the questions I had: the planning, the secrecy, where they cooked, how they concocted such miraculous atmospherics, were all things that

36

should remain unexplained with the magic intact. Susannah chuckles when asked if it was a business or an art project. ‘Oh, an art project always. We have day jobs so it has to fit in around other work but I’ve always been a bit foodie and we all get involved with the design.’ She says our section of the Overground opened up a corridor of the arts, an hour end to end providing endless creative opportunities.

‘Finding kitchen facilities is a challenge,’ admits Suz, revealing that it was the brilliant Emma and Ron (see Transmitters passim) at The Hob nearby that they have to thank for being so accommodating this time round (fingers in my ears, la la la!). And yet the food was so good. ‘We want to provide a cosy environment with a home-cooking feel. It’s weird, people are so open to the Gingerline effect.’

Always on the look-out for new venues along the line, she says they are interested in the social effect the new service has on its communities.

And once the secret is out the group is ardent in its endorsement of its collaborators; Canvas and Cream are the collective behind the space where the bookseller and I went, which will become an upcycled arts café, gallery and studios. ‘We are all for upcycling!’ she laughs.

Indeed. And if you have access to a space that you think could be used – I just love the idea of someone from Shoreditch being upcycled in Honor Oak – for an intriguing performance dinner that you won’t ever forget, get in touch.

They also do ‘bespoke’, which I may just have to put to the test.

Otherwise, I honestly don’t know how I am going to sit down in a normal old restaurant and eat a normal old dinner with the normal old bookseller ever again – like an enchanted winter linden twig sent to poke us out of our urban complacency, it’s that Gingerline effect!

You can follow the Gingerline on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for the mailing list at www.gingerline.co.uk

37

WONDROUS BLOOMS IN DARKENED DAYS SUE WILLIAMS â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fond lovers, cruel as their flame, cut in... trees their Mistress name.

Little, Alas, they know, or heed, How far these beauties Hers exceed!

Fair Trees! whereso'er your barkes I wound, No Name shall but your own be found.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Andrew Marvell)

Wise words from Mr Marvell in the weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, should you be tempted to carry out a touch of romantic homily in Crystal Palace Park.

This is not the easiest time of year to find anything in the garden with flower or blossom, but there are a small number of trees and shrubs which perform wonderfully in this dreariest part of the winter. Prunus x subhirtella "Autumnalis Rosea" is one of my favourites. More commonly known as the winter flowering cherry, that is exactly what it does ... flowers all winter long. Well! So long as winter keeps its Southern softness and doesn't act up like last year. From autumn through to spring this tree carries clusters of white and pink flowers which are followed by small cherry-like reddy-black fruits. The spring foliage is bronze turning to dark green during the summer.

The blooms are not densely borne like some of the showier spring flowering cherries, but they are an unexpected delight in the depths of winter. Also the spreading nature of this Prunus makes it ideal for underplanting with spring bulbs ... especially early crocus and snowdrops. In a smaller garden it's a good idea to check the spread of the tree and pruning should be carried out on a warm summer's day. Roger at the Secret Garden usually carries a good stock of this marvellous if underrated tree.

Viburnums, like cherries, are found in most gardens and can be overlooked when planting as only the most common genus come to mind. In fact there are myriad forms of the Viburnum and most of them are hardy and suited to almost all types of soil and situation. Viburnum x bodnantense "Dawn" is a real winter performer. It is

38

the spreading nature of this Prunus makes it ideal for underplanting deciduous and from late autumn to spring it carries tubular, rich red to pink to white flowers in dense clusters on bare upright stems. These flowers are also heavily scented which is a boon at this time of year. It's nothing much to write home about in the summer with dark green oblong leaves, so careful siting in the garden to make the most of its seasonal exhibitionism is crucial.

Certainly a bed near to the house would make the most of the winter scent.

Daphne is a group of slow-growing evergreen and semievergreen shrubs which require a bit more care than the Viburnum and Prunus but are well worth the effort.

They dislike being moved, do not grow well in pots and are a bit more demanding on the pocket. But there are two species in particular which ring all the bells for winter colour and scent. Daphne odora is an attractive rounded evergreen shrub with narrow, lance-shaped glossy leaves. From midwinter to early spring this shrub produces purple-pink and white flowers which carry a heady scent. Daphne bholua "Jacqueline Postill" is also evergreen and hails from the Himalayas where it is called the paper daphne due to paper and string once being made from its bark. This shrub is not completely hardy but should flourish in the balmy sub-climate found in the Norwoods. The flowers are deep purplypink on the outside with a white centre and it is most prized for its intoxicating scent. Daphnes will definitely benefit from a yearly mulch and grow well if sited near the shelter of the house where their scent can be best appreciated.

Happy Gardening

Pink Viburnum bodnantense

My Cheesy Valentine

BY RACHEL DE THAMPLE

Photo: Andy Pontin

40

personally, I think fondue is very sexy

Method

I

was invited to an apres ski-themed party recently. In Balham. Not the Alps. Fondue, of course, was the dish du jour. I hadn't eaten it for ages.

Now that we have such a brilliant local cheese shop it's the perfect excuse to indulge, especially when you can still hide under a woolly jumper.

If you're stuck for Valentine dinner ideas, fondue's the way to go. My gourmand French friend Caroline says (in her Parisian accent), 'Personally, I think it's very sexy. If it doesn't get you laid, I don't know what will!'

She recommends a mix of two or three French cheeses with Alsace wine. I tried a more local version with a blend of British cheeses and cider and it was grand, but I have to admit: I preferred the French. I've noted both versions below. If you feel like a splurge, have a fondueoff and see what you think.

1.

Grate the cheeses. Toss with the flour. You can do this a day in advance if you like.

2.

Slice your garlic clove in half. Rub the inside of a pot with the halves.

3.

Set aside.

4.

Pour the wine in the pot. Bring gently to the boil.

Lower heat.

5.

Add the cheese, little by little. Stir in a zig zag pattern rather than in circles. This keeps the cheese from swirling into a lump.

6.

Once the cheese is nicely melted, add the garlic halves and herbs. If it's looking too thick for your liking, slosh in a drop of wine. If it's too thin, grate in a little more cheese.

7.

Let it warm through gently for 5-10mins before serving. If you happen to have leftovers, chill and then slather over toast, grill until bubbly and you've got an instant rarebit!

Things to serve with it

Prep: 10mins Cook: 10-15mins

•

Boiled baby potatoes

•

Halved radishes

Serves 2 (don't invite any friends over!)

•

Hunks of red pepper

•

Halved small carrots

•

Celery sticks

•

Wedges of apple or pear

•

Halved figs

•

Seedless red grapes

•

Cubes of a nice bread like Blackbird Bakery's slow rise or Betty's honey spelt

Ingredients •

150g Comté

•

150g Beaufort (or you could use Raclette, Gruyère or Emmental)

•

1 tbsp plain white flour

•

1 garlic clove

•

225ml white wine - something fruity and mildly sweet like Riesling

•

A few sprigs of thyme or rosemary

•

A bay leaf (optional)

•

A twist of black pepper

Fondue without fancy kit Spoon your warm fondue into a heat proof bowl that will sit nicely over a saucepan. Add a shallow pool of boiling water to the saucepan. Sit the bowl over and serve. It works a treat.

If you fancy a fondue kit, I spied them at Hollybush hardware store recently. Or you can use an Asian-style tea-light plate warmer. MacDonald's on Westow Hill currently has a lovely version.

41

The Bookseller

Jonathan main IS NEITHER TRIED OF LONDON NOR LIFE. NOR BOOKS.

...Go on then F-off to Somerset, or wherever.

Me I’m going to spend another nice day in my beautiful town.

T

he American writer Dan Chaon is one of the shop’s favourite authors and not just because he once visited us all the way from his home in Ohio. His novel, Await Your Reply (Crown US Import £9.99) was a big hit with our book group when we chose it as our inaugural read in April last year and if you still haven’t read it and fancy a tricky, involving literary thriller then I suggest you get to it right away. And if you think you might be interested in joining our book group, we meet on the first Wednesday of every month and a jolly time is had by all, there are more details on our website.

In the hands of a lesser writer titling your new book of short stories Stay Awake (US Import Ballantine Books £16.99) could be tempting fate, but I would defy anyone reading this collection of stories – a form for which Chaon is perhaps better known, having been a National Book Award finalist for his last book of stories Among the Missing (Ballantine £9.99) – to not still be reading way past their bedtime.

Think Stephen King or Ray Bradbury written by Raymond Carver and you might be halfway there.

I know you wouldn’t expect it from the title, but towards the end of Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles (Harpers Press £12.99) I was reading through my fingers and mumbling,

42

no, no, no, please God, no!

It all starts innocently enough. A council copywriter from Clapham travels to an unnamed Eastern European city to look after the immaculate flat, and cats, of an old university friend who is now a famous minimalist composer (best know for a piece of music called Variations on Tram Timetables) and the owner of an immaculate home, complete with pale wooden floors made from expensive, imported French oak. It isn’t long before the cats are sleeping where they shouldn’t be and somehow, inexplicably, a wine glass has left a red stain on the floor. Can you see where this is heading? The author has described his novel as, like a version of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em meets Franz Kafka, and he isn’t lying. Oh calamity! No kidding.

Another favourite writer with a new book of short stories out this month is Tessa Hadley. Married Love (Jonathan Cape £14.99) is a collection of pitch perfect, calmly told stories of middle class disruption a world away from Dan Chaon’s bewildered blue-collar souls, but no less impressive for that.

In the title story a nineteen-yearold music student announces that she wants to marry her tutor, a composer of religious music and forty-five years her senior. Over twenty pages, in precise prose, a

story of parenthood and the greying decline of their marriage runs its course. Nothing particularly bad happens. Nor good, either. There is simply accommodation. Also just out in paperback and highly recommended is her novel from last year, The London Train (Vintage £7.99).

Alison Wonderland (Mariner Books £8.99) Helen’s Smith’s gently surreal story, set in Brixton and Clapham, of a jilted woman who becomes a researcher at an all female detective agency was first published in 1999.

We used to recommend it all the time. Out of print for a few years, it has now been republished in America. The jacket copy calls it quirky, which under normal circumstances could make you run a mile, but trust us, it will make you laugh out loud. At one point, early on in the book, trailing somebody else’s errant husband our heroine follows him to a midnight tryst on Clapham common with another man. Assuming the worst, she watches from a distance as the two men circumnavigate their cruising counterparts and industriously set about catching crayfish in the common’s ponds before parceling them up for later sale to the restaurants of the West End. From then on Alison keeps a picture of a crayfish in her wallet to remind her that not everything is at it seems.

which there are many, will instantly recognise the main character of his new novel Saving Daisy. Once again he portrays with wonderful empathy the tough times of a fractured teenage life. Daisy’s mother is dead. She blames herself, suffers panic attacks and self harms.

On the inside cover there is a quote from a review of Being Billy from a magazine called, ahem, The Transmitter: ‘Like Ken Loach for fourteen-year-olds with all the heart and humour and compassion that that implies.’ I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Ian Marchant’s Something of the Night (Simon and Schuster £14.99) is an autobiographical, weed-fuelled road trip around Britain (complete with a nostalgic Spotify playlist) that circles its primary subject: the various and many things that take place during the hours of darkness – be it working on the night shift at a motorway service station, going to the dogs, watching fireworks explode or committing adultery – whilst all the while stabbing them with a broad and mordant humour.

The publishers would like you to think that there is a sort of Nick Hornby vibe going on here, and to a certain extent there is, but it’s cooler than that, in a dad-rock kind of way.

Lastly, a customer alights on a copy of Tired of London Tired of Life by Tom Jones, the really excellent book that lists one new thing to do in London everyday for a year. (15 April: Meet the Crystal Palace sphinxes. 29 April: Walk in Sydenham Hill Wood).

Ah, she says, the perfect book to give to all of my friends who are thinking of leaving London. Go on then F-off to Somerset, or wherever.

Me I’m going to spend another nice day in my beautiful town.

Amen, we say, to that.

Jonathan Main

Fans of local author Phil Earle’s young adult novel Being Billy, of

43

FILM Crystal Palace Pictures Gypsy Hill Tavern 79 Gipsy Hill, SE19 1QH

Thursday 9th February In the Mood for Love (2000) Cert PG/ 98 mins Dir Wong Kar-Wai Starring:Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung Two couples move into the same apartment block on the same day.

After picking up various clues, Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) and Su Li-Zhen (Maggie Cheung) begin to suspect that their spouses are having an affair and develop their own bond, hurt by the betrayal and unsure of their feelings about each other.

Wong Kar-Wai’s 60s period piece is a regular feature in lists of the best films of the 21st century. Beautifully shot and with an exquisite soundtrack, the film creates an enigmatic mood which charmed critics around Europe and won it a Palme d’Or nomination at Cannes.

Thursday 23 February Animal Kingdom (2010) Cert 18/ 113 mins Dir David Michôd Starring: James Frecheville, Guy Pearce and Jackie Weaver After the death of his mother from a drugs overdose, 17-year old J (James Frecheville) moves in with his grandmother, Smurf (Jackie Weaver), the head of a Melbourn crime family.

When Smurf’s eldest son Pope turns up the family becomes embroiled in a bitter turf war.

Writer/ director David Michôd’s modern gangster film has won high praise and armfuls of awards the world over, including a well deserved Academy Award nomination for Jackie Weaver for her turn as a modern day Lady Macbeth.

44

Thursday 8 March A Scanner Darkly (2006) Cert 15/ 100 mins Dir Richard Linklater Starring:Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr. Anaheim,California, the near future.

Bob Arctor, an addict to the drug Substance D, is actually an undercover cop out to bust the D network. Bob’s bosses, who don’t know his cover story, order him to spy on himself, causing his grip on reality to be shaken by his schizoid way of life.

A dystopian paranoid thriller, A Scanner Darkly tracks addiction in all its highs and lows, and offers a dignified elegy for its misguided casualties. Add to this the mindbendingly intricate plotting, inventively funny stoner dialogue, and a career-topping performance

by Robert Downey Jr and you have a film which, like all classics will leave viewers wanting to experience it over and over again.

Thursday 22 March Singin’ in the Rain (1952) Cert U/ 112 mins Dir Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly Starring: Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse Made in 1952 “Singin’ in the Rain” was a big hit with film goers on its initial release, but not accorded its legendary status by contemporary critics and only later was universally acclaimed as, not only one of the best movie musicals ever made, but is also ranked 5th in the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest ever films.

Donald O’Connor co-stars in the best role of his life, while Debbie Reynolds and Cyd Charisse perform the breakthrough roles of their careers.

Set in 1927, the witty, sardonic screenplay spoofs Hollywood when it was learning how to talk. Kelly not only directs and takes the male lead, but also choreographs the stunning dance routines make Singin’ in the Rain into an undoubted masterpiece.

WHAt's ON

Send listings information to: EDITOR@thetransmitter.co.uk

COMMUNITY Friends of Beaulieu Heights Saturday 28 January

Gallery Film Dulwich Picture Gallery Gallery Road, Dulwich SE21 7AD All films begin 7.45pm

Bar from 7.15pm £9, (£7 Friends) Tickets available from the Friends 020 8299 8750 10-12 or e-mail friendsticketing@ dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Monday 20 February

Monday March 19 Winter’s Bone (2010) Cert 15, 100 minutes Di Barbara Granik starring Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes Deserted by her outlaw father teenager Ree hacks through lies and evasion and begins to piece together the truth.

Free food and wine supplied by Blackbird Bakery

Written on the Wind (1956) Cert PG/ 99 minutes DirDouglas Sirk, Starring Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone This unashamed melodrama, rich in emotional intensity, is a portrait of family dysfunction and thwarted love. A satire on the American family, the film encompasses wealth, alcoholism, nymphomania, suicide and jealousy Free food and wine provided by Blackbird Bakery

GALLERY FILM for Kids Sunday 5 February The Iron Giant (1999) Cert U, 86 minutes 3.45pm Linbury Room Director Brad Bird, voices of Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel An animated action adventure film in which an imaginative 9-year-old boy makes friends with an innocent alien giant robot that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.

The Iron Giant tackles touchy subjects and complex relationships with a steady hand and beautiful animation £5, Free juice and popcorn

Sunday 4 March Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998) Cert U, 75 minutes 3.45 pm Based on an African folk tale, this is an enchanting life-affirming animation of love and redemption.

The film is directed by Michel Ocelo. £5. Free juice and popcorn donated

by Peter Popples Popcorn After Special Animation ArtPlay in association with Gallery Film and the BFI

Big bird count 10.30 – 12.00

Saturday 4 February joint event with Upper Norwood Churches Together -we have 200 hazel saplings to be planted in an area where evergreen have been cleared – 60 will planted with UNCT to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, - lunch time food will be provided

Saturday 3 March cut a tree using hand tools and create a log hotel for a stag beetle – Britain’s largest beetle, lunch time food will be provided

Saturday 17 March join us at 2.00 to 3.30 for a family stroll in search of the signs of spring and make a nest to take home.

SPORT Sydenham Tennis, Squash and Croquet Club Lawrie Park Road Sydenham SE26 6ET

Wednesday, 15th February to Wednesday, 21st March Beginners Introduction to Tennis 7-8 pm Want to start playing tennis or would just like to brush up on your skills after a long break? Come to Sydenham Tennis Club and learn basic technique, meet players of a similar standard and have some fun playing doubles. For more information about our six-week introductory taster courses call 07776 231 676. Booking essential.

Age group: Adult £20 for six sessions email: info@sltcc.co.uk website: www.sltcc.co.uk

45

MUSIC Dulwich Picture Gallery Gallery Road, Dulwich SE21 7AD GALLERY MUSIC

Friday March 16 Malcolm Martineau and Friends 7.30 Gallery The distinguished German baritone Stephan Loges will give a recital of familiar and unfamiliar songs by Schubert, Vaughan Williams and other composers accompanied by Malcolm Martineau. £26, (£24 Friends)

Saturday March 31 Flamenco:dance and music with supper 6.30pm St Barnabas Parish Hall, Dulwich Village Juan Ramirez and his troupe Viva Flamenco is back Imogen Cooper £17, (£15 Friends), includes a glass of sherry, under age of 16, £10

The Goose Is Out www.thegooseisout.com

10 February Donal Maguire– Upstairs at the Mag

12 February Singaround – Upstairs at the Mag

Peter and the Wolf Two performances, 2.30 and 3.45 The Chamber Ensemble Harmoniemusik with broadcaster Paul Guinery as narrator will present Prokofiev’s musical fairytale in an abridged version for a young audience. All tickets £5

24 February Dave Swarbrick (with Kate Riaz & Jake Wilson) – Dan Sumner, Brona McVitie - DHFC

9 March The Copper Family Upstairs at the Mag

11 March

The HOB Music 7 Devonshire Road Forest Hill, SE23 3HE Live music Every Tuesday from The Prisonaires and special guests - Free 9pm Live Music Every Friday Strange fashion (3rd), We Ghosts (10th), New White Trash (17th), Stone free (24)

POETRY The Gipsy Hill Tavern 79 Gipsy Hill, SE19 1QH.

Tuesday 6 March Beyond Words Ruth O'Callaghan will read from her own poetry collections.

There will also be 'open mic' so local poets are welcome to come along and read.

Doors open at 7pm for 7.30 start.

Admission is £4 (£3 concessions)

Singaround – Upstairs at the Mag

30 March Rory McLeod, Sarah Gillespie, Shadrack Tye – DHFC

A shop full of books that you might want to read

46

THERE’S A WORLD OUT THERE! From a poor January catch, Howard Male still manages to find some choice sounds you might want to treat your ears to

T

hings are always pretty quiet in January as regards new releases, but this year the usual trickle has reduced to just an occasional drip. It must be something to do with the continuing disintegration of the music industry.

As a result of this, rather than picking my favourites from a generous pile, I am essentially writing about the only CDs of a reasonable quality that I’ve received. But that’s no bad thing because what you are getting is more of a subjective overview of what’s currently out there, rather than a selection filtered through my – often idiosyncratic – taste in music.

First up we have Punch Brothers, who (despite being from Nashville, and despite being labelled ‘progressive bluegrass’) for some reason remind me of Crystal Palace’s own Peryls (whose debut album I reviewed in the previous Transmitter). It’s something to do with a certain droll melancholy, the chord progressions and a leaning towards vaudevillian storytelling.

But similarities aside,

Punch Brothers songs are powered by boisterouslystrummed banjos, violins and acoustic guitars. Who’s Feeling Young Now? (Nonesuch Records) is produced

by Jacquire King (who has also worked with Tom Waits and Kings of Leon) and is a spirited – if sometimes meandering – effort even if it does only tick one or two boxes for me.

Doctor L on the other hand, had me ticking away as if ticking were an uncontrollable tick I have. His first claim to (relative) fame was to take Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen’s 2000 album Black Voices and turn it into a cubist funk dub masterpiece. The press release for The Great Depression (Comet Records) informs us that since then he’s been ‘pursuing his vision of a protean kind of music, bringing together the past, present and future in a resounding Big Bang’.

Nice work if you can get it. But looked at in a less highfalutin way, all you really need to know is that it slickly, slyly, sexily, eccentrically struts its stuff

with echoes of Zappa, Beefheart, that Tony Allen album (Allen actually plays on it) and much else besides.

Mike Doughty first came to my attention around 2004 when I picked up his band’s first two albums at a car boot sale for 50p each. And so, long after the event, Soul Coughing became my favourite American band of the 1990s. Yes and Also Yes (Megaforce Records) lacks the edgy rock/funk/ jazz atmospherics of Soul Coughing but replaces these characteristics with a honed pop sensibility which, at times, brings to mind early Elvis Costello with a dash of Lou Reed. If you doubt me, check out the gorgeous, touching duet with Rosanne Cash, Holiday (What Do You Want?) or the very Costelloish Strike the Motion.

Doughty simultaneously publishes his searinglyhonest and self-lacerating memoir The Book of Drugs which charts his years of substance abuse and his time as front man for the world’s most dysfunctional rock band, the aforementioned Soul

Coughing. Its sharp, spare New York prose lifts it way above most other efforts of the genre. Buy both the CD and the book for the fully rounded Doughty Experience.

Finally, rapper Baloji with Kinshasa Succursale (Crammed Discs). Though born in the Congo, for his own safety Baloji was shipped off to Belgium aged three. Several runins with the law later (and 20 years since he had last seen his mother) he returned to the Congo to work with a number of different bands on what is a surprisingly cohesive album given that it embraces reggae, ska, salsa, hip-hop, funk and half a dozen local Congolese styles. Take a look at the intense visceral videos Independence Cha Cha and Karibu Ya Bintou on YouTube.

They’re like mini feature films, brimming over with atmosphere and striking imagery. If you’re not impressed then I question why you were reading this piece in the first place.

Howard Male 47

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(continued from page 31) so bizarre that I just ran home and wrote it all down immediately. It was just so way out. I mean my Auntie Glad, I’d never heard her swear, and there she was, effing and blinding going crazy. She’d just lost the plot completely. I sat there watching her shouting out in this minute’s silence, this is a load of bollocks, and all this.

It’s weird though seeing Jean Boht do it: Jean is brilliant as my Auntie Gladys, but just seeing her play it out, reliving things from the past, acting them out again, it’s just very strange. But I really did enjoy that, I loved doing that film .

Did you edit that as well?

No Nick Fenton cut it. He lives in Herne Hill. He edited Submarine and he also cut The Arbor about Andrea Dunbar the playwright who wrote Rita, Sue and Bob Too. Nick and I worked together on Nathan Barley, the Chris Morris show. I did the animation for that.

Tell us about your latest pop video, (Black Casino and the Ghost Falling Into Pieces ) was this the first time you have made one?

Yeah, it was the first time I’d ever done it. I’d tried before but I think because I usually tell stories, for pop

promos that’s not always the best thing. So I just listened to the music and thought about the beat and the rhythm and followed it through my mind how it should move, rather than the story. They really liked it. I went back to one of my earlier films, Dad’s Dead and just chopped up the faces to make new faces Did it take a long time to make?

I shot it in a day, that’s all the time I had and then there were some sequences which I didn’t animate, they were shot in live action and then I edited it. I’ve got a team of people I’ve known for years and they’re all wizards so we sort of just sit and do it, you know.

Tell us about the series you are curating for Channel 4 (Random Acts - Late night, weekdays, C4) Well I’m curating the films but we’ve commissioned some as well. It’s been a lot of fun. David Shrigley’s done five films. I also do a film night, on and off, in Shoreditch. I get more excited about watching films other people’s films, I like other people’s films. I have curated for Latitude as well and that’s exciting cos you get performers and filmmakers and everybody to come together. That’s a really exciting thing.

What’s in the pipeline right now?

I’ve got this other film I’ve been working on that I really want to do - you could call it the follow on to Dad’s Dead. I really want Nick to cut it, he wants to do it, so it’s just that thing of trying to pull that one together at the minute. It’s the animation live action again. I’ve got Ian Hart to be in it and Bernard Hill said he’ll be in it but I’m just trying to get the money. If I can get the money, that’ll be great.

Crystal Palace resident Chris Shepherd is a BAFTA nominated television/film writer and director.

He is mainly known for combining live action with animation. His latest film, Bad Night For The Blues, won the International Canal+ Award at Clermont Ferrand International Film Festival and was transmitted on BBC HD in February 2011. www.chrisshepherdfilms.com You can see a video of our Chris Shepherd interview at: www.thetransmitter.co.uk

Chris Shepherd Filmography 2012

Home Sweet Home (documentary)

producer (dir Tim Brunsden)

2011

Get Well Soon - A 2:30 at the dentist (short) (in production)

director and writer

2011

Black Casino and the Ghost - Falling Into Pieces (pop promo)

director and writer

2010

Bad Night For The Blues

director and writer

2010

Count Arthur Strong's Entertainment Game (TV pilot)

animation

2010 The Klang Show animation 2007 Granny director and writer 2006 Silence Is Golden director and writer 2005

Who I Am And What I Want

co-dir & co-writer David Shrigley

2005 Nathan Barley animation and graphics 2005

Only Human: Bollocks to Cancer

animation

2003 Dad's Dead director and writer 2001

People's Britain

dir & co-writer Peter Holmes

2001 The World Of Interiors producer 2000 Pop Skool director 1999 School Disco producer 1998 Big Train (Series 1) animation 1997 The Broken Jaw director and writer 1995 Abductees production manager 1992

A Load Of Balls

director and writer

1989 Safari director and writer

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