News from New York and Cali

Hello world. So in our plight for gainful employment or just employment, of some kind, THE INTERNS have gone to journalism graduate school. We will keep you posted on goings on from the US. One of us is in New York and the other in Palo Alto, where we are interning. AGAIN. x

An Education: Owen Davey speaks to us about The Story Times on-line series

The Dave channel describes The Story Times producer Owen Davey, 23, as a 'video-auteur'. Owen graduated from UCA Farnham with a First Class Honors in Digital Screen Arts. Now working on-line for UKTV's Dave, he explains how to become a 'video-auteur' and what the hell that means.


1. How did you start your own series for Dave?
There was a full-page ad for Dave's 'Best Part-Time Job In The World' in a free newspaper I found on a train. I tore it out and put it in my left-back pocket; my 'to do' pocket. Some weeks later I found it and applied, since I was already filling my days with applications for jobs that were not advertised as the best in the world, or even as the best in the JobCentre that afternoon.
The online application form was demanding but vague. I had to send a video. I sent a small exert from a farcically, miserably narrated documentary I have been making, only to turn up at the interview to be told that everybody else had applied with enthusiastic "I'm the presenter for you" pieces to camera. The job wasn't mine, but a week later I was back with "some ideas" that Dave had asked for. One idea, my desperate first, was The Story Times pilot, which became The Story Times. To cut a long story short, I fell into an opportunity I'd always wanted, without reference to the five years I spent qualifying for the industry from which it arose. As for auteuriness, I'm cheap, so relatively risk free.

2. The Story Times is narrated by a supremely creepy voice. How do you do it and how can we replicate this for js?
Mostly by bending the pitch down with some free, user-friendly software. I got confused today by bending the pitch down, having already bent it. I am forgetting the sound of my own inadequately youthful voice.

3. You've recently faced legal restrictions in your work, which you protested against by making a statement video, using a dead fish a symbol for the death of your artistic freedoms... What's all this libelous bizzle all about,eh?
Corporate television, so I'm told, has to adhere to certain legal compliance. Dave's lawyers are secret marxist revolutionaries, but they still have to keep me out of trouble (admittedly because I'm new, rather than a badass). Fortunately I planned ahead with a back-up singing-fish episode.

4. We thought the fish was clever. where did you buy it?
The local farmer's market. Of course not! Sainbury's.

5. Did you eat it after?
I didn't. It's the only whole fish they sell, but it's buy-one-get-one-satircal-one-free. That sounds like a rubbish joke but they really do only come in packs of two.

6.How do you chose the villains of The Story Times?
I watch the news on and off in the 24hrs between one episode's airing and another's script-deadline and rather too hastily decide who's most easily bullied. But that's okay, because they're the popular kids, I'm the nobody, and the show's awfully self-deprecating.

7. This one is challenging. You made an episode about PM Cam. Name 3 good things about Cameron.
You think, just because I dedicated an episode to him being kicked in the face by a horse, that I don't like David?
Actually, the Big Society's not necessarily an inherently bad concept, just a familiarly untrustworthy one in the hands of The Conservatives. That counts as ONE. TWO: he is compromised in coalition. THREE: I'm sure he means well.

8. Can you give us a clue as to what episode six will be about?
It's the last in the pilot series, so I was going to cut loose and earn my modern-satirist's 'Pedo Badge', so to speak, what with Sarah's Law knocking about and all, but I've already eaten the remaining fish, so let's see what the dogs drag in. Cryptic.

9. Can you give us tips on how to sound as patronizing as you on The Story Times?
Trying to sound like Will Self or Werner Herzog or any other accomplished and distinctive narrator usually works. Aim for smart, and you'll get there.

10.Can you give us a real life situation when this patronizing tone would be useful in the workplace?
No. It should remain in The Story Times, as if it were stolen from me and trapped there by Ursula.

11. Why is it important we learn the lessons of story times?
It isn't. Just watch it. Leave it on muted repeat whilst you wash-up. Even if you're indifferent to it, send it to all your friends. Use your old hotmail account, if you're too embarrassed. Think of it as a good deed. A sponsorship initiative. You know, the Big Society! Pulling together! Supporting each other! It's ad-sponsored, so just watch it.

12. Favourite Youtube vid of all time?
Insane Robot Dance. I get sentimental.


Take a look at the latest Story Times episode here.

PIMP MY iPHONE: Our Top Ten Applications

Everyone knows that when you get an iPhone it becomes NUMBER 1. Suddenly you can't live without the Wiki application and you enter some kind of Tfl paralysis without the Apple tube map. Soo let's play Pimp my iPhone.

1.Lightsaber: Obviously your number 1 essential iPhone item. Swing your iphone around and relive all your Obi wan Kenobi fantasies.

2.Spotify: It makes iTunes obsolete.

3.TIME magazine: The news in a slide show. Who needs Krishnan Guru-Murthy anyways?

4.Evernote: This allows students to make quick notes in class or in the library. It supports not only text but also photos and lets you access your notes anywhere. This makes it into our top ten for sheer uselessness- since when have you ever been allowed to use your phone so blatanly in a class?

5. Shazam: When you try to remember the tune, lyrics and name of that song you really like but can't remember any of them use Shazam to identify it. Next time it comes on just hold your iPhone to the song. If it was that good a song you'd probably remember it anyways but just in case you don't...

6.Run Keeper: It tells you how many calories you've burnt while running. Downside-you have to run.

7.METRO: Reduce your Metro footprint by downloading the paper to your iPhone before you get on the train. Also reading it on your phone means it takes up less room when the train is already fricken crowded.

8.Mint: Budgets your life for you. It checks your cashflow and gives you alerts like "You've spent too much money on parking." Tell me something I don't know...in crazy cool colour-coded barcharts.

9.Red Laser: It's like a Tesco do-it-yourself checkout but more efficient and more fun. Tells you how much everything costs, where to get it cheaper and lots of online information about that product.

10.Tube Exits: This tells you where the exits on platforms are so you know where to stand on the train. You don't need the internet to support this so you can get all the info whilst still nestled under the token fatman's armpit.

We said ten but honestly the list goes on. If you're feeling particularly touchscreen happy we also recommend Chanel,Whats App, Vocab Daily, Bump, Guardian, Convert Units and Around Me. Oh oh oh and an iPhone is never complete without BUBBLEWRAP but we are assuming you've already got that.

Sergei Paradjanov at the BFI-'The Colour of Pomegranates' Reviewed

This month BFI Southbank are presenting the first-ever full retrospective of Paradjanov's films. 1968 experimental flick The Colour of Pomegranates tells the (completely fabricated) story of an 18th century Armenian poet known as Sayat Nova, king of song. The dream-like imagery of this unlikely biopic-we're talking churches full of sheep, monks sucking pomegranates in synchronicity, Christ-like figures on monastery roofs- is weaved together in a Paradjanov patchwork of life,love and loss. You'll be glad to know, however, that all the surreal arty weird shit that goes on is not an attempt to recreate what happened to Sayat Nova. Rather, it is an attempt to recreate the imaginative and powerful inner life of the poet as he faced the various crises of his life.

Banned by the Soviets, the film first hit international screens during a campaign to release the director from labour camp where he had been jailed by the Russian authorities. However, this wasn't the dissedent's first stint in the Soviet jailhouse. In 1848 he was arrested for homosexual acts with a KGB officer. Film historian Tony Rayns, introducing the controversial director's work at the BFI, tells us that at a New York film festival Paradjanov sat next to Alan Ginsberg while The Colour of Pomegranates was on, pointing to the screen every five minutes saying "I had that one, and that one and that one and that one." On that slightly uncomfortable note, we think you should go and see some of the people he did at the BFI throughout this season.

BOOK REVIEW: The Chapel at the Edge of the World, Kirsten McKenzie

Lamb Holm, one of the many isolated islands of the Orkney archipelago, may have a population of approximately three sheep but it was once home to five hundred Italian POWs. Captured in North Africa during the Second World War, they were sent to work on the construction of four Scottish causeways known as the Churchill Barriers. However, the prisoners soon became tired of assembling glorified chicken crossings and in their desire to create something more meaningful, built an Italian chapel from a disused wartime bunker. It is around this poetic historical framework that McKenzie weaves a narrative of hope and human perseverance with the chapel at its beating heart.

Although at times McKenzie lays on the religious symbolism a little too heavily, her debut novel comes into its own with its subtle treatment of everyday struggles. While imprisoned protagonist Emilio engages in daily battles with the Scottish climate and pompous British officials, his childhood sweetheart, Rosa, is left on the Italian Home Front fighting not only Nazi control but her feelings for Pietro, a dangerous member of the resistance movement. Kirsten McKenzie flits lightly and skilfully between Orkney and Italy, and between the strands of her story of war-torn love, which she tells with sensitivity and colour. All in all, she will have you booking your ticket to the Chapel before you have even finished the book and quite frankly, Lamb Holm could do with the occasional visitor.

It's all about Amazon- you can get The Chapel at the Edge of the World for £9. You know you want to add it to your basket and PayPal it.

Jesus Christ! Mel Gibson’s got a new film: Edge of Darkness reviewed

Resurrected as a Boston police detective, Mel Gibson returns to the screen as a single father and honest citizen seeking retribution for his child’s murder on the doorstep of his own home. So far, so Patriot but this Martin Campbell thriller quickly takes a political turn. Based on the 1980s BBC miniseries , the Cold War origins of this Edge of Darkness reworking become palpable as Craven (Mel Gibson) goes about exposing a ‘nuclear waste facility’ for what it actually is in his radioactive quest for revenge.

As he slowly transforms into what basically a UN weapons inspector with 'nothing to lose' but plenty of ammunition, the aesthetic becomes increasingly stylised despite the director’s claims to ‘realism’. As if most people stumble around with a trenchcoat, a loaded gun and a frenetic Geiger counter after they’ve been poisoned, radioactively that is. Previous to this transition, he spends his time moping about his daughter and hearing voices in a pathetic attempt to be emotive. Otherwise, it looks good, it builds tension well but at its core is just another one of Mel's angry American dad films with Ray Winstone, raincoats and radioactivity thrown in for js.

It's out tomorrow guys. We give it a 5/10 on the Geiger counter.MK

MAN SWANS: Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake reviewed

Contrary to dance pleb belief, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is not a ballet. First staged in Sadler’s Wells in 1995, this controversial contemporary dance has returned to its original stage as the longest running dance show in the West End.

It’s been 14 years since Matthew Bourne said goodbye to tutus, pointe shoes and ballet convention to choreograph a version of Swan Lake with male swans. However, the homoerotic undertones of the revised plot rattled the feathers of some early audience members. Some critics complained about its departure from traditional ballet while one girl from the local ballet school cried because it was distinctly lacking in the big white tutu department.

Over the years the male dancers have become iconic so their virile masculine physicality and their famous frayed trousers designed by Lez Brotherston which appeared at the end of Billy Elliot the movie are to be expected. However, what catches you off-guard is the intensity of the encounter between the Prince and the swans. The whole thing is delivered with such emotion. And not the faux opera house emotion of the heavily made-up Royal prima ballerinas either.

From the tormented Prince to his hilarious girlfriend, who, in a clever piece of satire eats Maltesers in a theatre, are surprisingly real. It has a kind of immediacy that makes it utterly unique in the world of dance. In fact, its key critique of traditional dance performances is that they lack any kind of relation to the lives of the audience, most sharply carried out in the theatre scene. A ridiculous parody of pretentious ballets it involves all of the animal kingdom dancing with exaggerated emotion and a devil who has some absurd piece of artwork dangling distractingly from his crotch- sound familiar?

The novelty of this production and the controversy surrounding it might have attracted dance-lovers in the nineties but controversy isn’t what keeps the audiences coming. In its fifteenth year it's just as funny, just as sad and just as relevant as it used to be. They certainly don’t call it a contemporary dance for nothing.

Vicarious says go see this or we're not your friend anymore.MK

Reflections of an uncle to his niece

After close to 20 years in the ad business, my uncle John Farr left the 9 to 5 job to pursue what he’s always loved most, movies. With a new multi-media enterprise, Best Movies by Farr, he now promotes outstanding film via a website that already features more than 2,000 movie recommendations. As a result, he was recruited to be a featured weekly film blogger on the Huffington Post, and also provides branded film suggestions on video to WNET’s “Reel 13” program website. He has been interviewed on Westwood One Radio, WCBS Radio, as well as Air America’s “Ron Reagan Show”, and appeared recently on CNN. In an interview for Vicarious, he spills the beans on how to break into film journalism, interviewing Paul Newman and the rise of reality TV. Check out the interview on the Huffington Post.

Vicarious: When did your love affair with movies begin?

John Farr:When I was about six, I fell in love with the Hollywood classics on old TV programs like “The 4:30 Movie” and “The Million Dollar Movie.” After that, I had to know everything about how those films were made, and about the stars…a lifelong love passion and fascination thus began.

Vicarious: Where do you find time to review 15 films a week?

John Farr: I watch two movies each night- it’s easy! Also, I always have my portable DVD player handy when travelling. From a sanity perspective, it’s also easier to watch a lot of movies when you’ve researched them for quality in advance.

Vicarious: Is there an actor or actress that you’ve most enjoyed interviewing?

John Farr: Without question, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. What a couple...and they complemented each other beautifully. She every inch the Southern lady, he the more unpredictable, iconoclastic type- sporting a motorcycle jacket at eighty!

Vicarious: It’s fair to say that you’ve made your name through forms of new media including YouTube, Twitter, blogging and a successful website. Would you recommend that path to budding journalists and film aficionados?

John Farr: I’d put it more emphatically than that: I can’t see how any up and coming person in these fields could succeed without new media…it represents a near revolutionary democratization in communication, which is why so much of traditional media is declining. Today, you can create your own channel to grow and build loyalty with your intended audience. It’s enormously exciting.

Vicarious: You write a regular column for the Huffington Post, how do you decide what to write?

John Farr: It might be a milestone birthday for a great actor or director, or a new film arriving on DVD that features a talent worth examining, or even something film-related I come across in the newspaper that I think warrants commentary or exploration. I think the idea of being topical still holds as a fundamental rule.

Vicarious: Is there a column that you’re most proud of and why?

John Farr: I really can’t name one, but I’m always proud when via feedback on my blog, I hear I’ve persuaded my readers to revisit a talent they haven’t considered for some time, and hopefully watch some great films they may not know or have forgotten about. That’s my ultimate goal- and greatest satisfaction.

Vicarious: You’ve achieved success with your website and columns at a more mature age, would you rather have been doing this at 21?

John Farr: Honestly, no. I would not have had the knowledge nor the confidence to do what I’m doing at 21. This pertains not just to my understanding of film itself but also the application of certain writing, speaking, and marketing techniques I picked up in my first career in advertising. These hard-won skills have contributed a lot to my effectiveness in this current endeavor, which makes me feel I didn’t totally waste my youth!

Vicarious: I've heard through the grapevine that you were on CNN recently. Spill...

John Farr: True. My Huffington Post blog arguing for a measure of leniency for director Roman Polanski drew over 700 comments, and created a firestorm of controversy which resulted in two radio interviews- one on Air America’s Ron Reagan Show, followed by a TV appearance on CNN-HL’s Joy Behar Show, debating two tough feminist lawyers. It was a gas, and I’m still around to tell the tale!

Vicarious: Can you recommend 3 Christmas movies that are worth seeing?

John Farr: “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947), “Scrooge” (1951), and “A Christmas Tale” (2008).

Vicarious: Favourite movie of all time?

John Farr: “Bringing Up Baby” (1938)- as close to a perfect screen comedy as I can think of, and strangely enough, a relative flop when first released.

Vicarious: I remember the epic movie nights at your home in New York. What are the key ingredients to a successful movie night?

John Farr: Easier to state perhaps than execute, but you want a general air of informality and a group of fun, like-minded people who really enjoy and appreciate great film.

Vicarious: If you could interview a movie star dead or alive who would it be?

John Farr: Spencer Tracy, one of the finest screen actors ever, but a complex and contained human being who never gave away his secrets. I’d love to try to penetrate those walls he erected around himself to better understand the pure and distinctive approach that made him so arresting a presence on film.

Vicarious: What do you think of the rise of reality TV, which seems to have eclipsed movie watching in recent years?

John Farr: I think reality shows are a blight on our popular culture, and a major contributor to the “dumbing down” of entertainment. Still with TV viewership declining, I suppose it’s an economic necessity. Or that’s the excuse anyway. I also dislike the voyeuristic, exploitative nature of these programs. I hope fervently they become a rather regrettable fad, passing away like an unpleasant odor. Is that opinionated enough for you?

Vicarious: You have a fondness of old movies. Has the quality of movies gotten worse in the last 20 years?

John Farr: Movies have certainly evolved, both as a business and an entertainment form, and to my mind, not for the better. I’ve always valued subtlety, originality and intelligence in film, and find these qualities too often lacking, particularly in today’s mainstream Hollywood fare.

The reasons for this are varied: increasingly, Hollywood has focused on familiar, tried-and-true formulas aimed at their best audience- young people in their teens- who are less sensitive to reviews and happily go to the multiplexes to plunk down twelve dollars on a film’s opening weekend. The studios have learned how to make money without needing to worry too much about the classic and ever-challenging fundamentals of storytelling, script, and nuanced character development. Ever notice how all the best writers are now working for HBO?

Those incredible visual effects created inside a computer, along with breakneck pacing, help mask the banality of the movie itself and the “Barbie and Ken” blandness of all those buff yet shallow young performers.

My dream- and it may be just that- is that more intelligent consumers increasingly turn away from this dreck. There will always be a certain amount of purely escapist fare in the marketplace, and some of it is fun and well-done, but Hollywood, still the financial epicenter of the movie business, can and should do better overall. I think it owes that to its audience.

CF

To see more of the interview with John Farr on Huffington Post, click here

24 hours in the life of a David David intern: An exclusive glimpse into the fashion industry

Hannah is a Textile Design student in her 3rd year at Central St.Martin’s, specialising in printed textiles. When she got an insider’s glimpse into the studio of London-based, Grimsby-born fashion designer David David this summer, we asked her to tell us all about the glitz, glamour and perspex handbags of the fashion industry.


10.30am
I arrive at the Conduit Street studio, where David Saunders works with his brother Michael. It is a creative and friendly place to work. I got a good feeling from it right from the beginning, when I applied for an internship there. The majority of fashion design studios want fashion students and so there is a limited places available for those studying textiles. Most studios never got back to my emails or CVs and although I managed to get a few interviews I was starting to lose hope! I saw David David's website and really loved his work so I called him up. He offered to interview me the following day.

11.00am
I meet my colleague Tom (who is super stylish by the way), another intern here. Tom is studying menswear design at Ravensbourne University in Kent. At the beginning of my internship I worked with him a lot, usually helping him trace and cut out garment patterns.

1.00pm
I shop for materials and collect some fabric swatches. I get to do some experimenting with inks and printing methods.I get sent to visit quite a few places including boutiques, markets, PR offices, factories and printing offices. This was great as I found out about lots of companies that would be useful to me in the future. David's designs are really colourful, geometric and quite quirky. Although his most recent Spring/Summer 2010 womenswear collection is really sophisticated, using beautiful colours. The cut of the garment is simple and the idea is to have a blank canvas onto which David can incorporate his colourful designs.

3.00pm
I am busy sewing handbags. David designed a hand bag made from laser cut pieces of perspex. It took a good couple of hours to sew them together, some re-doing as I managed to make some mistakes but the end result was great. The bags look lovely! As it got closer to London Fashion Week it got much busier, getting all the sample's ready for David David's presentation and video shoot. There was a lot of pattern cutting involved. I was nervous as there was no more room for mistakes!

5.00pm
I say bye and head off home. It was nice to work in a small studio as I got to see how David works with Michael who manages the business sides of things. It was a small group of us. I met really nice people and over all it was a great experience to see how the fashion industry works. The best bit about the internship was that it was great to finally see the collection come together at the LFW presentation. I dream about the day I’ll get to have some creative input, maybe design some print pieces for the collection. That would be just great!


David has said that the inspiration behind his Spring/Summer 2010 collection was “Japanese geometrics, vodka and coloured glass.” Based on this we really feel you ought to check it out.

MK & HJ

We want more Anish Kapoor: the Indian sculptor's Royal Academy exhibition under review

REVIEW: Forty fully-grown adults stand in the Large Weston Room of the Royal Academy of Arts staring intently at what art students describe as 'a ritual arena in which a symbollic act of repeated violence is allowed to occur.' What this means in ordinary speak is staring at the wall waiting for a cannon to fire twenty-pound shells of wax into the wall. Every twenty minutes.

We all jump as the red wax hits it at fifty miles an hour and splashes all across the carved ceiling. A member of staff informs me that they've tried to fire the gun less regularly as the already reinforced walls of the Royal Academy are starting to cave under the pressure of Anish Kapoor's Shooting into the Corner. Even larger in scale is Svayambh, an installation occupying five galleries that will make you watch a block of wax move through doorways at snail pace for up to 45 minutes depending on how stupid you are and how long it takes you to work out it isn't going to do anything more interesting anytime soon. It smells of wax and looks so gloopy you want to touch it. In fact some idiot has already left finger prints (in spite of the rules).

More true to his usual work are Yellow and Non-objects which have the clean lines and shiny surfaces that Kapoor is well known for. They too are imposing and visually thrilling. For the most part, however, the clever part isn't the geometry or the philosophical grounding of his work. It's the fact that he's made forty fully grown adults stare at the wall waiting for some wax to fly. And then he's made them realise how absurdly idiotic they've been.

The exhibition is running until 11th December. So go see it for goodness sake.

MK

Talkin' 'bout my generation: From Generation X to X Factor!

Sarah*, 22, an undergraduate, still feels burning shame when recalling her dad's 60th birthday party. After knocking back her third Vodka Coke, she was about ready to hail a cab and pass out in it. Her dad and his entourage of aging city bankers, were just getting started.



Young people like Sarah* are not alone in their reluctance to party as hard as the freedom pass wielders lurking in the corner of your average Central London nightclub. According to sociologists, cycles of generational change can adequately explain this distressing phenomenon. Repelled by the behaviour of our parents, the theory goes that we’re disinclined to repeat their mistakes. Thus, Generation Y has embraced stability and conventional values just as vehemently as the babyboomers had rebelled against them. According to popular American authors, Strauss and Howe, we’re also locked in a cycle of ‘crisis’; unlike our parents who had a major war behind them, we feel that the episodic disasters since the 90s are part of a build-up to a catastrophe of even greater proportions.

A survey of 100 University of London students suggest that we are simply more traditional and stable than our parents: 72% claimed to be in a relationship and when pressed on their drug taking, 68% only' fessed up to the odd toke of a 'dubie' at a particularly riotous house party. My own experiences corroborate this; while my American mother loves to remind me how she skipped her high school prom in favour of an anti war demonstration, my most rebellious memories revolve around smuggling contraband Smirnoff Ice past an overzealous PE teacher. Contrary to the media hype of today’s troubled youth, the US News World Report released in May 1999, reported that alcohol consumption among 17- 18 year olds had dropped from 20% since 1980 and drug usage, teen pregnancy and homicide rates had also decreased.

The recent Taylor Swift and Kanye West scandal was both an example of MTV's marketing genius, and proof that the public will side with the innocent girl next door over the bad boy, who even the President deigned to call a 'jackass' on national television. Whereas the babyboomers and Generation X had made rock gods out of the Rolling Stones, Kurt Cobain and the Sex Pistols, our pop stars are so PG that a stint on the Disney channel now seems to be a prerequisite to career success. Even the iPhone has jumped on the 'born-again' bandwagon, with a new application available this month where users can download a purity ring for just 59p.



Advances in science have confounded our piteous attempts at rebellion as quite frankly, we know too much. While our parents could legitimately argue that they didn't know that cigarettes were bad for you, a typical pack of Marlboro Lites could confront you with anything from images of decaying, yellowing organs to warnings of 'low sperm counts'. As a result, we're no longer interested in the romanticism of the 'live fast, die young' message and instead we want to remain healthy and wrinkle free for as long as possible. Generation Y are also more fiscally cautious. As demonstrated by the rather uplifting Times ad campaign featuring a graduating class under a giant banner with the words “unemployment is at an all time high”, it's no longer viable for us to believe that a good education will automatically pave the way for a comfortable, middle-class life. Instead of partying through our student years without a care in the world, we're facing a prospect of insurmountable overdraft in a limited graduate job market. Joy.

The sad fact is that sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll have been replaced by puppy love, Pinot Grigio and sentimental Indie music. On the upside, if there’s any truth to the pendulum theory, we owe it to our future children to make the most out of our youth, lest Generation Z become a population of pill poppers. So the next time you're contemplating a night in to watch the X Factor, just say no.

CF

The Great Debate: Ben Kelly tells us what's good, what's bad and who's an idiot

Here at Vicarious we've got some serious pop culture issues so we got our e-hero, Youtube superstar Ben Kelly, to settle them for us. Tell us what you'd choose and why by clicking COMMENTS below!


1.Gaga or Britney? Gaga all the way - she has more talent in her disco stick than Britney has in her whole body.

2. Paris or Perez Hilton? Perez Hilton - he's the lesser of two evils.

3. iPhone or Blackberry? iPhone - I don't own either, but since I love iPods...

4. London or New York? New York - because if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. Apparently

5. IKEA or Habitat? Habitat - Ikea is mental these days - like the TK Maxx of home furnishings.

6. Girls or boys? Boys.what can I say...I'm biased.

7. Boris or Ken? Boris - because he's a bit of an idiot, but an unashamed one.

8. Staying in or going out? Going out - no one sees you when you're at home.

9. Skinny or baggy? Skinny all the way - I could never be anything else!

10. Girls Aloud or The Saturdays? Girls Aloud - since the Spice Girls weren't an option...

TEN STEPS TO YOUTUBE STARDOM

Ben Kelly is an UCL English student from Northern Ireland, who's Youtube renditions of popular music have secured a viewership of over 200,000. In our continued quest to become somebody, we decided to chat to him about how to obtain Youtube stardom and deal with the consequences. It is tough up there after all, just look up SuBo. Actually don’t, she just can’t cope with all the hits.



1. PISS OFF YOUR FAMILY: I've been singing and performing my whole life, much to the annoyance of my family, but I didn't start playing piano until I was 10, which is a bit late compared to all the whizz kids I went to school with. Then I started writing songs when I was 14, and I've just been putting it all together ever since.
2. ...LISTEN TO YOUR LITTLE SISTER: It was my little sister's idea to start the YouTube thing - it was basically just to share with everyone else the kind of stuff I do in my free time at home, and also to gauge a sense of whether people would like my style or not.
3. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE 'POP FACTOR': My musical influences come from all over the place, in almost every genre, but the biggest ones are Michael Jackson and Madonna for the pop factor, Stevie Wonder and Prince for the r'n'b/soul/funk sound, and for their excellent piano playing. I also love David Bowie for his eclectic style/the whole Ziggy Stardust thing.
4. DABBLE IN EVERYTHING. What!? No, put down the drugs and just listen: The music I write, which I hope to get recording and put out there very soon, is very much a fusion of all my influences - essentially it's piano-based pop, but it dabbles in dance music, jazz, soul, all sorts really.
5. BRAIN WAS TALKING SENSE WHEN HE TOLD PINKY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD: The response on YouTube has been phenomenal - I couldn't have wished for better. In 6 months I've had nearly 200,000 views, and especially over the summer that started rocketing up. People's comments have been fantastic, I have a lot of support all over the world now, which really helps for trying to get myself launched out there. The dream is to write, record and perform all over the world, entertaining as many people as I can - that's not too ambitious now is it?
6. DO A DEAR, A FEMALE DEAR, RAAAAAAAAAY A DROP OF GOLDEN SUUUN: I think I'm more influenced by contemporary music, but musicals are a major influence on me - I've been watching and starring in them my whole life - I'm even doing Into The Woods at the Bloomsbury this December. That has been really key to my style, not just from a theatrical perspective, but throughout history some of the greatest music from various eras have been represented through musicals, from music hall to cabaret, rock and roll to disco - they're bursting with imagination, and everyone loves them.
7. HAVE SOME BALLS: I've been on the stage my whole life - although at the beginning, I was terrified of audiences, and there were a few incidents of little Ben fluffing it in competitions or crying at drama class, but when I got to secondary school I did big parts in shows like Singin' in the Rain and Oklahoma and that worked wonders for my confidence. They can't get me off the stage now. That's where I am right now...
8. …ON THE SECOND DATE: I'm quite confident, but I don't think I'd be ballsy enough to serenade on a first date...maybe on a second!
9. GO FORTH AND CONVERT: My friends are late converts to the Ben Kelly fanbase - they didn't take me seriously for quite some time, but I think they're coming round to the idea now that they see other people actually enjoy listening to me.
10. A DIVA IS A FEMALE VERSION OF A HUSTLER, A DIVO IS A MALE VERSION OF DIVA...ERR, THAT MAKES SENSE RIGHT?: I have never been called a Divo backstage - only at home with my family.

And on that note, we’ve come back full circle to Ben pissing off the folks. Now you too can become a YouTube star…or you could just see Ben instead because he’s probably a better singer than you and we always recommend living vicariously.

EXTRA FACTOR: Become a true Ben Kelly fan by watching him perform on stage. He’ll be playing some Monday nights at the ISHbar on Great Portland Street so drop by. And once you’ve been converted you can follow him to Ireland where he will be supporting folk singer Mickey Coleman. For more details join the 'Ben Kelly Fans' group on Facebook.

MK,BK & CF

Fashion Fairy-tale: Vivienne Westwood launches Red Label collection in style and Coco Rocha kisses a frog.

Countless celebrities were in attendance for the launch of Vivienne Westwood's Red Label collection last week. Boy George, Nicola Roberts and Sarah Harding from Girls Aloud, Bonnie Wright, of Harry Potter fame, artist Tracy Emin, Geri Halliwell, Alexa Chung, Peaches Geldolf and PPQ Designer Amy Molyneaux all turned up to see what the ambassador of British fashion would do next.

As the guests found their seats, the music evoked a sense of wandering through the forest with Snow White; a faux wooden arch stood at the place where the models would appear and begin to strut. The lights were red.

Then the beat dropped.

Hard, pumped emo-punk set the pace for the quick-moving fantastical show. The girls, including pictured models Daisy Lowe, Eliza Cummings, Coco Rocha and Pixie Geldolf, appeared dressed in a vast array of fairy-tale inspired costumes.

Characters as diverse as Little Bo Peep, Dorothy (complete with Toto), a dinner lady, a school girl, pajama-wearing Wendy from Peter Pan, a cowgirl, swashbuckling pirates and romantic damsels who like hanging out in meadows stomped down the catwalk.

Headgear came in many forms: ribbons, straw hats, scarfs, hats with frogs on, etc. The most interesting however, was the gold horned hairband which suggested that the girls had been cuckolded.

These tales come from many lands and eras but found a happy coexistence in this show, just like in the imagination of a child.Besides, a central theme did run throughout the show: that of the modern Alice in Wonderland. Whimsical dresses were paired with plaited pigs tails; a checkerboard pattern adorned almost every look. A sense of the surreal was created. Scarfs were worn at once with straw hats and pajamas as with chic 50s style dresses. A model carried not just a plaid handbag but also a Costcutter carrier bag, as if she’d just come from the shops.

Further, the catwalk became a theatre. Eliza Cummings smoked as she walked; the models posed at the end of the catwalk – Coco Rocha kissed the frog which she carried. A match made in fairytale heaven.

This is a collection created with Sundays and the British countryside in mind. The British fabrics (tartan and plaid) complete this aesthetic. Nonetheless this collection wasn’t meant for lazy Sundays, but for the fantastical, the exciting. These tongue-in-cheek clothes are for those who miss the days when they could dress up. These clothes were designed for the girl inside the woman.

Katie Rose, German fashion magazine intern

Follow the fluffy white rabbit/ yellow-brick road/ticking clock to Vivienne Westwood's Conduit Street show room to see the collection for yourself. What? It is next to Sketch after all.

A Fashion Victim's Guide to London Fashion Weekend

The weekend is when the real action happens and collections from the past season go on sale. When we say sale, we mean SALE.ON/OFF at 180 Somerset House has been running independent catwalks, exhibitions and pop-up shops in conjunction with official LFW all week but it didn’t stop there. London Fashion Weekend has seen ON/OFF put on a designer fashion sale that could bankrupt even the most restrained of shoppers (75% off retail prices people). Check out our finds… Halifax Harold will never forgive you.


STEVE J & YONI P JACKETS, £150







KAVIAR GAUCHE FALL COLLECTION We found some light blue silk shorts with gold details at £99. We didn’t fit into them. We just thought we’d get that out there.



TATTY DEVINE ICONIC NECKLACES'S The glasses seen around every Shoreditch neck at some point or another were priced at just a tenner.



ELIZABETH LAU CARDYS, £75



PETER JENSEN JACQUARD BUSTIER DRESS,£90



The last day takes place tomorrow (27th Sept)and is said to be the best time to go as desperate designers drop the prices even lower than usual in a bid to get rid of their last items. Tickets are also cheaper on the Sunday at £12.50. Advance tickets have now sold out but if you get there bright and early there will be some available on the door. We have nothing more to add on the matter, we are too busy shopping.

Bernard Chandran, the fish hat man.

Bernard Chandran presented an eclectic show which referenced the Orient and his roots in Kuala Lumpur. The collection is all the more personal due to the unique printing techniques which he employed, such as spraying and painting directly onto the fabrics. The artistry and workmanship which went into this collection is plain to see.

His palette of gold, amber and brown, stone, charcoal and silver seem to derive from the natural elements of woody earth, cooling wind, still and intoxicating waters and warming fire. For the most part Chandran draws on earth and wind and then accents the collection with a couple of boldly coloured pieces which represent water or fire.

The fabrics of the ‘earth’ dresses represent the varying degree of softness to hardness which is present in earthy materials: from grass to bark to rock. The structured tailoring and the central print of bamboo cane are strong and modern. The draped, softer silhouette of some of the charcoal and grey dresses, ambiguously symbolic of earth or wind or water, straddle the boundaries between a hardened aesthetic and romantic dressing.

The accessories are more than unusual: bamboo cane print facemasks and sculptural fish hats provide a quirky undertone. Footwear was reminiscent of Geisha shoes in that the shoe soles were wooden and elevated. Other shoes were feathered or patent leather.

Ultimately Chandran mixes structured silhouettes and fluid fabrics to experiment with the limits of the human body. The textures, prints and fabrics used in this collection frame and extend the human form into something at once guarded and free. The accessories a defiant leap into exotic waters.

Katie Rose
Lesson in Cool: You know when you think you've lost your glasses and then you find them on your head. Trend-setters are just like that but instead of finding their glasses, they find Nemo.

Good Palmer Karma: Alice Palmer at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. The beautiful Katie Rose reports...

At Vauxhall Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week, Alice Palmer presented us with a simple but majestic collection. Highlighting the softness of the fabrics Palmer adorned the dresses with chainmail jewellery by Fanni Shciavoni. Such juxtaposition plays a central role in this collection.


Palmer’s inspiration comes from the fantastical and flamboyant hotels of Las Vegas. Structurally the dresses are, on the one hand, as strong and sharply-tailored as the American skyscrapers and casinos. The model’s high-piled hair further mirrored this stature.

On the other hand, in this collection there are also free-flowing loose pieces which look as if they’ve been haphazardly draped and hacked at. Enormous slits and layered materials give a romantic impression, which is just as modern as it is futuristic.

It also seems that the palette draws on and juxtaposes the glaring colours of the Vegas lights and the gloomy charcoal hues of Vegas buildings. Light sumptuous blues stand out from the muted greys. The block colours are simple but elegant.

This collection is more about unique tailoring and opulent colours than pattern or accessories. The minimalistic collection treats us to a highly modern portayal of subtle but sophisticated dressing. As such, the clothes are extremely wearable, precisely because these dresses speak for themselves.

Katie Rose

IN SHORT: The Empire State Building is fit.

Fash.ON: London Fashion Week Report

While plebs anticipate the winter weather, fashionistas are in a time zone of their own. On Friday we switched our clocks to 'fashion time' and looked a season ahead. Here is what's in store(s) for Spring/Summer 2010.

Fin-friendly fashion:
The London Fashion Week exhibition has MAJORLY focused on ethical style. As with everything, fashion types like to get creative with the way they help the environment. Our personal favourite was exhibitor Minimarket. Sisters Sofie, Pernilla and Jenifer Elvestedt first hit the fashion scene by storm when Swedish Elle and H&M crowned them ‘Best Designer of the Year’ in 2007. 2010 will see the Minimarket label grow with the launch of their diffusion brand, Mini. It will also see them , erm, saving the sharks . Their more expensive Mini for Many line, inspired by an aquarium (!?) features a printed tee with the image of a shark. The shark shirt, illustrated by Annelie Carlstrom, was designed especially to raise awareness and funds. Mini for Many aims to continue their good work by helping a new cause each season.

And on the eighth day, God made jeans...
Ethical British jeans company Made in Heaven have always been masters of effortless chic. This Spring/Summer, expect some lightweight boyfriend shirts, slimming stripes and rolled-up jeans...on Jessica Alba, Claudia Schiffer and Liv Tyler.


OUR PICKS:
Missoma Coma? No? Okay...
And so the animal theme continues with jewellers Missoma and their ‘Serpent’ collection. Golden snakes curl around colourful gemstones this Spring/Summer…

Indie Cindy-One to Watch
The ethical designer Ada Zanditon is the creative genius behind Patrick Wolf’s tour wardrobe. Last year the former intern of Alexander McQueen, launched her own luxury ethical label. This year, her strange sculptural creations rocked the Vauxhall Fashion Scout catwalk.

Erickson Beamon
Retrospectively, resurrecting the choker in the '90s was a bad idea on the part of New York ‘Studio 54’ socialites Karen Erickson and Vicki Beamon. Luckily, fashion disasters of the last decade well and truly buried, the brand has created some truly TIMELESS pieces for next season.

ROUND UP:
Be fashionable next year by saving some sharks, loving on animals and avoiding chokers.

Interview: Antony Beevor Fever!

Few historians can say they served as an officer with the 11th Hussars no matter how many long-dead army officials they have vicariously fulfilled their military fantasies through. But Antony Beevor is no ordinary historian. Educated at Sandhurst, he boldly left the army to pursue a career in writing without any academic training. He speaks to us about the release of his latest battlefield bestseller D-Day: The Battle for Normandy.

Beevor recently caused stir in the press by claiming that D-Day, the celebrated turning point of WWI was ‘close to a war crime’ but he does not stop there. He tells us a shocking statistic that he was “shaken to find” during his research. “More French civilians actually died from British and American bombing and shells than British suffered from the Luftwaffe (German airforce) and V-bombs.”

It is controversial comments like these that popular history is associated with and for this reason journalists love Beevor. He reveals that upon the outbreak of the Iraq War his phone was constantly ringing: “Journalists and politicians were desperately looking for grand comparisons to the past from me,” claims Beevor, “Tony Blair desperately wanted to be the next Churchill. Every politician wants to be the next Churchill, particularly Americans, they love him.”

It seems for the public, Beevor’s writing has been equally compelling. Indeed, he has succeeded where many a grandparent has failed, keeping his audience not only conscious but interested when it comes to the Second World War. Sales of D-Day within its first month have confirmed that this preoccupation with the wartime experience is not on the wane but it wasn’t always like this.

The success of his most famous offering, Stalingrad, was far from obvious. In fact it happened to everyone’s astonishment when history books were failing to sell and historians like David Starkey could kiss their Tudor television dreams goodbye. “We are living in a post-military health-and-safety environment," says Beevor, explaining his surprise success, "People have become intrigued by questions like 'What would I have done? Would I have survived?' It's almost like vicarious suffering I suppose!”

See the full in Seven Magazine

MK

Harry Potter hottie: Does Freddie Stroma put you in a coma?

Freddie Stroma, the latest edition to the 'Hogwarts set' is the perfect fit for the part of Cormac McLaggen. An outspoken, self assured and dreamy Gryffindor, McLaggen, is the breakthrough star of the most current Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In the film, Stroma plays the Quidditch rival to adorable ginger, Ron Weasley, and simultaneously poses a threat to the budding romance between the show's protagonists. According to Stroma, McLaggen is “a bit arroganct” but thanks to his public school upbringing at the prestigious Radley College, the actor found it “not too difficult” to channel his inner nob as “the accent and energy were really easy to slip into.”

It came as a bit of a shock to avid fans, myself included, that when quizzed on his Potter knowledge, Stroma decidedly came up short. The actor does not claim to be an expert on the infamous series, having impressively won the casting directors after only read three of the books: “When I heard about the audition I bought the book and researched the character so I’ve only read the first two books as a child and more recently, the sixth.”

When asked whether his fellow actors had exhibited any diva behaviour on set, Stroma thoroughly denied any real life rivalry, describing the cast as “incredibly friendly and supportive”. However, Stroma’s memories of filming are bittersweet and marked with tragedy. Shortly after production ended, Rob Knox, who played a minor part in the film, was stabbed to death in London when he attempted to protect his brother from a knifeman. As a result, Stroma has stayed in touch with many of the cast and crew members who attended the memorial and funeral together: “it was really awful and we were all really good mates with him so we’ve kept quite close. We try to make time for each other. “

The female student body at Stroma’s alma mater, University College London, were well aware of his budding fame and impressive abs for a number of years prior to the film’s release. They can rightfully claim to be his first fans, having set up the popular Facebook group, ‘Freddie Stroma puts me in a coma’, which fortunately refers to the actors' chiselled good looks rather than his acting ability. Stroma seemed humbled and flattered by the amount of attention he has already received but has already experienced some of the more worrying drawbacks of fame: “it’s quite weird, I was expecting something like this because of the fame that comes with being part of the Harry Potter films but I really wasn’t expecting to have facebook fan groups or ‘MySpace’ pages claiming to be me."

With the scripts flowing in and hot wizards looking set to trump unfashionably pale vampires as this summer's most eligable British exports, Stroma has good reason to be optimistic for the future. His studies, however, were clearly important to him and he managed to make time for his Neuroscience degree during gaps in filming.
And ladies, he’s not single, so please don't spend a better portion of the year hanging around UCL's neuroscience building. He's graduated.

Our thoughts: Stalking is for losers but there's nothing wrong with a good old fashioned bit of idol worship. We express our sincere regrets for insinuating that Rob Pattinson's current title as 'hottest cinematic mythological creature' looks set to crumble before his gold...but no, brown...but no, gold eyes.

CF