Human Amusements at Hourly Rates

Push the Limits

2009-05-01T10:00:00.025+01:00

For as long as they've been around, books have enlightened , instructed and given pleasure. Despite this, and freqently because of it, too, they have also offended and outraged in equal measure.

The history of book censorship is long and colourful, from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to Lady Chatterley's Lover and beyond. And if you thought that in this enlightened, more tolerant age censorship was on the decline you'd be wrong. Each year more and more books are challenged and removed from bookshelves on the grounds of what is deemed to be "inappropriate" content. It may surprise you to know that the immensely popular authors J.K Rowling and Judy Blume have both fallen under the hands of censors.

Censorship mainly occurs on a local level, affecting the distribution of titles through local or school libraries only, although a government will occasionally step in to ban a book. Whilst it still remains legal to read these titles, the rulings can make them difficult to find especially in those countries where the government is perceived as being particularly militant or repressive.

Booksellers have also been guilty of removing books from their shelves, caving in to pressure from their customers or from perceived threats from consumer groups. Public outrage can be a powerful tool though sadly seldom wisely exercised.

What follows is an account of ten of the most challenged books throughout the history of literature. Some have ironically grown infamous through the controversy, leading to them being more widely read than ever. Others are lesser known, and some are just plain surprising. Whilst by no means a definitive list nor in any particular order, it does however demonstrate that our basic concerns about what is deemed suitable for a public arena have changed very little over the centuries.

1) Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)

Now considered one of Orwell's most popular and enduring works Animal Farm was completed in 1944 but delayed for publication by British publishing firms for fear of offending their Soviet allies. Utilizing the form of the animal fable, this novelette chronicles the attempts by a group of barnyard animals to revolt against their human masters in an attempt to create a Utopian state.

On a larger scale, commentators widely view Animal Farm as an allegory for the rise and decline of socialism in the Soviet Union and the emergence of the totalitarian regime of Joseph Stalin. Critics regard the story as an insightful and relevant exploration of human nature as well as political systems and social behavior. After its translation into Russian, it was banned by Stalin's government in all Soviet-ruled areas.

2) American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)

Despite the huge amount of press coverage regarding the apparant social, moral and sexual dereliction of Easton Ellis's novel, it only romped in at number 60 in the 2005 American Library Association's 100 most frequently challenged books.

A first person account, told from the perspective of serial killer and Manhattan businessman Patrick Bateman, the novel chronicles the double life of its protagonist in unswerving and intimate detail. Originally intended for publication in 1991 by Simon and Schuster, the publishers later pulled out of the deal because of the novel's content. It was eventually published by Vintage in a heavily edited form. The book has received an R18 content warning in New Zealand prohibiting its sale to persons under the age of eighteen.

In 2000 a film adaptation of the book opened to mainly positive reviews. Ironically the mother of the film's star, Christian Bale, was one of the novel's main detractors. Gloria Steinem spoke out vociferously on the subject of the book's relentlessly mysogynistic themes. Of all the books in this list, this is the one which most of my friends say has been the hardest to complete, many giving up in the face of its relentless violence without the mitigation of either remorse or emotion.

3) The Catcher in The Rye by J D Salinger (1951)

A great example of a book that is both lauded and admonished in equal measure. Originally published for adults, the novel has become a common inclusion in both school and university curricula being translated into almost all of the world's major languages.Around 250,000 copies are sold each year, with total sales of more than sixty-five million.

The novel's anti-hero, Holden Caufield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion and defiance. The first person narrative, which follows the weeks following Caufield's expulsion from his American prep school, is both a story of maturation and degeneration as Caufield's increasingly unreliable narrator slowly deteriorates into a state of mental breakdown.

Taken to the hearts of disaffected youth throughout the world, the book remains one of the most challenged in literature probably due to the perceived negative influence it is said to have over its target audience. In particular, it has been criticised for its expressions of profanity, sexuality and teenage angst.

4) Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987)

Morrison's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, also named Best Book of the last 25 years by The New York Times, is a loose interpretation of the life and legal trial of slave Margaret Garner. The book's epigraph: "sixty million and more" refers to the estimated number of slaves to have died in the trade.

The novel examines both the mental and physical trauma caused by slavery as well as its effect on survivors and follows the story of Sethe and her daughter Denver as they try to rebuild their lives after having escaped from slavery.

In 1998 the book was made into a film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey.

American groups, including Citizens for Literary Standards in Schools, objected to the inclusion of the book onto its cirriulum due to its depictions of "incest, rape, pedophilia, graphic sex, extreme violence, sexual abuse, physical/emotional abuse, infanticide, and an extensive amount of profanity". It may also be that they felt uncomfortable publicy distributing a work which showed the depravity of a period in their history that was still too recent for comfort...

5) Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

Bradbury's speculative novel about a future American society in which hedonism is encouraged at the expense of critical thought and freedom of expression. The central character is employed as a fireman, which in this dystopian world translates as someone whose job it is to burn books.The title comes from the temperature at which paper auto-ignites (although the factual correctness of this has since been disputed).

Written in the early years of the Cold War, the novel is a critique of what Bradbury saw as an increasingly dysfunctional American society and is frequently interpreted as being critical of state-sponsored censorship. In 2007 Bradbury himself stated that the intention of the book was to explore the effects of television and mass media on the reading of literature although in an earlier edition, a coda was added to the book which made multiple comments on censorship and its relation to the novel.

A more obvious interpretation seems to be that a government which tries to suppress freedom of expression should be opposed. In the early 1950's, when this book was written, the advocacy of opposition was seen as a bad thing by real world authoritarian groups (e.g. McCarthyism) that claimed to have all the answers.

Initial complaints about the book cited the use of the words "hell" and "damn" which were perceived to have a corrupting effect on its readership. There were also complaints arising from the fact that one of the books burned in the novel is the Christian Bible.

Like the opposition to "1984", the opposition to "Fahrenheit 451" seems to grow as the depicted society grows too similar to our own. One of these uncomfortable parallels is today's increased use of entertainment in place of learning and culture. Ray Bradbury has stated that this dumbing down was one of the concerns he was trying to raise.

In 1966 Francois Truffaut made a film adaptation of the book which has since gone on to critical acclaim.

6) A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck (1972)

This young adult novel is a semi-autobiographical work which revolves around a boy's growing relationship with his father, a butcher who slaughters hogs, and his pet pig named Pinky. Based in the fictional town of Learning, Vermont, Robert Newton Peck involves his own childhood in this story to reveal the problems the young protagonist faces growing into manhood.

This book is often listed on the American Library Association's 100 most frequently challenged books. Objections are based mainly on its appropriateness for its target audience specifically citing the incidences of drug taking, profanity and sexual relations in addition to scenes touching on murder and the exhumation of an infant's grave. Other objections were that the depiction of life and death on a farm were just too realistic for a young adult audience. Most of these objections have since been overruled by the relevant authorities on the grounds that none of these scenes are gratuitous and are indeed intrinsic to the nature of the story.

According to the BFI database, the rights to the book were bought by Morgan Freeman's production company with the intention of making a film adaption with both Freeman and William Hurt starring. It seems, however, that this has become a shelved project.

7) A Light in the Attic, written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein (1981)

A children's anthology of poems published by Harper Collins in 1981. Despite winning a number of national book awards, the book has been criticised for its overly morbid themes and encouragement of childhood disobediance. Specific cited examples include "How Not To Have To Dry The Dishes" which is criticised for encouraging messiness and rebellion against authority and "Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony" which describes the death of a girl after her parents refuse to buy her a pony. Other objections have centred on mentions of the supernatural.

Supporters of Silverstein's work have insisted that there is much humour in the anthology and have praised his realistic approach which encourages the admirable, indeed vital idea that life is not always perfect.

8) Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)

An extraordinary post modern anti-war novel which deals with the memories of a soldier during World War 2 and his experiences with time travel.

The novel has been the subject of many censorship attempts based on its purported frequent expressions of profanity and acts of sex. In addition, it was apparantely the first work of fiction to explore the idea that homosexuals were among the victims of the Nazi holocaust.

In the American Library Association's list of the 100 most challenged books between 1990-2000, Slaughterhouse Five turns in, rather appropriately, at number 69.

9) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2004)

The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who betrays his best friend Hassan, the son of his father's servant, and lives in regret. Set against a backdrop of tumultuous events the novel chronicles the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan through the Soviet Invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the US and the rise of the Taliban regime.

The story, which includes the rape of a boy, provoked challenges in the US over what objectors saw as sexual content and offensive language. Some objections led to the removal of the book from library shelves, while others saw it replaced with bowdlerised versions minus the offending scenes.

Despite the objections the novel remains a critically acclaimed and masterful work.

10) And Tango makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (2005)

All Images plus title image via Google Images

Topping the American Library Association's top 100 list of challenged books for the third year running, And Tango Makes Three is a children's book which tells the story of two male penguins who raise an orphaned chick.

The book, based on a newspaper article which described a zookeeper's experience of watching two penguins trying to hatch a stone, has been criticised for being pro-gay, anti-religion and anti-family. It appears that some parents are unprepared to let their children have access to anything which challenges the notion of stereotypical parenting methods, despite the alternatives being a recognised and largely accepted concept in the modern world.

As a writer there are many responsibilities we face in honouring our contract with our readers. But If the above examples prove anything it is that we can never expect to please everyone all of the time. Rather, we should write from the heart; with integrity and passion for our material so that no matter how we are judged we will at least have pleased ourselves.

Make Do and Mend

2009-04-30T21:22:00.010+01:00

Upcycle, recycle, rebirth...today's post would have made our wartime ancestors proud! I've always been a huge fan of renovation projects whether it's one piece of furniture or a whole house. And in the current economic and ecological climate what better way to go than to make something "good as new"?

One of my favourite interiors sites, Design*Sponge, has been running a very popular thread entitled Before and After, in which readers have the opportunity to send in their own makeover projects. Ranging from the modest to the magnificent, from the successful to the "I kind of preferred it before", all share a creativity and resourcefulness that can do little else but inspire. Below are my picks of the bunch.

Sacrilege or sense? This rather battered Eames chair, rescued from a skip, is shown some love courtesy of tile grout and porcelain tiles. I personally think this would look amazing on our roof terrace...

Patchwork is huge news in interiors, thanks to the likes of kooky company Squint. Below, a 50's dinette type chair is given some multicoloured harmony...

Whilst the owner of this sideboard keeps the 50's love going with a homage to Kandya's painted panel midcentury furniture.

Two variations on a similar theme below; one solution takes colour firmly by the horns, the other plays it safe but serene in pure white.

I have actually, (like in REAL LIFE and not in my imaginary world) sat on the staircase below. They happen to belong to a friend of mine and yes, they really do look that good.

The owner of this rather tasteful ottoman obviously decided that under all that extraneous flesh there were some rather good bones. A brave rebranding.

Whilst this one makes me rather glad that I didn't recently shell out a fortune for a Time Life chair..what a difference some fabulous Scandi fabric can make..and I happen to have four yards of this very one kicking around in my cupboard...

As you can see from the image below, some of the projects were a little more large scale than others. This particularly beautiful house reno is in Alaska.

...And some projects are just decidedly controversial. The picture below shows identical chairs, one in its original state, the other refurbished by the owner. It's always a tough call when you're playing around with a classic and for me, the original fabric (as seen on the right of the image) wins hands down, although as a mismatched pair they still look fab.

Finally, an inspiring and design conscious reality check to toy manufacturers. Rockers good; revolting plush furry things that take up visible house room bad...Just because we became parents didn't make us lose the taste gene completely.

Look and learn...

All Images via Design*Sponge

Title Image via Google Images

Write Now

2009-04-29T08:21:00.017+01:00

If you always wanted to write a novel but never quite found the time (aka motivation), you could do a lot worse than join the annual national novel writing competition at NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month - founded ten years ago by Chris Baty, is described as a seat of the pants approach to novel writing.

Here's the rather Faustian deal: you agree to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your writing chair for one month and turn out 50,000 words of prose towards a first draft novel. in return you get to eat junk food and be excused from the tasks mere mortals have to contend with each day such as hoovering, tidying and taking out the rubbish (ok, so I wouldn't actually condone the last one).

There are no real winners or losers here; you either finish or you don't and it's perhaps testimony to the real hard graft of the thing when you consider that there is a huge drop out rate each year. In the bigger scheme of novel writing one month doesn't seem that big a deal but as soon as you start out you realise that this is much more of a marathon than a sprint. 50,000 words in one month equates to more than 1000 words a day (okay, so I'm also a maths genius) and for me, that's a tall order. On my very best days I can just about manage 1500, but the thing to remember is that this is a cumulative thing; rather like counting calories, it's the number you arrive at at the end as opposed to the daily totals that count.

Whilst 50,000 words (basically a novella) is probably not going to gain you much truck in the publishing world (unless you're Ian McEwan) it's a great start to a longer work and a fantastic kick up the bum to getting your novel actually written.

Although it's described as a contest there are no real prizes (what did you expect: a medal?) If you do get to your 50,000 word total by the deadline of 30 November each year, however, you get a rather splendid certificate of achievement and a virtual badge of honour plus the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing you actually did it. And if you're serious about being a writer this is the only sort of reward you should be realistically aiming for at the beginning, anyway!

Word totals are verified by automated bots following submission after which time you also get the opportunity to upload your work to the site for feedback and comment from other readers, although I would say be realistic about how good the quality is going to be after a month and don't unknowingly put yourself out there for a public flogging too soon.

To date there are over 71,000 winners of NaNoWriMo, testament to its huge success. Last year alone 1,643,343,993 words were written by its participants. It also receives funding from quite a few relevant American sponsors including Writers Digest and Create Space who, along with the other supporters, offer considerable discounts off their products for NaNoWriMo participants.

Sign up anytime you want. The start date for this and every year's competition is November 1 and the deadline is midnight November 30.

No Plot No Problem, the companion book to the competition, written by its founder, is also available to buy, and whilst it probably won't teach you much about the actual craft of writing is a fun motivational aid to the process and a good read.

In addition the NaNoWriMo site is full of great stuff to keep you informed, including a members' forum area plus articles and interviews on writing, including how to take your novel to the next stage.

So get your pencils sharpened, your cupboard stocked with Pot Noodle, and get ready to write...

via NaNoWriMo
Title Image via Google Images

Five Things I'm Loving Right Now

2009-04-28T08:44:00.011+01:00

I've decided that along with Shop of the Week, this is going to be a regular blog spot. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly because the things I am loving right now are notoriously transient and won't justify a whole individual post, and secondly because I know the majority of blog readers are lazy buggers and have the attention span of goldfish. This means that they can't get to the end of my long and beautifully crafted posts without losing the will to live. This I conclude from the lack of comments. Thanks.

So, here for your delectation and delight are five pithyly crafted lovlies:

1) Dog Noses:

Mother Nature has all the best designs and in creating these she really did do herself proud. Part fly eye, part Henry Moore sculpure, dog noses are one of the most beautiful things in the world to me. And if you think I'm just weird, be assured that this is a fetish mainstream enough to warrant its own photo stream on Flickr. And they smell good, too...

Above image and title image via Your Dog Nose
on Flickr

2) Whigby:

I would have been more than happy to nominate Whigby for my Shop of the Week slot but they only ship to the US and Canada (Boo) so they have been relegated to the still rather hallowed slot of Things I am Loving Right Now.

The brainchild of Todd Temporale and Frank Viva, two lovely Canadian chaps, I first came across Whigby when my house appreared on Design Sponge's Sneak Peeks. Frank's beyond gorgeous house was another featured domicile and so a lifelong association was formed. Well, not really, but Frank was wonderful enough to make an exception to Whigby's shipping policy and send me one of their fantastic George Orwell screenprints.

Specialising in print and pattern, Whigby also promise to hand deliver all orders totalling one million dollars or more. You can't say fairer than that.

via Whigby

3) Blog Widgets:

Someone came to visit me from Canberra, Australia last night....not literally of course, but thanks to my rather wonderful widget I can now see where all my blog visitors are coming from. It's all abit Big Brother, I suppose, but it's nice to know that the interboogle continues to make the world a smaller and more friendlier place. Other visitors have hailed from Canada, Italy, Finland and of course, good old Blighty. If I haven't scared you all away please continue to come and keep me company and leave a message inbetween watching your telly programmes. If you can be bothered.

via Google Images

4) Family Guy

The TV show. This is just how we are. Enough said.

via Google Images

5) The Upper Room

I''ve got this Brighton based band's one and only album, Other People's Problems on repeat at the moment. It takes me back to my uni days of jangly guitar based bands and smoky nightclubs. Not as self-referential as some of the shoegazers from that day, The Upper Room manage to write feel-good tunes about feel-bad situations. Sadly, they split in 2006 but thankfully their music lives on...

via Amazon

The Upper Room TV on MUZU.

Raiders of the Lost Art

2009-04-27T19:43:00.009+01:00

Most people have films that inspire them, that they revisit for the rest of their lives and which occupy a special place in their heart. Not many, however, decide to remake them...

But in 1982 this is exactly what three schoolboys did, and the result, a 100 minute shot- for- shot homage to Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark, called Raiders of the Lost Ark: an Adaptation, will receive its London premiere tomorrow night in Leicester Square.

Chris Strompolos, Jayson Lamb and Eric Zala, three friends who first met on the long bus journey to school in Mississippi, were just eleven when Spielberg's film came out but there was no doubt about the effect that it would have on them. "Coming down" from the Star Trek phenomenon, Indiana Jones, the rough and ready adventurer was exotic and yet somehow accessible, a true hero for teenage boys everywhere.

Indeed, it was probably their youthful exeuberance and, some would say, naivite, that enabled them to overcome the small hurdles of absolutely no budget and no filmmaking exerience to persevere with a project which would end up taking seven long years to complete.

Substituting money for imagination and sometimes pure chuztpah most of the scenes in the film were shot in and around Mississippi, enlisting the help of most of the local youth as stand-ins and extras for the crowd scenes. For example, the Cairo street scene was filmed in the Gulfport business district where the trio were almost arrested after a local businessman assumed they were making a porn movie. Interior scenes were shot at the boys' homes, usually without parental consent. These included a faithful replica of the Well of Souls aswell as the burning bar scene (hilariously, in one of the out-takes, a pre-teen is seen studying the instructions on one of the fire extinguishers as flames spread through the basement of Eric's house...).

Given the financial and technological constraints of the film don't expect it to look all that slick; shot on a Betamax camera, the visuals are shaky and grainy and the audio track sometimes inaudible but despite this, and maybe because of it, the love for the source material always comes through.

The seven year process and $5000 total budget almost ended the boys' friendship for good, but in 1989 on its completion it received an enthusiastic reception at a small hometown premiere before being consigned to the vaults.

Fast forward to 2003, and through a six degrees of separation type happenstance, the film made its way into the hands of producer and director Eli Roth who then made two of the most influential decisions he could have: first he gave a copy to Harry Knowles (of Ain't it Cool fame) and second, he gave a copy to Stephen Spielberg himself. Bearing in mind the complete and flagrant disregard for copyright that the film demonstrates (including its illicit recording at the cinema in the first place), it would not have been surprising if Spielberg's response would have been to slap a law suite on the trio. Instead, he wrote them all letters describing the film as the nicest compliment he and George Lucas had ever received and invited the trio to meet him.

In an ironic twist of fate with a particularly American flavour, the producer Scott Rudin bought the life rights of all three filmmakers in 2004 with a view to making a film of their lives. The screenwriter Daniel Clowes is now on board and Paramount in place with funding.

Thanks to the growth of concepts like You Tube, we now tend to have a rather cynical view of the whole premise of DIY filmmaking and it might therefore be tempting to downplay the enormity of what these three guys have created. It is only when we place it in context, that of two and a half decades ago, that the true wonder of their achievement shines through. It's just a shame we don't all start that young; as Zala himself has been quoted as saying: "(Kids') motivations are the purest, and they aren't unduly swayed by commercial considerations or a Teamsters strike or even the mortgage. It's about the love of the story."

Shot-For-Shot
The Making of an Adaptation:

All Images including title image via TheRaider.net

Shop Of The Week

2009-04-27T09:45:00.015+01:00

How I miss the old London Routemasters...fond memories of travelling to school in the Elephant and Castle each day with a walkman the size of a house brick and the smell of eau de Silk Cut wafting around on the top deck...

Nothing beats the sense of excitement of trying to jump on at the lights, hanging on for dear life to the handrail and watching the grumpy conductors shoving prams in the cubby hole under the stairs.

I also remember the bad times, like when my sister slipped off the platform at Kennington and ended up dislocating her leg, showing her knickers to the whole of South London. Sadly, like my youth, they are gone; big red dinosaurs consigned to museums and the occasional private trip to the seaside.

It is with great pleasure, therefore, that this week's Shop of The Week promises to deliver that shot of nostalgia in spades. London Transport Original Signs is the place to get your fix of transport yesteryear. Run by the fantabulous Haydn, LTOS is a vertitable treasure trove of signs and memorabilia from both the bus system and London Underground.

It's been a lifelong passion for Haydn, starting with his first acquisition of a handful of old enamel signs, rescued from a derelict factory not long after the war. But transport was always going to be in his blood; both his parents were conductors and many of Haydn's earliest memories revolve around the sights and smells of those times.

These days Haydn's mind bogglingly huge collection is sold through prestigious lifestyle boutiques but do yourself a favour and get them straight from the source. Not only will you get a large dose of charm and personal service, you also get the opportunity to have them framed (by the wonderful Steve) and delivered at a fraction of the other shops' prices. I am lucky enough to have several of these beauties framed and displayed in our house, including an old Northern Line diagram and a Not In Service sign which I have chosen to hang over the bed as a postmodern form of contraception...

Aswell as orginal bus blinds and signs, the site has a wealth of great London Underground pieces which make wonderful gifts. Not only are they a remarkable and unique piece of our social history, they can also serve to remind you of a particular time in your life. Whether it's the station where you first met your partner, or where you got off for the football, you are sure to find it here.

Like Haydn himself, the actual site is abit of an oddity (and I mean that in the nicest of ways!). There's none of the slick graphics that you might be used to, infact it's abit like a rummage sale where you have to trawl for its infinite treasures. For me, though, this is part of its charm and with enthsiastic feedback from all four corners of the globe you can be assured that you won't be disappointed.

And don't forget that these are original pieces, and won't be manufactured again. Love them for their smells and their stains, for the sense of the stories they tell, because once they are gone, they are gone....

All images via London Transport Original Signs
Title Image via Google Images

A wonderful picture of Haydn's mum in all her finery, June 1943.

Pinch Me

2009-04-26T08:54:00.020+01:00

In the lexicon of modern furniture design, Pinch is ccertainly a brand to conjure with. Founded in early 2004 by husband and wife team Russell and Oona Pinch, the collection debuted at the 100% Design show with 10 original pieces that went on to win the coveted Blueprint 100% Design Best Newcomer Award.

Since then Pinch has gone on to win a swathe of prestigious accolades, including the Homes and Gardens Design Classic Award for Furniture, and the Guild Mark for Excellence in Modern Furniture Design.

Championed by Elle Decoration and with collections for Heals and Son the brand has gone from strength to strength and now counts lighting and architectural designs amongst its oeuvre.

Born in 1973, Russell Pinch graduated from Ravensbourne College of Design, London. After graduating he worked as Sir Terence Conran’s design assistant and in 1995 he became a Senior Product Designer for the Conran Group. Here he was responsible for developing a diverse range of products for the Conran shops and restaurants and many of the designs for the Conran Collection, Conran’s benchmark homeware collection.

Look a little closer, however, and you will see more than a passing resemblance between Pinch's twenty first century designs and classics from the mid-century period.

Take Pinch's Pendal Sofa, a star amongst its current collection with its sensual, curves:

via Pinch Design

Look familiar? For me, it's a homage to Finn Juhl's classic Chieftain sofa from 1949:

via Google Images

Other looky-likies include the Yves Writing Desk (as seen in the title image, above), perhaps influenced by a whole raft of midcentury desk designs such as this Danish teak example by Lovig:

via ebay

or, indeed, George Nelson's swag leg desk:

via Google Images

...The Harper Dining Table:
via Pinch Design

...and Hans Wegner's teak side table:

via OurShowHome

The Vigo triple shelving Unit: via Pinch Design

...and Kandya's kitchen series: via Google Images

and finally the Maiden Stool:
via Pinch Design

...and the Ubiquitous Time Life Stool by Charles and Ray Eames:

via Google Images

So what is all of this saying? There's absolutely no denying the quality of materials and craftsmanship that goes into the Pinch design process; I, for one, would be happy to give any of the above pieces house room. But perhaps the point is not that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but rather that, much like there are no new stories to tell, perhaps there are no new furniture boundaries to explore.....

MidCentury Goes Mobile

2009-04-25T20:11:00.008+01:00

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside.....and even more so when it's seen from the vantage point of an Eames chair or two...

Yes! The Midcentury Show is having its annual sojourn away from London on 10th May 2009 and has chosen as its location the beautiful De La Warr pavilion in Bexhill on Sea. The pavilion, designed by Eric Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff in 1935, is now a Grade One listed icon of the Modernist movement, and one of the most significant spaces in the emerging network of new arts buildings in the South East of England. Along with its free gallery spaces (and shop), showcasing both established and nascent British designers, the building houses a café/bar offering fresh, local produce and magnificent sea views.

The Midcentury show is one of four annual events organised in association with brilliant interiors website Our Show Home. The brain child of friends Lucy Ryder Richardson and Petra Curtis, Our Show Home, until recently, did exactly what it said on the tin, operating as a beautiful family home in South London where everything just happened to be for sale. Garnering praise from the likes of Saatchi and Saatchi and Elle Decoration (who also sponsored their last show), the opportunity to visit the house in person has now sadly had to be withdrawn due to the overwheming success of their shows which now keep them busy all year round.

The Midcentury Show, along with Kids Modern and the bi-annual MidCentury Modern (both in London), were developed in order to invite the cream of midcentury modern dealers together under one roof to give the public a chance to view and buy from a range of stunning European and American designers such as Charles and Ray Eames, Aalto, Wegner, and Robin Day amongst others. In addition, the London shows give buyers the opportunity to sample the wares of some of the most exciting contemporary designers around. Recent participants have included funky tableware designers People WIll Always Need Plates and bespoke wallpaper designer Tracy Kendall.

In order to showcase more dealers who specialise in smaller collectibles such as glassware and ceramics, The MidCentury Show deals specifically with midcentury pieces and with over 45 confirmed dealers in place for May, (and still counting) you will be spoilt for choice. Many of my favourite dealers past and present have already booked up, including The Modern Warehouse, metroretro, 20th Century Interiors, 20th Century Marks, Take-Me-Home, Skylon, Winters Moon, Fragile Design, Pink-Flamingos, Haji & White, Plywood2Plastic, Homespun Vintage Design and Retro Sixty. Prices range from a pocket money friendly £5 to a credit crunch busting £5000...

See you there!

Image courtesy of ModernShows

Above Images and Title Image via OurShowHome

The Midcentury Show

Sunday 10th May 2009
De La Warr Pavilion, Seafront, Bexhill on Sea
11am–4pm
Entrance £5
Children under 14 free

Make Your Mark

2009-04-24T20:50:00.023+01:00

via Google Images

Graffiti: Italian, plural of graffito [scribbling; graffito, a scratch]:usually relating to unauthorized writing or drawing on a public surface.
(From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Whether you believe it to be an anti-social nuisance or a legitimate form of art and/or protest, Graffiti has been a part of society since the first scratchings on cave walls. Prehistoric cave paintings and pictographs featuring animals, humans and symbols of daily life have assisted historians in compiling their impressions of how our earliest ancestors lived. Nor was it a phenomenon limited to geographical region. Graffiti has been found in the catacombs of Rome, the Mayan temple walls of Tikal and on the earliest Scandinavian church walls. The first known example of "modern style" graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (now a part of modern-day Turkey) and according to the tour guides of the city, appears to advertise prostitution. Consisting of a handprint, a vaguely heart-like shape, a footprint and a number, the marks purportedly indicates how many steps one would have to take to find a lover, with the handprint indicating payment.

It is from these earliest forms of public inscription that the word Graffiti originated: Its associations with vandalism or counter-authority have been a relatively recent change in its meaning, possibly starting with the notorious "Kilroy Was Here!", and Mr Chad, a face with only the eyes and nose hanging over a wall, saying "What No…?" during the time of rationing. "Kilroy was Here!" gained common useage during World War 2 and was thenceforth adopted by American military personnel to signal their presence around the world. The phrase is rumoured to have been found in places as far afield as Polynesia and the surface of the moon....!

"Kilroy was Here!" Graffiti on the WWII memorial

in Washington DC via Wikipedia.com

The concept of graffiti as an art form emerged in the 70's and 80's with the growth of an American underground subculture for whom the New York subway system proved the perfect canvas on which to affect their skills. It is possible that this entire movement can be traced back to a young American man working as a foot messenger in the late 60s - early 70s who would trace his steps through the city by "tagging" various landmarks with his name: Taki 183. Taki was Greek by birth and his "tag" was short for Demetaki. The number 183 came from his address on 183rd Street in Washington Heights. In 1971 the New York Times ran an article on Taki 183 and thereafter spawned a wave of copycat taggers eager to express a sense of their own disaffected identity.

Taki 183
via Google Images.

With the popularity of tagging not in question the emphasis shifted from quantity to quality with many artists developing their own stylised forms of writing in order to differentiate themselves from the masses. The subway system remained the canvas of choice but now it was not uncommon for whole trains to be covered in graffiti, ranging from large visually three dimensional tags to whole figurative art pieces that garnered the attention of modern galleries. In the 1980's the NYC metro authorities spearheaded a campaign to remove graffiti from the city's subway system, effectively labelling it as an unwanted and anti-social persuit. In addition Former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani 's subscription to the broken window theory promoted an aggressive anti-graffiti campaign in New York as a whole. By this time, however, interest in the movement had already spread to Europe, Asia and Australasia all of which spawned their own wave of artists.

Since its heyday in the suburbs of New York graffiti artists have always had an intimate connection with the music scene, principally in the areas of hip-hop where it was viewed as visual expression of the form much as break-dancing became a physical expression. In the UK, the use of graffiti became associated with the punk band Crass who used the form to engineer a campaign of anti-war, feminist, anarchist and anti-consumerist messages along the London Underground system.

via Google Images.

Graffiti has had a long standing relationship as a tool of political and social protest. In America around the late 1960s, graffiti was used as a form of expression by political activists, and also by gangs such as the Savage Skulls, La Familia, and Savage Nomads to mark territory. Many purist defenders of graffiti as an art form seek to distance themselves from those individuals who merely use tagging as a form of boundary marking. Graffiti art (its practioners claim) aims at self-expression and creativity and there is a constant desire to improve and progress their art form. Gang graffiti, on the other hand, functions to mark territorial boundaries, and therefore does not transcend a gang's neighborhood or presuppose artistic intent. Outsiders to the form who may have to live amongst examples of both these endeavours may or may not agree with this differentiation.

One offshoot of the graffiti form is known as "propaganda graffiti" which, due to its illegality, is often chosen by advocates of groups outside of the political mainstream (for example, far left or far right groups) who would otherwise (according to its proponents) have no other way of getting their point across to a wider audience. Examples of propaganda graffiti can be seen in areas where fascist political interests still exist as well as representing both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Probably the most widely recognised expression of graffiti (at least to a certain generation) is also its most recent, that of street art. Using a variety of media such as stickers, stencils and posters, street artists put up installations in urban spaces. All work is usually illegal but has various aims. Some wish to create a brand with their name or image, others have a more focussed political aim. Many just want the public to see their art. The street art movement operates worldwide. Here in East London the most famous proponent of the movement is probably Banksy, much of whose work can be seen along Brick Lane and the surrounding areas. The great irony of street art, and perhaps of graffiti as a whole is that what is at once regarded as anti-social and conducive to criminality is at the same time revered and preserved for posterity. To whit, Bristol council recently took consultative measures to see whether a mural created by Banksy on the side of a domestic dwelling should be protected from redecoration. Self expression, it seems, is alive and well.

Borf - via Inspirationblog.nl

via filipspagnoli.wordpress.com

TV Heads (Artist Uknown)

via Switchpod.com

Banksy Image, Bristol
via Apostropher.com

Banksy: Let them eat Crack, NYC

Via Behindtheapprovalmatrix.com

With thanks to the following resources:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/

http://www.arthistoryclub.com/

http://free-graffiti-creator.blogspot.com/

http://wikipedia.com

Shop Of The Week

2009-04-21T08:14:00.026+01:00

Each week I’m going to be recommending some of the books, films, music and shops that inspire me. I think it’s a great way to introduce them to a wider audience and I hope you will take a punt on some of my recommendations and enjoy them as much as I do.

First up this week is wonderful online emporium H is For Home. Run by the lovely Adelle and Justin, HIFH is a one stop shopping experience if you’re trying to kit out your retro home or are simply looking for that one special piece to showcase your collection.

From the playful, nostalgic layout of their site, to the beautifully chosen merchandise, it is clear that the owners of this site love what they do. Favourites for me include their extensive range of ceramics, mainly from the 50’s – 70’s, which are showcased against a small choice of contemporary products such as Heather Moore’s (AKA SKinnyLaminx) fabulous tea towels and linens.

Adelle and Justin are also prodigious bloggers; their collection of objects, musings and the occasional recipe (!) can be found here: http://hisforhome.wordpress.com/ In addition they run group pools on the photo sharing site Flickr, including Lovers Of Cathrine Holm Design, and I Got This At H is For Home.

The collection on the site is divided into categories such as Duvet Days, What’s Cooking and Lounging Around, each with their own brand of retro gorgeousness. A recent addition to the site has also been the ability to buy gift vouchers for those hard to please friends/relations and a bookshop run via Amazon.

One word of warning…be prepared to stay long and spend hard…and keep checking back as the site is updated regularly. Enjoy…

All images, (with the exception of no. 2 above), via H is For Home

Title Image via H is For Home

Once Upon A Time

2009-04-20T20:59:00.026+01:00

If we looked at the history of literature, I think a lot of the great books would be kids' books and I doubt this is just a coincidence. Now, more than anytime else, they've got a huge job to perform, engaging the toughest of audiences, and ensuring they maintain an interest in reading that serves them right into old age.

Comparatively speaking, however, children's books are a late growth in literature. Right up to the Georgian era in England there were few that were widely available, and certainly not to the masses. And God forbid they should aim to be readable! With few exceptions they were used purely as teaching aids, and usually with a strong moral overtone. By the mid-eighteenth century, however, specific children's books began to emerge, giving way over the course of the century for a growth of a dedicated market. The work of illustrators came to the fore, the pioneer of which was George Cruikshank, probably best known for his illustrations of the first English edition of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales (1824).

Whilst the earliest illustrations were wood cut, by the 1860's or so, printing processes had moved into the mainstream, opening up new opportunities and a brighter, more colourful future. However, methods such as chromolithography, although radical and used in their day, soon became viewed as garish and limiting, giving rise to more technological advances in the area of photographic print processes.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Woodcut by Albrecht Dürer
via Wikipedia

The Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe - Chromolithographic Print
via Wikipedia

Offset printing, an offshoot of the lithographic process fully emerged by the 1920's and really opened up the arena. With its ability to reproduce very fine lines, a wide range of paper stock could now be used and original artwork did not have to be reversed prior to reproduction. Another advantage of the method was that it allowed variations in the placement of text and illustration, integrating the two more organically and improving the aesthetics of the printed page.

The 1920's, 30's and 40's are often viewed as the golden age of illustration, seeing as they did, the emergence of such seminal books as Jean de Brunhoff's Barbar the Little Elephant (1931), Dr Seuss's And To Think I saw it on Mulberry Street (1937) and in the early 40's and 50's E.B White's Stuart Little (1945) and Charlotte's Web (1952).

All images above via Vintage Children's Book Pool on Flickr.com

By the 1960's, technology had advanced yet again and a host of seldom used techniques began to be used in book illustration. The improvement in colour printing techniques meant that drawing was freed from the constraints of purely realistic representations, giving rise to fantastic imagistic fancies. Perhaps the most noted of these was Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are (1963) which depicts a surreal, almost nightmarish world and Eric Carle's tissue paper collage illustrations for The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1967) and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967)

All images above (including title image) via Vintage Children's Book Pool on Flickr.com

By the end of the 20th century, and now going into the next, illustration is at its most limitless. There is an incredible wave of new talent emerging, with an unparalleled variety and richness of voice. Nevertheless there remains for me a nostalgic fondness for the books I recall from my own youth, a sense of a time that was less knowing, less demanding, less cynical, maybe. A time when reading was one of only few pleasures...

When Art and Film Collide

2009-04-18T08:19:00.017+01:00

As someone who reads scripts all day it's hard for me to relax at the cinema. Like a personal relationship where the goalposts keep changing, I can't stop asking difficult questions. But whilst many times this can spoil the experience, where Steve McQueen's Hunger is concerned I think it's a vital requirement.

Set in Ireland's Maze Prison, the film documents with brutal intensity the 1981 hunger strike for which provisional IRA member Bobby Sands (played with extraordinary power by Michael Fassbinder) became its most potent symbol.

Like McQueen, I was around when it happened, remember (albeit with a child's eyes) the TV images that were transmitted with a ghoulish, inevitable frequency, counting down the days till Sands's death. Along with the terrorist violence that preceded it there are very few events in my social history that had the same resonance or horror. I can understand the effect that it had, can understand why McQueen should revisit it. But I can also understand why the issue of a filmaker's responsibility has rarely been more important.

Steve McQueen is primarily an artist; this distinction seems important to him, even though film has always been part of his oeuvre. His filmic homages to Buster Keaton, amongst others, saw him beat Tracey Emin's unmade bed to the Turner prize in 1999. In Hunger his background in video art is obvious; in the long shots of prison corridors aflood with urine, in the considered contemplation of the faeces smeared walls. It could potentially be tricky territory, could potentially be nothing more than self-conscious naval gazing and there are one or two images in the film that almost cross this precarious line. The single feather that drifts down the screen, the lingering shots of a fly on the window, both snapped me out of the moment and into a sense that I was watching an art piece, a dangerous position to take in a film of such otherwise serious intent.

However, when asked to state his moral opinion on the nature of the scenes that he filmed, McQueen is notoriously tight-lipped. In an interview with Channel 4 he said, "I don't know. That's why I made this film. It's not a situation that's right or wrong. It's not a situation with an easy answer. It's very painful. With me, I identified very much with the prison officers, just as much as with the hunger strikers". Yet in another interview he claims "I'm not concerned with balance" which to me is an example of McQueen being deliberately, evasively coy. The moment you choose where the camera points, indeed the moment you choose a film's subject, you are making an editorial judgement that you should be prepared to defend. McQueen seems, in that rather frustrating way that some artists have, to want to "let the piece speak for itself".

So, what does it actually say? Taken in its entirety it's a film that is extraordinarily spare in its use of the actual spoken word, it's the images that do most of the talking. And yet, central to the piece is an extraordinary seventeen and a half minute two-shot, in which Sands converses with a priest (played by Liam Cunningham) about his intention to proceed with the hunger strike. The scene is scripted by Enda Walsh, and this decision, I think, is a master stroke. McQueen has said he originally wanted Beckett to write the scene (if he hadn't already been dead, that is) but in employing an actual writer McQueen has demonstrated a thought process that he otherwise seems loathe to admit to. And a playwright at that. Noone but a playwright could have achieved the intensity that the scene now has, the intimacy that is the theatre's stock in trade, the sense that we are the fourth wall through which the drama is played.

Throughout the entirety of this scene we never enter the perspective of either man, and I think this is key to its meaning and a symbol of the film's apparant objectivity in general. What we are asked to contemplate is that these are two men who want the same thing but want to achieve it in different ways. That the central conceit of the film is to document what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object. And perhaps that is what the film is ultimately trying to say, a message that is as universal today as it was back in the eighties. That war is ultimately about individuals, about the human body becoming the last tool of protest. If there are no easy answers in McQueen's film, is he nevertheless to be praised for at least trying to ask us the questions?

Images from Hunger, via Channel 4
Title Image from MovieCentre.net

Lost for Words

2009-04-17T10:19:00.017+01:00

Will Self claims to never suffer from it, Henry Roth took sixty years to overcome his, whilst John Fowles's particular manifestation saw him living out the last twenty years of his life as a virtual recluse in Lyme Regis. Whether it be real or imagined, Writer's Block does seem to be a common experience. Even the great Philip Larkin was sometime forced to declare "I haven't given up poetry; poetry has given me up". (Larkin later recovered his muse by writing schoolgirl lesbian fiction..)

The reasons and causes behind it seem as varied as the people who suffer it. Fatigue, inappropriate planning or that ceaseless persuit of perfection that has you in the grip of its claw and sees whole days and weeks pass you by as you search for le mot juste. Right now I am sitting with a 400 page novel in front of me with only the faintest of notions how on earth it actually got here. Remember that scene in The Shining where Shelley Duvall comes across Jack Nicolson's manuscript (500 pages of the same bloody sentence)? That's kind of how I remember the process. I tend not to remember the days when the words flowed; I'm too fixated on the ones where they didn't. The days that gave meaning to dead ends, and black holes and I wonder what's on the telly. On one of the grimmest of days I even bought myself this but aside from being quite good to bite on it didn't do much for my problem.

So what is a writer to do when they just don't feel like themselves? Aside from Agatha Christie's advice, which was to eat apples in a bathtub, I hear, I would probably say just work through it. Go for a walk and then WRITE. There are only two rules to this method:

1) Don't show anyone, at least in the beginning.

2) Give yourself permission to write absolute shit (hence rule number one, above).

Somewhere in the maze of that crap, amongst the shopping lists and the painfully self-conscious thoughts that would make even a teenager cringe, you will hit upon what it was you were looking for. You will find a literary exit that will take you where you needed to go. It works. It's like the story of the kid in the stable: "with so much shit, there must be a pony".

Two other things that I routinely do which may or may not be of help are:

1) Quitting whilst I'm ahead. In practical terms this means finishing work for the evening whilst I've still got something to say. Sometimes I leave a page in mid-sentence, sometimes at the end of a chapter, but I always know what's coming after. That way, when I start the next day I can at least apply my hands to the keyboard and know that something is coming. It's a morale boost for your brain, if you like.

2) Listening to music or looking at images. Sometimes music says it better than words, sometimes pictures say it better than words. Let another medium take up your slack, be inspired by using more of your senses. This one is especially good if you're stuck right at the beginning, trying to harvest actual ideas. And because I'm nice like that, here are some I thought of already. Write on...

All images courtesy of Fffound
Title image: Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893)

Shaggy Muses

2009-04-16T23:00:00.012+01:00

This is my dog. There are many like him, but this one is mine...darn, wrong post (see A Room Of One's Own, below).

Is it just a coincidence that there is a long and well documented association between writers and their dogs? True, they hardly know the difference between a subjunctive or imperative mood or how not to split infinitives and yet there is still something deeply satisfying about a cold wet nose on your copy in those inhumanly early hours of the morning when the rest of the world is asleep.
I don't personally subscribe to the "unconditional love", theory, though. Dogs are one of the most conditional species on the planet, mainly due to our insistance on anthropomorphosizing them almost out of existence via jumpsuits and sunglasses and a tolerance of behaviours we wouldn't stand for in our (actually) human companions. (I did, however, for a brief period of mourning after the death of our last dog, make my 3 year old son wear a T-Shirt with the words "Dog Substitute" on them. Sorry.)

Dogs have also inspired their fair share of literary efforts: Boatswain, the favorite pet of Lord Byron, was the subject of the poet's famous "Epitaph to a dog" whilst Gerald Durrall's dogs Roger, Widdle and Puke (which one do you fancy, then?) feature heavily in his books about growing up in Corfu. In addition, the few paragraphs on Darwin's theory about dogs and intention that feature in Ian McEwan's Enduring Love are some of the most memorable (for me) in the entire novel.

The rather frightening ability of dogs to get under one's skin is also demonstrated rather poignently by the story of Narnia creator C. S Lewis, whose dog Jacksie was killed in an accident when Lewis was still a child. Shortly thereafter Lewis decided to change his own name to Jacksie (Jack) by which he was known to friends and family for the rest of his life.

Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edith Wharton, and Emily Bronte by Maureen Adams, documents the fascinating relationships between five celebrated authors and their dogs. Through death and depression to a persuasive essay on the shared social situation of dogs and women in Victorian Britain this is an interesting and thoughtful alternative history of writers and their four legged companions.

See you in the park...

via flickr

A Room of One's Own

2009-04-16T12:26:00.014+01:00

This is my desk. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my desk is useless. Without my desk, I am useless. I must write at my desk. I must write better than the competition who are trying to take all the good jobs. I must write before they write. I will. My desk and I know that what counts in war is not the books we write, the size of our books, or the fancy typeface. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit. My desk is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its drawers. I will keep my desk clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. Before God I swear this creed. My desk and I are the defenders of my livlihood. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is ours and there is no enemy.

- Adapted from the U.S. Marine Corps Rifleman’s Creed.

A room of one's own, a space of one's own, or simply head space has always been one of the prerequisites of being a writer and is possibly the biggest financial outlay you have when you're just starting out (tax returns come later...). So this is my one. Or rather, a corner of our bedroom that also doubles up as my office.
Note its compact size...space to write doesn't have to be big. J.K Rowling started her career in cafes and on her kitchen table, and I have friends who write on their beds, lap trays and even in their cars when refuge from the chaos of everyday life is not forthcoming elsewhere.
What's important is that you do it. Everyday. Not when the muse strikes you (it never does; there's always something good on the telly), and not when you "find the time" (have you actually worked out how much extraneous crap you do everyday?)
A good desk will be your friend for life. It will give you a focus (avoid under a window where you can while away whole hours looking at trees in bloom or the squirrels eating their nuts) and a place to store the accoutrements of your trade that you don't want decimated by food, kids or well-meaning partners when they need something to doodle on. Later on, when you start to get into the writing habit and, god forbid, start making some money, you can upgrade to a nicer desk which to me, is always an incentive. And invest in a good chair, too; that way you'll actually want to sit there for any length of time. I''m currently saving up for an Eames Time Life, but enough of my obsessions...
Below are some other peoples' desks. There are many like them, but these are theirs....

All images via flickr

Almost Famous

2009-04-15T13:02:00.011+01:00

So the book has been out a fair while now and I'm still having to work for a living...who knew? But I am happy to say that I am steadily working my way up the ladder of the popular press literari. First stop was The Sun, then it was The Daily Express and finally, two weeks ago, I actually made it to the dizzy heights of a mention in The Guardian - Woohoo!!

Thanks to the great Helen McCusker at my publisher Harriman House I've also managed to do one TV campaign (for the Baby Channel),various stints at LBC radio, Mother and Baby and I'm Pregnant Magazines (don't get jealous, now...) as well as having several internet recommendations on parenting websites and blogs.I have also been within spitting distance of Fiona Phillips on GMTV!!! (Well, she talked to me over an earpiece). So now that I'm almost famous I wanted to share with you the perils and pitfalls of becoming an (almost) household name. Like going to Tesco first thing in the morning with a fractious three year old without any make-up. And having complete strangers examine the contents of your shopping basket, (which, incase you're remotely interested, contained not only sanitary protection but my mother's monthly consignment of denture tablets). It's not a big deal. I can take it. What did surprise me, however, was that even in the remote outback of being slightly recogniseable (and we are talking off the map remote here), people still regard you as public property to a lesser or greater degree and will take the opportunity to tell you to your face (or very loudly behind your back) just what they think of you and what you have done.

It even happens amongst friends...witness my recent presence at a dinner in which the subject of book clubs came up. One of the guests was slightly embarrassed to reveal that she had recommended to her group a book of shall we say, slightly dubious literary quality (her words, not mine) and immediately apologised to me for it being "probably not highbrow enough" to which another guest thought it appropriate to laugh uproariously and declare "you're talking to the woman who wrote the ebay book".

It's certainly no recommendation for being a writer.

Courtesy of Robert Logan

Filming at the Baby Channel (One camera and no hospitality...)

Five Easy Pieces

2009-04-15T12:15:00.014+01:00

It probably comes as no surprise that one of my other great passions in life is mid-century modern design which, without doubt, has much in common with great writing. Both epitomise the principles of passion, structure, forethought and longevity as well as the ability to make grown people weep. Long before Orla Kiely and Ikea took over the high street, these designers were making their unique and indelible mark on history.

Here, then, are five classic pieces, many of which I am privileged enough to own and love.

Courtesy of Architonic

Eames Rocker designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Zenith Plastics, Herman Miller, 1950

Courtesy of Classic Textiles

Lucienne Day "Larch" Fabric for Heals, 1961

Courtesy of V&A Museum

Isokon Penguin Donkey Bookcase, Designed by Egon Riss and Jack Pritchard, 1939, Manufactured by Isokon Furniture, London

Courtesy of Design Sponge

Stig Lindberg tableware for Berså, 1960 - 1974

Courtesy of Architonic

Robert Heritage Sideboard for A.G Evans, 1954.

Scriptwriter Goes Cyber

2009-04-15T08:22:00.007+01:00

Why are good British scriptwriting resources so scarce? I've been a subscriber to Scriptwriter magazine since its inception; read it, loved it and stashed it under the bed for future reference but the print version has now been withdrawn in favour of an online resource.
Rebranded as TwelvePoint.com you can now get your fix of news, views, interviews and fantastically informative articles 24/7. Now before you get too excited I should say that the site, like the magazine which preceded it, is a subscription service, BUT non-members can still access a wealth of what's on offer absolutely free...
Current subscription rates are #29 per annum and for this you get exclusive access to:

TwelvePoint Buzz - a regular roundup of UK film and television industry news, together with opportunities for screenwriters.
Contracts - advice on negotiating, including template option and deal memos.
Ask the Expert - industry professionals answer your questions.
Beginners' Guides - 'How to write a screenplay' and 'How to write a novel and have it published'.
Calendar of events compiled by Robin Kelly.
Links to dozens of useful screenwriting resources.
The Forum - a discussion zone where you can network and trade knowledge, tips and banter.
Scripts wanted - a new lead every week from InkTip.
Weekly email newsletter - pointing out new information on the website and what's happening in the world of scriptwriting.

There's also the opportunity to upload your own writing projects for feedback from other members, start your own blog and loads more. For the cost equivalent of three or four paperbacks I reckon this is more than worth the price of admission.

Oh, and Twelve Point also has some very influential readers...

The Script, The Script, The Script...

2009-04-14T22:44:00.015+01:00

So said Billy Wilder when asked what the three most important elements of any film were. I can't disagree, although as a writer, I'm probably biased. However, it never fails to amaze me how many would be authors, screen or otherwise, don't actually read. It's a pretty important requirement when you think about it, and not just the good stuff, either. Infact it's often the worst writing that's given me the best education.

As a jumping off point, I wanted to mention some of the screenplays that a) inspired me to become a writer in the first place and b)remind me why it's worth the pretty appalling lifestyle trade-off in terms of pay, conditions and general lack of friends and social life.

Not surprisingly, most of these scripts became some of my all time favourite films. With their emphasis on character as plot and strong subtext they have informed and mirrored my writing preferences. I recommend that you head on over to the excellent Drew's Script-O-Rama RIGHT NOW and download some of these beauties. Most are available in final shooting script format but where earlier drafts of the script also exist I recommend that you study these, too, to see the evolution from draft to draft and to form your own opinions about whether the right editorial changes were made from earlier versions. Oh, and did I mention that Drew's also has a wealth of TV scripts too? Read them at your leisure, but DO read them.

The following list is in no order of preference...

Memento – Screenplay by Christopher Nolan, based on the short story "Memento Mori" by Jonathan Nolan

Harold and Maude - Written by Colin Higgins

Adaptation - Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman, based on the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean

Raging Bull - Screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, based on the book by Jake La Motta with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage

Thelma and Louise - Written by Callie Khouri

12 Angry Men –Reginald Rose

Dog Day Afternoon - Screenplay by Frank Pierson, based on a magazine article by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore

Annie Hall –Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman

All the President’s Men - Screenplay by William Goldman, based on the book by Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey

Taxi Driver - Written by Paul Schrader

American Beauty - Written by Alan Ball

The Usual Suspects - Written by Christopher McQuarrie

The Sweet Smell of Success - Screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, from a novelette by Ernest Lehman

The Third Man - Screenplay by Graham Greene, story by Graham Greene, based on the short story by Graham Greene

Fargo - Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Magnolia – Paul Thomas Anderson

The Odd Couple – Neil Simon

The Wizard of Oz - Screenplay by Noel Langley and Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, adaptation by Noel Langley, based on the novel by L. Frank Baum

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, story by Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth

To Kill A Mockingbird - Screenplay by Horton Foote, based on the novel by Harper Lee

The Apartment - Written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond

The Graduate - Screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, based on the novel by Charles Webb

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Written by William Goldman

Film Poster Images via FilmPosters.com