Definitely the coolest toilet wall's I have seen for a while
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Cafe Prov - Herne Hill
Had dinner at a lovely little place in Herne Hill last night - Cafe Prov. A laidback and informal joint that serves delicious food in a nice relaxing atmosphere. We had a lovely two courses for £12 deal: a Moroccan lamb burger served with homemade chips followed by more cheesecake than you can shake a stick at. It definitely had the coolest decor I have seen in a while too, with old LPs and music memorabilia adorning the walls. If you like you music soulful and your food hearty and affordable then this place is definitely worth a visit. Beside the extremely friendly staff, the best thing of all was that there was no rush to leave. I'll definitely be going back.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Marina and The Diamonds live at Shepherd's Bush Empire
I'll be honest - up until last night I'd only really heard the singles from Marina's first album and as much as I loved "I am not a Robot" I definitely wouldn't have claimed to be her biggest fan. However, yesterday at her NME gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire, I was pleasantly surprised by the voice and song writing talents of the girl from Wales who is due to release her second album in the coming months.
Skipping on to the stage in a lovely white dress and killer heels, Marina opened the show to Radioactive - just her and a piano. Her adoring fans went wild. Bringing on the rest of her band, Marina stormed through a set of songs both old and new, debuting new tracks Homewrecker and the new single Primadonna. Despite showcasing a lot of her new material, fans were not disappointed and when she sang crowd favourites Oh My and I am not a Robot, the audience dutifully sang along and screamed lovingly at her. Her stage presence was strong and her repertoire pretty solid. She can clearly sing and although not all the material was stand out I think there is a lot to get excited about when she releases her new album Electra Heart.
I left the gig a little bit in love with Marina and her powerful pipes. I also left in admiration that she had danced around the stage in her massive shoes without so much as a wince. What a woman.
Rumble in the Jumble for International Women's Day
Last night the humble jumble sale got a celebrity make over as a host of famous faces brought along their unwanted belongings to St Pancras Old Church for the much anticipated "Rumble in the jumble", all in aid of Oxfam and International Women's Day. Organised by the unstoppable journalist and TV presenter Dawn Porter and her mate and Radio 1 Extra DJ Gemma Cairney.
The queue was snaking out of the gate as I arrived at 6pm. An excited buzz about what awaited everyone inside the church meant this was the most patient queue I'd ever stood in. The deal was simple - £2 entry, bring a bag of jumble that they could sell and then peruse the celebrity stalls in search of a bargain and a bargain it certainly was. With jumble donated by the likes of Kate Nash, Jimmy Carr, Fearne Cotton and Sara Cox plus Caroline Flack popped in with her old X-Factor garments, it was an extremely surreal experience. My friend picked up one of Lauren Laverne's old topshop dresses at a bargain price. I was later informed on Twitter by Lauren that this particular dress is a "lucky frock". At one point Cherry Healey held aloft Gabby Logan's old trousers exclaiming "Gabby Logan's trousers, her bottom has been in these". Dawn Porter's fiancé and Bridesmaid's star Chris O'Dowd took to jumble selling like a pro, at one point clutching someone's tiny dog and offering it for a fiver...
The atmosphere in the sale was wonderful. Celebs and bargain hunters mingling and chatting excitedly, belongings flying off the tables and generosity emanating around the building. There was barely any bartering from what I observed, people were more than happy to part with their cash.
The whole event was coordinated on twitter, proving the power of social media. Dawn Porter and Gemma Cairney have spent the last couple of weeks tirelessly badgering people to donate and attend and it paid off. I hope they are both feeling pretty pleased with themselves right now. Rumours on twitter are that up to £7k was raised. A phenomenal amount for 3 hours selling. The main purpose of the event was to promote the Oxfam get together for International Woman's Day. The idea is that you get together with your friends, do something fun and raise vital funds for Oxfam. Just £46 enables Oxfam to train a midwife and save a mother and child. We can all easily raise £46!
I hope that those who attended will feel inspired to hold their own event and I hope those who didn't are experiencing a bit of FOMO (that's fear of missing out and a likely feeling right now if you weren't in St Pancras last night) and hold their own event too.
Dawn, Gemma and the long list of celebrities and Oxfam employees did a wonderful thing yesterday - they made jumble sales cool again and they raised a lot of money for charity.
The queue was snaking out of the gate as I arrived at 6pm. An excited buzz about what awaited everyone inside the church meant this was the most patient queue I'd ever stood in. The deal was simple - £2 entry, bring a bag of jumble that they could sell and then peruse the celebrity stalls in search of a bargain and a bargain it certainly was. With jumble donated by the likes of Kate Nash, Jimmy Carr, Fearne Cotton and Sara Cox plus Caroline Flack popped in with her old X-Factor garments, it was an extremely surreal experience. My friend picked up one of Lauren Laverne's old topshop dresses at a bargain price. I was later informed on Twitter by Lauren that this particular dress is a "lucky frock". At one point Cherry Healey held aloft Gabby Logan's old trousers exclaiming "Gabby Logan's trousers, her bottom has been in these". Dawn Porter's fiancé and Bridesmaid's star Chris O'Dowd took to jumble selling like a pro, at one point clutching someone's tiny dog and offering it for a fiver...
The atmosphere in the sale was wonderful. Celebs and bargain hunters mingling and chatting excitedly, belongings flying off the tables and generosity emanating around the building. There was barely any bartering from what I observed, people were more than happy to part with their cash.
The whole event was coordinated on twitter, proving the power of social media. Dawn Porter and Gemma Cairney have spent the last couple of weeks tirelessly badgering people to donate and attend and it paid off. I hope they are both feeling pretty pleased with themselves right now. Rumours on twitter are that up to £7k was raised. A phenomenal amount for 3 hours selling. The main purpose of the event was to promote the Oxfam get together for International Woman's Day. The idea is that you get together with your friends, do something fun and raise vital funds for Oxfam. Just £46 enables Oxfam to train a midwife and save a mother and child. We can all easily raise £46!
I hope that those who attended will feel inspired to hold their own event and I hope those who didn't are experiencing a bit of FOMO (that's fear of missing out and a likely feeling right now if you weren't in St Pancras last night) and hold their own event too.
Dawn, Gemma and the long list of celebrities and Oxfam employees did a wonderful thing yesterday - they made jumble sales cool again and they raised a lot of money for charity.
The crowds at Rumble in the Jumble
Caroline Flack
Get involved: Oxfam Get Together
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