BAWDY HUMOUR OF ERIC IDLE AND THE RIPPLING MUSCLES OF A STALLION

The days fly by here in sunshine. Glossy sunshine. Yesterday I went to watch my  friend  elite rider Justin Resnik  in a competition in Los Angeles.  There is something so masterful about men who worship and are stallions. They have something special.  It is not about the competition but more about the wild beast that man has tamed. 

MY BOOK ENDS GEORGE BLODWELL AMANDA ELIASCH AND JUSTIN RESNIK

I watched the horses jump, noses flared, muscles hard, clearly enjoying themselves as they were ridden in competition.  I was asked to ride round the Hollywood sign, and did not want to say no.


I then went to see Eric Idle's panto called What about Dick in Downtown Los Angeles. Dick and a piano, the play on words.  Nothing intellectual, all jolly good sport, and thoroughly British. I stuck to the script, I did not rush, I did not fall down, I did not panic. I rose to my well heeled feet and walked calmly to the exit, I hailed a taxi and left my date in the company of his counterfeit dollars. It was half Frankie Howard and half pantomime. With Tracey Ullman screeching, the stunning Sophie Winkleman, Russell Brand and Billy Connolly etc etc you cannot go wrong, or can you?. Totally not politically correct, thank goodness Eric says it all.  I read Eric's piece on Shakespeare in the New Yorker and loved it too. How could anyone dislike the Life of Brian or Monty Python?.  His work and collaborations have made me laugh for thirty years. If you enjoy bawdy British humour with a twist go and see it.

Elena Secota "Finding Poetry" Live @ Beyond Baroque - Ellyn Maybe's Poet...

STREET ART, DOWN TOWN LOS ANGELES

Exciting work was happening in Downtown Los Angeles, under the Brit Week canopy and the generosity of property developer, Tom Gilmore.  Four brilliant street artists from the US and UK opened at the Continental Gallery on Spring Street Gallery and Farmers Merchant Bank.

INKIE's ART

From LA, artist Man One and Mear one, and from the UK, Inkie and Eine painted on re-cycled furniture by Christopher Guy. Their work came  alive on tables and Jaguar bonnets. In England and Los Angeles they are known for their street art.  It was well constructed,  with soul, and intelligence,   clearly perfectionists.   We all know that in order to be brilliant at things we have to work hard to create masterpieces. 
Street art is being used to bring a different awareness of the creativity and innovation between the US and UK. 
It is clear you have to give yourself completely or you will be an amateur on the sideline.  Often young people pretend they love doing things then lie in bed all day watching the computer. In this age when commitment, direction and good teaching is needed, it is difficult to be polished and everything you could be. I sat outside with an American artist who would not tell me his name but he painted me with hearts. He told me he had no name. He proved this point.  It was good to be on the street, where artists were bleeding for their art. They are part of society and not just playing.
    

EINE 

STREET ARTIST INKIE WITH GEORGE BLODWELL

BRUCE REYNALDS, AMANDA ELIASCH, TOM GILMORE, GEORGE BLODWELL

When orchestra's rehearse everyday they do so round the clock, no matter how big their part is, they perform as one.   They have obviously looked at their contracts and been pointed out the legalities of coffee breaks, and realise there are none for people who wish to be brilliant.  Look over your shoulder and you will see someone who is more willing to steel your place. 

AMANDA ELIASCH WITH BIGMAN CUPCAKES

AN ARTIST MAKING A TRAIN ON THE STREET

There was another street artist making a wooden train, and another painting the street. So much was happening and all ended with my favourite thing of all, Mr Big Man's Cupcakes.

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM BRIT WEEK

JESSY JACKSON AND GEORGE BLODWELL

GEORGE BLODWELL WITH ARTIST INKIE

THE DOWNTOWN CUPCAKE KING MR BIGMAN

SUMMER WATSON, GEORGE BLODWELL, AMANDA ELIASCH

BRUCE REYNOLDS, ROBERTO, TRASH COUTURE, TOM GILMORE, GEORGE BLODWELL

AMANDA ELIASCH, DAVEY JOHNSTONE LEAD GUITARIST FOR ELTON JOHN,

Inkie graffiti art at Do' Lii Coffee in Bristol

The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery.

TEN GOOD THINGS FOR TODAY

1. Be Positive, negativity is stronger so be careful not to use too often.
2. Take risks, don't fear failure
3. Believe in God or a higher being because this helps when things get tough.
4. Believe in law of attraction which is what you do, is what you are and what you think.
5. Listen to your favourite music because this goes to your soul and in turn is mood changing.
6. Do a good deed for somebody else everyday makes your life richer. Sharing without calculating is an incredible thing.
7. Read poetry and other peoples writing, it explains a lot.
8. Put some flowers in your bedroom.
9. Be a good friend don't repeat what you hear it can be very inaccurate.
10. Try out a new recipe a day from a cook book you like.

THE POWERS THAT BE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BE ILLITERATE?

What is the world coming to when children are no longer taught how to write, and the alphabet is redundant?  To be an articulate human being seems to belong to the past. If you do not form letters and words with a pen, how can you form them with the mouth?.  What about the enjoyment of Shakespeare and Wordsworth, or holding a proper conversation?  
There has never been so much communication as there is now, but abbreviated textual intercourse is not the way forward. If children cannot practise their hand, their characters will be illegible and their characters starved. They will have feelings that they cannot put into words and their spelling is atrocious.  
If they spell 'wait' as 'W8',  how will they look up it meaning? (On a computer, I expect.)  It is a sad and ridiculous state of affairs. Who decided this? Is it to make the masses ignorant and uninterested? Can you imagine them writing a will? 
And while we're at it, what was the point of decimalisation in Britain? To run the world with tens was ridiculous, when there are 12 months to the year, and when pounds and ounces made more perfect fractions? I think they did it to hide the devaluation of monies.  But who decided this?
As things are now, 'the powers that be' have decided that the best thing is to keep people thick, and give them a diet of sugar and salt, and call it a "Happy Meal". Feed our children with poison as we are doing, don't teach them very much and keep everybody in the dark.  
Who are the 'they' who have decided to abolish handwriting? If all the electricity went off, nobody would know how to write a letter, let alone post and send it. Imagine Emily Bronte writing a masterpiece to have it lost on a computer.  Soon we will live with a whole lot of deaf and dumb mutes. 
But this dumbing-down is rife everywhere. Ask "What shall we have dinner?" and you pull something out a packet and bung it in the microwave, without even looking at the ingredients.  
The answer is to question everything, including what was on the packet. (Incidentally, it will be poison because it has been made to last two years on the shelf.)  
So eat real, write and exercise and you have a chance to survive.  And realise that our whole world is upside down. 
Children do not know how to make clothes, clean shoes or tie laces. They only know about trainers, footballers and pop stars. Do children know how to tie a bow?  Do they know how to sweep a floor? Do they know to deadhead a flower so that it grows more? Do they know why it grows more? 
I want to eat real cakes and not those from Unilever, and I want to see an apple go off. You can tell that it is healthy when it is a natural green or red. The it is okay to eat!
I do not think that our Prime Minister David Cameron would agree to this when he has had such a fine education himself, and certainly Her Majesty The Queen would be horrified. What does England stand for anymore?

L'ecole des femmes 2013

KISS MY HAND GEORGE

The start of Brit Week began with a bang in Los Angeles on a little past St Georges day. A huge party with croquet, a woman on stilts, a Queen of Hearts, cocktails in apples, a photo booth donated by Boots, it was non stop fun. I was asked by George Blodwell, Editor at Large for Genlux Magazine so I wore this seasons most desirable belt by Alexander Mcqueen  over a lace blouse underneath a dress by L'Ecole des Femmes. My favourite latest school girl label who makes sexy cute clothes. The event was   sponsored by Boots and Jaguar and we were brilliantly entertained. When I got home I opened my party bag to find a huge amount of creams from No7 which I spread lavishly over my body. Feeling good I fell asleep.  

The Belles of St. Trinians - Original theme tune - Malcolm Arnold

BOYS NEED THEIR WINGS

When I was little I wanted a world with no barriers. I was forever being nagged to death to behave well and not do things . Thank goodness I had my private dreams which nobody had a clue about.  I therefore did not stop my sons from developing theirs.  I have nurtured them.   It is tricky because both want difficult professions and lives.  I remember watching my eldest son jump off rocks at the Hotel du Cap.  They were high,  very dangerous and my son could not swim.  My heart used to work overtime. My son was happy. His face was alive. He was fearless but if he had an accident I would of course been devastated.  He was so very happy.  I had just read The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran who says that "Your children are not your children, they are the sons and daughters of lifes longing for itself.  To have screamed at my son would have therefore undone his. He was learning. He would have learnt what fear was and not gone for his dreams. Of course it was dangerous. We as adults stop our children doing so much. "Be careful, don't do that, be careful... etc" We think protection is important but we just need to give a safety net and their father Johan Eliasch is brave and bold.  I want the boys to follow in his footsteps.. some men are males but not men.

The Hours Soundtrack - 11 Tearing Herself Away

The Mind and Times of Virginia Woolf (Part 1 of 3)

Bach-Lizt - Yvonne Lefébure - Prélude et fugue en la mineur BWV 543

The Queens Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

ROGER VIVIER PARTY

BUN BUN SINGING

BUN BUN IS READY FOR HIS CLOSEUP

The English love talking about the weather. It makes me laugh, it has poured with rain every day since I arrived in London. I now have to leave. One more day of stormy clouds and I shall slit my wrists. I realise that I am only happy in sunshine.  I go for a walk everyday with my trainer Justine Glenton, who is also my muse and solace.  We walk round Battersea Park, taking different walks each time.  The park is magnificent, so many different areas finding new places to walk and keep me amused. Yesterday I willingly skipped round laughing and joking. If I don't go out I simply wish to fade away in bed and there is too much to do, so my mood has to remain buoyant.
I have started making little films about Bun Bun, my friends love them. Bun Bun has adventures, he is my cuddly toy given to me by Tim Willis, The Editor of High50 who bought it from the White Company.  A dirty old white rabbit, with a weird way of seeing the world. It was Tim's idea, he said that Bun Bun had character and should be filmed. Indeed he does. He is a cult figure for sure.
I am turning my back on the rain and returning to Hollywood with Bun Bun under my wings for comfort. He is ready for his close up.

SEX LIES AND SELOTAPE

I am very sorry that men add me as a notch on their belt, when I have not seen the belt. Some of you may find this flattering, I am not so sure. I have shared many moments with lovely men, but not in the way you think.
I have one man who wants to give me everything, if only he could kick start it.

Another one likes to talk about it and not do it.  One I refused because he wanted to do it, but not talk about it. One wanted to speak to me while making love, unfortunately it meant there had to be a telephone handy. I have known men who wished they had,  and men that have wished they had not.
I was even offered a night once because a man thought I needed a favour. So far I have not found a man willing able and attractive all at the same time,  The men that I have refused, accuse me of being unfaithful the most. Some men have loved me too much and some not at all. I suggested to one man that he should be more spontaneous he started to spank me.
I am told I am having a wonderful time, it seems others speculate more than I do behind closed doors
Problem with these men is they think they are so shiny, but no man can be a shiny as I am. You see I am up with the larks polishing with my chammy leather.

I used to be able to 

feel you

feel where you were

feel where you are

now I no longer

care

but yet I do

the feelings are cut off 

I care and  I care not

of course

if you were in a room

I would remember

your body

making love to mine

I remember and I care

and care not

Gone is the pain

I am dead to the world

of men

dead to world 

no one can hurt me now

I can feel you

still

yet you hurt me

no longer

BUN BUN LOVES YOU.mov

Yundi Li Liszt

WHAT DOES ENGLAND STAND FOR?

Is this still England? In Australia, America, New Zealand and Ireland, people speak standard English. Their mother tongue is English. Why is it in certain parts of England, English is a third language, mostly misunderstood?  I think that anybody wanting to be a useful part of the United Kingdom should at least be able to pass what used to be the 11+. They can after all read the Pizza Delivery form and they can use a remote control.
 I love living in a cosmopolitan country, and it would be nice if I could be understood. I cannot believe that I, who pronounce the ends of my words, have people looking half the time as if I am speaking a language from Mars.  No wonder we are nostalgic for a bygone era and enjoy programmes like Downton Abbey and the Titanic.  People did their work with pride and job satisfaction then. They contributed. They got on with it. It was work or starve, and people did it with pride.
People came out of working in service to work independently, to be their own mistress and master, and to better themselves. Sadly all we have now is a lazy lot of people who are on anti depressants, doled out by GP's to keep a population subdued, among other things. People are placated and medicated. 
Job seekers allowance should be for people who seek gainful employment, a stop gap so they can keep their dignity.
A disability allowance should be for people who have genetic diseases, brain damage, and registered disabled users, they cannot help it. This should not be ever cut. These are unfortunate people who need our help.
When people come to this country of course we must help them but it should not go on for decades, and they must be helped to integrate in England and be able to communicate easily.
Unfortunately a lot of people misuse our very generous system.
The National Health and welfare is to guarantee that no people starve, no people die from not getting necessary medicine. The National Health even subsidise expensive medicine.
Housing was sent up for those that were unable to get mortgages to make community housing. Government Housing was set up with the good intentions to give everybody a chance to live a clean and healthier life.
People have misused the whole system. This was not what it was set up for. The system was set up to help people. 
It is abused. There are old people that are not well looked after. There are people coming back disabled from fighting for our country unable to be housed because of shortages and they have to rely on hospitals and their family.
There is no free lunch and right for human entertainment.  Things have to change, there are too many people living in too  much concrete, in this tiny country, using all our few available resources.
So many people in this country  do not want to provide for themselves, and make a better existence, they want it handed out on a plate. They want to be a victim to get the benefits. What about the people who really need our help?  They are missing it?

HOUSEHOLD JOKE

How many maids does it take to change a light bulb?

I don't know they have never done it.

ISABEL SUCKLING singing in the Titanic Requiem by RJ Gibb and Robin Gibb

THE OLIVIER AWARDS

I am still doing my bit to try and live normally and so de scaled the kettle. No matter how many maids you have they still forget to change a light bulb when it breaks, and they don't seem to know how to clean silver these days or remove limescale.  I think ordinary is becoming more and more attractive. 

Of course I was also only too happy to watch the Olivier Awards, the highest award in British Theatre, like the Tony.   It was emotional to see my lovely friend Sir Tim Rice win 'A life time of achievement award'. He thanked everybody in his usual charming and charismatic way. I am so pleased I got to see the start of Evita in New York, if you are there and you have not seen it, it is a very good night out evan better Jesus Christ Superstar, I am now a convert. 
It was  terrific night of music and drama, Matilda scooping up the bulk of awards. With especially brilliant performances from Elaine Paige, at the end singing the song she did so well from Evita. 

HALF AN EVENING WITH CATE BLANCHETT AT THE BARBICAN

I thought I would try doing domestic bliss this morning.  I had an excellent scrub and foot massage by Katherine my visiting beautician,  followed by a visit to the car wash.  In the car wash there was a tall blonde girl reading while her car was being washed. I spoke to my friend in the car and said I was going to speak to her.  She said she was going to the theatre at the Barbican.  (The girl looked like an old hooker, with bad plastic surgery and too blonde straw like extensions. Sort of pretty in 1985).  The play is called Big and Small. I asked who was in it, and the stranger said Cate Blanchett.  On the strength of that  I bought a couple of tickets in the hope I would be bowled away, as I was last week after seeing the Master and Margarite.  The play was written by a German playwright called Botho Strauss thirty years ago, and now well directed by Benedict Andrews.  The piece is a reflection on society that nobody bothered to listen to.  Little communication, nobody caring, Cate working hard to keep everybody in the audience interested. I laughed, the audience laughed, trying to support her. The words were not there. She did her best, spraying her underarms and pussy with scent. The audience laughed again. We worked hard. The set looked good, the actors worked hard. If only the man next door to me had not said it was about Alice in Wonderland. A tent moved across the stage, a woman injected herself, a man tried to fuck her, her husband moved in with another woman, and Cate lived above, in a building where an old couple thought she was somebody else. She was chucked out.  The problem is I did not care. I liked the acting, I really liked Cate in a non kiss arse way, I really liked a  lot about the play, but to be honest: what was the point? We know the story. We know nobody gives a damn.  I suggest you buy a ticket and share it between two people, take a good book  and have dinner in shifts. I love the Barbican Centre and I love Cate.

LONDON WOMEN ARE READY FOR THEIR COFFINS, personally I am getting ready for my close up in Cannes...

The difference between London and Los Angeles is that the women here give up the beauty fight. After seeing my very wrinkly English friends for a week, I realise they want to get old. I am of course the same vintage, but have no desire to give up the ghost just yet.  I will fight to the bitter end.  If I stay in London much longer, I might as well climb into my coffin, let my hair go grey, not go to the hairdresser except once every six months, eat too much and not have any lovers. What is the matter with this country that the upper classes want to look so frumpy?

There are some exceptions: Allegra Hicks and Priscilla Waters, ex wife of Roger Waters, look ravishing, but then again they are not from the Island.  About to rent out my house in Los Angeles, I am wondering whether I should.  
Personally I am getting ready for my close up.
  
PEOPLE WHO WILL KEEP YOU YOUNG


LONDON
Dr Sebagh, 25 Wimpole Street
Dr Fine
Peter Butler
Real Hair
Hari Hair
Conny Hanson at Alexander Mcqueen
Zara
HAIR BY SNOWDEN
MAKEUP BY EMMA
Dr Berard for a facelift +33682571274  The French are generally better than the English as they like women. However there are exceptions..You need to find who you click with.


LOS ANGELES
Dr Perlman
Jack Alexander Mcqueen Los Angeles
The browgal, Tonya Crooks for brows and makeup.
Hair by Angela Kalinowski
Dr Kanodia
HandM

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

The bird hovers
outside my room
waiting for its prey
that hides
under leaves beside
rubbish bins
the bird is patient
it is a beautiful
day
I
hope that the bird
flys away
leaving
the creature
alone
I think I should
shout
I try to but
nothing comes out
I bang on the windows
but nobody hears
I try to warn the
prey
but the bird
is too quick
in the sunshine
outside my window
in May
All is finished in
a second
and another
life is over
swiftly
and another too,
the bird swoops too
far and hits the
top of a car and
gets killed too
all on a beautiful
Sunny day.

Les adieux à la Reine (Farewell, My Queen) trailer Diane Kruger

The Road not Taken - Robert Frost (by Alan Bates)

Madame Bovary (1949) Trailer

The Titanic Requiem, trailer

Robin Gibb - Don't Cry Alone

TITANIC REQUIEM BY ROBIN AND RJ GIBB

MEGAN in Emilia Wickstead, AMANDA ELIASCH in Alexander Mcqueen AND RJ GIBB in Alexander Mcqeen.

The Titanic Requiem was performed tonight, written by Robin Gibb and RJ Gibb, his son with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The RSVP Voices. Chillingly beautiful sounds came from the Concert Hall in Westminster, London. Sadly Robin Gibb lies in hospital very ill, he was unable to attend. This is his first classical piece. 
It is one hundred years ago since the ship sunk, and the concert started with music by Greig and Schubert, as it was played at the time, when the magnificent structure sunk.   
Isabel Suckling, The child prodigy who sang Christmas Day beautifully will not be someone who i forgot anytime soon. She has also been signed up with Decca Records, and has done an album called "The Choir Girl". 
When I was young I used to copy Aled Jones' version of "Oh for the wings of a dove", and funnily enough he was there tonight still singing his heart out after all these years. 
The famous faces included Cherie Blair, Vanessa Feltz and a load of old rockers who were accompanied by a stream of beautiful leggy blondes.
Megan, RJ Gibb's  girlfriend looked elegant in a dress by Emilia Wickstead.

Megan and Amanda Eliasch

Megan and RJ Gibb

Scarlett Rainer and Amanda Eliasch

Snowden Hill and Amanda Eliasch

It was an evening of celebration. The Requiem was orchestrated by Chris Masterson, who has done many Hollywood films and worked with people like Kylie Minogue. If I had one wish, It would be to write an opera with him.

DIET THE WAY I LIKE

I have no faith in the government evan the diet is ridiculous, just check for yourself on the attached link. No wonder there are so many overweight people in this country.
It is well known that if you eat too much starch, sugar and grains you are going to be a fatso. You spike your insulin and in so doing. you turn the food into sugar, and in turn you put on weight.  The Fine Diet worked for me lean meat, fish, poultry eggs, with citrus fruit, 3 oranges and soft berries, strawberries and blackberries. No starchy foods, pulses lentils, salads, milk products. Fine has modified it over the years.  I am already feeling better.  The problem for me with the Mayr clinic is that it is too far away and I need to watch what I eat on a daily basis, I also feel it is a hospital so not for me.  I first went to Dr Fine when I was twenty three for my Wedding.  I then stayed  the same weight for twenty six years.  I was then given some hormone replacement therapy that made me, in my mind, as fat as a piggy.  My sons say I am look great but I am back to what I know best. Being the right weight is the healthy option.  
THE FOLLOWING RECIPE GIVE YOU DIABETES, AND MAKES YOU OBESE...

"Healthy Eating Advice

1. TheGovernmentrecommendsthatallhealthyindividualsshouldconsume a diet that contains:

• plenty of starchy foods such as rice, bread, pasta and potatoes (choosing wholegrain varieties when possible)

Result too much insulin, no complex carbs, just empty straight around your waist.

• plenty of fruit and vegetables; at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day

Nobody needs five portions of fruit a day..

• moderate amounts of protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and alternatives such as nuts and pulses

You should increase this and decrease the carbs...unless you are an athlete, where your body burns it off, eg an intense two hours.

• moderate amounts of milk and dairy, choosing reduced fat versions or eating smaller amounts of full fat versions or eating them less often

Get rid of milk and gluten and dairy.... all no no's

You need Omega oils, 3, 6 and 9, your body uses these fats for the brain and to burn off fat. Avocados are best for this along with brain foods eg walnuts.

• less saturated fat, salt and sugar"

Don't have it at all, avoid.

Piotr Anderszewski talks about Schumann

NATHALY BLOCH

                                                        

Which Hollywood star do you find attractive?               Terence Stamp, Gregory Peck, Colin Firth               What moves you emotionally?               generosity and spontaneity               Which film director inspires you?               Woody Allen Claude Sautet Roman Polanski François Truffaut, I can't choose               What food do you most enjoy?               world's food, and of course my mother's cooking               Which designer do you like to wear most?               Yves Saint Laurent YSL, when he was alive. I miss him. he symbolized the elegance               What was your most successful moment?               One day on a sailboat off the coast of Sierra Leone               What makes you happy?                listen to music dreaming               Which film director interests you?                Guy Ritchie, very talented               What piece of music do you like listening to?               on a desert island I will take Strauss by Glenn Gould, Schumann by Piotr Anderszewski and all David Bowie               Where do you like to live?               New York, Berlin, Amsterdam or Milan.               What piece of art inspires you?               a book. "La montagne magique" of Thomas Mann                What shoes do you like to wear?                high but comfortable                What made you most happy in your career?                the moments of magic                 What person inspired you?.                 nobody and everybody, the everyday      heroes,                   What sport do you most enjoy?                   yoga, since 25 years always yoga                   Where do you find serenity?                   oceanfront, and in his eyes...                   What do you like to eat?                   All. That's the problem, eat is a pleasure.                   What is your biggest sin?                   Gluttony                   What piece of advice can you give someone?                   Be natural!                   What do you like to do at the week end?                   drinking champagne in the sun with my lover, it's not very serious but that's the weekend!!

         
 

FW12 Fashion Week Highlights | NET-A-PORTER.COM

Arielle Dombasle Hasta siempre_1.flv

Arielle Dombasle - Tico Tico

Pairings: Joe Sponzo, Sting and Joel Peterson

EVITA: INTRODUCING ELENA ROGER

Jesus Christ Superstar - 2012 Broadway Revival Choreography

A WEEK END WITH JESUS AND EVA

THE FINAL CURTAIN OF JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

I have had a whirlwind of a week end but so much fun. I flew to see Charlie my son in New York by Virgin Airways and could not have had a more comfortable time. I am staying in probably the best room in the whole of New York on Central Park West. The Art Deco Hotel called The Essex, part of the Jumeirah Group, My view looks in front to the park and then to the West overlooking the whole of the West side to the river. I am on the 39th Floor  and have just had an excellent stone massage in the spa,  life could not be better. The perfect place to spend Easter. 
I was lucky enough to be given some tickets to Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.  A huge treat as  believe it or not had not seen them.  Jesus Christ Superstar bowled me over and if I wasn't a fan before, I am now. It was marvellous propaganda for the Church.  They should get Sir Tim Rice to rewrite the Bible, he knows how to tell a story.  An  exciting and passionate performance by Paul Nolan. There were people round the block waiting to get in to both shows. With music by Andrew Loyd Webber and words by Sir Tim  for both shows, you simply cannot go wrong. I would like to be the Producer.
Evita was a real showpiece, again a love story and I wanted to get up and sing and have tango lessons. Che played by Ricky Martin was given a huge applause before he even started. Elena Roger sang  as she should completely carrying the part of  bossy fragile Eva Peron. The Mistress was extremely pretty and she sang beautifully, played by Rachel Potter.  What is wonderful about these two musicals is that I know every word to them but the only drawback is I cannot get up and sing. I should have been a showgirl. 

VIEWS FROM THE 39TH FLOOR

I WANT SAMANTHA BRICK'S MIRROR

This week we have seen an article by a journalist for The Daily Mail, Samantha Brick proclaiming that she is "too pretty" and that people had always been jealous of her. Whatever mirror she has, I want it.  She is pretty  but please, she is not the golden ratio and she doesn't need to go on daytime television claiming her beauty.  She has left herself open for people to belittle her.

People have enjoyed good looks from the beginning so I would disagree that other people would necessarily be jealous, of course it can be disconcerting. Whether or not she is this ravishing is a matter of opinion and really who cares?  I have seen people go out of their way for a pretty face and pay for airline tickets, holidays, clothes and parties, men like it.  It depends on the individual girls upbringing whether she chooses to take these things.  I would not, I am not interested in bribery. 

I also do not get so easily flattered.  I too have been given roses by a strange man in Venice, had a pilot order champagne for me but I do not drink, offered a Fashion Editors job in Los Angeles for dressing well and then lost a job for too tight a skirt, so what?  I think it is obvious.  For me it is about being blonde.  As my eldest son says, “Blondes have a halo when they enter a room, an unfair advantage, they shine automatically”. Even my blonde younger son, who from a little round ball became a dashing man, has women coming across the room to talk to him. We laugh together because we remember people ignoring him.

More to the point people may hope and assume that you are thick, praying to goodness that you cannot be pretty, happy, modest and clever?.  Why should you have everything?.  
I have found that in my life, a smile can get you everywhere and everything.  When I left The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, the Head there Sorrel Carson said to me " If you show your shining self you will get everywhere and if you show the otherside, well, do not"  However obviously there is a more important issue here, that looks can work for you and they can work against you.  This is normal we are animals and some looks we prefer.  I suspect Samantha did not inspire jealousy so much as people did not like her.    I congratulate her on her confidence.  

 Look around you, Elle Macpherson,  Britt Ekland,  Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Michelle Williams, Cara and Poppy Delevigne, the blonde, the golden ratio and the beautiful.  Marilyn Monroe however did not think she was beautiful n'or did Audrey Hepburn they had a little modesty. Equally Barbara Streisand is not beautiful, but she is so damn sexy and talented that she became beautiful. Modesty in my opinion makes you more interesting. Samantha has not the ‘golden ratio’ of good looks, she is using something else.