Very relaxed. Excellent food. Log fires. Everyone welcome including dogs. Make sure you book though. Honestly, I’ve never had a more delicious roast beef – look at the size of that yorkshire pudding!  Walking distance from the park so you can work up a good appetite first!

and a lovely garden in the summer for BBQ’s and chilling:-

My friend Sally Phillips has actually written a Hollywood film that’s going to be out in a couple of weeks (March 13th to be precise). I had the privilege of being invited to preview it last week. Just a lovely endearing film set on the remote Scottish island of “Hegg” where nothing much usually happens. A proper Rom Com starring David Tennant and Kelly MacDonald. Also featuring Alice Eve, Michael Urie, Sally Phillips, Federico Castelluccio and Maureen Beattie.

When the wedding of US film star Lara Tyler to English writer James Arber is sabotaged by an obsessive paparazzo they decide to relocate their wedding to the one place in the world where the press won’t find them. However, it all inevitably goes wrong and a “decoy bride” is engineered to help detract from the proceedings. Sally developed the idea in order to create a female led romcom feature film looking at the widening gap between real women and “ideal” women. “Picking the Hebrides as a setting was probably initially just an excuse to go there. When I was researching I could only get as fare as Bute because I was too pregnant to fly and too nauseous to take the ferry. I read lots of guidebooks and novels and watched a lot of Puffins nesting on webcams.

I’m going to be able to give some DVD’s away and maybe even some signed stuff from Sally so watch this space.

I suspect everybody thought I was the nanny – which was great although Sally was very lovely about introducing me to everyone who came up to her to tell her that they’d loved her “for like 150 years”. I chatted away with Sadie Frost’s mum who has a role in the film and with Sadie and her sister and they were all just lovely. Boy George has a make-up less cameo role so I didn’t recognise him. In the screening itself I actually sat in between Sally and Sadie in the front row. How bizarre was that?

Sally agreed to be in the film having looked at Ben’s website – I think he is still astounded that she agreed to be in it but I suspect it was because she recognised in him a very young raw talent with refreshing originality – very reminiscent of her work. He’s only 26 and is just beginning to ruffle his brand new feathers and flex his muscles, but it’s impressive that he has managed to produce a 30 minute film for £20K – the film as Sally describes it is “a fusion of Tim Burton mated with an Athena postcard. Very kitsch Goth”.

The synopsis is :-

FUR FOX SAKE, ALL ANIMALS ARENT EQUAL

During her performance in a tasteless musical based on Animal Farm, Ex fashion designer and fur fanatic, Anne Thrope (Sadie Frost) is kidnapped by a group of animal activists led by her nemesis, Audrey Hoober (Sally Phillips). However, have the activists bitten off more than they can chew? With the help and hindrance of Thrope’s put upon assistant, Verdell, the police close in on the kidnappers. But is too late? And is it Anne that needs salvation…?

It was sort of Eraserhead-esque to me – a spectacularly dark comedy with lots of practicing with different styles – funny but in a horror sort of way. Just weird. But an interesting project and as Sally said to Ben’s parents when they came up to thank her so much for “supporting their boy” “I can absolutely see people writing a PHD thesis about Ben’s early work one day.” “He is one to watch” she thinks – “a curates’ egg”.

Here’s a photo I took of Sally looking gorgeous, with Ben:-

and here is a photo Sally took for her baby’s photo album of his first film preview and DJ night – very cool. He loved every minute. However, probably it should have been her holding him, not me….and no I don’t think Ben actually took a bite out of his head even if it looks as if he really, really wants to:-

and here are a few more of us – some from the film – the gorgeous man to my left is Nat Wella – Paul’s son!:-

http://music.amnestyusa.org/?utm_source=aiusa&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email+1+-+helen,+artist+quotes&utm_campaign=chimes&msource=W1201ESCHI1&tr=y&auid=10183091

50 years ago, Bob Dylan started his professional career by picking up his guitar and playing at a coffee house in Greenwich Village. That same year, British lawyer Peter Benenson launched a campaign to stand up for those imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. That campaign grew into a human rights movement, Amnesty International.

Through the decades, musicians have been among Amnesty’s most inspiring and passionate allies in the fight against injustice. That’s why I am proud to announce the release of a very special album — Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.

Chimes of Freedom has been called “genre-busting” by The New York Times. It’s a diverse, inventive album that features musicians who care deeply about human rights.

“Music for a good cause. What more beautiful thing could you be a part of?” – Neil Finn with the Pajama Club (Performs “She Belongs to Me”). From the civil rights marches of the 1960s to Occupy Wall Street, music has always played a big part in social movements. Music can touch people’s hearts and awaken our social conscience.

“I think musicians from around the world realize the value of freedom of expression.” – Kris Kristofferson (Performs “Quinn the Eskimo”)

Whether focused on human rights or the human heart, Dylan’s songs have consistently spoken to the need for dignity and freedom — the same ideals that inspire and drive our work at Amnesty International.

“Bob puts his arms all around humanity, around the world, around the universe in those songs.” – Outernational (Performs “When the Ship Comes In”)

Chimes of Freedom is dedicated to people worldwide who are unjustly imprisoned or threatened for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. Buying this album will help protect human rights around the world.

“We all have a role to play. I cannot do it alone.” – Angelique Kidjo (Performs “Lay, Lady, Lay”)
Performers range from Miley Cyrus, 19, to legendary musician and activist Pete Seeger, who, at 92, performs Dylan’s poignant “Forever Young” with a children’s chorus with many never-released covers by Adele, Sting, Elvis Costello, My Morning Jacket, Patti Smith, Ziggy Marley, Carly Simon, Pete Seeger, Diana Krall, Seal & Jeff Beck, Maroon 5, K’naan, Pete Townshend and more.

Go on. Buy it. Make a difference.

I really enjoyed the film. Visually stunning. 83 costume changes for Wallis and some brilliant cinematography – including 35mm, 16mm and Super 8 to give the home video look when required. She did a Q & A at the end. It took her three years to research and develop the concept for the film and she read as many letters as she could find to try and get under the skin of Wallis Simpson herself – she is obviously fascinated in the whole concept of the most romantic couple in history and the huge and brave sacrifices both of them had to make and presumably also relates to the misunderstood strong American female abroad theme.

“What do you hope people will take away from the film?” she was asked as the last question and after a long pause she said “lots of things. It’s a complex story and there is no such thing as perfect love and if you think there is then you are in for a rude awakening. Real love requires compromise. Nothing is what it seems and it pays to investigate all angles before you reach your conclusions”.

Here she was at Claridges:-

She has the skin of a twelve year old:-

Here we are on the red carpet – he plays the adulterous “shrink”:-

She plays Wallis, but I was the wrong side of the red carpet to get a picture of her face!:-

Me on the red carpet!

Here is a picture of some of the paparazzi – what a hard job they’ve got:-

Her allocated seat – at least I think it must have been for her:-

Anyway, we were there to discuss “Half Blood Blues” a story that flits between Paris and Berlin during the onset of the Second World War to modern day and back. Essentially a story about jazz under the nazis and the relationships between the band members – who were mostly black.

We all enjoyed it. I thought it was a spectacular piece of writing – the plot itself has a few weaknesses but it didn’t seem to matter. I found the narrator “Sid” fascinating and yet disappointing ultimately but he kept the story alive and gave such interesting observations. She has chosen a brave subject to embark on and successfully “weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty and the possibility that, if you don’t tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. And they might tell it wrong”.

The author’s talent for descriptive writing, for the easy banter between the men, for the amazing period slang you forget you are reading is exceptional. For me she successfully managed to conjure up so strong an image in my mind on every page that I might as well have been watching the film (which will definitely be out at some point in the future).

Her descriptions of the music became so that you could almost hear it – the excitement the band members feel when playing with the great Louis Armstrong – she has the reader right there in the room – she plays with the words describing the music like an artist paints a picture. Stunning.

I’m very excited about the next book we are going to read because it’s just got the best title ever – particularly in view of the fact that we were all talking about the downside of ageing last night. My friend, who, needless to say, wasn’t of the opinion that our lives were nearly over is off to India for 5 weeks next week to study in Mysore with THE guru of Ashtanga Yoga and she brought it to make us all feel better. It’s called “The Warmth Of The Heart Prevents Your Body From Rusting” and it’s all about ageing without growing old.

The blurb on the back says:-

“There is nothing older than not wanting to grow old. We are afraid of dying badly, alone, unloved, perhaps dependent or suffering from dementia….The worst is not inevitable. Something within us does not grow old. I shall call it the heart, the capacity to love and to desire, that inexplicable, incomprehensible force which keeps the human being alive…”

The exhibition is truly spectacular obviously. Arguably the most notable Old Master show this century. Just divine to be able to get up close and personal to such exquisite paintings. The fall of light. The detail. The expressions. The symbolic gestures, his ability to engage with the viewer. What a coup to bring together both versions of “The Virgin of The Rocks” in one room – fascinating to be able to analyse the differences between the two.

BUT in my view there were a few faults. Firstly, whilst I appreciate the impossibility of the Mona Lisa jetting in for the event it would have been good to have a replica of her somewhere on a wall to look at. I also would have liked to have seen more of his inventions – his flying machine, air balloon stuff and definitely more of his analytical drawings – or am I just being greedy now? I don’t think we really got the full sense of him being a famous painter, sculptor, architect, mathematician, anatomist and engineer.

AND ANOTHER THING whilst I’m at it. I bought the audio thingy to be fully informed about all that stuff you can’t quite be arsed to read on the wall and was looking forward to getting the details of when he was born, where, how, why and all that stuff that you know shaped the man. But there was none of it. No gory details at all.

Things they didn’t tell us which I think it would have helped to know:-

That he was born in April 1452
That he was illegitimate and that his parents gave him up and married other people. His father was a notary and his mother a farmer’s daughter.
He was brought up by his paternal Grandfather
He was gay, which must have been a huge big deal then and influenced his work massively. He was twice accused of sodomy.
He consequently was late in beginning his apprentice and by 30 had not done very much work of a genius.

ANYWAY, apart from that try and beg, borrow or steal a ticket to get in. It’s on until February 5th. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Off they went last night to check it out. They had a curry in Brick Lane and then walked the five or so minutes to the hotel. They were very impressed.

Here is what he said:-

Excellent new budget hotel (rooms about £35 a night). Free Wifi. Plasma TV. Excellent location – 5 minutes from Liverpool Street Station. Near Hoxton. Spitalfields Market on the doorstep. Brick Lane very cool for bars and curry’s.
Simple funky decor. Very clean. White sheets. Comfortable bed.

He took some photos:-

His girlfriend, outside the room with their Welcome bags:-

Their room:-

Bed:-

Not a good photo but here is a very cool outside area that would a perfect location in the summer to sit out:-

It wasn’t what I was expecting but beautifully touching nevertheless. Very French. All smoky and sexy in an unexpected way with a gorgeous lead role by Clotilde Hesme – lots of lingering shots at her face which I am quite sure nobody would object to. She meets Tony (Gregory Gadebois) – a down to earth fisherman – strong, uncomplicated and insecure. He is not the man you would expect her to go for and he knows it. She’s desperate for marriage in order to get her son back, but somehow she clumsily wins him over – or vice versa…slowly there develops a connection that the film portrays beautifully.

It is a very simple film. Set in Normandy with it’s magnificent coastal scenery and the director’s quiet, intimate approach allows us to really sit back and enjoy the chance to fully engage with the characters. Tony’s mother was brilliant too I thought. By the end it made me cry and I had fallen in love with the characters. Angel’s pain as a mother of not having her son, the quiet understanding of Tony, the strength of the uplifting ending, the bits where Angel actually smiles…..it’s all just gorgeous.

An unexpected treat on a Monday night.

There are lots of top tips for planning your Disney Holiday. Join Jenny Powell as she shows you all the excitement that awaits every member of your family at Walt Disney World by clicking on the photo book. Then click the button below to meet Emma, their UK Disney Holiday Expert, in a series of videos to help you plan your holiday.

You need to register for one of the three events, which you can do at www.mydisneyworldplanner.co.uk