United Kingdom

Timbuktu, the place name has always been used to suggest somewhere far away, hard to get to and, generally, not round here. It suggests travel and distance.

When a few people asked about a follow up to my first book, Telling Stories, I jokingly started to refer to Tim Book Two, the follow up. I thought it was certainly a medal hopeful in the pun Olympics but people took me a bit more at my word than I maybe would've liked.

It started to all get a bit more real - Faber and Faber even came in and said they'd publish it, so all I had to do was write it. Maybe the Timbuktu element was more in my conscious than my subconscious as it turned out to be a quest, and a kind of vinyl travelogue. The name came around two years ago and slowly the content hit the pages - by December it was completed. Tim Book Two made it onto the cover alongside the more descriptive, Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul To San Francisco.

I'm much more used to making albums than writing books, and after the secrecy and labour in a studio would come the excitement and mayhem of a tour.

I'd done a book tour for Telling Stories but for a book with 'Adventures' in the title, we wanted to move away from a traditional reading and questions and answers.

Tim Book Two is about record shops, vinyl and the joy of sharing your favourite albums with your favourite people - kind of like what happens every day but I wanted to ask some people that everyone might know. I texted Johnny Marr, pushed a note under the dressing room door of Iggy Pop, bumped into Neil Tennant in the street and sent smoke signals to David Lynch - the message was the same. I just wanted them to recommend one album - if they wanted to they could say why, and I'd then go and attempt to find it on vinyl

Their recommendations were in and the adventure took me to dozens of record shops on The Charlatans tours of the US, the UK and Europe.

A book about records deserves a vinyl soundtrack but when the albums are by The Clash, Joy Division Willie Nelson and Paul Simon it's hard to know if permission will be granted - Paul Simon came back instantly with a yes, so You Can Call Me Al was the first song we had. News came in from The Clash's publisher that their songs weren't ever on compilations, then, rumour has it a certain Mr Jones called them and Rebel Waltz from Sandinista! was our second confirmation. It was almost as exciting as getting the recommendations in the first place

We thought if we had records, we might as well have a record shop, so Vinyl Adventures was born - stocking all the albums from the book and much of the O Genesis back catalogue - records given to us along the way by guests and sew on patches, gig tickets and even a really expensive box set (Dinosaur Jr) that's over a hundred pounds and nobody ever buys it. All the record shop essentials - even Nick who played the part of record shop guy, was channelling the slightly grumpy, 'I know more about music than you' air that some, but not all vinyl retailers possess. Looking back, he didn't seem much different to the actual Nick we know so maybe he was born to do it, as Craig David might say.

A van was hired and packed with the shop - guests were called and RSVPs came back in from Gary Neville, Sharon Horgan, Stephen & Gillian from New Order and Chris & Cosey from Throbbing Gristle, hosts including Stuart Maconie, Shaun Keaveny and David Haslam were signed up and venues like Salford Lads Club, Jodrell Bank and Cecil Sharp House were booked, tickets put on sale with sold out signs at the ready.

We saw Kirk Whitehouse's broken vinyl artworks online and he made 5 of the covers of the albums and even gave the Abba Gold artwork to Chris Carter, who chose it and Born In The USA was given to Gary Neville who'd recommended it as his choice for Tim Book Two

We had the custom built turntable that Rega Research had made for us, featuring the cover artwork of Pete Fowler - we were a mobile art exhibition, record shop, book club and gathering of friends - as well as all that I DJ'd what (according to Twitter) is the toughest pub in Glasgow (one of my favourite DJ sets ever), we headed to two festivals, one event was moved outside into a beautiful courtyard as the weather was so hot.

From Norwich to Glasgow and back it was like a mobile self help group with vinyl addicts and it was so much more than a book tour. Best not joke about the next book being called One, Two, Another, should I?

Tim Burgess Presents...Tim Book Two: 'Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco' out now on Faber and Faber.

The accompanying compilation 'Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco' is out now on O Genesis Recordings.

www.timburgess.tmstor.es

http://www.songkick.com/artists/317045-tim-burgess

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I don't watch Eastenders. I used to. Den and Angie, Simon Wicks and Cindy, Pauline and Arthur. I stayed watching through the first time the Mitchell brothers came to the Square. I stopped a while back, when career took evenings away and the gloss of US TV dramas replaced the grit of London soap.

I watched Friday's episode. I didn't know the back stories of the characters. But yet I did. I knew how those women felt. I never got my day in court, I was one of the 1 in 15 who did report the rape but I was one of the many that the CPS decided not to prosecute over.

I totally commend Eastenders for the storyline, for the outcome. Rape Crisis South London have done an outstanding job at advising and ensuring the words spoken by the survivors ring true and real. When Ronnie says, that's what women do, we blame ourselves. When Kathy says she's happy, it's taken a while, but life is good. When Linda says she doesn't think about it 24/7 anymore but it is always there, colouring things. When Roxy says she's glad she didn't just curl up... And when she almost seems to break again with the realisation that the jury didn't believe her...

That's so important. To be believed. Even after knowing everything I know, even after doing all the recovery I've done, it still crumbles me when someone doesn't believe.

The Rape Crisis blog focuses on the hurtfulness of silence and the work they are doing to #breakthesilence. Silence hurts. Survivors are silenced all the time. Through our own silencing, when we have shame and feel we cannot share for fear of judgement and blame. Through not being believed, through being blamed. And through being treated differently, as though we are changed, broken, fragile. So then we have to prove we are strong, surviving, brave. Which then means we are tempted to silence ourselves, again. And of course, if we do speak, even when we are believed, no-one likes to hear the sad stories, they make people uncomfortable, and people look for answers to comfort themselves, the most common being well, you must have done something to make him want to do that....

In my recovery I became very frustrated with the silence. I've used the #silencehurts hashtag for several years now, since I spoke of it at SlutWalk London in 2012. I found that when I shared with others, they shared with me. Like Linda said, you think you're alone, but it's happened to all of us. I discovered that I wasn't alone and that this thing had happened too, to many of the people I knew. There was some kind of perverse comfort in knowing it wasn't just me, that others understood what I was going through. I know the truth of the trauma psychiatrist's conclusion that community is the critical factor in trauma recovery and I know the isolation that society's myths and prejudices when it comes to rape inflict on survivors.

That's why I set up the ReConnected Life Community, a free resource where survivors can be supported and support each other. Because being part of community is the first step in ridding ourselves of the self-blame and shame - we saw it happen in the episode, with the women around the table, sharing their stories, shedding their self-blame, supporting each other, and finding solace in solidarity.

Kathy is right, life can get better. It doesn't need to be the struggle of surviving that Linda thinks it will be. There is a way to reclaim and redefine who we want to be, changed perhaps, but a new version of ourselves that we are proud to be. There is a way to lose the self-blame, to lose the shame. There is a way to break free from the silence. And it starts with Community. In solidarity with all.

To find out more and join the ReConnected Life Community, click here: reconnected.life/community

Emily Jacob is the founder of ReConnected Life, a pioneering approach to recovery after rape which uniquely takes a whole-mind/body/self approach and empowers survivors to rescue ourselves, to reclaim & rebuild ourselves 'after' in our own vision, and to reconnect body to mind and mind to body. For more information on the story behind ReConnected Life, see here: reconnected.life/mystory and for more information on the ReConnected Life Experience see here: reconnected.life/experience
www.Reconnected.Life
www.facebook.com/ReConnectedLifeExperience/

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All images owned by the BBC

After a cold and lonely (already revealing too much about myself in this blog) year without The Great British Bake Off, it's back!

Quick shout out to Nadiya who is absolutely nailing life at the moment.

Firstly, thank god we're not moving to ITV or Ch4. It united the nation as we realised everyone loathed the idea of ads.

Us Bake Off viewers are wholesome folk. We dismiss consumer-driven ploys, shallow values, and image-obsessed attitudes.

On that note, let's judge people from a photographer-directed pose, a stylist-picked outfit, and a (most likely) ghost-written bio.

Val is such a sort.

She can make the classics with her eyes closed and enjoys 'searching the internet'.

I'm a fan of anyone who 'searches the internet'. And also anyone who 'texts'.

She 'can often be found doing aerobics in her kitchen whilst she waits for her jam to boil or her bread to prove'. Val is our Jane Fondant! (soz)

Benjamina is a babe.

She started baking for jokes and likes a modern twist. Finally.

She's so 2k16 following online caking trends none of us even knew existed.

She can pull off the name Benjamina.

A hint of perfectionist about her, which could get annoying, but she has great brows, so it's fine.

Candice is fab.

She's got pug-naming skills: Dennis.

She grew up in pubs her parents ran like some kind of Oliver Twist rapscallion. (They were probably lovely establishments, just trying to up the ante.)

She's worn-in heels whilst baking.

She could be a dresser try-hard with her bold lip... let's hope her florentines don't suffer for her fashion.

Jane is giving Val a run for her money.

A bit cheeky with 'her leopard print apron in the kitchen' and getting up at 5am to bake bread like the raver she is.

Her 'nemeses' are ciabatta and macarons. If your two worst nightmares in life are a dense bread roll and a meringue sweet, you're doing alright.

Kate is a sweetie.

Getting deep for a mo, I think the female bios were very male-orientated. Kate's intro is as a mother and a farmer's daughter.

Errrm having a farmer as a dad really isn't noteworthy...

Unless it's Kevin Costner circa Field of Dreams.

She's a Brownie leader! When you're a kid it's the coolest, and once you're an adult it's kinda like 'your own spare time? Unpaid? With kids?'. But each to their own and what a lovely citizen.

She tries to 'maintain her bright and cheery disposition' if things go wrong which doesn't sound entertaining at all. Pity.

Lee is lovely.

He suffered a back injury whilst playing cricket with his son (love the specific memory there, that son is not his fave) and discovered baking.

'He was very proud when his grandson took a photo of a cake he'd made to send to his girlfriend.' BLESS. (Also, huh?)

'He doesn't tend to veer too far from the norm but does enjoy a taste of the exotic every now and again.' Just like his women.

Louise is a potench sly one.

Louise kind of seems like that one person at work who's really good at baking, so nothing outrageously #winner about her, but she could be our underdog.

Michael is in there.

One of our non-British-heritage bakers so will sail through the first three weeks at least.

Baking far from the judge's know-go area is a gift. His Cypriot-inspired shortbreads can run free. I'm predicting a lot of sticky baklava-types.

Rav is a family man.

He volunteers for charities including Victim Support, so I can't really say anything mean about him or I'll go to hell.

But I'm not sure the Beeb felt the same way:

'He thinks he has a good sense of flavour combinations'.

It's like a cyber 'just smile and nod'. Sure mate. Whatever you say you can do.

Selasi is an ogre.

'... [his] colleagues are often shocked by the delicate cupcakes he makes for their charity bake sales'.

'What large hands you have Selasi?! How did you bake such delicate cakes?!'

Does Selasi work with a collection of elves and gnomes?

The Beeb are back with their undermining:

'[he enjoys] taking to the open road with his mates in his own 'Sunday Motorbike Club'.'

Aww, how 'cute', Selasi likes to 'ride' his little 'motorbike' with his 'mates'. (How awkwardly aware was it that the BBC used 'mates'?)

Tom is a saucepot.

Tom and his wife 'make a real event out of every dinner time.'

Swingers?

He also 'enjoys making his own salami'.

Ouch.

He 'likes to surprise those he's feeding with unexpected ingredients.'

Not sure MBez and Paul will appreciate that.

Mentioning his 30kg weight loss seems completely irrelevant. He's probably just cruising to be the next Subway man or Weight Watchers guy.

Andrew is fine.

I mean. Straight A student, Cambridge uni, Aerospace engineer at Rolls Royce, be proud. 'Strives to make all his bakes look beautiful', calm yourself.

He has big plans to make a baguette concorde. Let's wait and see what MBez thinks of your savoury scones, sweet cheeks.

Until next time...

Bake Off returns on Wednesday 24th August at 8pm. WHAT WHAAAT.

Originally posted on The Bake Off Update

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I'm a 25 year old entrepreneur and I run an international sustainable fashion brand, Tom Cridland, with customers on six continents, that is probably best known for The 30 Year Sweatshirt, which we guarantee to last for at least 30 Years.

What many people don't know, however, is that it was Elton John's drummer, Nigel Olsson, inspired me to persevere with Tom Cridland when times were really hard and grow it from a £6,000 government start-up loan to a leading sustainable fashion brand over the last two years.

I was almost hopeless and had run out of money trying to start up the Tom Cridland brand two years ago, aged 23, when I sent an offer of a complimentary pair of our trousers to Nigel Olsson, who has been Elton's drummer since 1969 and was one of my favourite musicians, via his rep.

Much to my surprise, I had an email from Nigel himself the next day, saying he loved the look of my designs. Since then, he has ordered every pair of Tom Cridland trousers and commissioned custom jackets and sweatshirts, as well as becoming a friend.

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Nigel is a legendary musician and has been Elton John's drummer since 1969. He is responsible for those classic beats on tunes like "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", as well as singing the soaring high part of the chorus on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". If you go and see an Elton John concert these days, you'll be astounded by his drumming during the EJ Band's 10 minute jam on "Levon". He has also had a successful solo career, scoring big hits with "Dancin' Shoes" and "A Little Bit of Soap". He has the best drum sound I have ever heard and experiencing it at an Elton John gig lead to me taking up the drums myself.

That email reply from Nigel gave me the faith I needed to keep trying to establish Tom Cridland in the fashion industry and we have since campaigned for sustainable fashion with The 30 Year Collection, been included in the Sustainia100, been a finalist in Fortune Magazine's Cool Companies Competition and gone on to make clothing for Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Stiller, Rod Stewart, Hugh Grant, Stephen Fry, Jeremy Piven, Brandon Flowers, Robbie Williams, Nile Rodgers, Michael Portillo, Stephan Merchant, Frankie Valli, Daniel Craig, Neil Young, Danny McBride, Miley Cyrus, Clint Eastwood and Kendrick Lamar.

Nigel, however, remains our favourite ever customer and a true friend. I will never forget how close to giving up I was before I received that first email from him. Him and his wife, Schanda, have been so supportive to my girlfriend and business partner, Debs, and I.

If you ever find yourself at an Elton John concert and notice how amazing the drums sound and how happy the man playing them looks, you can also rest assured that he is also a bona fide gentleman too.

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The 6 Best New Podcasts To Listen To

Every day I cycle an hour to work and listen to podcasts. It's my favourite thing to do while riding and turns a commute into a productive, educational moment.

Here is a list of six best podcasts you should listen to, particularly if you are interested in health, business, productivity, entrepreneurship and comedy.

Some of the podcasts are new, some are old. All of them are timeless. Subscribe to the podcasts below and turn your commute into something enjoyable. Note - I recommend using the Overcast app to listen to podcasts as it has a 'Smart Speed' feature; cutting out silences.

1. Corporate Warrior

Lawrence Neal combines business, entrepreneurship, productivity and health into one mega-podcast. New on the block, he's interviewed bodybuilding greats such as Jay Vincent, Mark Sisson and Doug McGuff. Lawrence delves into specifics with 1-2 hour podcasts, and is useful for anyone trying to start a business, get more out of the day, or looking to build muscle and lose fat.

2. Smart Passive Income

Patt Flynn is an award winning Podcaster, featured by iTunes for two years. His podcast, Smart Passive Income has had over 22 million downloads and is a regular favourite of mine. Patt interviews successful entrepreneurs with a focus on 'passive income' - automated income streams that come from a variety of projects, rather than one big business. Having said that, there's plenty of business moguls on there too. Usually about 45 minutes in length.

3. My Dad Wrote a Porno

Hilarious and audacious, My Dad Wrote a Porno is a comedy podcast in which Jamie Morton helped by his friends James Cooper and Alice Levine read out chapters from an erotic book his 60-year-old dad has written. Now on it's second series, this is one of the best podcasts and regularly makes me almost fall off my bike laughing. 30-40 minutes in length.

4. No Such Thing As A Fish

Have you ever watched QI with Stephen Fry? No Such Thing As A Fish is a weekly podcast from the researchers of that show who discuss four of their favourite facts. Brilliant and funny, the podcast has enjoyed millions of downloads and is educational as well as entertaining. A rare but valuable combination.

5. Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

Featuring The News Quiz, The Now Show, Dead Ringers and The Museum of Curiosity, this professional produced podcast (with live audience) from the BBC is a must-listen. I especially love the News Quiz which wraps up political events of the week and puts a comedic-spin on them. Think of it like the audio version of Have I Got News For You.

6. The Tim Ferriss Show

An American podcaster, Tim Ferriss interviews a plethora of world-class experts and deconstructs their success stories. Film directors, comedians, writers, investors, entrepreneurs, athletes and more, the podcast offers unparalleled insight into the mind of the world's best. Mostly with American guests and usually 1-2 hours long.

Tom Church is co-founder of LatestDeals and author of Money's Big Secret.

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Don't miss 'Cosmos,' Andrzej Zulawski's first film in 15 years, an intriguing, wonderfully absurd, surreal cinematic delight - Brady Corbet's interesting but over ambitious debut feature, 'The Childhood of a Leader' is a bit too smart for itself - 'Almost Holy' is a sobering and harrowing documentary that charts a Ukranian priest's mission rescuing drug and abused kids - Zhao Liang's 'Behemoth' is a poetic, tragic and hypnotic view of environmental destruction in Inner Mongolia.

Director: Andrzej Zulawski. Sabine Azema. Jean-Francois Balmer, Jonathan Genet, Johan Libereau. Metaphysical Noir Thriller. French with English subtitles. France, Portugal 2015 103 mins. (15) ****

'Cosmos,' Andrzei Zulawski's first film in 15 years, adapted from Witold Grombowicz's 1965 novel of the same name defies classification but offers an intriguing, bizarre, wonderfully absurd, hilarious, surreal, reference littered and visually gorgeous cinematic feast wrapped in Andrzej Korznski's romantic score - a crazy expressionist cinematic delight.

Mdm. Woytis (Sabine Azema) welcomes law student drop out Witold (Jonathan Genet) who's determined to write a literary masterpiece and his anti-intellectual friend Fuchs (Johan Libereau) to her guest house in rural France which she runs with with her partner retired banker Leon (Jean-Francois Balmer) who's vocabulary has a madcap personal touch. Fuchs likes a bit of rough trade at night and Witold's fixated by a sparrow with it's neck in a noose, the maid Catherette's (Clementine Pons) harelip and Leon's daughter Lena (Victoria Guerra) who has a beautiful mouth and is married to the dull architect Lucien (Andy Gillet). Colourful characters, chaos and the lunacy of the bourgeoisie at its manic best.

Off-the-wall, narrative driven, mystifying and wonderfully mad, 'Cosmos' throws up 'The savage power of a stupid thought.' it's quite something for Andrzej Zulawski's goodbye film. Don't miss it.

Released 19th August

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Director: Brady Corbet. Liam Cunningham, Robert Pattinson, Stacy Martin. Drama, Horror, Mystery. UK, Hungary, France 2015 115 mins. (12A) ***

What makes a fascist leader? Brady Corbet's interesting, enigmatic, but over ambitious debut feature 'The Childhood of a Leader,' is too long, tries too hard and is too smart for itself.

An unnamed American diplomat (Liam Cunningham), who is part of President Wilson's post-1918 negotiations at the time of the Versaille Treaty, is in France with his unnamed religiously devout German born wife (Berenice Bejo) and their mysterious and troubled son, no pals Prescott (Tom Sweet). Told as three chapters or 'tantrums,' offering emotional repression and a touch of Freudian psychology against a background of European chaos.

Scripted by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold with a hint of Jean-Paul Satre's 1939 short story of the same name, Scott Walker's score, a full volume blast mix of classical and the avant-garde may push you out of the room. But it's stunningly shot by Lol Crawley, with camera angles and shadows that make the house a character in itself and Tom Sweet's impressive as the budding evil incarnate.

The final tantrum, 'New Era' pushes it OTT and over the edge.

Released 19th August

Director: Steve Hooper. Documentary. English & Russian with English subtitles. Ukraine, USA 2016 100 mins. (15) ****

Steve Hooper's sobering and harrowing documentary follows Gennadiy Mokhnenko, the saviour of Mariupol's dispossessed. Mokhnenko, a Ukranian priest known as 'Crocodile Gennadiy' after the popular Russian TV character, forcibly abducts drug addicted kids and cares for them in the state funded Pilgrim Republic rehabilitation centre. Folk hero or vigilante? Whatever, he's the last hope for the dispossessed.

Backed by Bobby Krlic, Atticus Ross and Leopold Ross's eclectic score, John Pope's hand held camera follows this maverick priest as he sweeps the decaying streets offering hope to the dispossessed. Tragic stories emerge - imprisoned in squalor, a deaf teenager's beaten, raped, and after giving birth, her child is taken away, a young girl found her father hanged from a TV cord, a 40-year-old woman thrown naked onto the street, drug and alcohol abused bodies, pharmacies selling codeine laced narcotics to addicts. Lenin's shadow hangs over a decaying infrastructure of corruption and governmental impotence.

Mokhnenko points the finger at the changing economic, political and social scene in Ukraine since the collapse of the USSR with a wishful hope that Ukraine will join the European Union. His joy at eating a hotdog, is comical in its irony, as Vladimir Putin's forces and pro-Russian rebels emerge in early 2015.

Released 19th August

Director: Zhau Liang. Documentary. Mandarin with English subtitles. China, France 2015 95 mins. Official Selection, Competition, Venice Film Festival 2015. Winner of the environmental Green Drop Award, 2015 Venice Film Festival (PG) ****

'Behemoth' - a poetic, tragic and hypnotic view of a dark and desolate place, a land of deathly silence. Zhao Liang draws inspiration from Dante's Divine Comedy, in a nightmarish glimpse into Inner Mongolia's coal mines and its iron works. Filmed over two years, Zhao Liang's visually captivating, masterful documentary paints a tragic picture of the ravages of the environment and the once lush vegetation now a paradise lost.

And was it all worth it? The camera moves through the deserted streets of the Kanabashi district in Ordos City, a workers paradise, a 'ghost city', a surreal graveyard to the greed bubble that's burst and migrant workers with no aid from the Government succumb to terminal lung disease.

Quietly forceful in its anger, 'Behemoth' is a mesmerizing glimpse at Dante's Inferno.

Released 19th August

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Imagine wearing a name tag, 24 hours a day, every day for nearly two decades. Even to bed.

That's what Brooklyn based entrepreneur Scott Ginsberg has been doing after an attempt to make friends in a big city, evolved into a world record breaking social experiment.

You have to admire his dedication.

Scott likens himself to the kid from the much parodied Bruce Willis film, The Sixth Sense. Only it's not dead people that he sees, it's living, breathing, friendly people.

In episode two of my podcast series, Scott revealed why he has no plans to stop wearing his nametag. He even has it tattooed on his chest.

Unsurprisingly, this makes Scott the centre of attention everywhere he goes. What you can learn from Scott is that trusting your instinct is important, but first you need to learn how.

Listen to Scott talk about how he learned to trust his instinct now

It might not be immediately obvious why I chose to interview Scott when exploring the theme of instinct and intuition for the series. However, as Scott explains, soon after he started the experiment, he realised that wearing a nametag was beginning to affect him on both a psychological and physiological level.

With 16 years experience of wearing the name tag, Scott is now able to anticipate how people will react to him, in a split second. It's similar to the Rorschach inkblot tests that psychologists use. It's less about the name tag, but the reaction to the badge that allows him to understand why strangers behave the way they do around him. However, the most important lesson Scott has taken away from the experiment, is how he can use his intuition to decide how to he responds to them.

We live in a world where science and reason rule heavy over the heart. It might surprise you to know that only 20% of the brain's grey matter is actually dedicated to conscious thought. The other 80% is taken up by non-conscious thoughts. It's that 80% we have to tame, so we can begin to trust ourselves.

If we constantly question our decision making process, instead of trusting ourselves, then we give up some power. The only way to combat that is to have faith in those intangible feelings such as instinct and intuition. Go with your gut and learn from each experience. There is no right or wrong decision. Learn to train your intuition like a muscle and it will make you stronger.

Chatting to Scott made me realise that if you quieten down your inner critic and focus on your inner voice, you'll question your instinct less. That's important because every time you question your instinct, you are choosing not to trust yourself.

You can listen to the whole series on audioBoom or subscribe with iTunes, Spotify and Google Play now.

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I LOVE MY BODY.

Now I've never been one to promote outright arrogance but loving your body has got to be one of the most important things to contribute to overall happiness. I am so sick of people telling me the ideal weight is "X", the best boobs are "X", blah blah blah. The truth of the matter is perfection is subjective and individual.

There is so much pressure on women to be "perfect". Tabloids are full of "who wore it better" or "is X pregnant?" (They may have had some bread earlier that day which made them a little bloated). Why can we not just pick up a magazine with normal, un-airbrushed women and feel good about ourselves? Skin, teeth, hair, weight, EVERYTHING is under the microscope and I can assure you most of the people I've met in real life look far different to their glossy magazine shoot appearances.

I suppose for me it's not about stopping the set up perfect shoots because maybe they make the individual doing them feel great, which I'm all for, but it's about making people aware that the people in the photos are not superior beings. We all have our differences and it's not realistic to believe that we all carry a ring light and hair and make up on standby everywhere we go. The reality is we have spots, stretch marks and muffin tops! Haha

So instead of a magazine picking up on these things as though they're un-human like or an absolute shock that a women would go out with a tiny pimple on her face, we should be just writing about the great things they're doing in their lives and ignoring that something like that would even make a difference to the person that she is. We are all human, that's one thing we have in common, and life is tough enough without feeling under pressure to be an image of unrealistic perfection.

I have childbearing, breastfeeding breasts which to me are perfect as they've served such a wonderful purpose (what they were made for btw) and my sister has cute little perky boobies which to her are also perfect. Thank goodness that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. And we need to start appreciating that WE are the beholders! We need to stop comparing individuals and start celebrating everybody's differences. I am healthy and happy and ultimately that's all that matters. I don't wish for anymore than that. I find beauty and perfection inside a person. As soon as somebody makes me laugh or stands up for what is right, to me there is nothing more beautiful and I'm immediately attracted to them. So let's boycott this crazy unrealistic idealism that people believe is "beautiful" and start finding the stunning features people posses on the inside.

It's such a powerful level of beauty. And as for anyone feeling the strain of modern society to fit in to these scrutinising categories, join the revolution, love yourself and all of your differences. The exterior is superficial and the interior will be your golden ticket to happiness. You might even save some valuable time and money on ridiculous beauty regimes too!

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Often contrary to what your head's telling you, it feels good to participate in something that seems, at the time, to be a leap of faith. The music world is full of such uncertain nuggets. Remixes and production jobs you never know will be approved. Gigs in strange places with hilariously convoluted logistics. Collaborations with orchestras that might, right up until you walk into the concert hall, turn out to be some elaborate practical joke. And spending a couple of years writing and recording music for a short film from under which the financial carpet has been pulled two or three times, but which ends up being completed via that seventh wonder of the altruistic digital age: crowdfunding.

Yes, it's true. The Five Wives And Lives Of Melvyn Pfferberg, the 17-minute comic epic to which I have added my Britpop-meets-Klezmer noises, has been filmed, post-produced and, finally, unleashed upon an unsuspecting global gaggle of film festival curators. Director, producer and general auteur nouvelle Damian Samuels must have done something right because LA Shorts Festival, that jewel in the Downtown LA cultural crown, has enveloped our movie into its enlightened bosom and will host Melvyn's world premiere on Sept 6. At times like this, I like to muse upon precisely which bits of our creation a hopefully-packed theater of LA hipsters will enjoy the most.

Will it be down-on-his-luck Melvyn weeping as he tramps through a park full of romantic couples taking a stroll? Will it be the unveiling of the "Cupidatron" - a futuristic helmet showing your future with anyone you shake hands with? Will it be the perfectly-timed performance by Smallville's Callum Blue as the dating night emcee? Will it be Melvyn's grand entrance, watched by gaping speed-dating colleagues including a cameo from Basement Jaxx's Felix Buxton? Will it be Melvyn's slushy picnic in the pretty company of TV's Brooke D'Orsay? Will it be the scene where Melvyn has a romp with a somewhat more enormously proportioned lover on a bed strewn with pizzas and tortilla chips? Will it be the bit where he's manacled to an S&M wheel, or confined to crutches by a clumsy girlfriend? Verily, this is a short movie that packs in as many comic highlights as an entire season of Extras, but without the crap bits.

I'm no expert at writing film music. That's it; there's no "but" following that statement. I haven't a clue. All I knew was that I could write and arrange some crazy mashups and record it with my production partner-in-crime Max Gilkes, and then slap it on the film, hoping that my years appreciating the work of Marvin Hamlisch, Elmer Bernstein and Hans Zimmer had done a tiny bit of good. To be fair, it took a few attempts. Several times Max and I had to return to the old drawing board, reminding ourselves that we were making a film soundtrack and not a cool indie record. At last we got the formula right, the man Samuels gave us the green light, and our sound designer - longtime Monty Python collaborator and general legend André Jacquemin - added the tunes to the action. Phew - it worked. only one question remained... a question that has bugged John Barry and David Arnold on many an occasion... who the buggering heck are we gonna get to sing the theme song?

Damian Samuels and I sat down with a vat of coffee and, if memory serves, drew up a massive list of people. All my names were either highly credible (i.e. unknown) or meat'n'potatoes indie rock and therefore utterly inappropriate. Samuels' suggestions were all as camp as Butlins and therefore thoroughly outlandish and unattainable. After a while we got out a marker pen and turned the list into a preposterously proportioned Venn diagram with - once we'd finished - only one name lurking in the crossover section, and that name was the Spice Girls' Melanie C. "Leave it with me," smiled Damian, and we parted, me thinking, "yeah... right," and him thinking, well, Christ knows what, really, but some sort of celebrity magic must have happened because a couple of weeks later we were sitting in the control room of Basement Jaxx's North London recording studio, with Mel C herself on the other side of the glass.

Pop-star dissenters can shelve all their nonsense: Melanie was absolutely bloody wonderful. She showed up, watched the film, had a cup of tea and then nailed it. The song went from sounding like a Blur C-side to a power-pop classic within, well, two minutes 20 seconds. Damian, producer Max and myself went straight to the pub and dumbfoundedly reflected on the musical conjuring trick that had just occurred. It's only a small part of the film, but as Damian put it, the whole thing has rocketed to another level as a result. What was I saying at the start of this blog about leaps of faith? It works both ways: when major players such as Melanie C, or Callum Blue, or Brooke D'Orsay, or André Jacquemin, or the Oscar-winning post-production houses Milk and The Mill, take a chance on a project such as ours, the momentum ratchets up a couple of amazing gears and the art that results acquires a fresh urgency and elevated quality: everyone wins.

We hope for many more festivals but if you're going to be in Los Angeles on Sept 6, take a trip down to LA Live and have a look at our movie, I guarantee you're gonna laugh your pants off...

The Fives Wives And Lives Of Melvyn Pfferberg will premiere at the LA Shorts Film Festival on Sept 6 at 9.55pm, at LA Live (Downtown).

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What do you think? Is there enough Equality and Diversity within Performing Arts? I agree, over the last couple of years it has improved dramatically, there are more opportunities and there are a more diverse range of jobs for actors, for example for the disabled, but I think there's still a way to go.

Chasing your dream as a performer is hard... It's stressful and sometimes both emotionally and physically draining. Everyone hits that stage of 'am I going to make it' or should I give up and 'get a regular day job' and its the strong that pass through it. Every performer I have spoken to including myself and close friends have been through that stage, and sometimes you just get 'urges'. It's a strange journey to follow, and hard to explain to people who aren't performers and don't understand it fully... Sort of like being a mother.

It is argued that for many of today's rising stars it is the unfortunate truth that it will be just that... a dream! I both agree and disagree with this argument because I do think it is an extremely hard industry to break into but I also feel if you are determined and you have the passion, you will succeed! With passion and HARD WORK!

There's no doubt about it... it is a money draining industry. There's headshots, showreels, spotlight, casting subscriptions, travel for auditions. Not to mention the prices of Drama Schools, which are drastically increasing each year, with you having to pay just to audition! What ever happened to the 'talent', these days I feel it's a lot more about money and as a passionate performer, I don't agree with this. Yes it is a business, but it is also a way of life for some people.

I am from a small town in the North of England and travelling for auditions used to cost me a small fortune, and I travelled for hours to get there at silly times - but it's worth it in the end. You have to put in the hard work to achieve your goals.

With the high drama school fees its increasingly hard for aspiring performers from working class backgrounds to study at the establishments, but again referring back to what I said, I also don't think that you need to go to drama school. I think if you have the passion and the talent, you just need to get yourself out there and send your showreel around to casting directors.

Performing is a passion, which unfortunately is inaccessible to so many, not to mention the recent proposal to stop Performing Arts in education by Parliament - if you take away performing arts, you are disabling people to express their creativity, it's madness!

There are people campaigning to get these issues addressed and make improvements for people within performing Arts to reach more opportunities. An example is the Actors Awareness Campaign which has been set up by fellow friend and actor Tom Stocks. He set up the campaign with the aim to give a voice to the community and express these issues.

Photo Copyright of Actors Awareness

Since setting up the campaign it has skyrocketed in popularity. Performers are rushing to get the opportunities, also receiving media attention from BBC and ITV News, even supported by Sir Ian McKellen himself.

The campaign is a great way for performers to get involved in opportunities with regular 'scratch nights' supported by Spotlight. It allows them to become a part of a community facing similar struggles and allows them to work together, speaking to each other and voicing their concerns in order to campaign to get them resolved - which I think is a great idea! It's created by actors for actors and its great for people to talk to other performers who understand their issues.

Sometimes speaking to other performers is easier than talking to family because they understand better.

For more information on the Actor Awareness campaign you can visit their website - www.actorawareness.co.uk

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I've just completed a five week improv intensive at the iO Theatre in Chicago, learning how to be emotionally engaging (and hopefully funny) in front of an audience whilst making stuff up.

Here are my favourite transferable lessons, useful for life as well as improv. I know this all reads a little preachy. But I'm committing to it nonetheless.

1. Listen

This is the basic cornerstone of improv. On stage, we try to listen to our partner and react to the last thing they said, not continue a pre-existing idea about what the conversation was about or spend the time thinking about a funny line to follow it. Sadly the latter is far too common in real life (anyone who has been on a bad internet date is only oh too familiar with someone talking about themselves for two hours). Interesting conversation is like tennis, where people really wait to see how the ball is coming back at them before they get in position for their next move. (Thanks Greg Hess of Cook County Social Club for the analogy). It makes life far more fun.

2. Follow the fear

In my second week in Chicago, I overcame my fear of losing control and getting hurt as I was picked up by my classmates and lifted high above their heads, then flown around a large warehouse space for several minutes. It felt simultaneously supported, powerful and calming and made me trust them and my body a little bit more. Leaving home and job earlier this year felt a bit like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. But only by stepping into the unknown could I work out what was the next phase of me. Only by following the fear can we experience all that life has to offer.

3. Trust your brain

Our subconscious brains are cleverer than we think; we don't need to undermine or quash our creativity all the time. In improv, we try to play like we did as children before we learnt to tell ourselves we are stupid. And to unlearn some of the self filtering and judgement that we lay on ourselves as we become adults. You'll be surprised at your genius. As the brilliant Andy Carey encouraged us; "the stakes are low, if you say something stupid or make a fool of yourself, nothing happens." Embrace play and celebrate failure.

4. Don't be a dick

"There is no reason anyone ever needs to be a dick in life, and no reason on stage either" announces the brilliant Craig Uhlir. There is no need to be racist, sexist, homophobic or generally make other people feel crap. A little bit of love and respect for the people around you makes improv and life generally nicer. And if people do hurt your feelings - as inevitably happens when people start to speak before they think - tell them why. On the receiving end of this, listen and understand but try not to let it paralyse.

5. Don't shoot people or animals

This isn't a hard and fast rule in improv as a bit of death can sometimes serve a scene, but generally it isn't a great move to kill your scene partner, or shoot the owls who are supportively cooing at the back of the stage. As a rule for life, I'm pretty firm on this one. Put the gun down.

Thanks to the brilliant improv teachers who have inspired with their wisdom these last few weeks; Greg Hess, Tara DeFrancisco, Bill Arnett, Craig Uhlir, Adal Rifai, Andy Carey and Farrell Walsh.

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All images, unless stated, owned by the BBC

WARNING: This is jam-packed with The Great British Bake Off spoilers because - well - it's all about The Great British Bake Off.

Signature - drizzle cake
Unusually, their 'genius baking tip' was just common knowledge. 'You need to poke holes in the sponge so that the liquid soaks into the entire sponge'. Yes thank you Tom. Now, talk us through the whole 'make sure there's no egg shell in a mixture' thing again.

Technical - jaffa cake
Most of them criss-crossed the tops with lines of icing, instead of pulling the chocolate upwards with some kind of ruler. Lunatics.

Show stopper - mirror cake
One of those bakes mere mortals cannot reproduce.

The location has been revealed! Welford Park. A private home. Can you imagine?! Hearing the jolly music whenever you put the bins out or see your squirrel friend with massive balls.

Doesn't it just make you proud? Not the ball-bearing squirrels, but our land. With its crisp blue skies and vibrant lawns.

And yes, it will torrentially rain during the summer, but camera filters exist and we know how to use them.

Mel and Sue are back. God how I missed their choice of crisp blazers and lashes.

Paul is still trying to judge X Factor with 'they are uniform...ly bad'. Well you're a dic... tionary of baking terms.

And you're also sometimes a penis (who gets weirdly into jaffas...).

Mary's hair was off the charts this week and couldn't actually fit into the frame half the time.

Back by a fair amount of demand, Mary's face of the week (couldn't decide on one):

By releasing headshots early, we were kind of online dating them all. We'd had a week to create preconceptions and imagine what Rav's voice is like or what kind of walk Benjamina has settled on in life, and then we're faced with the real person. Some surprises!

And we all know we have to start with Val.

Val

2D Val is the sweetest. 3D Val, with her little voice, is just too much.

She's already brought out some sassy judge banter and snuck in some aerobics.

She can hear cake talk. And ya know what? I believe her.

There's something about the apron, but I just can't get Mrs Tiggywinkle out of my head. Just too cyute.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Mrs._Tiggy-Winkle

Michael

Upon tasting Michael's matcha tea flavouring, the judges suggested a similarity to grass.

GRASS.

Instead of spitting it out in disgust and cursing his family, they just pulled a 'hmm, that's new' face and moved on. Yucky.

Benjamina

She wasn't sure which size jelly to use for the jaffa and you're just screaming 'THINK BENAJMINA!' The amount of times you get a jaffa and there's half the bloody sponge without jelly.

She actually cried, bless!

But the smile was back by the end, when she did amazingly well during the showstopper.

The other bakers were all gunning for her, which speaks volumes.

Louise

She based her first round on her mum's favourite drink. Oh fab.

So, prosecco? Amaretto sour? No no.

Vodka and lemonade.

Vodka?
You mean the tasteless spirit one chooses to be covered up by another drink, and smells like nail polish remover or water (budget-depending)?

That's the one.

Cool, cool.

And lemonade?

You mean the tasteless soft drink that tastes of fizzy, lemony water?
WOW WHAT A FANTASTIC CHOICE TO WIN JUDGES OVER WITH YOUR FLAVOURS.

Aside from that, she seems like a nice human.

Lee

Whether it was an editing choice (or just that he has less to offer than Val) Lee added little to the episode... just a lumpy ganache.

Andrew

I have been raised in a jaffa-filled home, and the notion of serving a jaffa upside-down offends me.

He failed miserably at the signature, but managed a great mirror glaze showstopper which saw him bounce back.

Jane

She's almost too comfortable in front of the camera, as if she thinks she's filling in as a host on Saturday Morning Kitchen. I would not be able to string a sentence together while under that sort of pressure, whereas Jane? Oh Jane's cracking out lingo like 'take it off the heat'?!

In fairness, she's got major skills and immediately has winner in her eyes and her glaze... her gleyez (nope, not a thing).

Tom

He's shouted at a pie before (and that's the sound of you realising you'll never be on this show).

He also made a bold move choosing a love-it-or-hate-it flavour in his first bake. Which ended awfully. And literally made them wince. Good one!

Kate

'I'm happy now I've got cake for company.'

Source: http://replygif.net/1121

She went for blue, lumpy icing... there's always one.

Selasi

The show is obsessed with him owning a motorbike. Granny Beeb in all her glory. 'Now living and biking in London.' Good to know. And what's Benjamina's transport mode of choice?

And anyway, he doesn't need a motorbike. He's superman.

Selasi is more chilled than a perfectly-set meringue and intriguingly blasé about baking, despite his impressive results.

It may be this charismatic coolness that's caught the attention of young Candice...

Like the time Selasi looked at Candice longingly...

Ah, nope. That was to Paul.

Anyway, I immediately doubt the Candasi romance as it's blossomed at Preston/Chantelle speed. One to keep an eye on anyway...

Candice

A bit 'too cool for school' claiming a drizzle was 'too technical' for her (?!) and asking her lover Selasi how much time they had left like she hadn't a clue. But, I predict this may be a ruse and she acts like she doesn't care, but there were tears!

Also she said 'mother hubbard' instead of a horrifying blasphemous term. Which is hilarious and definitely uncool enough for school.

Rav

Also a little lost in the crowd. I was expecting him to be very quietly spoken, but not at all!

The main Rav point is, how bare is their house?! The Rav fam need an Ikea haul or something.

Jane is our star baker!

Lee is out! (I know, I can't remember which one he is either.)

Mel & Sue's Best Bits
Mel was ready

for the week with Kate Beckinsale, Cate Blanchett, but no, she'd misheard cake week!

'It's a sort of Jaffa muffin. A juffin'

'30 minutes left for your mirrored glaze, on reflection... 29'

r

The ridiculous statement more fitting of a Scorsese film
'You can't turn the clock back now... you can only move on.' Lee, after he baked a shit cake.

Innuendos of the week - sure, you get a few, but this week was off the charts euphemistic

'The Hollywood handshake would be amazing' Andrew

'You've got two hours to achieve ultimate moistness' Mel & Sue

'My cake is based on the bells' Lee

'I like the flavour of (a) cox' Kate on a lovely pair of apples

'I'm going to poke it in Mary' Candice

For a good minute Kate was talking about swallows and wedding nights and it was just too much

And finally:

Until next time...

Originally posted on The Bake Off Update

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We all have them; that friend that is obsessed with money and power.

He's insulting, mostly towards people at your dinner parties and will always find ways to inject into his daily conversations that he's self-made and drives around in a Ferrari, ironically thinking to himself that such a statement makes him sound humble. It's as if the success comes with bragging rights. How does it feel to be in their shoes though? To have all that they have and yet be surrounded by people whom you deem secretly lesser, yet remain friends with you, purely for the enjoyment of discussing the enormity of your ego?

In Gavin Extence's new novel, The Empathy Problem, we are introduced to one such character by the name of Gabriel Vaughn. He's 32 and has it all, or at least he thinks he does. A brain tumour rapidly develops deep inside his brain, numbering his days. The tumour although inoperable, comes with its own character changing advantages. Gabriel is given in his final months, new experiences in the form of caring emotions.

The first person plot of a man who starts off as a dislikable individual, starts to see the error of his ways and turns his life around, is a typical device. However, Extence has turned this from a first person and into a third giving us a wonderful narrator whose use of psychic distance is enough to have you feel that this was in fact the ghost of Gabriel Vaughn telling us his tale, this is never mentioned or hinted towards and for that, makes it all the more brilliant.

The interconnections between characters is very real and void of the usual bourgeois Thursday night book group discussion fodder you tend to find seeping from a lesser books pages, of such the 1st person copout perspectives we are bored with month after month from publishers. The same can be said of the thoughts Gabriel ponders. Extence clearly knows someone that is close to him that matches this individual almost completely. As I said above, I happen to have a friend that could easily be Gabriel Vaughn. I have even gone so far as recommend this book to him. Interestingly enough, his reply was much in the same way that Gabriel would've chosen; manipulative and elitist; "I don't have time to read books" Thus insulting me for having so much time to read while also declaring his superiority in that he is in constant demand. What, an, arse.

Gavin Extence's writing is both witty and sincere, a clique page-turner it isn't. But certainly a more refined novel for the modern man to read at leisure. Many memorable moments you'll feel compelled to share. For instance, when Gabriel Vaughn feels outmaneuvered by a young clergyman it's made the funnier that in fact, he was outbullshited. Subtle small references such as that, to the modern mans feelings, are very clever and certainly enabling that the book remain in your hands and not sat collecting dust in some pile, holding open a parlor door in your terraced, overpriced town house, in the best part of town.

The Empathy Problem is published by Hodder & Stoughton and available to buy in hardback from all good book shops.

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Last night I sat with my family and listened to their criticisms of the Kardashian family. Apparently, a woman with intelligence is foolish to even think of them fondly. Kim was even branded 'anti-feminist'. And while I held my tongue at dinner last night, I completely and respectfully disagree. Kim Kardashian is a feminist icon. .

To even suggest she might not qualify for icon status as a result of her 'ill-gotten' fame is unfair. She is, unarguably, confident with her own body. She is a poster girl for the curvier woman, and presents her body and self in an unapologetic, get-on-board-with-what-you've-got kind of way. She is totally unafraid of judgement and proves that there is no shame in being liberated and proud of your body. Kim Kardashian is showing women everywhere that, regardless of any opinions others may have, it is more than ok to feel comfortable in your skin. KK has proved this not only through THAT infamous selfie, but with her responses for those who attempt to belittle her.

Kim is a girl's girl. It is increasingly clear that body confidence and empowerment mean a great deal to her. Even since the dawn of Keeping up With the Kardashians, she has promoted her support for women and the importance of standing up for each other.

An incredible success, she is flying the flag for independent women everywhere - and for building your empire no matter where you came from. It is established public knowledge that Kim's first shot at fame came after her leaked sex tape. She used that attention and painfully public shaming to begin building her brand - first of all? Multiple reality television shows and a clothing store. Need I say more?

Undoubtedly, the Kardashian clan have mastered the art of marketing. Like them or not, there is no argument against their following of millions. It seems like that family are everywhere, right? Well, they are. The Kardashians are the gratified owners of a $65million brand and have their marketing skills to thank for said success. Kim knows her brand and understands her target audience. Step 1 in Marketing for Beginners. She knows what they want, and she gives it to them.

As unimaginable to you as it may appear, Kim's Social Media content and posts are created meticulously and consistently to suffice her audience's desires and fantasies. She isn't one to shy away from exposure, and no matter rain or shine, it is guaranteed she'll be taking a selfie/tweeting/posing for her next magazine cover. The entire clan are aware of their imperfections, which contributes massively to their brand. Should a tabloid comment on their weight loss or gain? You can bet that, within days, their endorsements for waist trainers, diet pills, workout videos and detox teas take over multiple social feeds. There truly is no such thing as bad publicity, and frankly, their imperfections only contribute to making the sister's that bit more relatable. They too have bad hair days, frequent break outs and 'cheat meals' that last for entire weekends - and are not afraid to flaunt them.

Kim Kardashian, whilst having grown up with a privileged background, has worked for what she has achieved - making her relevant, relatable and engaging. Post porno, she made the best of a bad situation, worked with what she could and began to explode into the audacious, formidable woman that she is now. It's becoming clear that the well-known family are experts in 'breaking the internet'. Sorry, not sorry.

Whilst she may have remarked that she doesn't identify as a feminist, she has since clarified claims by explaining how she will "always fight for women's rights" and will continue to "encourage women to be open and honest about their sexuality, and to embrace their beauty and their bodies". She elucidates that she is only against labels; whether they be 'poor', 'Democrat', 'Republican', 'plus-sized', 'bisexual' and even 'feminist'. She concluded by shutting down beliefs that supporting certain things should automatically brand you with a label and shone light on the fact that Feminism is the fight for equality, and about ALL human beings being treated equally.

As Lena Dunham, in light of Kim's nearly nude selfie, rightfully claimed; "Every version of being female and feeling empowered is fucking great with me."

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Aside from gambling and buffets, Las Vegas is known for its out of this world entertainment. Vegas residencies are big news and attract some of the biggest stars, including Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez and even Elton John. Having never experienced a Las Vegas concert for myself, I wanted to start off with the best, Mariah Carey.

The Mariah Carey residency, entitled '#1 to Infinity', is taking place on one of the most prestigious stages, The Coliseum at Caesars Palace. After wandering past Julius Caesar and his kingdom of slot machines, you reach the grand entrance to the theatre, where you are greeted by a giant banner of queen Mariah herself.

The Coliseum is a really super space, as it had been built in a way that I imagine every seat has a good view. The sweeping auditorium is filled with spacious seats, and décor that gives a nod to the Roman Empire. As the clock struck eight, it was time for the show to begin, but it didn't look like anyone was expecting a prompt start. Five, ten, twenty minutes passed - it was the anticipation of Mimi. The lights eventually dimmed around 45 minutes later, which I think in diva time was actually early. We were excited.

The curtain rose and revealed a pair of gigantic butterfly wings that filled the stage. The music began, the vocals trilled and Mariah Carey had arrived. The first number up was Vision of Love. She appeared draped in a grand feather coat, which had a train big enough to fill the podium. Platform heals and revealing a tiny leotard underneath - this is exactly what you want from the icon. If anyone had any questions on her vocal ability, they were pleasantly silenced before she even hit the first chorus, with Carey hitting every note and adding in quite a few extras.

'#1 to Infinity' is really a 'Best of Mariah', featuring all the singers number one singles. Every song is something you know and love, from Hero, to One Sweet Day, and Heartbreaker, to Touch My Body. In between the various songs Mariah gives the diva chatter you came to hear, sprinkled with many darlings and perhaps a few hints of shade. She demonstrates a great sense of humor and a really warm personality.

The hits come thick and fast, but being Mariah Carey, there's always time for a quick outfit change. The designer has worked well to create chameleon costumes that have many different skins. There are leotards with removable trains, floor-length dresses that convert to minis - all covered in her trademark sparkles. Mariah looks amazing. And the sets and troop of all-male dancers do well to compliment her. There is a great mix of the diva filling the stage with her vocals alone and fun moments, such as the time she drives in on a pink convertible, surrounded by seven body popping mechanics.

Mariah Carey's Las Vegas residency contains a set list of undeniable hits, with the singer delivering each one as the world-class performer she is. Her voice is on point, with the addition of all the trills and runs that I love to hear from a singer. The creative costumes and bright sets do well to mix up the tempo, but equally, Mariah can simply stand with a spotlight and command The Coliseum. This is a concert featuring the best of Mariah, and she delivers the very best Mariah you could wish for.

Images: Richard Brownlie-Marshall

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Writing an album is a strange thing. In the first instance you're never really sure you are writing an album as the mechanics of making the record are often beyond your own control. In the second instance there's no certainty that a song which closely follows on from another will necessarily make sense eventually when the scythe of mastering final tracks come into play. Each song has to work within its own limits and these limits are pretty well curtailed to two and a half minutes of lyric and music.

What is constant is the backdrop. When I was writing the songs that became Raintown I wasn't aware of any deadline and was only writing up against my own experience of life in Glasgow. Work, rain, home were constants and that nagging idea of home and how resonant that word was for so many people in so many places weighed heavily on me. The problem about making any record is that a song will come along which breaks up the narrative and bears very little relation to the theme you may well have been pursuing. Do you allow yourself to explore this new branch or do you continue scurrying up the same tree?

Most often there is no set theme but simply a background of life which can't be ignored. In beginning to write 'Believers' it was impossible not to be affected by the constant news images of people from Syria desperately trying to flee the war by boat. Turning on the web, the radio or watching the TV made it very difficult to ignore those risking everything to cross the Mediterranean Sea. My daughter had lived in Syria for 6 months in 2009 and another daughter and I went out to Damascus to visit her there in the November of that year. Remembering the kindness and hospitality of the people who had looked after us I found it hard to imagine what these families were experiencing.

What amazed me was that despite the insurmountable dangers and odds stacked against them so many people packed up what they had and set out on the sea knowing only about what they were leaving and almost nothing of the future other than the desperate search for a safe haven. Our responses were probably broadly similar: How could they risk so much? How could they not? Why are we not doing more to help? Like a number of people here we tried to get involved in some small way as it felt the only decent human thing to do.

However, what I couldn't get out of my mind in song after song was the image of the orange dinghies being thrown around on a perilous sea and people simply trusting in someone - anyone - to save them. Leaving the reasons for the conflict aside and notwithstanding the gulf in their experience to my own I think I understood why some of this happened.

When everything has been weighed up and assessed there will always be a moment when we discard so much of what our intellect is telling us and allow ourselves to follow faith. Malcolm Gladwell has described it as the 'blink' moment where we make momentous decisions in a relatively short space of time. In recent times we've had referendums over Europe and Scotland where, to be fair, a good proportion of people on both sides have probably followed their hearts over their heads.

I was taken with this idea in the song The Believers. I realised I was commenting about the people on either side of the news footage. Sure, those poor people forced to flee were certainly 'believers' who had staked their future on the thinnest of chances. But what kind of people were we? It seemed to me, and I asked myself this question at the end of the song, that we could be fearful, myopic and perhaps less than human if we chose to see all this as simply a problem. Wasn't there a good reason for us too to be 'believers?' Not in a political idea or a religious faith but in the one thing it's possible to change: ourselves.

Thinking back to that first record I kept thinking about the resonance of that idea of home. It's an idea more than a place and all of us are trying to find it. To misunderstand that search or try to build walls and defences in the way of that search is to distort that very idea. Our response to those out on the sea can only be made when we remember where we have all travelled from oursleves. It's taken some of us longer than others but all of us are looking to for safe places to live and grow old. In his recent biography AA Gill concluded, 'We are all in the same boat, all refugees from the past trying to find a home.'

It seems to me too that for humanity to survive we all too must trust the stranger. The alternatives are too awful to contemplate. And so, the song ends:

you wake up one morning
there's nothing you can do about it now
you know you're on one side or the other
you're just one more believer

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I'm not the only person who listens to the radio with sadness and disappointment when considering artists who used to dominate the airwaves such as the late David Bowie, Prince and Amy Winehouse. I'm not the only one who feels squashed by big corporations and their power over the media. Am I the only one who struggles as an artist, musician and independent creative because I will not subscribe to the mainstream? Would I sell out to clean-cut trend or, as Bill Hicks - the stand-up comedian, satirist and musician - comments, would I put my face to Coca-Cola or another brand to sell their product, gain fame or make cash? No, and of course I'm not the only one.

A true musician has no choice but to survive and make music their life choice. You have to keep the love alive, feeding your desire and passion for music and less obvious things. If you are unwilling or unable simply to replicate another artist's style or join the league of other existing genres, it's even more difficult, but more rewarding, because that is where there is real magic, freedom and some version of integrity.

Personally, I find the manufactured style of a lot of bands and musicians unappealing. In the past, I've felt oppressed by trends. I have been heartbroken at times and disappointed about where certain music genres have travelled. I've been shocked about the lack of originality that there has been for a long time now. I understand that nothing can be truly original, but when a new band with a new sound has emerged, I've always watched where that seed or originality has travelled.

I was heavily into grunge from around 1990 to 1996. My heart broke when I went in to my local record store one day. I had just bought every album by the Butthole Surfers. The shop assistant stopped me before I left and said "Check this album out, it's by 'The Offspring'". The album was called "Smash". No disrespect to the 16 million people who bought that album and put that band on the map, but to my ears it was like listening to the McDonald's of punk. It was for a generation I didn't relate to, and the earthiness and genuine energy of bands I liked from the 70s, 80s and 90s seemed not to be important anymore. It was more about being tongue in cheek, sporting manufactured hairstyles, wearing all the right gear and being a little plastic. I guess it was the birth of pop punk. Pop punk? What? I was very sad when my journey in a beloved genre was interrupted by what seemed to me to be shallow music.

I found that the same happened in hip hop for a good while, but this was harder to understand. I wasn't a gangster, I wasn't' from 1970's Bronx and I wasn't oppressed for my skin colour, but I was obsessed by the energy of bands like Public Enemy, NWA and loads of Hip Hop artists tht had gone before them.

Anything too 'poppy' was dismissed by the general hip hop community, but after about 1992, it seemed to me that as long as there was a good beat and someone rapping about guns, bitches, money and weed, one was in for a pretty good chance of selling a few records. All of a sudden hip hop appealed to a mass cult of people globally. Like pop punk, it exploded into the mainstream.

Don't get me wrong. It's the mainstream that disappointed me. Both punk and hip hop have still had relevant and prolific artists and people who did not jump on the bandwagon. Hip hop has evolved into something incredible again. Even mainstream hip hop and the genres it inspired continue to push boundaries. I don't witness that in punk or rock music. I also don't really see that with guitar-driven music, and that is sad, as I play guitar obsessively and have done for years.

I wanted to explain a small part of my musical journey. I also wanted to touch on the fact that I have never really found much interest in the mainstream.

Fast forward to 2016. Over the past 12 years, I've experienced so many different sides of the music industry: touring, performing, the media, releasing music, and representing yourself when you want your music to be heard. For years, I worked away on my own with my guitar like a freak. Eventually I was in a position to have my own studio/writing room, and I put all my energy into creating my own music.

For some time, I had tried to reinvent the wheel and, to be honest, I failed. I didn't ever try to release anything or hardly invited anyone to hear it. I guess that's because I wasn't ready to follow any recognised pattern of songs. It was music just for me to listen to and experience in the way I wanted. I didn't have the inclination or desire to do what anyone had done before. At times, it was profoundly difficult, because I felt like my channelled energy only had a short attention span. This was frustrating. I came to a point in my life where I could have gave up on what I couldn't live without - music. It wasn't an option. I was and still am working with great artists like Gary Numan and Pop Will Eat Itself as a guitarist/bass player and producer, but I wasn't writing my own music or, more importantly, my own songs, even though that was all I thought about.

After a profoundly intense and difficult time in my personal life, I found myself not caring so much about the originality that I had so preciously been trying to invent. I decided just to gather all my influences together and weave them all into a load of songs.

Part 2 coming soon....

Tim Muddiman and The Strange release their debut album titled "Paradise Runs Deeper" on 9th September 2016 and perform at The Lexington, Pentonville Road, London 4th September 2016.

www.facebook.com/timmuddimanband
www.timmuddimanandthestrange.com

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So you had to change channel during one of Andy Murray's matches? Gee, sorry to hear about that. Brits complaining about the BBC coverage of the Olympics should try watching in the USA.

Our TV subscription entitles us to watch the main NBC prime time channel. The primetime Rio show runs for four hours each evening but it's a kind of unfolding car crash of all the worst aspects of old-style TV. It is virtually unwatchable.

First there are the adverts, which happen with incredible frequency and repetition. It's virtually the same five ads all the time. We have "Real People. Not Actors" swooning over "Awesome" Chevys; America Runs on Dunkin, Gold-themed insurance ads "People ask me what it's like to win an Olympic gold medal. I tell them, if you own an insurable consumer item you already know."

Then there is Coke's "Gold Feeling' campaign which encourages viewers to text about experiences that equate to winning a gold medal. It doesn't seem to have caught fire exactly. I just checked and the top tweet was "last thing any of these athletes need is your shitty unhealthy product #That'sGold".

Procter and Gamble's schmaltzy "Thanks Mom" features Olympic athletes as children opening their school lunchboxes and smiling with delight to find loving notes pinned to their contents. Is that what Moms are supposed to do now? Yuk. Vomit. I protest. This constant focus on Olympic mothers, however, has made me think there should be a mother's race at the end of Rio. I reckon Judy Murray would have it sewn up. And I bet her boys made their own lunches.

Then there is the show itself which appears to be viewed less as a great, live sporting contest than an opportunity to make people watch adverts.

Although the Rio time zone is close to the US, they don't show events as they happen. Instead, things that people may actually want to see such as the women's gymnastics are pushed to the end of the show, so you have already heard on social media who won anyway, and you have to sit through hours of crap to see it.

They are also really static. They don't zip about as the BBC do, trying to give an overview of the event, the big moments, the triumphs and disasters. For three nights running, we were at the poolside watching swimming heats. Even when there was nothing going on in the pool, we saw swimmers jogging on the spot in tracksuits. Inordinate amounts of time was given over to a feeble tale of Lilly King wagging her finger. NBC did flash over to the tennis for two minutes once, but they didn't even mention the men's singles. We heard only that the mixed doubles had been an All-American affair.

The other night, I was really keen to see the women's gymnastics floor competition. These little women are amazing, defying gravity with their powerful bodies, throwing themselves so high into the air that you wouldn't be surprised to find them going into orbit. Maybe they are the future of the human race - climate change would be helped if we were all 30% smaller and we wouldn't need jetpacks.

The NBC prime time show kept trailing the gymnastics. I watched a TV presenter get a fencing lesson with an Olympian. Simone Biles' haul of medals was apparently pretty much overshadowed by the thrill she got from meeting her hero Zac Efron.

There was a package about "Romantic Rio". "For some the Olympics is all about gold medals, but for others gold rings are going to be their most cherished mementoes ".

Then we met the beach volleyball women's team. "At home there is a ceramic moose in need of some ornamentation." I kid you not, there was a picture of one of the team's living room with a ceramic moose head on the wall, one antler draped with a medal from a previous Olympics. Of course, I was sitting there amazed, thinking: "Gosh, this woman is an Olympic athlete but she's also a mum just like me, and I really hope she wins now because otherwise that moose is just going to look all lopsided there in her home." Not.

By the time they got to the gym, I had given up and gone to the pub and was nursing a single malt when those incredible floor routines finally aired.

Why can't I watch the BBC outside the UK? If it is to do with contracts for selling content abroad, they should change the contracts. The world is changing. NBC is getting punished by viewers for its approach. Many, like me, would be happy to subscribe to an IBC channel. Lucky viewers in the UK, know that your BBC TV service is gold.

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Can you hear that? A crackling, sizzling sound. Are the neighbours having a barbecue? No, there's a TV sensation smouldering in the distance.

There's already been much talk of the upcoming second series of Poldark, whose first episode airs in the UK on September the 4th. What can we expect? I wish I knew. I haven't even read the books so no plot spoilers here.

The tantalising teaser trailer recently released by the BBC is all I have to go on at the moment. The tarot cards in it might not be giving much away but it's safe to assume that there will be plenty of pouting and glowering. In these thirty seconds alone Ross smoulders so hard, flowers wither in his presence. The man's a fire hazard. No wonder he needs to stand by the sea to cool off.

Because this is Cornwall, so I predict there'll be much sea-staring too. No episode of Poldark would be complete without at least one character gazing pensively at the horizon - each script has seconds allotted for it, as well as time built in for windswept gallops through wide Cornish landscapes.

Which is handy because it also provides much opportunity for pathetic fallacy, as the weather easily competes with the actors for the best acting awards. We're in the 1780s so the genre calls for extended bouts of silent acting and moody glances. So many long lingering looks are there, these scripts must be dotted with ellipses like drizzle dropping on Bodmin Moor: perhaps this is the real reason why it's called 'period' drama.

"I fought for our liberty," says Ross in the trailer. "For our hopes, for our dreams. And I'll keep on fighting, whatever the cost." Blimey. As if all that coastal brooding and topless scything wasn't enough hard work.

Ross fought in the American Civil War so forget the tinkly piano and romantic strings, these words have a throbbing rock soundtrack, which also evokes Ross' raw sexuality. I hope Demelza's still baking her pies, he'll need them. Careful not to eat too many though Ross, or you won't fit into those tight breeches.

Those big frilly white shirts are quite baggy, though, so maybe he'll be alright. Will Ross get his off again? (in a tasteful, truthful and totally relevant sense, of course). The skies do look greyer this time round, so maybe he'll need to keep it on.

Nothing bodes well when the skies are that dark. Especially since the last we saw of Ross he was on his way to prison after the wily Warleggans had him arrested for wrecking, inciting a riot and murder.

He was in his usual sea-staring spot so he wasn't hard to find, and after the topless scything scene, the temptation to put Ross in handcuffs was evidently too much to resist. And as we know, lighting is very dim in period prisons so there'll definitely not be much chance of seeing Ross' stick-on hairy chest.

Not only that, but poor old Jim Carter died in prison, so Ross'll need to be extra-careful, especially if Verity's posset is only available to Captain Blamey now. Which reminds me: is he still hoisting his spankers? Is Verity still admiring his mast? Is Ruth Teague still flaunting her succulent syllabubs? Can Francis' priapic hat get any taller? Will he ever find a personality? Will anyone ever say, "I dislike the cut of his jib"?

And I haven't even mentioned the copper mines. That pistol shot as Ross and Demelza get it on in the trailer has decided it: Poldark is going to be as hysterically funny this time round as it was the first. I'll see you there.

This post first appeared in http://lusciouswound.blogspot.co.uk/

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These days, creative writing courses are offered by so many universities, publishing houses, newspapers or literary agencies, you can't order a cappuccino without tripping over one or open a newspaper without being invited to go for publishing stardom.

So ubiquitous is their presence and acceptance, we're in serious danger of forgetting that literature has been flourishing and blossoming for hundreds of years without any need of them: from Chaucer to Charles Dickens, from Tolstoy to Tagore, from Rumi to Rowling. Across the world, writers have been producing novels, plays and poems of such distinction, intelligence, subtlety and sophistication that we're bewitched by the beauty of their words, engaged by their stories, challenged by their ideas.

How is it, that in the twenty-first century, a creative writing course has come to be considered de rigueur for any aspiring author? The idea that creativity - nebulous, indefinable, unknown - can be imparted through lectures and seminars? Goodness gracious me! It's enough to make you wonder how William Shakespeare ever penned a word without the advice of a creative writing tutor, Jane Austen write Pride and Prejudice without having a creative writing degree, or Charlotte Bronte produce Jane Eyre without having studied the dialogue between theory and practice?

So what's really creative about creative writing courses? Their hefty fee of course. Forget PPI, it's the miss-selling of creativity I object to.

Creative writing courses garner thousands of pounds. Universities charge around £9000 a year and even one day courses, can raise impressive amounts of money. Danuta Kean noted in an article for Mslexia magazine that a one-day masterclass by the Guardian newspaper, made approximately £38000. It's the new gold rush folks.

The open secret is this: what creative writing courses really create, are jobs. Jobs for academics and professional writers. I don't begrudge anyone a salary, particularly writers, as it can be pretty difficult to follow your muse and pay the bills. However, it's time for some clear-eyed honesty.

The writer Hanif Kureishi, himself a professor at Kingston University, teaching on their creative writing course, condemned them as 'a waste of time'. In the same Guardian article novelist and former creative writing teacher Lucy Ellman, described creative writing (courses) as "the biggest con-job in academia" and pointed to the poet August Kleinzahler's comment in the Guardian, that "It's terrible to lie to young people. And that's what it's about."

In the interests of full disclosure, I should here state that I set up the Asian Women Writers' Workshop (later known as the Asian Women Writers' Collective) whose work has been archived by SADAA. So why, you may ask, am I being so critical of creative writing courses? Because workshops are an entirely different beast. They're informal, collaborative, no fees are taken and no academic qualifications are offered.

Historically, writers and artists have been the rebels of society, the outsiders, the interrogators. Defiantly putting life and society under the microscope, showing up its false gods and values, deceits and injustices; examining the human heart; good and evil; performing post mortems on history and convention. Let's not forget that D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover was the subject of an obscenity trial, and Rushdie's Satanic Verses put him under a fatwa.

Throughout the ages, like other artists, writers have been fiercely independent, toiled at their craft, followed their truth, whether it gave them worldly approval or not - whether it earned them a creative writing degree or not. I wonder if Lady Chatterley's Lover would have made it unscathed through a creative writing course, given the examining, commenting, discussing....; I wonder how distorted, diluted and tamed it would have become.

I'm genuinely filled with dismay by the number of writers flocking to creative writing courses, and ask, what's happened to their defiant confidence and independence? That burning intelligence and passion which produces originality, provokes thought, grips our hearts, points to truth and justice?

Universities and other creative writing organisers point to their alumni, the writers who've been published, to demonstrate the purpose and success of their courses. Begging the question - out of how many thousands? It's probable those very few writers would have been published anyway.

Literature contributes to the universal pool of knowledge, from which we all partake. Stories aren't 'made-up' stuff. They're as tied to the material and imaginative eco-system of our existence, as our minds and bodies. If literature loses its dissension, its unknown, its instinct, its 'attitude', we'll all be the poorer for it. Let's never forget that literature came before creative writing courses, but creative writing courses may well kill it off.

References

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/04/creative-writing-courses-waste-of-time-hanif-kureishi

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/mar/05/hanif-kureishi-creative-writing-courses-waste-of-time

http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item105907.html

https://mslexia.co.uk/magazine/issue-67-sepoctnov-2015/

http://sadaa.co.uk/archive/literature/asian-women-writers-collective

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/six-myths-about-the-creat_b_705279.html

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