Though technically entitled the “O2 Academy, Brixton,” the building which houses the famous Brixton Academy in London was once the location of a bustling film house, The Astoria. Built in 1929, The Astoria saw many film premieres and the BBC would occasionally broadcast live acts playing The Astoria stage. In 1972, the theater closed but later that year reopened as ... Read More »
Today in London 250 brightly decorated, lifesized elephants are being installed all over the city by Elephant Family, a non-profit that raises money for, you guessed it, Elephants. The elephants were decorated by celebrities and artists, amongst them Isaac Mizrahi, Diane von Furstenberg and the HRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The installation called Elephant Parade will continue through ... Read More »
For eons, Britain has lived and died by the sea. Cut off from mainland Europe by the English channel and from the West by the Atlantic Ocean, the sea has been both a treasure trove for the Brits, supplying them with food, trade roots, and, more recently, oil, while providing them with a strategic moat that defended them from ... Read More »
The posters for this year’s Baftas remind us that despite all our advances in digital manipulation and focus groups, marketing was just better 40 years ago. (/Film) Thom Yorke and Flea’s new superband, Atoms for Peace, hits the road. (Brooklyn Vegan) Roger Ebert reminisces about the years he lived in London’s soon-to-be-replaced Jermyn Hotel. (Guardian UK) ... Read More »
Looking for something a bit more flash than what Savile Row or the High Street had to offer, a few fashion-forward Londoners began to frequent a warren of stores and corners called Carnaby Street in that city’s SoHo district in the late 1950s. The loud prints, loose ankles, military surplus, and other bits of flair offered by retailers like ... Read More »
With a reputation as a genius of oils, a bon vivant, and a brawler, Michelangelo Merisi, known more popularly as Caravaggio, was bound to attract as many admirers as haters, as many compatriots as foes. Cleverly, a London-based gallery specializing in Old Masters, Whitfield Fine Arts, has collected the Roman master of chiaroscuro’s most fervent followers and detractors under ... Read More »
Were you, like us, tuning in and out of the Grammys last night? Yes, we know, you had better things to do. Of the many special (and many more not-so-special) moments you missed was Houston’s own Beyoncé Knowles breaking out of “If I Were a Boy” for a verse and chorus of “You Oughta Know”, the 1995 hit by ... Read More »
The much-anticipated exhibition The Real Van Gogh opens at London’s Royal Academy of Art this weekend, with promises to shed new light on the artist though his own letters. It’s the first major Van Gogh exhibit to hit the city in over 40 years, and it’s sure to be a big one. Can’t make it across the pond? No need ... Read More »
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