During the week Monday 26 January - Sunday 1 February The Big Chill recommends you…

SEE…
fuzzy artwork from fuzzy girl band Electralane. The exhibition coincides with Electralane’s new album ‘The Power Out’ (released 2 February) and features individual artowrks produced by five visual artists who took as their starting point one of the song titles from the album.

Saturday 31st January - 15th February 2004. Bedford Place, Brighton. Thur + Fri 6pm - 9pm; Sat + Sun 1pm - 6pm. Info: 01273 710771/ www.permanentgallery.com

WATCH…
illicit underage blowjobs and comatose pissheads and more Shameless activity (pictured above). Thankfully not a reality TV show (although the dialogue is disconcertingly bang on) the outrageous behaviour by the Mancunian dysfunctional family, the Gallaghers (oooh that’s an inspired name!), makes for some refreshingly witty and entertaining viewing.

Shameless, Channel 4, 10pm, Tuesdays.

EAT…
delicious food, enjoy a glass of champagne AND catch a classic movie in luxury. One Aldwych in London has a three course dinner in its classy restaurant and a classic movie for £35 per person. That’s if you have any money left… Oh go on, treat yourself on pay day - why should this time of year be any different?

From 23rd January to 28th March 2004. Call Axis restaurant on 020 7300 0300 or email axis@onealdwych.com for dinner and movies on Friday and Saturday. Call Indigo restaurant on 020 7300 0400 or email indigo@onealdwych.com for dinner or brunch and movies on Sunday. www.onealdwych.com/special_offers/offers_movies.html

GO…
to Hackney Empire, newly re-opened. A huge variety of acts, from serious theatre to sing-a-long cabaret should ensure the Empire’s reclaim to fame as a top London entertainment venue after its stint as a bingo hall. This week’s main production is Slava’s Snowshow - brought back after its triumph at the same venue in 1988.

Hackney Empire, 291 Mare Street, London E8 1EJ. Tel: 020 8510 4500. Box Office (6 lines) Tel: 020 8985 2424. www.hackneyempire.co.uk

GROW…
a beard. For one thing it’ll keep you warm during this week’s cold spell. And it’s also painfully hip to have one, of course with the likes of Tim ‘Love’ Lee’s bird’s nest and Andrew Weatherall’s handlebar moustache leading the way in the hairy face department. Once you’ve grown yours to your liking, why not register your beard here: www.nationalbeardregistry.orga

THANKS TO FISH AND THE LEGENDARY JESSE BELLE FOR THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDATIONS

Tags: email, february, january, london, restaurant, should
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This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2004 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

During the fortnight Monday 19 January - Sunday 26 January The Big Chill recommends you…

SEE…
in the Chinese New Year. This year is the Year Of The Monkey - and although 22 January is the official date, celebrations will be in full swing on 25 January in London’s West End (Leicester Square, Gerrard Street and Trafalgar Square). Expect the usual riot of dragon-dance parades, plus demos of music, cookery and martial arts. You can also spend a day at the Victoria and Albert museum on 24 January (11am - 5.30pm, Free) and explore everything from Chinese lion dancing and Chinese chess to Chinese opera face painting.

For Chinatown celebrations go here: www.chinatownchinese.com. For V’n'A details go here: www.vam.ac.uk

HEAR
The Magic Band and The Fall. One of the most avant-garde rock’n'roll outfits joins forces with one of the most significant indie bands in the UK for a night of music mayhem and magic.

Friday 23 January, 8pm, £17.50-£22.50. The Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, London. www.rfh.org.uk for more details and ticket sales

DANCE…
at Heritage, a new night at Cargo aiming to find a balance between the club aesthetic and live music and bringing together cutting edge artists from different factions of the music industry including composers, vjs, producers, live bands and djs. The first one features a live string quintet - String Elektro - and Compost’s Joseph Malik on the decks, with much, much more on offer.

Thursday 22 January, pm - 1 am. Entrance: FREE before 8pm then £6 (£4 NUS). Cargo, Kingsland Viaduct, 83 Rivington Street, London. More info: 020 7739 3440 / www.cargo-london.com

EAT…
The humble cream egg. Yes, it’s back on the shelves. A new batch of sugar-super-saturated creamy badness, shelled in chocolate, and then rather annoyingly wrapped in hard-to-remove foil. Diminutive, yet so dense that - as an Anglo-French-type person might say - un oeuf is enough.

MAKE…
datiles con bacon. You probably bought dates over Christmas and wondered why you did, as they are guaranteed to remain uneaten. Well, here’s one way to make ‘em just that bit more exciting. Take the stones out of the dates and wrap each date in half a rasher of smoked streaky bacon and lay on an over proof tray. Bake in a medium oven (175 c or gas mark 4) for 40 minutes. OR fry them and they’re ready in 10. Serve warm. Yum.

THANKS TO MR SOFT, FREDDIE B AND MEL MORRIS FOR THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDATIONS

Tags: bacon, chinese, free, january, live, music, street, year
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This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2004 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

During the fortnight Monday 12 January - Sunday 18 January The Big Chill recommends you…

SEE…
Girl With A Pearl Earring. The rather delightful sensitive book by Tracy Chevalier - which is a fiction based entirely on Vermeer’s painting of the same name - has been made into a film featuring Colin Firth (swoon) and young actress sensation of the moment, Scarlett Johansson (sigh!). In other words, essential.

Out on general release 16 January

HEAR…
Blue States for their first live outing of 2004. Armed with new songs from their forthcoming third album ‘The Soundings’, alongside, presumably, some old gorgeous downtempo favourites, this should be rather special.

15 January 2004. 7pm-midnight. The Spitz, 109 Commercial Street, London. More info and tickets: www.spitz.co.uk

EAT…
if you’re not furiously detoxing like the rest of us (and why not?) go rub salt in our wounds by stuffing yourself with a big fat hamburger. The good, additive-free-range-proper-chips kind, of course. Hamburger Union. They’re the best hamburgers in town, by a very very long way. End of story. (Veggie options available)

4-6 Garrick Street, London, WC2E 9BH. www.hamburgerunion.co.uk

LEARN…
to buy art at the London Art Fair. Hundreds of individual galleries, plus a specially designed Art House where you can see art in the context of a modern living space is on offer as well as an Art Shop selling books, posters and prints. And if it’s all too much you could just sit in one of the two Art Bars and watch everybody else.

14-18 January. £12 (£10 concessions). Business Design Centre, N1. www.londonartfair.co.uk

MAKE…
your way to the small town of Vaagaa in Norway. Not literally, because you only have to get to The Spitz Gallery in London to do so. Elin Hoyland’s photos (see above) of two elderly brothers in Vaagaa who had lived together all their lives in a wooden house they’d built themselves, are brilliant albeit just ever so slightly disturbing.

January 17 - 25. Free admission. The Spitz Gallery, Old Spitalfields Market, 109 Commercial Str E1 6BG. 020 7392 9032. www.spitz.co.uk

THANKS TO HENRY SCOWCROFT, FREDDIE B AND FISH FOR RECOMMENDATIONS THIS WEEK

Tags: commercial, gallery, january, london, rather, street, town
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This entry was posted on Friday, January 9th, 2004 at 7:06 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

During the week Monday 5 January - Sunday 11 January The Big Chill recommends you…

SEE…
Below Stairs… and take a peek at how servants (and slaves) have been represented in all kinds of art over the last four centuries. The first ever study of servants in Britain, ‘Below Stairs - 400 Years of Servants’ Portraits’ gives a glimpse into another world.

Until January 11 2004. Admission £6, Concessions £4. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 10am - 6pm (Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm); Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10am - 9pm (Gallery closure commences at 8.50pm). Wolfson Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, WC2H OHE. Recorded information: 020 7312 2463 General information: 020 7306 0055. Website: www.npg.org.uk

HEAR…
The Trojans featuring legendary saxophonist Rudy Jones - who is celebrating his 74th birthday. They’re live at ‘Sweet Memory Sounds’, put on by veteran roots specialist DJ Derek’s night, alongside the loveable Gaz’ ‘Rockin’ Blues’ Mayal and David McHugh for a night of sun-blissed reggae and ska.

6 January 2004. 6pm-1am. £5, free before 8pm. Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, W11 (020 7460 4459) ww.nottinghillartsclub.com

EAT…
mounds of fresh fruit, piles of raw vegetables and douse yourself in wheat grass. Yes, it’s detox month and time to cleanse that Xmas and New Year’s Eve battered liver. At least until SoxaN. Well, for a couple of days minimum. Honestly, your body WILL thank you even if your soul will be starved for a few hours. And, yes, that very small cake does count, tsk tsk.

DO…
SoxaN. Another corker - with the inimitable Mixmaster Morris and the illustrious Murray Clarke (Leggobeast / Pork Recordings) as guest jocks joined by gorgeous prime colour addict Amukidi (Big Chill) on visuals.

January 10 2004, 9:30pm - 5am (last entry 2:30am). £8 on the door or £6 with flyer / eflyer / txt msg / student card. The Rhythm Factory, 16-18 Whitechapel Rd, London E1. www.soxan.co.uk

MAKE…
your rubbish useful. Start the New Year by splitting your bin into four Swedish style - plastic, paper, glass and organic waste - and make that trip to the recycling centre. If your local authority doesn’t collect, ask them why. And if you’re London-based there’s even less excuse to bury your head in the sand - Londoners produce enough rubbish to fill an Olympic size swimming pool - EVERY FOUR HOURS. Learn more about London’s Urban Grime at The Museum of London’s exhibition, which confronts this dirty issue head on. And if you’re bored at work - why not fill in their online questionnaire - which will be forwarded to the Mayor who has his own suggestions for tackling this filthy subject.

Until January 18. Admission free. Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.50pm, Sunday 12.00 noon to 5.50pm. Museum of London, London Wall, EC2Y 5HN. Info line: 0870 444 3851. www.museumoflondon.org.uk

THANKS TO MEL MORRIS AND THE LEGENDARY JESSE BELLE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS THIS WEEK

Photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com

Tags: fill, gallery, head, january, london, monday, saturday, sunday
Posted in Features | 483 views |

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2004 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.