WHO ARE

We are luxury travel industry experts, bringing the most elite brands in the world to life with passion, innovation and creativity.

Our multi-award-winning team have expertise in video and film production, public relations, global luxury hotel and travel marketing, social media marketing, travel technology and online intelligence.

MEET THE TEAM

David Beasley

CEO & Managing director

David Beasley

CEO & Managing director

David Beasley is an award winning film director and broadcast producer who has worked with many of the worlds finest hotels, resorts and travel destinations. As a result of his digital entrepreneurial qualities, he has been instrumental in industry-shifting initiatives in the UK and worldwide.

david.beasley@vipworldwide.tv

Kirsty Beasley

Director of Marketing

Kirsty Beasley

Director of Marketing

Kirsty is a multi-award-winning Chartered Marketer and MBA graduate. She has over 18 years’ experience in strategic marketing and a proven record of accomplishment and success in the creation of digital marketing and social media strategies in international travel and tourism.

kirsty.beasley@vipworldwide.tv

Oliver Harlow

Head of Global Sales

Oliver Harlow

Head of Global Sales

Oliver has 20 years of marketing communications and business development experience across a variety of industries. After initially attending the American College of Switzerland in Leysin, he graduated from Richmond University in London with a BA in International Relations.

oliver.harlow@vipworldwide.tv

Alistair Forrest

Director of Caribbean Sales

Alistair Forrest

Director of Caribbean Sales

Alistair is a Member of the UK's Institute of Hospitality (MIH). He's worked with some of the finest luxury hospitality brands, including Soneva Fushi, Banyan Tree, and Six Senses. He has received a Conde Nast Gold list inclusion, AAA 4 Diamond Awards and Top 5 positions in Travel and Leisure’s Top Hotels.

Candice Collomb

Digital Marketing Manager

Candice Collomb

Digital Marketing Manager

Candice has over 10 years of experience working with several high-end brands, including Le Royal Monceau, Raffles Paris, and Karl Lagerfeld. Candice promotes brands, their general image, and online reputation through an ever-increasing focus on client experience from the first click to direct bookings.

candice.collomb@vipworldwide.tv

Sarah Jordan

Social Media Marketing Executive

Sarah Jordan

Social Media Marketing Executive

Sarah focusses on creating strong digital and social marketing plans to help boost brand awareness, increase followership as well as footfall and website traffic. Along with a strong attention to detail and a creative outlook, her passion for hospitality ensures that she effectively manages social media campaigns and delivers strategic marketing plans to promote brands through social media channels.

sarah.jordan@vipworldwide.tv

Andi Olssen

Head of Post-Production

Andi Olssen

Head of Post-Production

Andi is Head of VIP Worldwide's Post Production house. Graduating with an MA from Goldsmiths College in London, he has a proven track record in creating award-winning films with a contemporary slant, whilst always communicating the core messages.

andi.olssen@vipworldwide.tv

David Stubbins

Director, Senior Cameraman and Film Editor

David Stubbins

Director, Senior Cameraman and Film Editor

David is responsible for producing the unique look and style of VIP Worldwide's films and has experience of working all over the world. Producing content for most major broadcasters for over 15 years, David is both a highly experienced director and first camera operator.

david.stubbins@vipworldwide.tv

Josh Rowden

Digital Content Manager

Josh Rowden

Digital Content Manager

From bespoke, responsive website design, Graphic design, artwork for APP’s to e-newsletter production, Josh has the ability to make any creative brief a reality. Josh loves learning new techniques to keep ahead of the game allowing him to create websites and brand collateral that reflect our clients’ needs and aspirations and provides outstanding ideas and creations for a wide range of international clients.

josh.rowden@vipworldwide.tv

Phil Culkin

Film Editor

Phil Culkin

Film Editor

Phil is highly skilled in modern post-production techniques and colour grading using state-of-the-art Broadcast Avid Media Composer. As well as editing for TV and desktop PCs, he specialises in short form film and video for social media marketing and optimisation for smartphone and tablet.

phil.culkin@vipworldwide.tv

Simon Baxter

Senior Cameraman & Film Editor

Simon Baxter

Senior Cameraman & Film Editor

Simon is an experienced and versatile lighting cameraman with over 25 years’ experience behind the camera. He has worked on projects in Australia, the Caribbean, Greece, and the USA. His areas of expertise include aerial shots, specialist tracking, and underwater filming.

simon.baxter@vipworldwide.tv

Christoph Gelep

Timelapse Photographer & Filmmaker

Christoph Gelep

Timelapse Photographer & Filmmaker

Christoph specialises in all things timelapse, hyperlapse, slow-motion, and unconventional film-making. Since graduating with a BA in Media Production, Christoph has gained experience in working on feature films, TV dramas, documentaries, and commercials for a variety of different clients all over the world.

christoph.gelep@vipworldwide.tv

Iain Thompson

International Aerial DOP

Iain Thompson

International Aerial DOP

Iain oversees VIP Worldwide's global aerial cinematography productions. He is a skilled licensed drone pilot and has worked around the world producing award-winning, amazing imagery. Iain is also adept at filming from helicopter and light aircraft.

iain.thompson@vipworldwide.tv

Peter Crosby

Cameraman

Peter Crosby

Cameraman

Peter has worked as a teacher, photographer, and location scout all over Europe. His award-winning work has appeared in film festivals, on major TV networks, on popular websites, and several have been Vimeo Staff Picks.

peter.crosby@vipworldwide.tv

Sophie Coughlan

PR Consultant

Sophie Coughlan

PR Consultant

Sophie has worked across a number of global consumer brands. She specialises in the travel industry, and has been instrumental in opening hotels, overseeing property and brand relaunches, and managing international portfolios of some of the world’s biggest hospitality companies.

sophie.coughlan@vipworldwide.tv

Jennifer A. Oberstein

Executive Consultant: Public Relations & Marketing

Jennifer A. Oberstein

Executive Consultant: Public Relations & Marketing

Jennifer has over 15 years of public relations and marketing experience. She has held leadership roles at both The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and The Leading Hotels of the World, and is known throughout the industry for innovative ideas and creative, results-oriented strategies.

VIP Worldwide TV is the leading video production, public relations, virtual reality production, content marketing, digital storytelling and social media marketing company for luxury hotels and resorts. Using state-of-the-art 4K cinematography technology, our digital storytelling engages and influences viewers, leading to an increase in bookings and revenue for our clients.


Must Experience Accommodation Facilities in London

December 12, 2014

If you are looking towards planning an eventful vacation while enjoying the comforts delivered by eco-friendly hostels and hotels, then you are in a right spot. Hotels in London City offers an incredible range of green stays across the world and get ready to create some positive impacts on your next trip-by staying in one of the following gorgeous hotels. Check out the list of impressive and valuable hotels that must be included in your bucket list when you plan a visit to London. (Image by SaffyH – BETA IS NOT BETTER IT IS WORSE!)

Hotels near Oxford Street

Oxford Street is the most famous tourist spot that keeps you busy through out the trip. Oxford Street is captivated by some of the most popular and eye catching hotels that definitely worth your visit. Just few minutes of walk from the shops of Oxford Street, you can find out astonishing Mandeville Hotel, an award-winning restaurant that has been comprised of stylish air-conditioned rooms, free Wi-Fi and other top class facilities. With unique and stunning design, this innovative A Morgans hotel is just a two minute walk from Oxford Street, which is very spacious, designer rooms boast fantastic London views, HD TVs, and Egyptian cotton sheets.

The Marylebone Hotel is 500 metres from the shops of Oxford Street including Selfridges that offers complimentary access to a state-of-the-art gym, 18 metre swimming pool and fitness classes. The Ritz London is the world-famous hotel offers the height of opulence with luxurious bedrooms, exquisite British cuisine, and classic afternoon teas. Ham Yard Hotel and Charlotte Street Hotel are the most astonishing hotels that offers well maintained rooms with air conditioning, garden, terrace and also a minibar and iPod-docking station and much more.

The Milestone Hotel

If you are looking for a hotel with impeccable service, delicious food and a relaxing, comfortable atmosphere, then look no further. The Milestone Hotel is simply the best hotels in London hotels over the years, where one can find out the great friendliness of everyone. All the rooms are pretty quiet even those on the front which overlooks the main road. The location of The Milestone was very good for getting around, the nearest tube station is a 10 minute walk, with lots of shops to peruse on the way. Kensington Gardens are directly opposite the hotel too. Would recommend and definitely stay here again. (Image by bill barber)

There are the top hotels in London, which worth your money and effort. Have fun and enjoy!

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Comment

Nice to read about your recent travel experiences! I must say that there’s a dreamy touch to your post. I had traveled to this beautiful country last year. But I missed The Milestone Hotel experience. Can you tell us more about it?


Image caption Guests from around the world are expected to gather for Lady Thatcher's funeral in St Paul's

Downing Street has released an initial list of invitations to Baroness Thatcher's funeral next Wednesday.

All surviving US presidents and British prime ministers are on the guest list, as well as a representative of the Reagan family.

Ronald Reagan's widow Nancy is understood to be too frail to travel.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev will also not be attending owing to health problems, his spokesman has said.

It has also been confirmed that neither George HW Bush, Mr Reagan's vice-president who succeeded him in the White House nor his son George W Bush, US President between 2001 and 2009, will be attending.

The guest list for the event was drawn up by Lady Thatcher's family with the assistance of the government and the Conservative Party.

More than 2,000 invitations will be sent out, with most set to be dispatched on Friday.

Full capacity

The Queen and Prince Philip are already confirmed for the ceremony, which will take place in St Paul's Cathedral, London.

It will be the first funeral of a British politician the Queen has attended since that of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.

NOTABLE INVITEES The Queen

All surviving ex-prime ministers

All surviving US presidents

All surviving members of Lady Thatcher's cabinets

Current cabinet

Labour leader Ed Miliband

First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Michael and Carolyn Portillo

FW de Klerk

Dame Shirley Bassey

Jeremy Clarkson

Sir Terry Wogan

Joan Collins

Sir Trevor McDonald

Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber

Lord and Lady Archer Who is going to the funeral?

The cathedral has a capacity of 2,300 and is expected to be full on the day.

All surviving members of Lady Thatcher's cabinets will be invited, as will the current cabinet and Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Other invited guests from around the globe include former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and a representative of Nelson Mandela.

A spokesman for Mrs Reagan said she was "heartbroken" about Lady Thatcher's death but was no longer able to make such trips and a family friend, Fred Ryan, would be representing her at the funeral.

Guests from the world of entertainment who have already confirmed their attendance include BBC Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, Welsh singer Dame Shirley Bassey, broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan, Lord Lloyd-Webber and Sir Tim Rice.

Author Frederick Forsyth, a longstanding supporter of the Conservative Party, has also been invited, as have actresses Joan Collins and June Whitfield.

Veteran journalists Sir David Frost and Sir Trevor McDonald will be attending, alongside British fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch and the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu.

Former Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have confirmed their attendance, as has Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, and FW de Klerk, the South African president who oversaw the end of apartheid.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has not been invited, but the country's ambassador to Britain has. Downing Street says this is in keeping with diplomatic protocol for such occasions.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Commander Christine Jones: "If you want to come to London to protest please come and talk to us"

Lord Kinnock, who was Labour leader for most of Lady Thatcher's time in Downing Street and was defeated by her at the 1987 election, will not be present because of a commitment to attend the funeral of a former local councillor in Wales.

More than 700 armed forces personnel will line the route of the procession from Westminster to St Paul's, including three bands whose drums will be covered in black cloth.

A gun salute will be fired from the Tower of London and the coffin will be carried into St Paul's by service personnel from regiments and ships closely associated with the Falklands campaign.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he believed it was right that Lady Thatcher was being given a ceremonial funeral with full military honours.

"I think people would find us a pretty extraordinary country if we didn't properly commemorate with dignity, with seriousness, but with also some fanfare... the passing of this extraordinary woman," he said.

Analysis The list of those invited to Lady Thatcher's funeral reads like a who's who of the past four decades. Two former Labour Prime ministers - Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - will attend but Lady Thatcher's old adversary Lord Kinnock will not. The Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has not been invited - the Argentine Ambassador has instead. It is no secret that Jeremy Clarkson is part of David Cameron's "Chipping Norton set" but perhaps less well known he had links with Lady Thatcher. He too has been invited along with a smattering of entertainment greats including Dame Shirley Bassey and Lord Lloyd-Webber. There is no confirmation yet of the cost of holding what may not be a state funeral but certainly looks like one. But Mr Cameron believes the nation supports plans to mourn someone he has described as "an extraordinary leader"

"I think not only in Britain would people say, 'You are not doing this properly', but I think the rest of the world would think we were completely wrong."

Mr Cameron has previously welcomed suggestions as to how Lady Thatcher could be commemorated.

The Mayor of London's office, Westminster Council and the government are understood to be looking at a variety of central London sites, including Parliament Square, as a potential site for a new statue.

The Metropolitan Police said they were working to ensure the day of the funeral passed off safely, amid concerns that some people may use it as an opportunity to protest.

On the day of Lady Thatcher's death, there were small gatherings in various parts of the UK, notably in Glasgow, Bristol and London, with those taking part saying they were celebrating her death.

Met commander Christine Jones urged anyone wishing to demonstrate at the funeral to talk to the police.

"The right to protest is one that must be upheld," she said.

"However, we will work to do that whilst balancing the rights of those who wish to pay their respects and those who wish to travel about London as usual."

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has said "an administrative error" led to inaccurate guidance being issued to diplomatic staff in embassies around the world after it was reported they had been told to wear mourning clothes on the day of the funeral.

They were later told it was unnecessary.

Lady Thatcher, who won three successive general elections, died "peacefully" on Monday after suffering a stroke while staying at the Ritz hotel in central London.


Love Letters from Engadin

Love Letters from Engadin or Love Letters from the Engadine () is a 1938 German romantic comedy film directed by Luis Trenker and Werner Klingler and starring Trenker, Carla Rust and Erika von Thellmann. It contains elements of the mountain film genre for which Trenker was best known. It is set in London and in the Engadin valley in the Swiss Alps, where much of the location shooting took place.

The film's sets were designed by the art director Fritz Maurischat.

Synopsis
The manager of a ski resort decides to raise money by writing love letters on behalf of his popular ski instructor to various former pupils asking them to visit the resort again and donate to new facilities. This causes complications when one of his former students in London breaks off her engagement to an aristocrat, having discovered he is marrying her for her fortune, and travels out to Switzerland accompanied by a female friend.

Main cast
 Luis Trenker as Toni Anewanter
 Carla Rust as Dorothy Baxter
 Erika von Thellmann as Anni Anewanter, Tonis Schwester
 Charlott Daudert as Constance Farrington
 Paul Heidemann as Lord Horace Baxter, Dorothys Vater
 Robert Dorsay as Jack, Kammerdienter
 Otto Wernicke as Thomas Viertinger, Hotelier
 Umberto Sacripante as Dr. Sacripanti
 Anton Pointner as Amtsrichter Rung

References

Bibliography

External links

Category:1938 films
Category:German films
Category:German romantic comedy films
Category:1930s romantic comedy films
Category:German-language films
Category:Films directed by Luis Trenker
Category:Films directed by Werner Klingler
Category:Films of Nazi Germany
Category:Terra Film films
Category:Films set in London
Category:Films set in the Alps
Category:Skiing films
Category:German black-and-white films


When Nancy Johnstone and her husband Archie set off for the Costa Brava in 1934 they dreamed, like so many Britons have since, of a new, tranquil life on the shores of the Mediterranean, but within two years the Spanish civil war put an end to what they called their “blue paradise”.

Now their books, which can be placed alongside George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia in their depiction of the war that ripped the country apart in the 1930s, are to be made into an English-language film by the award-winning Catalan producer Isona Passola, whose Pa Negra (Black Bread) won best picture at the 2010 San Sebastián festival.

Nancy, then in her late 20s, had convinced Archie to quit his job as a subeditor on the News Chronicle and go with her to Tossa de Mar, where they planned to build a hotel. They chose Tossa, now a popular resort, because Archie said no one he knew had ever been there before.

When they arrived they found a thriving artistic community, many of whom had fled Nazi Germany. Among them was the architect Fritz Marcus, who designed the hotel that became Casa Johnstone. Other new residents included the artists Marc Chagall, Oskar Zügel and Dora Maar.

Using their Fleet Street links, the hotel soon became popular among London journalists, writers and artists. Nancy learned Catalan and the couple settled into the local community.

Then war broke out and one day in 1936 a Royal Navy destroyer appeared in the bay to rescue British residents. Nancy and Archie refused to go, saying they would not abandon the people of Tossa.

“We had nothing against people defending themselves from a fascist coup,” Nancy wrote in Hotel in Spain (1937), her perceptive and often witty account of their early years in Tossa.

Book cover of A Hotel on the Costa Brava. Photograph: Tusquets editores

That book was followed two years later by Hotel in Flight, both published by Faber but long out of print and forgotten, until they were discovered by Miquel Berga, a professor of humanities at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and a leading Orwell scholar, who translated the books into Catalan.

“I knew of Nancy Johnstone through an [unflattering] review by Orwell in the late 1930s, but I became fully aware of the potential of fusing the two books in a single narrative when I read the second one and I realised how what began as a sort of ‘A Year in Provence’ became, in the end, a tragic, political, and highly moral tale,” Berga said.

“The fascinating story of the Johnstones is unique in the sense that they didn’t come to the war for political reasons (as was the case of almost all of the reporting by British authors), the war came to them when they had already decided to make Catalonia their adopted country,” he said.

“Nancy Johnstone’s account constitutes the most comprehensive chronicle ever written about the republic and the civil war by a full-time British resident.”

Production is due to start soon on the film adaptation of the books, says Passola, whose company Massa d’Or will make the film – in English – with Scottish and German partners.

“We will shoot it in Tossa,” Passola said. “The old town hasn’t changed. The view that Nancy would have had from her hotel is exactly as it was then.

“Nancy is a powerful character and she gives us an outsider’s view of the war in Spain,” she added. “Above all, it’s an emotional story of this woman who is struggling to make her hotel a success and, when that is interrupted by war, is capable of adapting and showing solidarity with the cause against fascism, as did many English people.”

As the fascists advanced northwards in the 1930s, Casa Johnstone soon become home to 50 children orphaned by the war, while Nancy and Archie eked out a living covering the conflict for the Manchester Guardian and the News Chronicle. The day before Tossa fell, the couple piled 60 children into a truck and drove them to safety in France, joining a long line of refugees.

By then Nancy’s mood and the tone of her writing had changed from can-do cheerful to undisguised cynicism. After describing the harsh conditions in a refugee camp close to Perpignan in southern France, she concludes Hotel in Flight saying:

The relief work depended on what help the British government cared to give. Voluntary organisations were drained. But one organisation was still going strong. A contingent of plus-four clad gentlemen arrived from England to shoot painlessly the wandering, starving Spanish mules. It seemed a pity that they did not first shoot painlessly the cooped-up, starving Spanish refugees.

The couple split up shortly afterwards. Archie spent the war back at the Chronicle and was then seconded to the British embassy in Moscow, but after two years defected to the Soviet Union where he lived until his death in 1978.

Nancy went to Mexico where she remarried. She returned to Tossa in 1951 but was so dismayed by Franco’s Spain that she sold the hotel and after that there is no trace of her.

Nancy Johnstone (far left) in 1947 on a return trip to Tossa after the war. Photograph: Tusquest editors

Casa Johnstone still exists, but has been engulfed by the much larger Hotel Don Juan.

Nancy, bitter about what she saw as Britain’s betrayal of the republic, writes in Hotel in Flight about the Catalans’ blind faith in the British: “They had complete faith in England. England could not allow such things as the bombing of Gernika. England would protect the Basques who had always been her friends.

“In spite of one fact after another, all showing clearly that England was favouring the other side, the local people still clung to their belief.”


Staff Heroes Blog - Month: October 2017

Waking up and smelling the coffee is a daily routine for baristas all over the world. But what skills do you need to provide the nation’s coffee drinkers with their favourite cup, whether it’s a flat white, cappuccino, or skinny decaf soya mocha with no chocolate sprinkes (please no)? We’ve got it from the experts that these are the 7 most important ingredients to being a great barista.

Be cheerful and friendly – As a barista, you are often the face of the café, restaurant, or bar. So be bubbly, polite, and a face your customers, desperate for their caffeine fix, are happy to see at 7am.

It’s all in the espresso – The foundation of any great coffee is the espresso. First you will have to dial-in. This means getting your grind right – not too fine, not too coarse – perfecting your recipe (amount of coffee/duration of pour), then tasting your brew. Just right?

Milk foaming – One of the most in-demand skills in the industry is foaming. If you can get your milk right, you’ll be able to pick up barista jobs all over the world. Remember, introduce air at the start, then texturize to leave yourself with lovely, bouncy milk.

Clean equipment and area – Keeping a clean, hygienic area is paramount to having a great coffee bar. If you have a dirty area with stale coffee getting in your equipment, it’s going to affect the taste of your cup; it also leaves a poor impression of the general cleanliness of the establishment. Big no no!

Latte art – The poster boy of the coffee industry: latte art. Latte art takes time to perfect, but it all stems from your milk foaming skills. If you haven’t perfected your milk foaming, you can wave latte art goodbye. Once you have your milk down, watch your colleagues and videos on Youtube to perfect your technique, then practice, practice, practice.

Great communication Skills – Running a coffee bar can be a stressful endeavour. Communication is key to keeping everything running smoothly. You need to be able to tell staff what table coffee is going to, if you need extra supplies, which cup is decaf or soya milk, you get the gist. You need to communicate all this information effectively 100% of the time.

Be a fountain of knowledge – Customers want to know the story of their coffee. As a barista you need to be able to answer all their questions. So, you’ll have to know where the coffee beans are from, whether they’re single or mixed origin, what the tasting notes are, and how much your coffee retails at. You can, obviously, never know too much, but these are a good start.

We want to give a massive congratulations to our superstar Hero of the Month. Canada native Troy has been on our platform for over a year, and his hard-work is being rewarded with a Hero of the Month award and a £25 gift voucher from Amazon. Well done Troy and keep up the good work!

Our Hero of the Month feature profiles a hero on our platform that has worked especially hard or who has maintained an exceedingly high level of performance in their roles.

Name: Troy

Hometown: Mississauga, Canada

Joined Staff Heroes: 29/09/2016

Length of time in London: 2 years

First job: “Hmmm… that was a while ago now. I think my first job was working with a company called Talkington Bates. If I remember rightly it was as a member of a team of catering staff, but the one place that I would say is my favourite is Wembley Stadium. I just finished a shift there today.”

Favourite thing about Staff Heroes: “I think the favourite thing about the platform, I would say is the professionalism. When speaking with you guys on the phone, I think you’re always all very professional.”

Dream job: “Ha, that’s a tough one. As I continue in my career I want to keep getting experience at different venues and places through Staff Heroes. My dream job would probably be to one day have my own restaurant. Yea, so my dream job is to open and run my own place.”

Working in hospitality can be fast-paced, relentless, and endlessly rewarding. We take a look at 4 best things the industry has to offer its London-based workforce this Autumn season

London in Autumn

We’ve officially broken up with summer after dragging out the last dark days of our fling. But don’t fret, Autumn has arrived in style, and with it there is bountiful opportunity to enjoy this great city. Of course, working in hospitality in London can be taxing, but London can be incredibly giving throughout October.

In particular, the green – browny yellow – spaces around the city are glorious this time of year. So, whether it’s Hyde Park, Hampstead Heath or Hackney Marshes, dig out your puffa and scarf, take a tour, and embrace mother nature at her finest.

Last week there were four, yes four, London bars featuring in the World’s 50 Best Bars. And with the London Restaurant Festival running through the entirety of October, there is no shortage of places to eat or drink this month.

So, you see, the drop in temperature shouldn’t be met with scorn. There are plenty of reasons to be happy about cooler days and evenings: allergy season is over, fewer tourists, more mulled cider, and the scorching heat on the Central Line – thing of the past (and distant future). Anyway, you get the drift. Autumn = good.

The people

Somehow, Londoners seem to have gained a reputation for being rude. In my opinion, this is an unfair charge, especially when dealing with people that work in hospitality. It is literally our job to be nice to people, which makes meeting new people and building social networks a daily joy.

With people working in Restaurants, hotels, bars, and cafés a fairly outgoing bunch, hospitality work lends itself very well to an active social life. Sure, the demands of your employer can be high but the rewards are great. While “work hard, play hard” might be cliché, it’s very apt for many working in the hospitality sector.

If your housemates are too tired for Friday night drinks, you can bet your bottom dollar you can find a few colleagues to enjoy a post-work spritzer with. As many people have friendships from previous jobs, expect the opportunity to meet all sorts of new people through your work colleagues, the weird and the wonderful. Hospitality work attracts great personalities.

Being a Londoner

Identifying as a Londoner happens over time for some and immediately for others. Once you’re there, though, it’s fantastic.

Knowing to avoid Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus are paramount to being a Londoner. As is nudging people that don’t stand far enough to the right on escalators, and if you’re ever able to correct another so-called “Londoner” on the best underground line to take to their location, you’ll never forget that level of elation.

Best of all, it means you know all the best places to go this Autumn season. Industry knowledge that Breddos Taqueria is opening a new location in Soho this month, Trafalgar Street St. James hotel has reopened its doors, and London officially boasts four of the world’s top ten bars (am I repeating myself?) is key to staying ahead of the curve in your social circles. Oh the joys.

Fantastic work locations

London’s hospitality scene boasts some of the most iconic venues in the world. Imagine walking through Mayfair on a blustery autumnal day as you head to work at the Dorchester, or cycling around St. James’s Park before your shift at The Ritz – these are treasures that you’ll never bore of. For much of London’s hospitality staff that’s a perk of the job.

Equally, the thought of navigating the Alleyways of Spitalfields or the backstreets of Brixton on a night after working at the latest pop-up bar, restaurant, or boutique hotel reassures you that what you’re doing is awesome.

With the emergence of the gig-economy, companies such as Staff Heroes enable you to work at different locations at your convenience. So, for example, you could be busing tables at The Dorchester on Wednesday night, drawing a rosetta on Joe Smith’s flat white on Thursday morning, and shaking cocktails at one of London’s four bar’s that made the world top 10 list (have I mentioned that already?) on Friday night. Don’t believe me? Take a look current available jobs here


What Happened at Hackfest 2016

This year's Inkscape hackfest was held at the Devonshire Hall, University of Leeds, in the UK. The meeting space was a grand old set of buildings, which was a beautiful setting to hack on Inkscape.

Ten developers attended the hackfest, only the host was from Leeds and everyone else was from outside of the UK and transported in during the weekend. The first night, we met up for a social drink and pizza in the local pub, before adjourning to our respective hotels. This allowed us all to get to know each other and feel more comfortable the next day at the venue.

The first day, we attended a meeting room in the back of Devonshire Hall. We were given tea, coffee and biscuits in the hallway, a social space room and then went onwards to the main room where a set of tables were set. Each table had space enough for three people and we began with introductions, interests in the project and then setting the focus for the Hackfest. These were:

CMake: We want to finish our move to the CMake build system, so we have a common build system on all platforms. This is the main goal before a 0.92 release. Fixing the flickering bug in the GTK3 branch. We want to move to GTK3 after 0.92 is released. This will greatly simplify our code, as we have about 700 conditional branches in our code based on GTK2 vs GTK3. GTK3 will allow more flexibility in the GUI (e.g. larger/smaller icons) and is also better supported for OSX. There were also plenty of discussions and smaller bug fixes, some website additions and cleanup.

Each lunch time, Devonshire Hall would bring in a fully catered lunch. Everybody agreed that the host was the best ever for an Inkscape hackfest and will set a high bar for future events.

That evening we spent a short time socializing and eating in a pub called "The Library" before making our way to our hotels.

The next day, we spent most of the time working on the code. Probably the biggest accomplishment is that Krzysztof has a fix for the Gtk3 flickering bug. The fix breaks previews in the file dialog, so that will still need to be dealt with. While the Gtk3 build is usable, there is much, much more work that needs to be done. Alex and Martin have been working on this. We've discussed switching the default build from Gtk2 to Gtk3 after the 0.92 release to ensure that more eyes are focused on Gtk3. Progress was also made on the CMake build system as well as many other areas.

We had a preview of the C++ plugin system from Sebastian and Moritz of Semiodesk, including a demo of the Grid extension implemented in C++. They will put documentation, including a "Hello World" example, on the Inkscape Wiki. The focus now is on getting C++ extensions to work on Windows. These extensions will compliment our existing Python extensions and would not replace them.

Alex took us for a local speciality for our second day social, a curry at a restaurant in town. This involved a lot of walking, but was very much worth the effort.

The final day brought more hacking! About 70 commits were made to the Inkscape code tree during the whole hackfest, some just a line or two, others quite large. The main success was fixing the GTK3 flickering bug, which took quite a few iterations. It was good to have so many testers in the room for instant feedback, while Krzysztof was working on the fix. After the 0.92 release, we'll make GTK3 the default build in trunk to get more developers working on the many additional fixes that will be needed. Alex and Martin already got a good start on reducing the literally thousands of lines of deprecation warnings when compiling the GTK3 build.

The other major effort, fixing the CMake build, is almost there. CMake works fine on Linux, but on Windows, there remains a linking problem. The folks from Semiodesk are eager to get this done, as it is necessary in order that they can use the C++ extension system on Windows.

We also spent some time discussing infrastructure issues. The consensus is to move our code to Git. This will have some real benefits. Git is more familiar among the developers, so it will be easier for new developers to start contributing. Git also allows "submodules", which means that Inkscape can move code into separate libraries. We won't need to keep a duplicate copy of lib2geom in our tree anymore.

Martin worked on some improvements to the Barcode plugin and some cleanup there.

Tav got everyone together after lunch for a quick meeting.

We decided on GitHub as our source control host. There is a bit of reluctance to use a closed source host, but they offer the best CI (continuous integration) solution for automated builds and testing. We don't have a lot of developer time to manage a more complex solution. GitHub's issue tracker is not usable for Inkscape right now, so the bugs and answers will stay on Launchpad. We want to move our mailing lists to our own servers and to upgrade from Mailman 2 to Mailman 3. This is a low priority for our host OSUOSL, but Martin has offered our services in doing the work to install Mailman 3. We had a consensus for moving to C++11 after the 0.92 release. Some of the libraries we depend on have already made it a hard requirement. There are real benefits to C++11, especially in code simplification and code readability.

The final activity for the last day was an official hackfest dinner at a Leeds pub with the best desserts and very good discussion. Hacking did continue the next day, before people made their way to London and onto LGM (Libre Graphics Meeting) for stage two of this adventure.

Overall it was a very successful hackfest. We would like to thank our contributors who made the hackfest possible! See full gallery here!


NEWS

Wealthy Opponents Of San Francisco Homeless Services Tax Bankrolled 2016 Tent Ban

Andrew Perez | November 06, 2018

A homeless man sleeps in front of his tent along Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco in 2016. Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images.

Donors opposing a ballot measure to fund more homeless services in San Francisco with a new tax on its wealthiest companies previously bankrolled a successful 2016 initiative to ban tent encampments in the city.

Proposition C, which will be on San Francisco ballots on Tuesday, would almost double the city’s annual homelessness budget by increasing the gross receipts tax by an average of .5 percent for businesses with more than $50 million in annual revenue each year. Supporters contend the initiative would provide housing and new shelter beds for thousands of homeless people over 10 years. It also would fund mental health and drug addiction programs. Some financial services companies could pay a higher tax than other businesses under the proposal and have come out against the measure.

The campaign against Proposition C has received almost $550,000 from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee; the Hotel Council of San Francisco PAC; venture capitalist Michael Moritz; and the Committee on Jobs Government Reform Fund, which represents business interests in the city. Those same donors contributed almost $600,000 to support Proposition Q, a 2016 initiative that allows the city to clear homeless encampments from sidewalks as long as residents are offered a bed at a shelter or a bus ticket to leave San Francisco.

“Proposition C opponents can easily be described as wealthy, tone-deaf, self-interested, and heartless, even if they have been longtime donors to homeless causes,” Moritz, a billionaire, wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal column. In 2016, he donated $49,999 in support of Proposition Q.

California is one of the wealthiest states in the country and also has the highest poverty rate in the United States when cost of living is considered. The disparity is especially pronounced in the Bay Area, home to the nation’s tech booming industry and a spectacular housing shortage. Despite San Francisco’s reputation as a liberal utopia, a United Nations special report published in September found that the city’s efforts to criminalize homelessness and break up encampments constitute “cruel and inhuman treatment” and violate human rights.

While Proposition C’s proponents have significantly outraised their opponents, the measure has split San Francisco’s business community. Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, a major San Francisco employer, has donated more than $2 million to support the initiative, while his company has given $5.9 million. Local payment processing companies Square and Stripe have opposed the initiative, arguing they would be hit hard because the city classifies them as financial services companies -- which would be taxed at higher rates -- and not as tech companies.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed was elected this summer on a pledge to clean up the city’s streets, but she said last month that Proposition C “puts the cart before the horse and then sends both down a dead-end street.”

Several top Breed supporters also oppose Proposition C. Progress San Francisco, a super PAC that supported Breed, received $335,000 from investor Paul Graham and the Committee on Jobs Government Reform Fund. Graham and the committee have donated $260,000 to a committee opposing Proposition C.

Venture capitalist Matt Cohler, who donated $80,000 to Progress San Francisco, has contributed $5,000 to fight the measure. Safe & Affordable San Francisco, a PAC that gave $20,000 to Breed’s campaign, also has contributed $7,500 to the anti-Proposition C effort.

This story was produced by MapLight and published in partnership with the San Francisco Public Press.


The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa

The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa

Sonoma

A small town in the heart of California wine country, Sonoma features 76 miles of scenic Pacific Coast views, stately Redwood forests, some of the finest shopping in California, miles of pristine trails to explore, and arguably, the finest wines in the world. In truth there is so much to do here that guests staying at our Sonoma hotels may find it necessary to extend their travel time.

With more than 300 award-winning wineries in the Sonoma Valley, there is a varietal (and a culinary masterpiece) to suit every palate. For an outdoor adventure, there’s kayaking on the Gualala River and sailing on Bodega Bay. As well, our Sonoma accommodations are close to Spring Lake Regional Park, offering up all the swimming, boating, hiking, and horseback riding you can take in. Take a load off and enjoy the ocean breeze at Sonoma Coast State Beach for a relaxing and beautiful escape.

While you're a guest at our hotel, visit the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art and the LaHaye Sculpture Gallery or the Sonoma County Museum, located in a historic Post Office. You can also lose yourself in "all things Peanuts" when you tour the Charles M. Schulz Museum in nearby Santa Rosa. Satisfy your hunger with exquisite French fare at The Girl & The Fig, or munch on some Mediterranean cuisine at Olive & Vine for an upscale experience.

Whatever your pleasure, there's an activity to suit every traveler's taste close to any of our Sonoma hotels.

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Shudder has a surprisingly diverse selection of horror movies. There are plenty of never-heard-of-it Z movies on the site, but for everyone of those dreadful creations there’s something valuable to sink your teeth into. We have a tendency to highlight new VOD releases on a regular basis, but today we’re actually going to highlight some of the true, vintage classics that many of you have no doubt missed!

Editor’s note: You will not find a film in this list newer than 1979. You will also discover that some of these films are absolutely terrible, in the greatest of fan-pleasing ways!

The Devils (1971)

Cardinal Richelieu and his power-hungry entourage seek to take control of seventeenth-century France, but need to destroy Father Grandier – the priest who runs the fortified town that prevents them from exerting total control. So they seek to destroy him by setting him up as a warlock in control of a devil-possessed nunnery, the mother superior of which is sexually obsessed by him. A mad witch-hunter is brought in to gather evidence against the priest, ready for the big trial.

The Wicker Man (1973)

Sgt. Howie travels to Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. He discovers that the locals are weird and unhelpful, and becomes determined to get to the bottom of the disappearance.

The Creeping Terror (1964)

A creature that looks like a cross between a Chinese dragon puppet and the Pope sucks up people into its maw. A sheriff, his wife, and a “handsome” scientist battle it to the end, with a sub plot about the evils of bachelorhood.

Night of the Devils (1972)

In this adaptation of Tolstoy’s story the Wurdulak, a mentally ill patient known as Nicola (Gianni Garko) flashes back to horrifying experiences that he encountered while driving through the country. Upon damaging his car, Nicola sets out for help, only to meet a mysterious family that lives in total fear of someone or something. This evil force slowly penetrates the household and thrusts each of its members into a frenzy of absolute terror!

Count Dracula (1970)

Jess Franco’s version of the Bram Stoker classic has Count Dracula as an old man who grows younger whenever he dines on the blood of young maidens.

The Death Kiss (1932)

While filming the closing scene of “The Death Kiss”, leading man Myles Brent is actually killed. Having played around with, or been married to, most of the women connected with the movie studio, there are lots of suspects. When leading lady Marcia Lane is arrested for the killing, her suiter, a studio writer, starts to investigate the killing in order to prove her innocence.

Daughters of Darkness (1971)

A chic, good-looking and suitably 70’s couple arrive at an extravagant and deserted seaside hotel after eloping. Stefan is wealthy and happily English, with a hidden streak of sadism, while Valarie is intelligent but of inferior (Swedish) blood. To keep her with him at the eerie hotel he lies consistantly about his relationship with his mother and his plans to tell her of their marriage. Meanwhile he has mysterious phone conversations with an older, dominant and pampered sissy. Two fresh guests arrive; the Hungarian countess, Elizabeth Bathory and her voluptuous protege, Ilona. Virgin corpses begin showing up about the city drained of their blood. A wary detective lurks around the hotel taunting his only suspect, the Countess.

Black Christmas (1974)

It’s time for Christmas break, and the sorority sisters make plans for the holiday, but the strange anonymous phone calls are beginning to put them on edge. When Clare disappears, they contact the police, who don’t express much concern. Meanwhile Jess is planning to get an abortion, but boyfriend Peter is very much against it. The police finally begin to get concerned when a 13-year-old girl is found dead in the park. They set up a wiretap to the sorority house, but will they be in time to prevent a sorority girl attrition problem?

The Death Wheelers (1973)

A gang of young people call themselves the Living Dead. They terrorize the population from their small town. After an agreement with the devil, if they kill themselves firmly believing in it, they will survive and gain eternal life. Following their leader, they commit suicide one after the other, but things don’t necessarily turn out as expected…

The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)

A black hole hits North Wisconsin and opens a door to other dimensions. Giant 15 meter spiders emerge from it, who have an appetite for human flesh! Dr. Jenny Langer and Dr. Vance from the NASA try to save the world.

Lust for a Vampire (1971)

In 1830, forty years to the day since the last manifestation of their dreaded vampirism, the Karnstein heirs use the blood of an innocent to bring forth the evil that is the beautiful Mircalla – or as she was in 1710, Carmilla. The nearby Finishing School offers rich pickings not only in in the blood of nubile young ladies but also with the headmaster who is desperate to become Mircalla’s disciple, and the equally besotted and even more foolish author Richard Lestrange.

Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971)

An archaeological expedition brings back to London the coffin of an Egyptian queen known for her magical powers. Her spirit returns in the form of a young girl and strange things start to happen.

The Hands of Orlac (1924)

Orlac is a world famous pianist. One day he is badly hurt in a big train wreck. He is in danger of losing both his hands so his wife begs the doctors to save them. They eventually manage to transplant his hands with those of another deceased person. After his recovery Orlac discovers that there is something seriously wrong with his new pair of hands — it is as if they had a will of their own. But Orlac doesn’t know that they actually belonged to a dangerous murderer.

Scars of Dracula (1970)

A young man, Paul Carlson, is on a trip and spends the night at count Dracula’s castle. Needless to say, he is murdered. After some time has passed, the young man’s brother Simon comes to the small town where all the traces end to look for him.

Demons of the Mind (1972)

Baron Zorn keeps his teenaged children locked up and drugged, fearing that his insane wife passed along a congenital curse to them before her own suicidal death. Elizabeth escapes for a brief tryst with a local before being recaptured and subjected to a bleeding process to ‘draw out the bad blood.’ Emil keeps trying to escape, but is thwarted time and again by his aunt Hilda who runs the house like a prison. One reason the siblings have to be kept apart, is their incestuous attraction to each other. Local wenches are being murdered in the woods, and the superstitious peasants think demons are responsible. A wandering Priest dedicates himself to root out the evil, but isn’t taken seriously. Arriving at the castle are two more interested parties: Mountebank scientist-huckster Falkenberg stands to make a small fortune if his strange apparatus can cure the children of their inherited evil. Young Carl simply wants to rescue Elizabeth. As more murders mount, Falkenberg enlists village lass …

The Blob (1958)

A mysterious creature from another planet, resembling a giant blob of jelly, lands on earth. The people of a nearby small town refuse to listen to some teenagers who have witnessed the blob’s destructive power. In the meantime, the blob just keeps on getting bigger.

The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house and its tragic previous tenants: 1) A hack novelist encounters a strangler who’s the villain of his books, leading his wife to question his sanity, 2) Two men are obsessed with a wax figure of a woman from their past, 3) A little girl with a stern, widowed father displays an interest in witchcraft, and 4) An arrogant horror film actor purchases a black cloak which gives him a vampire’s powers.

Tenderness of the Wolves (1973)

In 1925, in Germany, Fritz Haarmann is a homosexual, thief and sneak, having a special license from the police. He sells meat in the black market. He also kills boys and young men, drinking their blood, quarter-sewing their bodies and throwing away the parts in a river. Certainly what he sells in the black market is human meat.

Stanley (1972)

A young Seminole Indian uses his rattlesnake to take revenge on all those he believes have wronged him.

The Tingler (1959)

Dr. Warren Chapin is a pathologist who regularly conducts autopsies on executed prisoners at the State prison. He has a theory that fear is the result of a creature that inhabits all of us. His theory is that the creature is suppressed by our ability to scream when fear strikes us. He gets a chance to test his theories when he meets Ollie and Martha Higgins, who own and operate a second-run movie theater. Martha is deaf and mute and if she is unable to scream, extreme fear should make the creature, which Chapin has called the Tingler, come to life and grow. Using LSD to induce nightmares, he begins his experiment.

Read our final picks on the next page!


FOR LUNCH OR DINNER

FOR A PRIVATE EVENT:

OPENING HOURS:

Lunch: Thursday and Friday from 12:30 to 2:15 pm
Dinner: Monday to Friday from 7:30 pm to 10:15 pm

Closed from Friday December 21st after lunch until Wednesday January 2nd for dinner.
Open Monday December 31st for dinner.

Jacket is required for gentlemen

The teamte- a -m

Romain Meder

Head Chef

Native of Franche-Comté, Romain did his training in France and then realized his traveling dreams by exploring the world, discovering new flavours. He worked for a year in the British West Indies where he became acquainted with Caribbean spicy cuisine. Upon his return, he spent two years with Hélène Darroze in Paris, then hones his talent at the service of the prestigious Maison Potel et Chabot. Then, Alain Ducasse takes notice...

Romain Meder

Head Chef

Alain Ducasse notices him and calls him to his side at the Plaza Athénée, first as chef-de-partie and then as sous-chef before being named chef at La Cour Jardin. He then earns the position as Chef at Spoon des Iles in Mauritius, after which he is entrusted with the launch of Idam in Doha (Qatar), in the restaurant located in the Museum of Islamic Art. In early 2014, he returns to Paris to rejoin Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée where together, they plan reopening of the restaurant, becoming the new Executive Chef, under 36 years old.

Denis Courtiade

Restaurant Manager

While first aiming to become a pastry chef, Denis Courtiade discovers the service aspect of the profession at the Auberge des Templiers, a two-star hotel located in Sologne. After a parenthesis in the Versailles Cercle des officiers, he worked as headwaiter in several great restaurants. In 1989, he settles in the restaurant La Belle Otero, at the Carlton hotel in Cannes. In 1991, at age 25, he is awarded the “Trophée Jacquart de Meilleur chef de rang de France”. He is immediately contacted by Alain Ducasse.

Denis Courtiade

Restaurant Manager

A partnership immediatly takes shape between Alain Ducasse and Denis. Le Louis XV in Monaco, then London, followed of a position as first maître d'Hôtel in Paris, at the Alain Ducasse restaurant located avenue Raymond Poincaré. Finally, in August 2000,when Alain Ducasse moves to the Plaza Athénée, Denis Courtiade is named restaurant Manager. The story goes on...

Jessica Prealpato

Head pastry chef

After an Arts-based school leaving certificate, Jessica Prealpato began studying psychology but she quickly realised that her real love was cake making. She moved to the hotel school in Biarritz and took a higher-level vocational course, majoring in culinary art and presentation. In her second year, she took the specialist “restaurant pastry chef” course.

Jessica Prealpato

Head pastry chef

After an Arts-based school leaving certificate, Jessica Prealpato began studying psychology but she quickly realised that her real love was cake making. She moved to the hotel school in Biarritz and took a higher-level vocational course, majoring in culinary art and presentation. In her second year, she took the specialist “restaurant pastry chef” course.

She completed her first period of work experience at La Chèvre d’or in Eze under Philippe Labbé. She followed this with a placement at L’Hostellerie de Plaisance in Saint-Emilion where she worked under Philippe Etchebest. In 2009, she began working for the Ibarboure brothers in Bidart as a commis then as a demi-chef de partie, preparing cakes and pastries.

In January 2010, she joined Frédéric Vardon’s staff for the opening of the 39V restaurant in Paris. She spent two years there as chef de partie before becoming junior sous-chef at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme. In November 2012, Frédéric Vardon contacted her again and gave her a job as chef pâtissière for the Corfou Group. As an executive chef, she travelled extensively in France and in other countries, working in Dubai, Tokyo, Beirut, St. Petersburg etc. She learnt about new cultures and discovered new products and new tastes.

In November 2015, she joined the team at the Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée restaurant as chef pâtissière.

Gérard Margeon

Executive head sommelier

Born in Beaune in 1961 (an excellent vintage!), he started learning his craft in Burgundy. He then joined the Miramar in Biarritz, followed by le Meridien Montparnasse in Paris. His meeting with Alain Ducasse, in 1993, then takes him to the Louis XV in Monaco...

Gérard Margeon

Executive head sommelier

He is named head sommelier at the Louis XV, before taking the position of 1st head sommelier at the restaurant Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée. In 2000, he is appointed the complete responsibility of all Alain Ducasse restaurants wines, for which he develops wines menus, juggling more than 5,000 references.

Laurent Roucayrol

Restaurant head sommelier

Laurent Roucayrol discovered his vocation through a curious twist of fate. After finishing the Ecole Hôtelière de Saint-Cloud in 1990, he by chance stumbles upon an ad for a job offer at Fouquet's Europe, then at La Defence. A commis sommelier job is available. Two days earlier, by chance, he had presented himself to the restaurant, to offer his services. He is immediately called for an interview where his motivation seduces the head sommelier and director. Laurent Roucayrol thus begins his career as sommelier...

Laurent Roucayrol

Restaurant head sommelier

Laurent then gains experience in various restaurants, and in 1996, he meets Gérard Margeon who hires him as second sommelier at restaurant Alain Ducasse Avenue Raymond Poincaré in Paris. When Alain Ducasse moves to the Plaza Athénée, he follows as head Sommelier.


(CNN) When 32-year-old Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman rose to power two years ago, many predicted that change was afoot. The events of November 4 have shown that change would not just be swift, but also seismic, extending unremittingly beyond the kingdom's boundaries.

A 24-hour sequence of political bombshells began on Saturday afternoon, when Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, blindsiding his country's political establishment. Hours later, Saudi Arabia's official news agency reported that the country's military had intercepted a Yemen-borne ballistic missile over Riyadh. Even as images of the blast were flashing on TV sets around the region, similarly dramatic news began to trickle in: Some of Saudi Arabia's most high-profile princes and businessmen were being sacked and detained in an anti-corruption drive led by bin Salman.

The events serve as an opening salvo for a new period in the region's crisis-ridden history, analysts say. They represent an escalation in a yearslong proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, threatening to activate new fronts in the region, with the Saudi show of force beginning with a sweeping consolidation of power from within.

On Friday, ISIS' last strongholds in Iraq and Syria fell. It marked a major milestone in a fight that saw archrivals converge on the extremist group until its so-called caliphate was on its last legs. On Saturday, regional powerhouses appear to have trained their sights on one another.

"I think the end of ISIS, the so-called Islamic State, does not really mean the end of geostrategic struggles," London School of Economics Professor Fawaz Gerges told CNN's George Howell.

"On the contrary, the dismantling of the so-called caliphate will basically intensify the geostrategic struggles between the pro-Iranian camp led by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and its allies in the region, including the United States."

A resignation sets the stage

On Friday evening, Lebanon's Saad Hariri was summoned to the Saudi capital. It was his second visit to the country in a week. Hariri is a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen and the regional powerhouse is widely seen as his political patron.

Just a week before, it appeared the Prime Minister had averted a major crisis between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. He had met with the Crown Prince and outspoken Saudi Minister Thamer al-Sabhan, appeasing their fears about the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has members in his Cabinet.

"A long and fruitful meeting with my brother Prime Minister Saad Hariri. We've agreed on many issues that concern the good people of Lebanon. God willing, the best is yet to come," Sabhan wrote in a tweet.

The meeting came on the heels of a series of tweets in which Sabhan chastised the Lebanese government for its inclusion of Hezbollah. Hariri appeared to have defused tensions with his visit.

Independent Lebanese MP Yassin Jaber, a member of a pro-Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, told CNN that he met with Hariri just as he returned from Saudi Arabia, and described the premier as cheery and in a "joking" mood.

But when Hariri returned to Saudi Arabia the second time, it was an altogether different matter.

It would be the first time a Lebanese premier submitted his resignation from outside the country. Multiple local media reported that nearly all Hariri's closest aides were caught unawares.

"Over the past decades, Hezbollah has unfortunately managed to impose a fait accompli in Lebanon by the force of its weapons, which it alleges is a resistance weapon," Hariri said in his resignation speech.

"I want to tell Iran and its followers that they are losing their interferences in the Arab nation affairs. Our nation will rise just as it did before and the hands that want to harm it will be cut," he said in remarks apparently aimed at Hezbollah, which he shared a coalition government with.

Hariri's resignation spells the collapse of a 30-member government of national unity that saw Saudi-backed Hariri fill the post of prime minister, and Hezbollah-backed Michel Aoun occupy the presidency. That government, analysts say, was one of the byproducts of the Obama administration's landmark Iran nuclear deal.

"With this arrangement, we saw some sort of appeasement where we saw mutual steps from the US and Iran in improving relations and lowering tensions in various areas," said Riad Kahwaji, director of Institute for Near East and Gulf Military.

The period marked a brief time of stability, in which Lebanon seemed to have steered clear of regional fault-lines.

"With (Hariri's) resignation yesterday, this arrangement has come to an end and we are back to an escalation between Iran and Saudi Arabia on the Lebanese front. Lebanon is back in the arena of the showdown between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

"Everyone in Lebanon is holding tight and worried ... we're seeing now that we may again be engulfed in conflict," said Jaber.

Riyadh intercepts ballistic missiles

Hariri's resignation triggered a crescendo of war drums. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remarks were a "wake-up call" to "take action" against Iran. Saudi Minister Sabhan promptly tweeted: "The hands of treachery and aggression must be cut off," echoing Hariri's threats against Hezbollah.

Just hours later, Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a ballistic missile targeting King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital. Saudi forces intercepted the missile over northeast Riyadh, the Saudi Ministry of Defense said, but the Houthis hailed it as a "success" that "shook the Saudi capital."

The attack was conducted using a Yemeni-made, long-range missile called the Burqan 2H, the rebels said. The missile launch was the first time the heart of the Saudi capital has been attacked.

The Saudi-led coalition accused a regional state of providing material support to the Houthi rebels, saying the firing of a ballistic missile at Riyadh "threatens the security of the Kingdom and regional and international security," according to a statement carried by Saudi state-TV al-Ekbariya.

The coalition didn't name the country. Saudi Arabia has been fighting a proxy war in Yemen against Iran, which it accuses of arming the Houthi rebels.

Analysts dubbed this a "major escalation" in the Yemeni war.

"This is a major escalation and will have tremendous implications on the situation in Yemen itself, because Saudi Arabia now feels extremely the urge to retaliate against the Houthi movement that controls the government in Sanaa," said Gerges.

Gerges added that combined with the political rupture in Lebanon, the ballistic missile attack spells an outbreak of tensions "throughout the region."

Saudi Arabia wages war within and without

Saudi Arabia was still putting out the fires caused by the missile attack when state TV announced the onset of an anti-corruption crackdown led by the crown prince. Over 17 princes and top officials were arrested on graft charges, according to a list obtained by CNN and cited by a senior royal court official.

The list includes billionaire business magnate Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns 95% of Kingdom Holding, which holds stakes in global companies such as Citigroup, Twitter, Apple and News Corp.

The list also includes formal head of the royal court Khaled Al-Tuwaijri, Saudi media mogul Waleed Al-Ibrahim and Prince Turki Bin Nasser.

"Some of the wealthiest figures in the Arab world are in apprehension today," said military analyst Riad Kahwaji.

"This is unprecedented. We're seeing it for the first time and it's definitely causing shockwaves across the region."

A picture taken on November 5 of the closed Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh.

Reportedly, the detainees are being held at the lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel. "I think there's a lovely irony in that many of these corrupt deals happened at the Ritz-Carlton and now these guys are locked up there," said historian Robert Lacey, who wrote two books about the kingdom.

"In historic terms, what we've seen in the last few months is nothing short of revolutionary," said Lacey. "I've been waiting for 40 years for these things to happen, and they happened in four months."

Mohammed bin Salman's campaign of "two fronts," as analysts have dubbed it, is being met by cheers and apprehension. But there is near consensus that these are uncharted waters, and the results will be dramatic.


'End of the Rainbow': magic, heartbreak in Judy Garland portrayal

NEW YORK — Judy Garland, often drunk and occasionally disheveled, in Peter Quilter's biographical drama "End of the Rainbow," is rummaging for booze in her suite at the Ritz hotel. She's wired, and not simply because of the pills she can't seem to wean herself off of.

As embodied by the astonishing British actress Tracie Bennett in a tour de force at the Belasco Theatre that has Broadway abuzz, Garland is amid a five-week London cabaret gig that's been arranged to steady her shaky finances. And the reason she's unable to come down is that, despite her wobbly condition, she's managed to live up to the crowd's expectations of her.

"I took the roof off of that place tonight," Garland tells Mickey Deans (Tom Pelphrey), the young stud who's her new manager and soon-to-be fifth (and final) husband. "I gave them everything I have. And now we're gonna get the hell out of here because I just can't do that again. There's nothing left."

For Garland and Bennett alike, performing the role of Garland seems to be as exhausting as it is exhilarating. The difference is that Garland never really had a choice, and in this account of the final chapter of her life, sensationally directed by Terry Johnson, she is portrayed as a victim of her own legend, trapped in a translucent bubble that magnifies not just her fame but also her humiliation.

The gap between the woman and the icon is widening now that MGM's former darling has skidded into her mid-40s. Makeup can no longer conceal all those dark nights of the soul, and though she's not the least bit shy about playing the diva, the burden of having to compete with an enshrined image of herself is killing her.

The production, which had its American premiere at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater this year after a successful run in London's West End, is categorized as a play but is enlivened by Bennett's formidable impersonation of Garland singing at London's Talk of the Town at the tail end of her career. Performing manic medleys of such signature songs as "For Me and My Gal," "You Made Me Love You" and "The Trolley Song," Bennett does more than simulate the increasingly brassy belter whose bell-like voice from her Dorothy years is long behind her. She exposes the warping pressures, internal and external, that accompany a gift of this magnitude.

For me, this is one of four virtuoso performances (along with Audra McDonald's in "Porgy and Bess," Andrew Garfield's in "Death of a Salesman" and James Corden's in "One Man, Two Guvnors") that have elevated an otherwise lackluster Broadway season. But it has apparently polarized hard-core Garland fans, some of whom have found Bennett's presentation to be excessive in its strung-out mannerisms. One Judy junkie — theater critics have more interaction with this type than most — pointed me to YouTube clips to prove his point that Garland wasn't always a twitchy Ritalin mess in her older years.

Yet Bennett, whose stylishly smoky sound is captivating in its own right, isn't just imitating the singer — she's theatrically interpreting her. Yes, the body language is at times as jumpy as a cornered cat. But Bennett heightens facets of Garland's bearing not to caricature her but to illuminate her inner workings.

This portrayal of Garland brought back to me the provocative idea proposed long ago by literary critic Edmund Wilson in his classic treatise "The Wound and the Bow" that "genius and disease, like strength and mutilation, may be inextricably bound up together." Wilson is principally referring to psychological disorders and the way exceptional artistic ability is often predicated on psychic wounds.

Talent is a mystery, but success requires enormous drive and a refusal to be content with ordinary standards. That perfectionist streak, as treacherous as it is necessary, has to come from somewhere, even if that somewhere is a void, a place that is missing what might have been filled in childhood.

The needy young girl, flailing pathetically after love, is ever present in the portrait of Garland that emerges in "End of the Rainbow." But so too is the aging superstar who's no more capable of taking in affection than she is banking applause. Affirmation for her is always suspect and never enough. (Uppers and downers are sadly more reliable in their effect.) When real tenderness comes her way, as it does in a last-ditch proposal put forth by her gay pianist (sensitively played by Michael Cumpsty), it is farfetched and too late.

There's no denying that Garland, who died at age 47, was a classic Hollywood casualty of drug addiction and alcoholism. But the reasons for Garland's decline were many, and as a fellow performer — as a fellow stage animal — Bennett brings a more complex understanding to a case that hasn't lost its hold on the public imagination in the more than four decades that have passed since Garland walked among us.

The flip side of fame is a tabloid staple. But the deeper anguish of an artist whose defining gift is vulnerable to the ravages of time (which includes self-neglect) is less commonly considered. Watching Bennett's Garland fling herself about her suite at the Ritz in abject terror at having to call up a talent that's no longer reliable, I couldn't help imagining Whitney Houston's similar distress at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on the day of her death in February.

In a Broadway performance that will long be discussed, debated and remembered, Bennett conveys, with equal parts magic and heartbreak, the paradox of being both human and immortal.


Indulge in 1920s glamour with

Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra – You’re the Top

Audiences can transport themselves to the glitz and glamour of the 1920s with Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra – You’re the Top when they swing by the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch on Sunday 10 September at 4pm.

Join the talented musicians and glamorous female vocalist of Michael’s acclaimed Piccadilly Dance Orchestra for an unashamed wallow in the wonderful music of elegant jazz and swing from the flavoured Art Deco era. This musically immaculate tribute to the roaring 20s features great songs by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, The Gershwins, Noel Coward, enhanced by those vivacious ‘Flappers’, The Gatsby Girls.

Founded in 1988,Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra is world famous for providing superb entertainment to a very high standard. They have enjoyed residencies at London’s Ritz and Savoy Hotels and have recorded six CDs.Acclaimed worldwide for their spirited recreations of the music of the British Dance Bands, they were chosen for BBC 4‘s highly successful Len Goodman’s Dancing Feet and sequel, Len Goodman’s Dance Band Days.

Don’t miss this glittering party celebrating the iconic music from a lost world where top hats, white ties and tails were the dress code and love was forever in the air!

Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra – You’re the Top comes to the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch on Sunday 10 September at 4pm. Tickets are £17.50 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office on 01708 443333, in person at the theatre or online at queens-theatre.co.uk.


5 Tips to Help Deal with Negative Reviews

Over the busy Christmas period, it’s easy for mistakes to be made – we’re only human, after all! Unfortunately though, unless dealt with swiftly, those mistakes can lead to dissatisfied customers, which leads to negative reviews, no matter how hard you might try. You might already have a procedure to deal with these, but if you’ve encountered your first one, don’t treat it as routine, or be blasé – Definitely don’t let it get you down – read carefully, then take action, so you can turn the negative review into a positive experience for both you and your customer.

Don’t forget, negative opportunities are also opportunities to identify and fix weaknesses in your processes to save time, money and improve the customer experience for more sales.

1. Don’t simply ignore it

Your upset customer has turned to whichever means of leaving a review they can because they don’t feel like they’re being heard – or that they feel they won’t be heard, or have a satisfactory outcome if they do get through to you. So by ignoring their review, you’re confirming their worries, you’re giving them the opportunity to carry on telling people how bad their experience was, but you’re also allowing potential new customers to wonder whether you care or not, which will impact their decision on whether to buy from you.

2. Do respond; but take a moment first

If you feel the customer has been unfair, or has complained online before contacting you, it can be frustrating – so don’t respond at that moment. Take a minute to clear your head, talk it over (or rant about it!) with a colleague or acquaintance so you’re calm and collected when you write your response, otherwise you risk getting into a messy online battle, and nobody emerges a winner in those. And remember to re-read the review once you have calmed down, before you formulate your response.

3. Make the customer feel they are being heard

You need to acknowledge the issue directly, and make sure the customer feels valued when you propose a course of action. Ultimately, you want your customers to have had a great experience when they deal with you – that’s how you get repeat business, after all. This is a chance to win your upset customer over, and reassure new customers – so you need to do this carefully. Make sure they know you understand why they’re upset, and that you want to help resolve the issue.

4. Choose your words wisely

As we mentioned already, you don’t want to get into an online war of words. So even where you feel the customer is in the wrong, apologise for an appropriate aspect – maybe communication, or the way that your website labels things wasn’t clear to them. You can word it carefully, e.g. “I’m sorry you feel this way”, if you think the complaint is unreasonable. Once you have a good, authentic response, (no pre-planned, canned responses here please) invite them to get in touch with you offline, so you can resolve the issue one way or another. Offline is better – it shows you really care, but if your customer decides to be unreasonable and won’t deal with the situation by phone or email, it’s better that you reiterate that you’re happy to try and resolve it offline, and leave it at that. Potential customers will see you tried, and be reassured that you will help them offline if they should encounter an issue.

5. Paint your business in a great light

You offer great customer service; this is your chance to show the world you do. Make sure whoever responds to the review uses their full name, and their role in the company, showing that you’re taking it seriously and not hiding from them. Once you’ve apologised, and addressed the complainant’s specific issue, say something along the lines of ‘we aim for all our customers to be satisfied with their order and the service they receive from us’, or one of your company’s aims as appropriate to their complaint – this will help reassure potential customers that you DO care.

But remember, a bad review isn’t necessarily bad news for you; you can’t please everyone, all the time, after all. Take the Ritz Hotel in London, for example. Considering it is one of the most famous hotels in London, renowned for their high standards, you might assume that everyone would be happy with the service they receive there; however, at the time of writing, there were over 4000 reviews on TripAdvisor, with over 100 reviewers rating the hotel as ‘Poor’ or ‘Terrible’.

Don’t worry; your negative reviews, as long as you deal with them well, can help to maintain your online presence as being authentic and trustworthy. And if you start encountering multiple bad reviews or complaints for the same area, feature or product, they can help you improve your business by identifying where you need to make improvements.

Dawn oversees the eBusiness Guru content with a ruthless eye for detail and has a broad range of qualifications & experience that includes retail, IT services in the Higher Education sector, teaching & training as well as an interest in equality and data protection law. A prolific reader, Dawn also loves dancing modern jive & Ceroc, and spending time at the beach.

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Two major names want to offer travelers a place to crash in San Francisco.

First, Waldorf Astoria, storied iconic hotel in New York City, will build its first-ever San Francisco property, right in the heart of the impending Transbay Center area. The tony hotel will take up 20 floors inside streets, a structure that will feature two high-rises, one of them to be the second-tallest building in San Francisco, at 910 feet.

The building’s exterior will be designed by London-based Foster + Partners in partnership with San Francisco-based Heller Manus Architects.

"San Francisco needed a proper luxury hotel," John Vanderslice, global head of luxury and lifestyle brands at Hilton Worldwide, shadily explained to Condé Nast Traveler. "This project is ground zero for luxury there." (Cover your ears, St. Regis San Francisco and Ritz-Carlton SF.)

The hotel will boast 171 rooms/suites and feature several restaurants. It will open on 2020 or 2021.

In addition to the Waldorf Astoria coming to Yerba Buena, the city’s SoMa District will play host to a big (albeit nascent in the industry) hotel name. Virgin plans on opening their second U.S. hotel on Fourth and Folsom. As Curbed SF was first to report, the London-based company will continue to dip their toes in the hotel market with a place in the city.

While Virgin has yet to officially confirm all of the details, our sources tell us that the upcoming hotel will feature unisex bathrooms, rooftop bar, restaurant, and penthouse rooms that, typically called honeymoon suites, christened "rockstar suites." Not as luxe as the Waldorf Astoria, but exciting nonetheless.

Opening day has yet to be confirmed.

Virgin opened its first U.S. hotel in 2015 in Chicago.