Sleuth Wk 43: Bogs, Bez, Bums and the Hamburglar

SleuthSleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. He's several people all at once. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to publish. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows. Follow Sleuth on twitter @mcrsleuth

CCTV Toilet Scandal In Worsley

Sleuth thanks beer mag, Ale of Two Cities, for this story. They revealed there's a Worsley pub with a CCTV camera right over the urinals which the mag thought was taking the world's worst videos. Turns out the company says it's a dummy camera and is there to discourage 'inappropriate behaviour' - such as, thinks Sleuth, putting perv cameras over toilets. As Ale of Two Cities says, 'Touch of 1984 there... presumably with a fine view of what's on offer'. And the name of the pub in Worsley - The Cock.

Point and shoot

Gusto To Open In November

It’s been seven months since Confidential announced that Gusto, the ‘high-end Italian’ chain of restaurants by Living Ventures (Australasia, Oast House, Manchester House, that lot), were moving into the Grade II listed Elliot House and former city registrar’s office at 151 Deansgate (main image) to open a new ‘flagship Gusto’ for Manchester. Now Sleuth’s been told that the new Gusto (which also has restaurants in Alderley Edge, Cheadle Hulme, Didsbury and Knutsford) will be ready to open at the rear-end of November. Good, Sleuth would hate to see Royle and Bennett's beautiful 1878 building unoccupied. And as Sleuth has said here many times before, Sleuth loves all Italian restaurants and there can never be enough of them...

Elliot House - new home for Gusto

In This Week's Rear View: Sleuth's Most Unlikely Beauty Therapy

Full story here but Sleuth is astonished by this beauty treatment. 'The Ultimate Butt Facial - available at Natura Anti-Ageing Clinic in Manchester, uses the latest peels, lasers and moisturising treatments to polish your posterior to perfection. The treatment, tailored to the individual, can be done in a lunch time, leaving your buns toned, polished, radiant and camera ready, with minimal downtime.' Camera ready? You what? The treatment costs £300. Bum deal, thinks Sleuth.

Sleuth's Friday History Lesson: The Callipygian Venus is shown here. 'Callipygian' means 'beautiful buttocked' in Greek. This statue was found in Sicily and dates from 1st Century AD. It depicts Venus looking backwards at her 'toned, polished, radiant and camera ready' arse.

Grande Plans For Old Granada With Vast New Hotel

Allied London have announced the 1960's Granada HQ building and the adjacent four studios in the south west corner of the city centre will be converted into a 'Miami-style' event hotel called The Grande. There'll be 200 bedrooms and nightly entertainment of music, film, theatre, arts and club events, with hotel guests receiving a pass for all entertainments. This will happen in 2016 and Sleuth is all for the scheme, especially as the plans retain the fine sixties building which has played such a role in British broadcasting history. And anyway, since Sleuth and the rest of the Confidential team are presently housed in the building, he's become sentimental about it.

CGI of Grande

Caffeine & Co And The Soft Brew

Caffeine & Co has also moved into the Granada HQ building - for a year or so until the hotel is realised, click here. It's a cracking fit-out. And the flat whites are as good as ever, but there's a novel caffeine notion as well. This is the 'soft brew' at £3 which at first the macho side of Sleuth's character didn't like the sound of. This is not brewed in the traditional espresso coffeeshop machine, but separately, and is a single estate coffee rather than a blend. Sleuth had the Ethiopian Wonago Yirgacheffe and it was superb, sweet, strong, with less bitterness than the espresso brews. Give it a whirl says Sleuth.

New Caffeine & Co

Odd Curry Awards

Sleuth saw news this week that two Manchester curry houses on the same street in Castlefield (Liverpool Road) had scooped awards at the English Curry Awards 2014 at the AJ Bell Stadium in Eccles. Bollywood Masala took home the award for the ‘best curry in the North West’ and Akbar’s (a few doors down) took ‘home the best in Manchester’. Sleuth thought this very odd, not that the Curry Mile had been overlooked (though Sleuth hears ‘The Mile’ weren’t best pleased), but that you can be the ‘best curry in the North West’ without being the ‘best curry in Manchester’. Silly.

Bez News

At least once a week, Sleuth comes across something in his inbox about former-Happy Mondays maracas-man, Bez, doing something or other somewhere or other around the city. So much so, Sleuth has now decided to add 'Bez News' to this weekly column. So let's get started, what's Bez been up to...

Well, during the upcoming Manchester Science Festival 2014, ar Bez, being a world leader in the field, is to be one of the experts at a debate on fracking at MOSI (see here). Not only that, being an expert in the preservation of bees, Bez is to unveil his first batch of honey from 'Bez's Bees' (he calls it his 'pension plan'), which have been grafting away on the top of the Printworks for a year or so. He's a busy bee that Bez. Or just bored. Tune in next week for the latest round of 'Bez News'.

Bez's Bees

Sleuth's Weirdest Security Protected Item Of The Week

Sleuth reckons Piccadilly Gardens must be one of very few places in the world where a supermarket would feel the need to add a security tag to £4 breaded ham. Then again, Sleuth has heard rumours that McDonald's notorious Hamburglar has been seen lurking around Piccadilly Garden's 'dodgy benches'...

Hamburglar - last seen in Piccadilly Gardens

Sleuth's Weirdest Exhibition Title Of The Week

Yes, this John Rylands Library exhibition, is called Men Who Like Women Who Smell Of Their Jobs. Sleuth isn't sure what it's about even after reading this description, so maybe you have a go. Anyway, Sleuth once went out with this female fishmonger and had to tell her this, "Sorry, but in this case it's hard to love a woman who smells of her job." "You can bugger off too," she said, "ever since you got that job at the sewage works it's just not been the same."

What job does your woman smell of?

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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

• Kilian Kerner • S/S14 •

Friday the 13th. 12:30. The Waldorf Hilton Hotel London. The Kilian Kerner show during London Fashion Week. The hotel during the day is beautiful. Not even a stones throw away from the main happenings of Somerset House, the hotel was in Aldwych.

Kerner was born in Cologne, Germany. He has two lines, Kilian Kerner and a diffusion line Kilian Kerner Senses (at House of Fraser). When your fans include Karolina Kurkova and Sui He, you're cool.

For Spring 2014 Kilian created a red carpet collection and the pictures do not lie. Every piece was as red carpet worthy as the next. A favourite of mine was the strapless navy silk ankle length tank dress. So simple, elegant and lasting.

The finale gown was the main attraction among viewers. Flashes beamed every second, the model stood proud and not quivering. The gold top and tulle white ball gown skirt is definitely on my red carpet wishlist.

While us guests sipped on champagne and orange juice, fresh handmade ice-cream was being served in miniature tubs. Mr. Kerner really knows how to put on hell of a show.


On a bitterly cold December morning in 2004, a slightly spottier version of me sporting a ridiculous haircut was readying to pilot a 980+ horsepower McLaren Formula One car at the legendary Silverstone racetrack. It would be my first time driving such a machine and I remember the emotions exceptionally well.

I was shitting myself.

This opportunity was gifted to me by way of winning the McLaren Autosport Young Driver Of The Year Award. That accolade stemmed from a two-day barrage of interviews, testing and driving, attempting to impress an array of seven formidable judges.

Six finalists were evaluated with the eventual winner being deemed the best British young driver for 2003. Winning would etch my name besides the likes of Jenson Button, David Coulthard and Dario Franchitti - providing me the necessary name recognition to elevate my career to the next level.

Plus the prize included a whopping $140,000 to put towards my 2004 racing budget, a delightful Graham watch and a day behind the wheel of a McLaren MP4-19 Formula One car. Naturally, I was most excited about the prospect of a new watch.

When I won the award at the glitzy Grosvenor House hotel in London (staying in none other than Madonna's penthouse suit) it was, needless to say, the biggest day of life.

Well, the following year at Silverstone probably topped it. Driving an F1 car is every guy's dream. It is the pinnacle of automotive creativity, speed and technology. This was the real deal.

There would be three of us driving that day, myself, Lewis Hamilton and Jamie Green, all of us receiving our first sample of F1 machinery. The day was extremely cold but dry (unusual for December at Silverstone).

First wish granted: I really wanted to experience an F1 car in the dry.

The MP4-19 was an Adrian Newey-designed missile that, admittedly, didn't achieve the lofty results McLaren expected. In fact, later in the season McLaren brought out an improved MP4-19B that took "The Kimster" to victory at Spa.

While engine restrictions were being implemented, the Mercedes motor was still a 3.0-liter V10 producing an estimated 980-1000 horsepower. It was one of the last true monsters in the F1 world.

When I slithered into my race suit and pulled my snug helmet over my idiotic hair, I felt ready. I stepped into the narrow cockpit and my earplugs were connected into the car's radio system.

An emotionless man calmly told the team to "fire it up." The starter motor was inserted, I switched on the ignition and all of a sudden the deafening, inimitable sound of a Formula One car burst to life, amidst the magnitude of flickering dash lights (all of which baffled me) and the flurry of mechanics removing the tire warmers.

"Bloody hell," I thought. "I'm about to drive a Formula One car!"

I felt I should be prepared. After all, I'd been racing and winning in the Formula 3000 championship, which was known as a stepping-stone to Formula One. These were the F1 training machines, so the transition, I presumed, would not be too astronomical.

I was wrong.

The chief mechanic signaled me with a flick of his wrist, like something off Top Gun, to engage first gear and head onto the track. I depressed the hand clutch, selected first and pulled out.

First thought: "I didn't stall. Hoorah!"

Second thought: "Oh shit!"

I knew my time in the car would be limited, just a couple of short runs, so I wanted to come out of the blocks sprinting. At the exit of the pit-lane I disengaged the speed limiter and hit the gas, embarking on a fierce acceleration completely unimaginable.

Genuinely, I couldn't feel any linear progression in speed. It felt like I'd gone from 60 mph to 200 mph in an instant.

Third thought: "Oh fuck, I'm dead!"

And I nearly was.

I approached the first turn, hit the brake pedal to unleash the notoriously impressive F1 carbon brakes, only to find that without temperature they're useless. It was as if someone had replaced them with the brakes from a child's bicycle.

I clenched my buttocks and serenely missed the bend, dodged a few cones, stayed on the asphalt (thank God) and prayed no one in the pits knew of my blunder.

"OK… Shake it off," I thought.

Again I hit the warp speed pedal and flew down the back straight, this time braking far earlier to get the damn things warm. I hit the pit straight and stayed flat through the kink at 140 mph. No problem under normal circumstances, but I wasn't used to the insanely light, twitchy power steering on a Formula One car. The steering is usually so heavy on most open-wheel cars it's like shoulder pressing 40-pound weights every time you turn the wheel. Easy enough for a few bends, but after a long session your arms want to fall off.

I negotiated the kink (despite relinquishing a little bit of poo) and hurled into Copse corner at 170 mph.

The next couple of laps were a bag of mixed emotions. I genuinely didn't think I could drive the car. It was too damn fast. My mind couldn't keep up. Rather than thinking a couple of corners ahead, I felt like I was a few miles behind.

Mercifully, after a few laps my brain began to adjust to the barbaric speeds and caught back up.

At the end of my first run I was in awe. The monotone McLaren engineers informed me that in order to get the brakes working optimally, I needed to apply over 100 lbs. more pressure. But other than that, they said to just keep doing what I was doing.

"My legs are like twigs," I thought. "Better pucker up."

A short breather was timely, as it let the emotion of driving a real-life Formula One car sink in. I was ready for another run. And this time I'd try to drive the car, and not let the car drive me.

Again, the most beautiful noise I have ever heard resonated around Middle England as the McLaren was fired back to life.

I pulled out and embarked on another incredible, life changing journey.

I began to analyze the car and push. I felt comfortable (or at least less likely to produce further excrement). Applying more brake pressure allowed me to feel the magnitude of what was available. The stopping power is simply insane. You enter a bend and literally don't brake until you feel you're about to begin turning. But once you hit the pedal the speed sheds at an unfathomable rate.

The grip level is surreal, too. The downforce produced is incredible and it feels like you can go faster and faster. Every additional mile-per-hour you carry into the turn, the more downforce (and therefore grip) manifests. It seemed like limitless, never-ending grip. I'm pretty sure my head almost fell off a few times with the ridiculous G-forces amassed.

Of course, there was a limit of adhesion. And when you touch it, the car would snap violently. The key to driving an F1 car is to run it to its upper limits without exceeding. Hence the reason, when watching on-board cameras, things generally seem pretty calm and under control.

I still struggle to elucidate the acceleration and speed. It is something I have never (and likely never will) feel again. Even a modern Indy machine does not come close. They are a million miles away from the 1000-hp F1 cars of old, that only weighed around 1,400 lbs. (including driver, fuel and on-board cameras). And likely an F1 car today does not feel anything like their more powerful older brothers once did.

If you have ever been to an F1 race I don't need to tell you about the sound. You know. It is emotional. Tear inducing. And erotic. Yes, erotic. No doubt. I bet there were at least 67 percent of male spectators in Austin attempting to conceal their erections. A few probably wore them with pride.

Driving a McLaren F1 car was one of the best experiences of my career, beat only by finishing fourth in the 2010 Indianapolis 500. And despite practically shitting myself those first few laps, it is a day I will take with me to the grave. It was one of the most marvelous, crazy, exceptional days of my life. Even if every picture of me with the beautiful McLaren was ruined by my ridiculous hair.

About the author: @Alex_Lloyd began racing in the U.S. in 2006. He won the Indy Lights championship in 2007. He's competed in the Daytona 24-hour twice and the Indianapolis 500 four times — placing fourth in 2010. The native of MADchester, UK began racing karts at age 8, open-wheel race cars at 16 and finished second to Formula One World Champion - and close friend - Lewis Hamilton, in the 2003 British Formula Renault Championship, followed by a stint representing Great Britain in A1GP and winning races in Formula 3000. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife Samantha (also from England) and three young "Hoosier" children. He also enjoys racing in triathlons and is rather partial to a good old English cup of tea. But not crumpets.


LONDON/LISBON (Reuters) - EDP-Energia de Portugal is working on a plan to sell some of its electricity generation assets in Portugal, three sources close to the matter said, in an effort to free up cash to drive its renewable energy expansion.

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Portuguese utility company EDP - Energias de Portugal is seen at the company's offices in Oviedo, Spain, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso/File Photo

The plan is expected to be unveiled at an investors meeting in London on March 12, one of the sources said.

EDP, which was approached last year by China Three Gorges (CTG) with a 9 billion euro takeover proposal, owns conventional generation assets in Portugal and Spain that are worth around 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion).

It is currently looking to divest part of its operations in Portugal, which all together account for 90 percent of electricity generation and distribution in the country.

The move comes after activist investor Elliott launched a campaign to try to thwart CTG’s takeover proposal, which EDP has described as too low.

The sale of the Portuguese assets also reflects some of Elliott’s demands, one of the sources said.

Elliott has built a 2.9 percent stake in EDP, becoming one of the utility’s top ten shareholders.

It wants EDP’s investors to shun CTG, the largest shareholder in EDP with a 23 percent stake, and back an alternative plan to divest assets across Brazil, Portugal and Spain which could be worth about 7.6 billion euros.

EDP, led by Chief Executive Officer António Mexia, will meet the company’s investors at the Berkeley Hotel in London’s upmarket Knightsbridge district on March 12, the sources said, and will outline a new strategy to raise cash from asset sales to finance renewable energy projects.

The company has also started a parallel sale process for its thermoeletric plant Pecem in the Brazilian state of Ceara, which could be valued at around $520 million, a third source said.

Meanwhile, CTG’s bid proposal needs regulatory approval in a number of countries, including Brazil, the United States, Portugal and the European Union.

Reuters reported on Jan. 25 that CTG had halted talks with EU regulators about the proposed takeover.

European utilities have been forced to change business models by an increasing shift to renewable energy sources.

EDP owns wind energy subsidiary EDPR, which manages operating assets in 11 countries and is also the target of CTG’s takeover plan.


Robert Tchenguiz

Robert Tchenguiz (born 9 September 1960) is a British entrepreneur, property investor, activist shareholder and securities dealer. The younger brother of Vincent Tchenguiz, he undertook a series of corporate deals, focusing particularly on property assets associated with UK pub and supermarket chains, during the 2000s. However, the value of some of his investments plunged during the financial crisis of 2007–08, exacerbated by the collapse of his major financial backer, Iceland's Kaupthing Bank. He and his brother's businesses were also the target of a misdirected UK Serious Fraud Office enquiry and of various law suits.

Early life
Tchenguiz was born in Tehran, Iran, to an Iraqi-Jewish family, the son of Victor and Violet Khadouri. His family left Iraq in 1948 and settled in Iran, where his father, a jeweler, worked for the Shah and ran the country's mint. He also changed the family surname from Khadouri to Tchenguiz.

In 1979 the family moved in England after the Iranian revolution. He has one brother and one sister: Vincent Tchenguiz and Lisa Tchenguiz (formerly married to BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, Gary Davies and then to South African-born Del Monte CEO, Vivian Imerman).

Career
Starting with an investment in a Hammersmith office block, the Tchenguiz family established Rotch Property Group, a highly leveraged business that "typically buys properties let long-term to blue-chip clients" and "relies on property values rising in a low-interest-rate environment". In a booming real estate market, they also applied an American financial engineering strategy of securitization: borrowing large sums against future cashflows from company assets, enabling them to access more debt, and on better terms (and much of it - reportedly over £2 billion - from Iceland's Kaupthing Bank), than had been thought possible. Other businesses included the R20 investment vehicle and investment company London & Boston.

High street and pub chain investments
In 2001, the Tchenguiz brothers and Vivian Imerman, supported by a £190 million loan from German investment bank WestLB, backed a 2001 management buyout of distiller Whyte & Mackay (in 2005 they bought remaining interests in the firm before selling the company to India-based United Spirits Limited for £595m in 2007). Also in 2001, Robert Tchenguiz tabled a £310m bid for Shell Mex House, a 1930s Art Deco building overlooking the Thames next to London's Savoy Hotel, and in 2003 bid to buy London's Selfridges but later (July 2003) withdrew his offer before launching bids to buy the Pubmaster pub chain and the Odeon cinema chain. After selling his Pubmaster stake to Punch Taverns, in 2004 he established the Globe Pub Company and acquired 364 pubs from Spirit Group, in a deal worth £345m, and also bought the Laurel Pub Company for £150m. In 2005 he bought the Yates's high street bar group for £200m and then spent £80m for 98 pubs from the SFI Group, which operated the Slug and Lettuce chain. Also in 2005, he was part of a consortium targeting the Somerfield supermarket chain.

In 2006, he led a consortium targeting the Mitchells & Butlers pub chain, and while the initial bid was rebuffed, Tchenguiz continued to pursue M&B in 2007 only for M&B management to postpone a proposed property joint venture due to a credit crunch heralding the financial crisis of 2007–08. Deteriorating market conditions saw £225m wiped off the value of Tchenguiz's investments in a single day in November 2007, and by January 2008, collapsed corporate deals and plunging stock market values were reported to have cut the paper value of three Tchenguiz investments (M&B, supermarket chain Sainsbury's and computer games publisher SCi Entertainment) by over £560m in less than 12 weeks. In March 2008, Tchenguiz's Laurel Pub Company collapsed into administration, but around 239 of pubs and restaurants were immediately acquired from the administrators in a deal financed by between £50m and £60m of credit provided by Tchenguiz. He continued to build his stake in M&B in May 2008, but was reportedly sitting on a hefty loss as M&B shares, once trading at nearly 900p, had fallen to 344p. In May 2008, Tchenguiz - holding 27% of the company's shares - got M&B agreement to place property interests into a tax-efficient real estate investment trust once credit market conditions were favourable for refinancing.

Financial losses
However, by October 2008, under pressure from Kaupthing Bank, which had backed many of Tchenguiz's investments, he was forced to sell off holdings in M&B, Sainsbury's, SCi Entertainment and other businesses, incurring substantial losses estimated at over £800m. And in February 2009, Kaupthing announced it was suing Oscatello Investments, a British Virgin Islands-based holding company controlled by Tchenguiz, in relation to an unpaid overdraft of £643m. In May 2009, Kaupthing followed up with a £180m claim against Tchenguiz for proceeds from the sale of Somerfield - eventually settled in June 2010 with the Tchenguiz Discretionary Trust surrendering control of £137m to Kaupthing's administrators. Meanwhile, in April 2009, Tchenguiz's Globe Pub Company faced administration after defaulting on a loan payment; the chain's 421 outlets were bought from the receivers by Heineken in October 2009.

SFO and other legal disputes
In the wake of the collapse of Kaupthing Bank, Robert Tchenguiz was suspected of fraudulent dealings and was arrested in a dawn raid in 2011; however, the investigation ended in 2012 with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) citing "insufficient evidence", and no indictment was ever brought. In fact, Tchenguiz lost millions of pounds in Kaupthing's collapse.  Robert Tchenguiz sued the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for false imprisonment and damages to his businesses. Due to mishandling of the inquiry, the court had already ordered the SFO to pay 80% of Robert Tchenguiz's legal expenses in the matter. In 2014 the SFO settled with Tchenguiz for a sum of £1.5m.

However, Tchenguiz also took legal action against Grant Thornton and partners at the firm who he claimed had misled the SFO into investigating him and brother Vincent, though the dispute reportedly also created a rift between the brothers due to a legal row over administration of the Tchenguiz Family Trust; main beneficiary Vincent was accused by Robert of making false representations "of a serious nature" about him to Grant Thornton. The court action was eventually discontinued by Robert Tchenguiz in October 2018. The judge said all defendants could leave the court "with their reputation completely intact" as Tchenguiz's allegations had "completely failed"; while the court could not compel Tchenguiz to apologise, "it records unequivocally that it is warranted." However, Tchenguiz said "I am definitely not providing an apology."

A legal dispute relating to Investec Trust Guernsey's handling of the Tchenguiz Discretionary Trust ended in an April 2018 judgement in favour of the Guernsey-based business, with Tchenguiz threatened with loss of his Kensington home, formerly housing the Royal College of Organists, as a result - though this threat was later reported to have been resolved.

In July 2018, Robert Tchenguiz was said by a High Court judge to have lied regarding a €2bn Santander Bank deal in a dispute involving Edgeworth Capital, a Tchenguiz-owned Luxembourg-registered company, and Aabar Investments, an Abu Dhabi investment business. Finding in favour of Aabar, the judge said Tchenguiz was "prepared to say whatever he thought would assist Edgeworth's case, without any regard for its truth."

Resumption of activist shareholder activities
During 2019, Tchenguiz built up a substantial shareholding in bus and rail company FirstGroup, and in November 2019 pushed for the group to be broken up. In December 2019, FirstGroup announced it was considering a sale of its north American businesses, leading Tchenguiz, holding 4.7% of the company, to claim a shareholders victory. Also in November 2019, Tchenguiz campaigned to restructure AIM-listed real estate lender Urban Exposure in which his company, R20 Advisory, had built a 12.6% stake.

Meanwhile, in September 2019, Tchenguiz sold one of his properties, the Quarry House office building in Leeds, to Legal & General for £246m, part of an effort to raise funds to invest in new UK properties.

Personal life
Tchenguiz once dated supermodel Caprice Bourret and was close to Diana, Princess of Wales.

In 2005, he married his longtime girlfriend, American Heather Bird; they have two children. Though separated, they live in different parts of the same house by the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London. His girlfriend, Julia Dybowska, also lives in the house. Details about his domestic arrangements were aired in a May 2018 BBC documentary The Rise and Fall of the Playboy Billionaire, prompting Tchenguiz to threaten legal action against the BBC, and to appoint former Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson as his PR advisor.

In January 2018, Robert Tchenguiz was reported to have been on the invitation list to a controversial Presidents Club dinner in London.

References

Category:1960 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Tehran
Category:British businesspeople
Category:British Jews
Category:Iranian Jews
Category:Iraqi Jews
Category:Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Category:Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in the United Kingdom
Category:Iranian people of Iraqi descent


In the next move in Chicago's quickly-escalating rooftop bar scene, a three-level rooftop lounge overlooking the Chicago River is part of the plan for the hotel under construction at the corner of Michigan and Wacker. LondonHouse is slated to open this spring at 85 E. Wacker, DNAinfo reports.

The hotel claims that the rooftop will give patrons "Chicago's only tri-level rooftop venue." The Rooftop Terrace will feature small bites and classic cocktails. There's also a restaurant on the 23rd floor, were diners can enjoy a meal under the dome of the Cupola. Two levels below, another bar will feature "re-imagined American fare" and craft cocktails. Then there's the Bridges Lobby Bar on the second floor. Chef Riley Huddleston (IO Urban Roofscape, Prasino) was announced as the hotel's executive chef and "drinks manager" in November.

The historic building was built on the site of Fort Dearborn and housed Crain Communications until 2013, that's when construction began to convert the structure from the office building. It's also the home to the fictional newspaper, the "Chicago Chronicle" from the 1990s sit-com "Perfect Strangers."


Teaching particle meanings for phrasal verbs

Is there any value in trying to teach students the meanings of adverbs and prepositions commonly used in phrasal verbs? Could it help them understand phrasal verbs they have never met before?

I was thinking about this the other day when a friend told me she was ‘Hoxtoned out’, by which she meant that she had stayed at the Hoxton hotel in London so many times that it had begun to lose its appeal. Native speakers do this sort of thing all the time. We have no trouble processing the information that an actress ‘corseted up’ to star in a period drama or that a dancer ‘tangoed off’ into another room.

In our book Phrasal Verbs for Natural English, there is one unit on this topic, in which we cover on in the sense of continuing (struggle on, keep on), up in the sense of making things better, more attractive, etc. (perk up, liven up), off in the senses of dividing something (chop off, cordon off) and getting rid of someone or something (frighten off, sell off), and out in the sense of giving something to lots of people (hand out, dish out).

We included this unit because we felt that it was useful to introduce students to the idea that the meanings of particles are not always random, and that it can be helpful for them to look out for patterns in the phrasal verbs they learn. However, my own feeling is that this is quite a tricky thing for students to do at anything other than a very advanced level, and that too much emphasis on teaching particles is likely to be confusing.

One of the things that is so difficult about many phrasal verbs is the juxtaposition of common, polysemous verbs and common, polysemous particles. There are no chapters with headings like ‘Phrasal verbs with give and go‘ in our book – we felt that this (quite common) approach is only likely to confirm students in the idea that they will never master phrasal verbs. Rather than look for patterns, which are often tenuous at best, it is much better, surely, to teach phrasal verbs as single lexical items in common and relevant contexts, particularly for those phrasal verbs we wish our students to use productively.

For comprehension, rather than focusing on the particle, it is almost certainly easier for students to glean meaning by analogy to a complete phrasal verb that they already know. So, for example, if they have been taught ‘eat up’ or ‘swallow up’ in the sense of using up an amount of something such as money or time, they are much more likely to be able to cope with ‘gobble up’ in the same sense than if they have only been taught that ‘up’ is commonly used for using the whole of something.

In the vast majority of cases, the core of the meaning of a phrasal verb resides more in the verb than the particle. Of course, the choice of particle is never random – my friend could not have said she was ‘Hoxtoned up’ with the same meaning – but if a student can understand the meaning of the verb, the context of use will usually be of much more importance in understanding the whole phrasal verb than trying to work out the sense of the particle. The student who is able to produce ‘Hoxoned out’ is way beyond the level of our book!

[...] particle meanings for phrasal verbs? Posted on 26 October, 2011 by Simon Thomas Liz Walter has some interesting thoughts.Share this post:Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postRecommend on FacebookGoogle Buzz-up this [...]

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Part of the Delta Teacher Development Series. Being Creative takes you on a journey that reveals how all teachers have the potential to become creative. Whether you are experienced or new to the classroom, Being Creative allows your teaching to take flight.

Part of the Delta Teacher Development Series. Culture in our Classrooms acknowledges the role of culture in the English Language Teaching classroom and provides lesson content which is relevant, useful and engaging for students.

Part of the multi-award-winning Delta Teacher Development Series. The Company Words Keep is a practical and thought-provoking guide for language teachers, showing how the latest insights into “language chunks” can lead to learners acquiring natural and fluent English.

DIGITAL PLAY - 2012 ELTONS WINNER IN INNOVATION IN TEACHER RESOURCES! Digital Play is a pioneering book on the use of computer games in language teaching. Authors Kyle and Graham are experts in teaching with technology and training teachers in innovative classroom practice.

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In the Downloads area this month we are offering business English teachers professional development activities taken from The Business English Teacher. The Business English Teacher is a compendium of good practice for successful business English teaching. It is invaluable both for teachers thinking of moving into business English teaching, and those wishing to further increase their skills and develop their potential. If you like these activities then we are sure you would love the rest of the book too!

The third in our series of Financial Fridays posts is now live here. This week Julie Pratten, author of Absolute Banking English and Absolute Financial English, provides you with a helping of buzz words, activities and links on the topic of 'creditworthiness'. These can be used as warmers or fillers or full-blown lessons.

In the Downloads area this month we are offering you Part C from the award-winning Digital Play. Winner in the Innovation in Teacher Resources category at the 2012 ELTons, Digital Play is a pioneering book on the use of computer games in language teaching, in which the authors share their expertise in training teachers in innovative classroom practice with their excitement for teaching with technology. If you enjoy this part of the book then we are sure you would also benefit from reading the whole book - available in paperback or on Kindle.


Located in Hither Green, Body Silk Clinic focuses on aesthetic treatments for ladies and men, providing solutions for back pain problems, skin rejuvenation, a range of anti-ageing treatments and much more. They invested in the most up-to-date equipment for treatments of stubborn body fat and Endermologia cellulite treatments, as well as non-invasive face lifts through the LPG facelift technology, laser hair removal so that they can guarantee the best results to you. The Body Silk Clinic uses the latest cosmetic technologies enabling all skin types to be treated safely, providing detailed information and educating clients about the offered techniques and treatments. The clinic offers state-of-the-art skin care regimes delivered by highly trained, experienced aestheticians. All treatments are supervised by board certified cosmetic doctors and/or qualified specialists. On the beauty and maintenance side, they have treatment rooms where you can go for a massage, a facial, waxing and nail treatments. With all of their treatments, the results are noticeable immediately and improve significantly with a program of repeat services.

Based in Bromley, within TruGrym, Lirio Therapy Massage and Beauty Treatments is a beauty room offering a range of treatments. The treatments are carried out by fully qualified and insured therapists, who offer high standards of customer care. They create a calm and friendly environment, where you can unwind and relax whilst getting yourself pampered. With a wide range of services on offer, including massages, waxing, facials and more, they are sure to fulfil your needs.

Beautiful You is a hair and beauty salon situated in West Wickham, South East London. They provide a wide range of hair, beauty and body treatments, including cutting and colouring, facials, and IPL laser hair removal. The team of fully qualified experts are on hand to facilitate whichever treatment you desire with their unrivalled knowledge and skills. The modern and bright salon uses world-leading brands such as L'Oreal Professional, MAC and OPI to ensure each treatment is delivered to a consistently high standard. Beautiful You is located on the West Wickham High Street, within walking distance from the rail station and also benefits from limited parking outside.

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Located inside the elegant Bromley Court Hotel, Revitalize Spa offers an excellent selection of beauty and spa services for both guests and non-resident customers. The team of expert therapists welcome you into the beautifully decorated spa and customise each service to meet your needs, allowing you to sit back and enjoy a moment of complete relaxation. The range of treatments includes facials, eyelash extensions, relaxing massages, and hair removal as well as manicures, pedicures and tanning. Situated just off the A21 road, 10 miles south-east of Central London, the 19th-century Bromley Court Hotel is the ideal setting for some majestic pampering. If you’re getting ready for your special day, check out the amazing bridal packages on offer. Or if you’re simply after a bit of me-time and indulgence, a hot stone massage or a soothing facial will leave you feeling totally rejuvenated. Whatever treatment you go for, the professional and friendly team are on hand to provide you with a truly refreshing spa experience. Grant yourself a day of leisure and luxury and book a date with Revitalize Spa. Your body will thank you for it.

Located in Bromley, Fontaine Beauty Room is a massage center offering a range of holistic therapies for all your needs. Specialising in classic massages, these expert therapists work with you to provide various services, from beauty treatments to spiritual healing. You'll be made to feel at ease at this cosy and warm therapy room as soon as you walk through the door. They know that it can sometimes be hard to simply take care of yourself. That’s why they provide a five-star quality service that focuses on any problematic areas, either physical or emotional.

Feel Better Now is a treatment room based in the Catford area of Lewisham, South London. Helping clients with chronic pain, whilst working on the emotional, physical and spiritual paths, as well as those who simply want to relax, each treatment is unique and catered to you. The owner, Emilene is passionate about the healing power of massage, having been inspired by her husband’s rehabilitation with MS (Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis), she prides herself on her growing knowledge and experience of the profession. Massage balances the mind, body and spirit, so book yourself in for a relaxing treatment, you will feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.

Beauty by Zoe is a professional beauty therapy salon on the Beckenham High Street. They have a number of services to choose from, including luxurious nails, facials and massage treatments, all of which can be tailored to suit your needs. With an emphasis on helping you to feel relaxed, the dedicated therapists here provide a high level of care and attention. Make the most of an unrushed, effective and enjoyable experience by taking a look at their great value packages and special offers.

Iecshiesa Beauty is a mobile beauty service covering South East London areas, specialising in massage and nails. Bring beauty and relaxation to the comfort of your own home. All treatments are carried out by Iecshiesa, an experienced therapist. She takes care to listen to your needs and provides you with a friendly and fantastic experience.


Dirty Projectors’ David Longstreth has a new beard and wears an old jacket – one of those fashionable blue French worker’s shirts – the same one he wears in the video for Keep Your Name, the strange, sad, machine-made ballad that opens the eighth, self-titled Dirty Projectors album. The record is a journey through the spectrum of heartache: anger, grief, despair and liberation, but without the mellifluous female harmonies of Angel Deradoorian and his former bandmate and ex-girlfriend Amber Coffman, who appeared on a number of Dirty Projectors’ previous albums. Shorn of their contributions, the music sounds more masculine, industrial, sample-heavy and hip-hop-inspired.

While Dirty Projectors have had a rotating lineup for many years, Longstreth now functions less as a bandleader and more as a creative director, enlisting guest vocalists, producers and advisers: Kanye West’s “narrative designer” Elon Rutberg, experimental R&B star Dawn Richard, Battles’ Tyondai Braxton and Solange Knowles are all listed in the new album’s credits. Essentially, Longstreth’s just like any guy who’s gone through a major breakup, had a makeover and found himself a fresh set of cool new mates. He is alone, amended, anew.

We meet in his room in the Ace hotel in east London, resplendent with vinyl player and muted, minimalist furniture. It feels as though Longstreth would like to contain the extent to which the new record is analysed, and sometimes his intellectualism buries the specific topic being raised (during one recent interview he managed to cajole one journalist into spending a few hours flying around Iraq in a VR headset).

His breakup with Coffman appears to have happened in 2013 (when asked, he tells me it was “a while ago”, wafting his hand across his face). It is referenced in the accompanying pages of text that I am sent to read before the interview, but he has since joked that the failed relationship at the centre of the album could be a metaphor for anything from the band’s new lineup to Brexit.

The record is about the “experience of being in this band for the last couple of years, being in this relationship,” he says. “The album as a whole is not a journal. It’s not a newspaper. Even when it feels very real, it’s more some sort of shattered cloud of impressions, feelings and experiences. My goal wasn’t anything other than telling an emotional reality.”

At the risk of jumping to reductive conclusions, however, direct references to his relationship with Coffman are pretty explicit at times. On Up in Hudson, he describes love at first sight – “First time ever I saw your face, laid my eyes on you, was the Bowery Ballroom stage, and you were shredding Marshall tubes and I knew” – an encounter one sleuth traced back to the pair’s initial meeting at a show in 2006. The lyrics of Keep Your Name could be interpreted as the internal monologue of an artist concerned with compromising integrity for popularity (“A band is a brand,” he raps). But it’s the song’s sample of the refrain “We don’t see eye to eye” from Impregnable Question – a track he and Coffman sang together on their 2012 album Swing Lo Magellan – that is hard to pass off as creative embellishent. Unlike the original song, the sample omits the crucial, kind caveat: “But I need you. And you’re always on my mind.” It’s a powerful and raw callback.

Longstreth onstage with Amber Coffman, 2012. Photograph: Al Pereira/WireImage

Longstreth worked on Coffman’s debut solo album, due later this year, both co-writing and producing it. But he says they have not been in touch much lately.

“Since making her album … we have not been. As much. As much as I would like,” he explains, quietly.

I ask about how he felt when in 2016, Coffman broke her silence over the sexual harassment she encountered at the hands of the music publicist Heathcliff Berru. Her statements about Berru triggered what Billboard called “a watershed moment for sexism” in the music business, giving confidence to other women in the industry who came forward with similar stories. Berru resigned from his job, and issued a public apology for his “wildly inappropriate, hurtful, and terrrible” behaviour.

“Sexual harrassment and abuse is intolerable,” Lonsgtreth says. “I am proud she spoke up about Heathcliff, that guy was a piece … Yeah, a strong move. I am proud of her.”

Following the release of Coffman’s first single All to Myself – a lonesome love song that sounds like a sister track to Keep Your Name (although Longstreth doesn’t believe it was written about him) – fans started to gossip about possible animosity between the pair. He says he was “somewhat surprised” by the degree to which “the response was like: ‘Oh! Shots fired’” after his track’s release.

“I would really encourage playing down specific relationship drama because we didn’t make our relationship public as we were in it,” he says. “It’s very often a metaphor for things that I am thinking about.”

In the wake of 2012’s Swing Lo Magellan, Longstreth had a period of depression and was unable to write. His talents as an inventive songwriter had not gone unnoticed, however, and with the help of Rick Rubin, whom he had met in Los Angeles, he was given access to rap and rock royalty: Longstreth wrote the bridge of FourFiveSeconds, featuring Kanye West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney; he also contributed extensively to Solange’s A Seat at the Table. Away from R&B, he also composed a 70-piece arrangement of Time As a Symptom from Joanna Newsom’s Divers, produced the album Azel by Bombino, as well as working on Coffman’s forthcoming album.

Much like West’s frequent collaborator Bon Iver, an indie artist elevated into the upper echelons of mainstream music, Longstreth has borrowed from his recent musical experiences. He says he learned a lot from the time he spent in the rap world, “looking over [West’s producer] Mike Dean’s shoulder and having him tell me about technical things with the software”.

His affiliation with musicians such as West may have also led to a preoccupation with fame – its transient nature and its opposition to “art” (“What I want from art is truth/What you want is fame” he sings on the new album, and “Now I’m shining like tears in the rain and you’re shining like 15 of fame, babe”).

Given the DIY past of Dirty Projectors, those themes are understandable, but he’s not being dogmatic about it – he says the way the internet has brought down the walls that separated communities in music has made the concepts of “selling out” and credibility more obsolete.

“I was thinking about art and fame and truth and I wanted to set up an equation where those things were in conversation,” he says. “Stripping away my prejudiced indie rock values with respect to fame and material success – fame and art feel symbiotic to a point. They’re both about storytelling. Fame can amplify the message of art in a remarkable, meaningful way. Art can contextualise and buttress fame. So rather than being antagonistic in the way Fugazi would have had it in 1989, particularly in the present, maybe they are one – they belong to one another.”

‘A song is about heartbreak – but what are the constituent feelings?’ … Longstreth. Photograph: Shane McCauley

When Longstreth first began releasing music in the early noughties, it came as an alternative to the stadium rock of the same period. While each of his albums have varied in mood and tone, they always possessed a kind of bucolic beauty and delicacy. The new album, however, is markedly more experimental, a little ugly, even.

“It felt like throughout making that album I was trying to make it as present as possible. Trying to turn everything up to the degree of almost unableness. Or something,” he says of the album’s more chaotic tone.

“This is a terrible analogy but I was having a conversation about how everyone says that dogs smell so much more intensely than humans, but what does that even mean? The smell is just louder in their nose? Someone said if you are cooking a stew in the kitchen, it’s not just that the smell is super loud up in their nostrils but even after several hours in the kitchen their nose would separate out all the compounds, the celery, the onions, the tomatoes, the potatoes, the oil – whatever else. A song is about heartbreak – but what are the constituent feelings? What are the aspects: there is anger, there is guilt, there are all these different things. I guess putting those voices into dialogue together just felt real.”

He is keen to stress that in spite of its moments of bitterness or disturbance, Dirty Projectors arrives at a place of clarity – the end of a process.

“On a fundamental level, the album affirms, the album says yes. To love. And to hope. The arc of the album in the end feels a little like the experience over the course of time that I made it. Starting out super salty and sad and going through all different shades of being bummed and winding up in a place of resolution and newness,” he continues, the closest to emotional clarity he comes. “That’s how I read the album.”

Dirty Projectors is released on Domino on 24 February


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Al Yaqoub Tower

Height: 328mLocation: DubaiYear: 2013

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Al Yaqoub Tower

Al Yaqoub Tower

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The Al Yaqoub Tower is a 328 m (1,076 ft) tall skyscraper on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The tower topped out in 2010 and was completed in 2013. It has 69 floors. The building is owned privately by Daro Saifuddin Yaquob, and functions as a 224-room hotel.The building design was inspired by Elizabeth Tower (more commonly known as Big Ben) in London. However, no clock face is present on Al Yaqoub Tower. It also bears a resemblance to The Tower, a building located directly north of it.


Brazilian's Nine Months' Notice

By: Susan Stephens

CHAPTER ONE

HAVING THE NIGHT off from her job as chambermaid to attend the wedding of her best friend in Scotland should have been a cause for celebration. A racing heart made that impossible, because Lucas Marcelos would almost certainly attend the wedding too, which meant no swerving from the truth.

Luc...

Would she ever learn?

No, Emma concluded, staring into the mirror in the ladies room at her rabbit-in-the-headlights face. Her stomach clenched at the thought of meeting up with the man who had fathered her unborn child. There was no doubt. She had taken a pregnancy test three times. It was only a couple of weeks since she’d left London and the bed of the hotel owner and infamous bad boy of gaucho polo, Lucas Marcelos—too early for doctors or scans, or even the physical signs to make themselves felt, other than tender breasts and some nausea, which, she had no doubt, would ramp up when she faced Luc.

The self-professed playboy was hardly going to leap with joy when he heard her news. He certainly wouldn’t show the same warm charm he had in London. A man as wealthy and successful as Lucas was bound to be suspicious of her motives. He would be even more suspicious if he knew how elated she’d been when she had discovered she was pregnant.

Emma’s main worry wasn’t for herself. She wondered if Luc would make a good father for her baby. They hardly knew each other, and what she did know about him hardly pointed to him being a family man.

One step at a time, she told herself firmly, checking the dress that had seemed perfectly fine when she had first walked into the cloakroom and now seemed too tight. Luc was a close friend of the groom so he was bound to be here. The groom, Tiago Santos, was marrying one of Emma’s closest friends, Danny Cameron. When Luc could spare the time from his chain of super-luxury hotels, both men played gaucho polo for the world-famous Thunderbolt polo team. If Luc didn’t show up he would be the only member of team Thunderbolt not attending the wedding. Emma had recognised several striking faces from the team’s publicity photos. Odds on, Lucas was prowling the party right now.

She’d been on Luc’s hotel training course in London when the principal of the college had brought her to his attention. Luc’s menacing glamour had caused quite a stir at the annual prize-giving ceremony, where Emma had been singled out for special praise for having an extraordinary grasp of the hotel industry. Because she’d cared for his staff and had seen ways to streamline their jobs, Emma had insisted when Luc had praised her afterwards. ‘You interest me,’ he’d said, his dark eyes mesmerising. She just hadn’t realised how much.

The instant that faintly amused stare had landed on her awestruck face, she had been lost. She’d always been a romantic and Lucas Marcelos more than lived up to his formidable reputation. He was built like a gladiator, and he did look like a god of the underworld, as some of the more colourful media reports had commented. With his wavy black hair, swarthy complexion, sharp black stubble and hard, driven face, Lucas was a primal force, and his interest had led her to progress to a wholly unrealistic fantasy along the lines of working alongside him and seeing him every day.

When he had stayed on in London this had seemed almost possible, and she had worked hard to maintain a professional front and impress him. As the days had stretched into weeks, she had allowed herself to believe they could be friends. She had opened up to him about her hopes for her future and her dreams of a career within his company. She had been flattered by his continued interest, she supposed now—too naïve to realise that Luc was a practised seducer who could adapt his technique to suit the situation—or that, for a short time, she had been that situation and her chastity had been a challenge Luc had been determined to overcome.

It had all come to a head on the night she had learned that her parents had been killed in a police chase. She had been so devastated she hadn’t told anyone. She certainly hadn’t told Luc, as she would have had to explain her parents’ criminal past and her own deep-seated grief, which she couldn’t explain even to herself.

Her parents had never wanted her, and had always referred to her as their accidental child. That hadn’t stopped her loving them, or pursuing an endless quest to win their love. She had made excuses to herself—her beautiful mother found ageing difficult to handle, while her father, a member of the aristocratic Fane family, must have found the pressure to succeed unbearable. On the night they’d died her tears had been genuine—sorrow for them and the lives they had wasted, and acceptance that her long-held dream to find a way to make them love her, had been lost. She could remember the overwhelming need to be held and loved overcoming her.


Tatum & Kristy Come of Age

Kristy McNichol Leaves the Family Hour Behind and Joins Tatum O'Neal in an 'R' Rated Movie about Losing 'It'

In its ceaseless search for new ways to excite, outrage and sell popcorn, Hollywood has lately found a new wrinkle on the old Pillow Talk percale. Two decades after Doris Day first said no, the burning question is no longer will-she-or-won't-she but how-old-is-she? Brooke Shields, who already stirred a succès de scandale as a 12-year-old prostitute in Pretty Baby, will be back (and pregnant) this summer in a steamy remake of Jean Simmons' pubescent awakening, The Blue Lagoon. Jodie Foster, 17, is raising eyebrows in Foxes, an account of teenage girls hopped up on drugs and sex. But neither of them can match Kristy McNichol, who has already faced more onscreen chastity crises in her 17 years than Day did through much of her career.

It began 17 months ago on her ABC series, Family, when Kristy fought off the scripted advances of guest star Leif Garrett. Then she encountered new boy-girl tensions in such strong TV movies as Like Mom, Like Me and The Summer of My German Soldier. But now, in the unfettered '80s, Kristy has forever left behind her image as Family's tomboyish Buddy. In Little Darlings Kristy plays a street-savvy kid who pals with patrician Tatum O'Neal, 16, at summer camp. There, as the movie's ad campaign leeringly puts it, "The bet is on: Whoever loses her virginity first—wins."

That theme is enough to guarantee the first "R" rating for an actress whose dying Family series was once one of the most intelligent and credible on the tube. Actually, Little Darlings is relatively tasteful, tepid and hardly justifies the lurid ad campaign.

The coming-of-age drama that most grips Kristy now is her own. As an actress on the way up, she will arrive at the April 14 Oscar ceremony—"limo and the whole shot." She has herself already won two Emmys and the admiration of co-stars like Burt (The End) Reynolds as perhaps the most gifted young actress in town. A woman who ought to know, Jane Fonda, calls McNichol "brilliant."

As for the future, Kristy is now in the third year of a CBS movie deal stretching to 1982, including an upcoming Easter special on the network with her 18-year-old brother, Jimmy. Her Hollywood breakthrough could come starring as Christina Crawford in the adaptation of Mommie Dearest, and even if someone else gets the part, don't feel sorry for McNichol. She is easily raking in $1 million a year.

Though she has the income of an adult and then some, there is still enough of a kid in Kristy that a favorite dish is pepperoni pizza, and sex can be "ick." As for her own sexual experience, Kristy blurts, unblushingly but ambiguously: "Grand slam, baby!" More seriously, she confides, "I think sex is great if it's not exploited in a bad way. There is such a beautiful part of sex. I like to kiss. They say Virgos are not sensual or sexy. I feel sexy inside me. I just don't show it. Sometimes," Kristy sums up, "I feel stupid and young, a little kid. Then there's times when I'm feeling real adultish."

Indeed, despite the tough persona that Kristy is now displaying, there is something touchingly teenage about her major concerns: independence, friends, clothes and boys, in about that order. "I can't wait until I'm 18," she declares, and thus September 11 is "going to be the happiest day of my life." Her dream present is two plane tickets to London (the other for a girlfriend). "I want to stay in the best hotel, the best suite, with no problems. I'm going to take a lot of money, and I want to blow it on clothes, on everything." She hasn't exactly denied herself the glad rags of late. She and Carollyn, her mom, recently spent $2,000 during one shopping foray at Saks. (Kristy, 5'3", 103 lbs., is a perfect size 3.)

A single parent long divorced from her carpenter husband, Carollyn, 37, broke the kids into commercials and then acting (a third McNichol, Tommy, 15, lives with his maternal grandmother in Burbank and displays no interest in showbiz). So she is now dealing for the first time with a maturing daughter. "We don't seem to agree on a lot of things," Carollyn concedes. Testifies Kristy: "There are little, stupid, petty pressures like, 'Who you going out with? When you going to be home?' Mom lets me do what I want now, but she knows when I'm lying. It's weird. It's like she can look right through me."

So one major rite of passage is at hand. On April 14, before the Oscars, Kristy and her best friend, Ina Liberace (niece of same), will move into what McNichol calls "our dreamhouse." It is a $250,000 four-bedroom Cape Cod near "West Hollywood and all the good shops," says Kristy, who bought it four years ago. They have arranged for Kristy's father, Jim, to renovate the kitchen. Ina's mother will supervise the wallpapering of the house, just as she did for her pianist brother-in-law. "We're gonna have a bet on who's a better cook, have our friends over and judge us," says Kristy, who met Ina at a Westwood disco a year and a half ago and became pals. "A true friend of mine is someone who doesn't just want to be with the 'high life of Hollywood,' which is somewhat phony anyway," says Kristy. "I don't ever want anyone phony in my life. Ever." That night Kristy will attend the Oscars not with a beau but with her future housemate, Ina.

Most of Kristy's cronies now are part of her support system—Ina does her makeup, Joey Corsaro her hair, Tony Abbattista the clothes design. Mostly, Kristy admits, her friends are "older, because they know what's cooking, what they want in life—they're more like me." According to her mother, though, "Kristy is immature in some respects because she never had the opportunity to grow up with kids her own age. She missed the relationship of a bunch of girls hanging around together, and that's kind of sad. That's why I wanted her to work on Little Darlings with kids her own age."

When Tatum arrived on the set, recalls Kristy, "I thought, 'Uh oh, I'm gonna meet someone who I have not heard good things about.' But she's so nice. Everyone has their moods—I do too—but most of the time we got along all right." Only occasionally did they get into one-upmanship ("I'm not on a head trip," asserts Kristy). When McNichol was directing an off-hours cast variety show, O'Neal couldn't participate, but later backed Kristy up when the other kids complained that she was a slave driver. "She's a perfectionist," explains Tatum. But Kristy still bursts out defensively, "You know, Tatum thinks I'm square, but I'm not. I just don't like to do the same things she does."

The movie's crew, as it happened, preferred Tatum's quiet but polite reserve to Kristy's more impatient and sometimes disdainful moods. In one moment of boredom, Kristy gunned her car into nearby Madison, Ga. and, jumping the curb, tore a large "donut" into the grass on the town green. Confronted by angry police, the embarrassed production company later apologized (as did Kristy personally). "I'm just relieved that if my daughter has to be a rebel, she's ruining grass instead of taking drugs," says Carollyn.

Kristy has succumbed to some of the lures of her age and stardom. She learned to smoke for Little Darlings (Tatum helped). Kristy still hasn't received her high school equivalency degree from her on-set tutors (it's due in June), and unlike, say, Jodie Foster (who's applied to Ivy League schools for this fall), Kristy has no interest in higher education.

Her mother has been occupied of late with her new German beau, Zig-fried Lucas, 27, but continues to run Kristy's career and choose her parts. (As befits her TV recognition, Kristy had first choice over Tatum for Little Darlings leads and deliberately chose the troublemaker role.) She is currently shooting Blinded by the Light, a CBS movie with brother Jimmy about two kids caught up in a religious cult, and carefully mulling over other film offers. "I don't ever want to have a flop or be a flop," she says fiercely.

Kristy eyes the poster of John Travolta still on the wall of her bedroom in her mother's Tarzana house (most of her stuff is boxed and ready for the move) and reflects, "He's not really down now." Then she regresses to a previous idol. "Just because I loved Donny Osmond before is not why I'm saying this, but he has the prettiest brown eyes I have ever seen." She looks despairingly in the mirror at her own face, with its soupcon of mascara, blush and lip gloss. "I think my nose is fat," she decides. "It kind of sticks out farther than it should. I think my lips are too fat too. I wish I had them a little thinner. I want curly, crazy hair. I have straight. You always want something you don't have," she sighs. But, if nothing else, time will inevitably grant Kristy McNichol her fondest wish: She'll be grown up.


10 Top London restaurants

With the Rugby World Cup done and dusted, you might need to find other reasons to visit London and try out some of their fantastic restaurants… Here’s our list of favourites:

Brasserie Zedel is housed in an astonishing Art Nouveau ballroom lovingly restored to a glittering pre-war glamour. The cuisine is classic French, of an excellent standard and very well priced, but for us, the thrill of finding such magnificence in the crowded streets of Piccadilly is a pleasure in itself.

Unquestionably the new foodie shrine of London, Story draws from the molecular gastronomy of Heston Blumenthal. Often containing more than 10 individual ingredients, the presentation and explanation of each course are forms of performance art. The menu changes seasonally and daily, according to availability and the caprice of Executive Chef Tom Sellers. Book well ahead.

Anyone who’s had the privilege of dining at Le Gavroche swears that it’s the finest restaurant in the world. This is for really special occasions. The cuisine is French in the grand style, but with occasional amusing contemporary twists as the chef sees fit.

Opened in the 1970s by the immortal Albert and Michel Roux, the legend continues under the rule of Albert’s son Michel Jr, who has 2 Michelin stars in his own right.

As your SAA flight banks left to commence its approach into Heathrow, gaze out at the huge splinter of glass jutting up from the city and you’ll almost be able to wave at the diners – you’re virtually at the same altitude. The Shard is the newest and tallest skyscraper in Europe. There are several restaurants to choose from – all on the mid-30’s floors. For true adrenaline junkies, the Gong bar on the 52nd floor is as high as you’ll ever get on a cocktail.

Rules has nestled in its Covent Garden location for 10 generations and has come to define that highly aristocratic club experience one imagines dining in a London restaurant to be. Rich sauces, carefully hung venison, plush velvet banquettes and and an unparalleled list of burgundies and clarets define this quintessentially English restaurant.

When you enter the restaurant founded by Fergus Henderson, St John’s, you’ll find yourself in a forgotten kingdom of cracklings, chitterlings, brawns and jellied eels. Henderson’s famous for his best-selling “nose to tail’ tome which documents how each and every part of the pig might be prepared and presented as a culinary delight. This is food unlike any you will find anywhere else.

The Clink Project (HM Prison Brixton) aims to lower the rate of recidivism among young convicts by giving them life skills training in the restaurant and hospitality industry, as well as helping them find jobs when they’re released. The restaurant’s actually inside the prison walls in the old governor’s office. The food is outstanding and very reasonably priced.

Interior of The Wolseley.

In the banking capital of the planet, what could be more fitting than dining in a building that was previously home to Barclays? Now restored to its 1920s magnificence and adjacent to the Ritz Hotel, The Wolseley is our favourite breakfast meeting place.

Bateaux London knows that the best way to see London is from the river Thames. Floating soundlessly past the city’s palaces, spires and skyscrapers, a small flotilla time their cruises perfectly to last the length of your meal. Boats depart from Embankment Pier.

Every Londoner has his or her own local “curry house” which they insist can’t be rivalled. Ask anyone where you can eat the best curry in London and you’ll immediately be directed to their local. You’re now a Londoner!


Escorts & Erotic Massage Isle of Dogs, London

Asian Massage Isle of Dogs

If you’ve been feeling run down and stressed recently, it’s time to take a step back and pamper yourself with a premium nude oriental Asian massage. At Canary Wharf Massage, we have the most incredible erotic massage in London and around the Isle of Dogs area. With our team of talented and breathtakingly stunning Asian masseuses, we can guarantee you won’t find a more satisfying happy ending anywhere else.

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Premium erotic Asian massages in London

We have a sensational selection of beautiful masseuses who can provide you with the most unforgettable bliss. Offering both incall and outcall massages to Isle of Dogs, we have the most elite therapists available. All of our masseuses are highly trained in a variety of Asianmassage therapies, including tantra. They will blend authentic tantric massage techniques with elements of Swedish and Thai massage to lull you into a deep state of blissful pleasure. All of our gorgeous elite therapists are pure Asian girls. We have Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese and Thai masseuses who can help melt away your stresses with their magical touch. Just take a look in our masseuse gallery and see which girl is most suited to your needs.

London’s sensual secret

Many people won’t think to try a naked Asian massage when they come to London. If you want to try something that’s a little bit different to the usual activities of sightseeing, business conferences and shopping, an Asian massage is the perfect thing. At Canary Wharf Massage, we offer a premium range of exotic erotic massages that are guaranteed to show you the beautiful balance between blissful relaxation and erotic pleasure.

Our elite masseuses are available for incall or outcall massages. If you want a traditional Asian massage experience, we have several luxury flats that have been refitted with professional massage equipment. You can enjoy a tantric massage on a proper massage table while a statuesque oriental therapist sensually rubs premium massage oils over your bare skin. You can relax in the bathtub while a gorgeous masseuse gives you an erotic soapy massage. Our flats have everything you’ll ever need for your massage fantasies.

If you can’t make it down for an incall massage, we offer a 24 hour outcall massage service. All of our masseuses are mobile and can bring the massages to you! They can travel to your hotel room, home or business premises in Isle of Dogs. They can travel to anywhere in central or Greater London as well. Our outcall service and visiting masseuses are flexible and can bring the pleasure to you. It’s a popular choice for our busier clients and those who may live further out.

London: where happy endings are made

If you’re ready to take a break from the busy London lifestyle, book one of our nude oriental massages. We offer one of the widest ranges of erotic massages in London with the best Asian therapists. You can pick any of our massages, mix and match elements and tweak it so it’s tailored just for you. At Canary Wharf Massage, there truly is a massage for everyone!

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About Isle of Dogs E14

The Isle of Dogs is an area in the East End of London that is surrounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames. Imagine getting a sensual massage from a gorgeous Asian masseuse while overlooking the beautiful river scenery.


Read all about cities, hotels and attractions.

Tag Archives: London home stay

London home stay is ideally suited for the international students requiring budget accommodation for a long period. The London home stay also offers the facility of interaction with native English speakers, which is an advantage for international students. Another aspect of London home stay is the fact that the accommodation allows staying among families thus generating a homely atmosphere in an estranged land for international students who have traveled to this far away place for their education. Home stay London is also available to cost-conscious travelers looking for budget accommodation. The high priced London hotels are beyond the reach of budget travelers thus home stay London with their cheaper rates and homely comfort becomes the ideal option for the budget traveler. 3tmrcpjavy


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Art Hotel Brighton

Wi-Fi

Parking

Paid parking

Luggage storage

24-hour

Late check-in/ -out

24-hour reception

24-hour security

Food/ Drinks

Bar/ Lounge area

A la carte restaurant

Coffee/Tea in lobby

Coffee shop

TV

Flat-screen TV

Elevator

Kitchen facilities

Electric kettle

Overview

Located in 5 minutes walking distance from Churchill Square Shopping Centre, the 3-star Art Hotel Brighton offers en-suite rooms. Since 1818, it has been hosting guests in the heart of Brighton.

The property is set 20 minutes' walk of the city center.

Art Hotel Brighton offers a stunning view to its guests.

Brighton railway train station is a 15-minute walk away. The hotel lies within 40 km of London Gatwick airport.

Rooms

Art Hotel Brighton offers 23 rooms on 6 floors that come with heating, flat-screen television, a sitting area, a closet and artworks along with an electric kettle, coffee/tea makers and a fridge. Some rooms have the bay view. They also feature en suite bathrooms fitted with a hairdryer, a rain shower and free toiletries.

Eat & Drink

A variety of dishes are served in Regency Restaurant and Siam Siam Thai Restaurant, which are 5 minutes’ walk away.

Services

This hotel benefits from a safe deposit box, an elevator and a luggage storage along with a meeting room and a catering service.

These rooms can have either a king-size bed and sofa bed or 2 singles and a sofa-bed. Please note that no bed configuration request can be guaranteed.

Suite

Sea view

Max occupancy:

2 persons

Bed type:

1 Double bed

Check Prices

Room Description:

Featuring a balcony overlooking the sea, this arty medium-size room features high ceilings and a floor-to-ceiling window. With free Wi-Fi, this contemporary room is individually designed with painted murals on the walls, bespoke furniture, a double bed, and a flat-screen TV. It benefits from an en-suite bathroom with a bath and an overhead shower.

Sea-view rooms individually designed with artist-painted murals. These medium-size rooms feature either a king-size bed or round bed, along with en-suite bathrooms with a bath and an overhead shower. The room also includes free Wi-Fi and a flat-screen Freeview TV.

Medium Flat

Sea view

Max occupancy:

2 persons

Bed type:

1 King-size bed

Check Prices

Room Facilities:

Free Wi-Fi

Shower

Private bathroom

Bathtub

— Less+ More

General:Work desk

Ironing facilities

Dressing area

Wardrobe/closet

Carpeted floor

Bathroom:Bathroom

Hair dryer

Towels

Toilet

Bedding:Round bed

Dining:Electric kettle

Media:Flat-screen TV

Radio

Room Description:

Sea-view rooms individually designed with artist-painted murals. These medium-size rooms feature either a king-size bed or round bed, along with en-suite bathrooms with a bath and an overhead shower. The room also includes free Wi-Fi and a flat-screen Freeview TV.

Enter your dates to see prices

Availability

Your departure date was more than 30 days after your arrival date.Bookings can only be made for a maximum period of 30 days.Please enter alternative dates and try again.

Art Hotel Brighton Reviews

Guest reviews are submitted by our customers after their stay at Art Hotel Brighton

Average guest rating

7.8out of 10

Fabulous

Based on 110 reviews

Guest reviews

Art Hotel Brighton

Group of friends

5.410

The position of the hotel is perfect and the Sea view very beautiful.

Writing that it has a breakfast is a joke... a small paper bag with something to eat inside is not a breakfast from our point of view! The rooms are really, really small - only the suite (for 3-4 persons) is very big.

Art Hotel Brighton

Older travelers

4.610

Location was great. The hotel was not great.

The shower stopped working in the middle of my shower! I had to use bottled water to rise off. They did not clean the room properly. The bed was not made and they put dirty wet towels back on the rack without giving us New ones. When we complained we were told they would talk to housekeeping but did not bother to send anyone to clean!

Art Hotel Brighton

Couple

6.210

The room was beautiful and really unusual, we had a sea view and the bed was extremely comfortable.

We were woken by the night porter because he had locked himself out of reception - extremely unprofessional! The person who checked us out was apologetic but didn't seem really to appreciate how outrageous it was for a member of staff to wake guests in this manner.

Art Hotel Brighton

Single

7.010

The location was good..opposite the seafront and near the shops.

The breakfast could have been more clearly advertised as a small breakfast in a bag,not really a mans breakfast..

Art Hotel Brighton

Couple

8.810

Lovely stay in a cosy, quirky and fantastically designed room. Staff very friendly and helpful. After I failed to inform them my girlfriend had a nut allergy and being brought a breakfast containg nuts they insisted on nipping out to the shops to get us something else. Great location. Just a short stroll away from the seafront and lanes. Highly recommended.

Art Hotel Brighton

Couple

7.010

The individually designed rooms and having a sea view balcony

Art Hotel Brighton

Single

5.410

The rooms are nicely decorated and the location is pretty good.

There was no water in the first room and no light in the bathroom in the second room. The breakfest was also served with bid delay and it was pretty cold.

Art Hotel Brighton

Family with children

7.010

A bit different so nice to stay if you don't like a conventional hotel. Lot of thought put into the rooms. Loved the breakfast in a bag! Good location.

Very noisey room on the ground floor. Did not get the room I booked via Booked.net

Art Hotel Brighton

Family with children

10.010

Lovely friendly staff. Beautiful family room. Stayed in Brighton for years now, usualy in the Hilton or The Grand, but this is definately my first choice for next year!!! My Husband was not a lover of the continental breakfast, but me and my 2 and 4 year old loved every bit...yum! See you again soon x

The only minor thing was that my Husband would have liked an English braekfast choice, but we knew this was not an option when booked.

Art Hotel Brighton

Family with children

7.410

Nice view & Easy access to beach

Art Hotel Brighton

Family with children

9.210

Bright desigh, comfortable, nice stuff, seaside.

Art Hotel Brighton

Group of friends

9.610

The staff were very welcoming and friendly. Brilliant service was given. The rooms are very unique and well decorated. Breakfast in a bag is a great idea- warm croissants delivered to your room so you can eat breakfast in bed.

Art Hotel Brighton

Family with children

10.010

We were on the ground floor front room which was very noisy. I was not aware when booking it would be ground floor.

Art Hotel Brighton

Family with children

8.810

Loved the large 4 person room we were in on the street level (as well as room 5 where we had a peek), very original with all the artwork ; very friendly staff, they really seem to enjoy receiving people. Quite a change from your standard big hotel chain operation. Nice freshly baked croissants too (the smell when you wake up, hmmm)

No airconditioning + only windows on street level = not much air in room (especially with 4 people sleeping in it) ; "alternativo" breakfast was a little thin (brilliant fresh croissant, but only 1 per person + 1 banana + 1 yoghurt + apple juice + pretty lousy coffee...) ; Brighton is a lot bigger than I thought : return walk to the city centre (Pier, Laines) takes 30 minutes.

Art Hotel Brighton

Single

8.210

The friendliness and willingness of the staff, the lovely rooms and their decorations, the closeness to the convention center and the view of the sea.

The bathroom was a bit small and there wasn't much variation in the breakfast bag.

How to reach hotel

Show big map »

Hotel Address:

33 Regency Square,
Brighton,
United Kingdom,
BN1 2GG

Get directions

City Center

Brighton

1.1 km

Airports

London Gatwick (LGW)

36.9 km

London Heathrow (LHR)

75.2 km

Train Stations

Brighton railway station

900 m

Underground stations

West Croydon

61.9 km

Norwood Junction

64.1 km

Bus stop

200 m

Restaurants

casalingo (cuisine: Italian)

90 m

Aberdeen Steak House (cuisine: British)

70 m

Parks

South Downs Way

1.2 km

Beaches

Brighton Beach

1.1 km

Hotel information

Check-in:

from
3 pm

Check-out:

until
12 pm

Year renovated:

2009

Number of floors:

6

Number of rooms:

23

Hotel Awards

UKHOTEL AWARDSRecommendedBrightonArt Hotel Brighton

According to guest reviews, the hotel has been rated asBest Family Hotels in United Kingdom


Saturday, January 30, 2010

When I'm not writing novels, I work as a video editor on documentaries, TV commercials, and corporate videos. This year I was invited to travel to Iraq to edit a TV commercial. On January 1st, 2010, Tostitos and the USO hosted a "Salute the Troops" Bowl game, where the soldiers stationed in Iraq got a chance to play flag football with some celebrity football players and coaches from the United States. Among the celebrities traveling with the USO were Coach Barry Switzer, Coach Tommy Bowden and eight football players: Tony Casillas, Rocket Ismail, Bruce Smith, Brian Bosworth, Ty Detmer, Tee Martin, Tommy Frasier, and Joe Washington.

I was part of a video crew that filmed the entire event to produce a TV commercial, Hi-light video, and documentary. I got the privilege to travel to Camp Liberty military base in Baghdad to edit on site. On January 4th, the two-minute commercial played during the half-time show at the Tositos Fiesta Bowl. You can view this a the bottom of this article. First, I have posted several photos from the trip.

First stop: London.

On our way to the Middle East, we stopped off for a day in London to change planes. Since we had a ten-hour layover, we decided to take a day trip into the city. We took a train to to Picadilly Circus, which reminded me of New York's Times Square. We ate dinner at a pub called The Sussex. I ordered Fish 'n Chips and had a beer with the crew. Below is a busy street where there were many billboards advertising musicals and shows.

Me posing outside the pub.

After an overnight flight from London we landed in Kuwait.

We spent one night at the Radisson Hotel and ate some wonderful Middle Eastern cuisine. Below is Kuwait City on the coast of the Persian Gulf. I found the city to be beautiful with a mixture of modern architecture and Arabic buildings. There was even a space needle like the one in Seattle. The people in Kuwait were very friendly.

The next morning we were escorted by U.S. soldiers to the military airport where we boarded a C-130 cargo plane. Flying on an Air Force plane was one of the most exciting parts of the trip.

Inside the plane we all sat across from one another.

We were required to wear helmets and Kevlar vests in case we were fired upon. Missile tracers were fired off to make sure our path was clear. Behind me is the cargo area where all our gear was stored.We were able to go up to the cockpit and watch the pilots in action.On December 29th, we landed at the Baghdad airport. This was a very surreal moment for me. We were greeted by a welcome party of troops and members of the USO.

Two of my heroes, Coach Barry Switzer and Tony Casillas, getting off the plane. Switzer coached the Dallas Cowboys in the mid-nineties when they went to a Superbowl. Tony Casillas was also a member of the Dallas Cowboys and proudly wore his Superbowl ring.

The flight crew posing with cheerleaders from Colorado University. The cheerleaders came on the trip to cheer at the pep rally and football game and to boost the troops's spirits.

The legendary Brian Bosworth (a.k.a. "The Boz") from the University of Oklahoma.Here are quarterback Tee Martin and running back Joe Washington being greeted by an Army officer.Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and Notre Dame star Rocket Ismail visiting with an Army officer.Campy Liberty. Every day choppers flew over the base in Baghdad.

The base encompasses several lakes with beautiful palaces that had once belonged to Saddam Hussein. These palaces are now used as military headquarters.

Here are two young men from Uganda who were hired by the military to guard the posts. They were very serious about their jobs. My hand is hovering over one of the guard's shoulders, because I started to put my arm around him, and then I stopped short, thinking, "Woah, he might not like that."The JVB was a palace converted into a hotel for soldiers and civilians who come to visit the base. This is where we ate three meals a day in the mess hall. Our sleeping quarters were in trailers surrounded by concrete walls to protect us from mortar fire. There were four bunk beds to a trailer. Sharing a trailer with three other people, I felt like I was at summer camp.

Above and below are views from the back of the JVB hotel where we ate.

Below is a sequence of soldiers in action around the base.

I got the opportunity to work at Saddam's main palace, which is considered the Pentagon of Iraq.

My editing suite was a very small storage building beside the palace. It was very cramped quarters.

On New Year's Eve, I was working inside this tin box when I suddenly began hearing explosions right outside. The booms were the loudest I had ever heard. The repercussions made the walls shake and rocked the ground like an earthquake. A U.S. soldier came into my edit room and told me we were under attack and that we needed to take refuge in the palace. He gave me a helmet and handed a Kevlar vest to a producer I was working with. We began running for cover. My heart was racing as we ran flat along the palace walls. We heard sirens going off and the rotors of helicopters as we took cover inside the palace foyer. There were at least a dozen soldiers coming out with guns drawn. It was quite exciting. Within a half hour the base was secure. I found out later some Iraqis had pulled a truck up to the base wall and fired 9 mortars. They exploded at random places around the base, but thankfully no one was hurt. The film crew and celebrity players had been in the middle of their pep rally at the gym when the explosions started happening. They all hit the deck and had to lay flat on the gym floor until the sirens stopped.

After the barrage of mortar shells, it was back to work. We had a film to make. Here I am editing footage the camera guy just brought me.

The entire week the soldiers got to hang out with the celebrity football players.

Bruce Smith posing with two soldiers.

Rocket Ismail and Sgt. Taylor

One of the troops posing between football greats Ty Detmer and Joe Washington.

Tee Martin and a soldier.

The Colorado University cheerleaders.

Me in front of Saddam's palace.

Tony Casillas with several fans.

The entire Tostitos and USO crew.

Traveling over to Camp Liberty in Iraq was an amazing experience. I met so many wonderful troops and returned home with a deep sense of pride. Below is the two-minute commercial that I edited for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. My next project is to edit a longer documentary which I will post at a later date.

If you are looking for a great way to support the troops, I recommend donating to these two charities: Books for Soldiers and the USO.

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About Me

Welcome!
Thanks for visiting. I'm a fiction writer who lives in Texas in the wonderful city of Dallas. I write supernatural horror. I enjoy mixing genres with history, romance, mystery, and nail-biting, dark suspense. My novels are DEAD OF WINTER, SHADOWS IN THE MIST, THE DEVIL'S WOODS, and novellas THE WITCHING HOUSE, DARKNESS RISING, and THE VAGRANTS. When not writing, I enjoy world travel, hiking, kayaking, reading, movies, and watching sports. My mission is to entertain and thrill millions of readers around the world.


Parish Tribute To "Remarkable" Holloway

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has wished Ian Holloway well in his future career – and admitted he arrived at the decision to allow him to leave the club “very reluctantly”.

The Eagles co-owner paid tribute to Holloway at a press conference earlier today at the Soho Hotel, in London, where the gaffer’s departure from SE25 was confirmed.

Parish said: “He’s somebody who cares about people, he cares about me, he cares about our football club. Unfortunately things have happened and we both feel a fresh voice at the club might produce better outcomes.

“Ian instigated the initial conversation and certainly from our side, we had no intention and never have had any intention, other than maintaining continuity at the club.

“I was prepared to get relegated with Ian and come back up. The word ‘sacked’ wasn’t even mentioned.

“But Ian felt things at the club weren’t working for him and that a different approach might keep us in the division.”

Parish revealed that Holloway had initiated the talks about his future, which came following the 4-1 defeat to Fulham on Monday night.

The chairman added: “Having arrived at this joint decision very reluctantly and looked at every possible solution during two days chatting about how we could make it work, I’d like to say I’ve enjoyed every minute working with Ian. He’s been fantastic for our club and brought us one of the best days in our history.

“He leaves our club with his head held very high. I think he’s a remarkable man. Somebody who has come forward and done something that most people wouldn’t do and just said ‘we need to talk about the situation, I don’t think it working. You might be better off with someone else.’ And I think it takes an incredibly brave person to do that.

“We’ve never fallen out, we speak every day. On transfer deadline day he rang me 123 times. We’ve worked together brilliantly. But Ian and I feel that we may need to move on to progress and it’s a decision we’ve come to very reluctantly.”