Tag: America

Alexander Newley – What’s on your mantelpiece?

A 20-question interview with contemporary artist Alexander Newley

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

Eros, anger, anxiety, love – in perfect and contradictory admixture.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

When fate raises its sword to make you tremble, go forth into it and you will find bliss.

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2017?

Who’s that? Cancer/Steve Bannon – basically the same thing…

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

No missing – still on target.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

I have no material wealth. Health and creativity is ALL, although I’d like some new drapes in the kitchen.

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the state of the financial system?

The dollar rocketed when Trump came in. Need we say more?

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“The UK” delivered in a peppy, north London accent and “Your call is very important to us, please stay on the line…”

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

I couldn’t agree more. Everything is a spiral: work from the centre out. I have just raised a fair bit for the St. Martin-in-the-Fields homeless charity through the auction of my paintings.

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

A necessary evil. Can you imagine life before? The carousel goes faster and faster and we have to find a way to stay on it. That said, the counter-revolution: silence, mindfulness, not giving a fig is pretty good, too.

Portraits of Dominick Dunne (1925 – 2009) and Sir Nigel Hawthorne CBE (1929 – 2001) by Alexander Newley

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

Shakespeare (of course), Oscar (of course), Churchill (large brandy in hand), Chaplin (tearing tickets), my father (Anthony Newley), Sheela (my love), Ava (my daughter), Freud x2 (grandfather and grandson) and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (for perfect Surrealism).

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

A tuna melt with ketchup, on the undercliff in Lyme Regis, watching the sun sink on a balmy summer’s eve.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

10:45am (if it be a mixture of German dessert wine and seltzer).

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Tea please, milk, no sugar (although I want the sugar).

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

I rarely enjoy them because I don’t go to enough, and you have to invest in the social whirl before it pays back. I’m still working on that—but I did have a pretty good time at Hugh Hefner’s once.

Who is the most positive person you know?

Myself, although periodically encumbered by massive humbug.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

The occasional bout of self-love.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

A minotaur rampart on a bed of roses.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A prototype Isotta Fraschini. Only two were made and one crashed at very high speed.

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I can identify almost anyone from the back; the habit of a portraitist.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

Two vases of anemonies, one tall one short.

Alexander Newley is a contemporary artist. His subjects have numbered Steven Berkoff, Christopher Reeve, Oliver Stone, Gore Vidal and Billy Wilder and his work features in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC and at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Follow him on Twitter at @alexandernewley.

April 13, 2017
Martina Big

Born white in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany in 1989, but now perceived by many to be black, “pneumatic chested” Martina Big increased her cleavage to a 32S and “turned her pale skin a deep mahogany shade that draws stares from strangers everywhere she goes”. A former air hostess turned glamour model, Miss Big appeared on ITV1’s This Morning in April 2017 and alongside her equally tanned partner, Michael, curiously announced: “I love being an exotic Barbie”. On her website, this Katie Price fan goes further and proclaims: “My motto is ‘Big is not big enough!’”

April 13, 2017
Bernie Madoff – The Wizard of Lies

TV drama film examining largest financial fraud ever by an individual set to air in May in America; ‘The Wizard of Lies’ examines the crimes of Bernard L. Madoff

On 20^th May, Americans will finally be able to watch director Barry Levinson’s take on the crimes of the Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff when The Wizard of Lies airs on HBO.

Sentenced to 150 years for his £51.9 billion ($65 billion, €61.2 billion or درهم238.7 billion) crime, Madoff is played in the television drama film by Robert De Niro whilst Michelle Pfeiffer takes on the role of his wife, Ruth.

Two trailers have recently been released to international audiences and we share the most recent below. A date for the drama’s release in the UK is still to be announced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=146&v=4G2carVhVJk

April 13, 2017
Five of the Best – Auctions America Auburn Spring

Five of the best lots on offer at the Auctions America Auburn Spring, Indiana sale of classic and modern cars and military lots

From 11^th to 13^th May at the Auburn Auction Park in Auburn Spring in Indiana, USA, Auctions America will sell a vast range of cars and military lots. Here, we choose our five favourite lots on offer:

1920 Ford Model T Coupé – £6,500 to £8,100 ($8,000 to $10,000, €7,600 to €9,400 or درهم29,400 to درهم36,700)

With over 16.5 million built between 1908 and 1927, the Ford Model T stands at the eighth most sold cars of all time. Undoubtedly the first affordable car produced, an example from 1920 provides an affordable way to start a classic car collection. The example offered also reflects the sentiments of Henry Ford (1863 – 1947), whom once said: “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black”.

1930 Cunningham V8 33286 Hearse – £64,600 to £80,700 ($80,000 to $100,000, €75,600 to €94,500 or درهم293,800 to درهم367,300)

A perfect mode of conveyance for the Addams Family or Ozzy Osbourne, this hearse was built by the James Cunningham & Sons Company of Rochester, New York. It has a cathedral like coffin compartment featuring carved wood and has been owned by three generations of the Peterson family, owners of the Howe-Peterson Funeral Home business of Dearborn, Michigan. The firm was established in 1873 but is about to close down.

1941 Packard One-Eighty Convertible Victoria by Darrin – £302,800 to £343,200 ($375,000 to $425,000, €354,300 to €401,500 or درهم1.4 million to درهم1.6 million)

Finished in cream over saddle leather with a dark chocolate canvas top and period-appropriate wide whitewall tyres, this striking convertible is described as being in “excellent driving condition”. It was delivered new to Houston, Texas and was the creation of Howard ‘Dutch’ Darrin (1897 – 1982), a polo playing airline owner turned automotive designer.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/390 Coupé – £80,700 to £100,900 ($100,000 to $125,000, €75,600 to €118,100 or درهم293,800 to درهم459,100)

“One of the most special Corvettes ever made”, this Marlboro Red coupé is presented in original and unrestored condition. It has only had two owners from new and has covered just 27,000 miles in its fifty year life.

1992 AM General M998 Humvee – £12,100 to £16,200 ($15,000 to $20,000, €14,200 to €18,900 or درهم55,100 to درهم73,500)

Featuring a 6.5-litre engine and definitely something Arnold Schwarzenegger would love, this cargo-troop carrier has a gross vehicle weight rating of 3.9-tonnes. It certainly could go anywhere and requires “no further demilitarization”.

April 10, 2017
Trumping Livingstone

Has Ken Livingstone become Britain’s answer to Donald Trump?

Father of five Ken Livingstone would no doubt hate the comparison but, putting him in perspective, he’s rather like a British version of the American father of five Donald Trump.

When Ken Livingstone doesn’t like what is said about him, he terms it “incredible lies”; Donald Trump, by comparison, prefers to reference such reporting: “Fake news!” Whereas Livingstone claims to have “no interest in managing [his] financial affairs”, Trump simply refuses to release details of his income. Here, in the form a reptile loving socialist and a four times bankrupt billionaire, are two bombastic politicians with not a care for books and history and here are two loudmouths who respectively suggest: “My only regret is the media’s obsession with the past” and that they believe themselves to be the “Ernest Hemmingway of 140 characters”.

Yesterday, whilst Trump decided to ridiculously try to blame President Obama for a gas attack in Syria, Livingstone – a man prone to pushing journalists over walls and accusing hedge funds donating to Labour being akin to “Jimmy Savile funding a children’s group” (in spite of taking £8,000 from a hedge fund himself) – managed to avoid being expelled from the Labour party in spite of being deemed to have brought the party into disrepute over remarks about Zionism, Hitler and anti-semitism.

That “anti-politician politician” Livingstone, like “anti-politician, real persona” Trump, has been able to get off scot-free speaks volumes. It is time such men were brought to book and it is time their ability to avoid being held accountable for their truly offensive views came to an end.

April 5, 2017
The Downfall of The Donald

Could Donald Trump’s ‘Fall of Rome-style’ downfall be triggered by the actions of his very own family?

Donald Trump came to power promising to ‘Drain the Swamp’ of Washington. Thus far he’s made it bigger and though he might think appointing as many cronies and family members as possible to senior positions will protect him, these people could very well ultimately lead to his path to destruction.

The Western Roman Empire’s fall can be attributed to many factors, but key amongst them were distrust, corruption and overspending. Already, in spite of being in office for only two months, Donald Trump is already exhibiting characteristics of all three. Last week, when the Senior Senator Dianne Feinstein suggested the president would “get himself out of office soon”, she referenced Mr Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, opening a new golf course in Dubai. She stated:

“I think sending sons to another country to make a financial deal for his company and then have that covered with Government expenses, I believe those Government expenses should not be allowed. We’re working on a bill that would [deal with] that now”.

Elsewhere, Cosmopolitan remarked on the businessman turned politician’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her “nepotism”. They commented:

“If Ivanka Trump were not the president’s daughter, would she be given a White House office to perform a job that has no description? Of course not. Don’t believe me? Just try calling the White House and asking if you can have some gratis work space at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., one of the most coveted real estate properties on the planet”.

“Answers we need. And since Ivanka is taking advantage of taxpayer-funded resources, taxpayers have every right to ask to know what Ivanka is doing with them. Ivanka’s attorney told Politico she will serve as her father’s ‘eyes and ears’, a job description so vague, not to mention creepy, that it only functions to give the billionaire heiress cover to do whatever she, or her father, wants”.

“Ivanka will continue to pretend she’s a model for working women, applauding herself for having a ‘seat at the table’ with foreign dignitaries… Just remember she’s only sitting in that seat because her daddy let her. That’s not the case for the overwhelming majority of working women in America and we shouldn’t celebrate anyone for whom that is”.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the immensely wealthy son of a felon named Charles Kushner, also presents many a problem. Though he has sold his vast business interests to his mother and brother, “some ethicists say the potential for conflict remains”. In January, Bloomberg remarked: “[Jared] Kushner seems likely to know where the money is invested. His father, convicted in 2005 of witness tampering, illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion, remains central to the company”.

Kushner, a man who has dined with everyone from Tony Blair to Nigel Farage, most certainly showed genius in guiding Donald Trump to manipulate social media on his road to victory. He and his cronies, however, could also be the very same people to guide the 45^th POTUS’ road to downfall.

March 29, 2017
Dine With Donald

Matthew Steeples suggests readers reject Donald Trump’s desperate plugs for an opportunity to win dinner with his own very sorry self

In the past twenty-four hours I’ve received four messages begging me to buy my way in to being in with a chance of winning a dinner with Donald Trump on Tuesday 21^st March in Washington, D.C.

In the series of email missives, ‘The Donald’s’ representative boast that the winner of this “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” will get to “attend the annual March dinner for FREE”. They list the benefits and amongst them are:

A trip to D.C.: FREE

A stay in TRUMP Hotel: FREE

A dinner with President Trump: PRICELESS

Though “making a contribution does not increase your chances of winning” nor likely your time getting to share “alternative facts” with Kellyanne Conway, entrants are urged to donate $10 to get one entry, $20 to get 4 entries, $50 to get 10 entries or $100 to get 50 entries. Whoever wins will be “President Trump’s guests of honor [sic] at the BIGGEST Republican event of the year”. Lucky them.

In London, a manager of a Chelsea restaurant, on hearing of the “opportunity” to share an over-cooked steak topped with ketchup with the 45^th POTUS, remarked: “I’d rather go with one of the local tramps than dine with that old mutt”.

An embarrassed American, sat nearby, laughed and added: “I’d rather eat wasps, nails and paving stones”.

If you really do desire an evening with a lunatic, click here to be in with a chance to win dinner with Donald Trump.

Twitter: @M_Steeples

March 18, 2017
Charlot Malin (1969 – 2017)

Oslo born, San Francisco based interior designer and philanthropist Charlot D. Malin had a day named in her honour by The City and County of San Francisco in November 2016. A mother of twins and the co-founder of Troon Pacific Inc. with her husband Gregory, “forward-thinking” Malin worked on properties for George Lucas and Robert Redford and supported everything from the San Francisco Opera Guild to the Voss Foundation. She considered “health the ultimate luxury” and loathed microwave ovens.

March 18, 2017
The Big Bend

Billionaire living in New York might take a U-turn if a proposed skyscraper named the ‘Big Bend’ becomes reality

A 4,000 foot end-to-end conceptual skyscraper has been proposed in Manhattan in order to “potentially provide a solution to the height limitations imposed by city zoning laws” according to the anthropological New York website 6sqft.

Designed by the New York and Athens based studio Oiio, the “Big Bend” – as it has been endearingly named – would fit onto two narrow plots at its base and would provide luxury apartments aimed at high net worth individuals.

Of the proposed structure, on their website, Oiio state:

“If we manage to bend our structure instead of bending the zoning rules of New York we would be able to create of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan. We can now provide our structures with the measurements that will make them stand out without worrying about the limits of the sky”.

Real estate developer turned 45^th POTUS Donald Trump’s views on the design are unknown but his favoured adjective “beautiful” is something that comes to mind.

March 18, 2017
Cooking-Up a Cock-Up

As Donald Trump is criticised for dousing over-cooked steak in ketchup, we take a look at Theresa May’s preference for dining at the favourite restaurant of a paedophile and her lack of interest in the “absolutely meticulously” recipes of Delia Smith

In 2008, Theresa May told The Guardian: “I’ve knocked on Rolf Harris’s door and asked for his vote” and in the very same article the now Prime Minister also cited the since jailed paedophile’s favourite restaurant, Maliks Tandoori House in Cookham, Berkshire, as her own hangout of choice too.

The dining habits of top-drawer politicians came under scrutiny again earlier this week when Town & Country’s Sam Dangremond analysed Donald Trump’s preference for eating well-done steaks topped with ketchup. The 45^th POTUS supposedly likes his meat to “rock on the plate” (according to his former butler) but in Britain, our somewhat clueless leader’s food choices are a little more specific.

Aside from loving Indian cuisine and her eponymous “red, white and blue Brexit”, Mrs May is a woman with a preference for a no doubt red, white (but not so blue) Kit Kat and recipes from the cookbooks of the throttled ex-wife of Charles Saatchi, ‘Highgella’ Lawson. In 2008, she remarked: “The other day I did a Nigella recipe for a mustard-and-caper sauce on purple-sprouting broccoli”.

The vicar’s daughter, it transpires, does not have Delia Smith’s books in her kitchen, however. Why? Not because the cook-turned-football-club-chairwoman is generally utterly smashed most of the time, but due to the fact she’s “absolutely meticulous”. The character of the government of Mrs May, thus, could be revealed in a cookbook; its title would no doubt be A Total & Utterly Unmeticulous Cock-Up.

Malik Ahmed with Theresa May

Rolf Harris with Alwyn Hughes and Malik Ahmed

A cartoon by Rolf Harris for Maliks restaurant

Donald Trump eating

March 16, 2017