I'm Blathering Now...

Joe Orton was a writer who dared to speak the unspeakable. He pushed the boundaries of common taste and decency. He tackled subjects others would find repulsive and flaunted the hard facts of everyday life to the masses; facts that people would prefer to sweep under the carpet. If mankind possessed any basic human values, they were thrown away; all classes were corruptible. Moralistic attitudes were daydreams. People in real life don’t have morals; they just try to persuade themselves that they do. They flagrantly despatch messages from their soap boxes of what is right and what is wrong, how we should live a good clean holy life and then they renege on their ramblings with their actions.   Actions speak louder than words. You may scoff at the above, but the character Fay in Loot shows this with great aplomb. She sits with her rosary in hand, proclamations coming thick and fast about how the family should behave with respect in front of the dead, yet it becomes clear she has abuse

Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972) was a Spanish Basque fashion designer and the founder of the Balenciaga fashion house. He was one of the most innovative designers of the twentieth century, and his use of fabric and his skills as a master tailor ensured that when he died people mourned “The King is Dead.” He was an inventive pioneer of fashion, transforming the female silhouette with highly sculptural designs, and removing nipped in waistlines with his tunic dresses and kimono style coats. This exhibition at the V&A explores his work, and the influences he has on other designers such as Issy Miyake, Iris Van Herpen and Paco Rabanne. Walking around this exhibition, it is hard to imagine women of the 1950’s and 60’s wearing such apparel, such was his futuristic vision. Single seamed coats, dresses which were tied to the legs to add additional volume to an already ballooning hemline, and exquisite embroidery were the hallmarks of Balenciaga’s fame. On walking into the exhibitio

BBC1’s new detective drama, Strike, premiered at the BFI on London’s Southbank on Thursday night. There was a screening of the first episode, followed by a Q&A session with the stars of the show, Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger, as well as executive producer Ruth Kenley-Letts, director Michael Keillor and writer Ben Richards. The Cuckoo’s Calling is the first of three detective novels featuring Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Ellacott, written by J K Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Fans of this detective duo have eagerly being waiting to see their heroes brought to life on screen and so I was interested to see their reactions on Thursday night. Twitter feeds and social media had been rife with many querying whether Tom Burke could take on the enormity of the role of Strike. In the book Strike is 6’2, overweight, not particularly attractive, and with “pube-like” hair. That is NOT a description of Tom! It is difficult for me to be objective on this point. I