http://www.simongarfield.com/ Simon Garfield en-uk Copyright 2013 Simon Garfield Tue, 21 May 2013 22:53:28 GMT Rock music in 2011 is not quite what it was in the mid-1960s. For one thing, it is full of challenging coincidences, such as the one reported by Pete Townshend in a recent e-mail. 'I was supposed to be sailing in the St Barth's Bucket Race on March 24th,' he wrote. That's right: the writer of 'My Generation', 'Substitute' and 'Won't Get Fooled Again' now spends part of his time as a yachtsman in the Caribbean. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=86 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People A couple of months ago, about 80 people - some of whom knew each other and some of whom did not - gathered in a small lecture room at Nuffield College, Oxford, to hear a man give a lecture about how, if one of them suddenly got fat, the chances are that others would get fat, too. The same applied to happiness: if someone in the room spent the next week elated, that joy would probably become infectious. And the same for smoking: if a man in the room finally managed to quit, the chances were good that his friend sitting two rows in front of him would quit as well. And then, a short while later, a friend of his friend whom he didn't know would do the same thing. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=82 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Wherever he goes, Gordon Ramsay sees knives. Today they are at a photography studio in Clapham, a halo pointing inwards towards his head. At other times they are in the hands of rival chefs, or being sharpened by tabloid newspapers, or being stealthily drawn by financial institutions. Of late, Ramsay has employed two methods of self-defence: kick boxing ("I've had the shit kicked out of me for the last 18 months so why not?") and eating out. He says that in January he ate out 47 times, sometimes three meals a day in London and Paris. By eating out a lot he hopes to learn what other restaurants are up to ("chefs are very bad at gauging the customer change because they've always got their heads stuck inside a sweetbread") and finding inspiration for the next phase of his career, which involves a moderate image change and a quest to once again become the hottest chef in the country. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=83 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People At the beginning of 1980, Clive Sinclair launched a computer that he hoped would change the world. In the majority of cases it only changed the way people played primitive computer games, but it also turned a bespectacled, prematurely balding man into a hero for our times. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=84 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People On 30 September 2009, Professor David Salisbury, the Department of Health's Director of Immunisation, sent a detailed letter to the people who were responsible for our future wellbeing during this swine flu outbreak. The recipients included all "Flu Directors and Co-ordinators" and "Pandemic Influenza Leads" in every health authority and NHS primary care trust in England, a rigorously marshalled and prepared bunch, several hundred in total. The letter concerned the new flu vaccine, which was three weeks from being widely available and couldn't come soon enough. After a lull over the summer, the outbreak was on the rise again: within two weeks of Salisbury's letter, it rose to an estimated 27,000 new cases in a week, double the total of a fortnight before. The greatest rise had been seen in people below 25. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=85 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things I was told not to expect a human whirlwind, but when Mark Zuckerberg walks into the room there is barely a breeze. He is 24, on the short side, shy in the way that short, ginger-haired people often are, and he walks with his head down, as if he is carrying a heavy burden, such as being the richest young person in the world. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=72 Sun, 2 Nov 2008 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Seventy-five years ago, a middle-aged woman walked into a London clinic to receive help with her violent temper. She'd attacked her employer and was judged to be worthy of psychological examination. There are a few more things known about her case, but the details are less significant than the fact that she was the first recorded appointment at the new clinical wing of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Delinquency. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=67 Sat, 1 Nov 2008 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Beekeeping, once the lazy hobby of men and women in summer hats, has become the preserve of entomologists, epidemiologists, propagandists and technical specialists. It has also become an occupation for the not badly off, particularly if one is in the market for the WBC Starter Kit. The WBC - a traditional, double-walled hive with a sloping roof, which makes it safe from bad weather and woodpeckers - has been hard to beat for more than a century, each one coming as it does in cedar, with one lift that has a porch, two lifts with a roof, a brood chamber with 10 frames, a steel queen excluder, a 'super' with 10 frames and a crown board. The £500 kit also includes a bee suit, gloves, a stainless-steel smoker, smoker string, a stainless steel hive tool, four pints of rapid feeder and the Guide to Bees and Honey by Ted Hooper. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=73 Thu, 1 May 2008 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things On Friday 7 January 1944, Anne Frank confessed her love for a boy she had been smitten with for years. She had first set eyes upon him in school in 1940, and they had been 'inseparable' for a whole summer, walking hand in hand through their neighbourhood in Amsterdam, him in a white cotton suit, her in a short summer dress. He was 'tall, slim and good-looking, with a serious, quiet and intelligent face'. He had dark hair, brown eyes, a slightly pointed nose. Anne was 'crazy about his smile', which gave him a mischievous air. At one point he gave her a pendant as a keepsake. This was the boy she hoped to marry. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=20 Fri, 1 Feb 2008 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People A few minutes after lunching with Ian Jack, who departed as editor of Granta earlier this year after 12 years and 48 issues, I dropped into Quinto, the second-hand bookshop on Charing Cross Road. Granta was about to celebrate its 100th edition, and I wanted some early copies - those classic ones with writing by Richard Ford, John Berger, Martin Amis and Angela Carter. The man at the counter wasn't impressed. 'What's Granta?' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=21 Sat, 1 Dec 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands At the beginning of March, even people at the BBC hadn't heard of Alan Johnston. He was 44 and bald, and his work as a reporter in Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Gaza had earned him a reputation for adventurousness and composure, but these were not attributes to set him apart from the rest of the crowd on the World Service and From Our Own Correspondent. You wouldn't have recognised him in the street, and you would struggle to quote a memorable line from any of his dispatches. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=65 Sat, 1 Dec 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People On Sunday 1 July, John Smeaton woke up at his family home in Erskine, on the outskirts of Glasgow, to find he had not yet become a star. But it was only a matter of hours. He was on his way to work at Glasgow airport, where he had been employed as a baggage handler for more than 12 years, when his phone rang. It was ITN, wondering if they could interview him about what had happened the day before. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=31 Thu, 1 Nov 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People In September 2006, something unusual started happening to my thirst. I was drinking more than I had ever done before, mostly water, and after one glass I wanted another. For a day or so I felt quite pleased; it was an involuntary detox, the sort of health regime I had always promised myself. But then the bathroom breaks became a bit of a drag, and I began to feel unwell. I felt lethargic, developed headaches, became hungry, started looking gaunt. Because I knew a little bit about these things, I thought I might have diabetes. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=50 Sun, 1 Jul 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things At their heart, allotments are about stories. Every owner has a story, and every planting has one, and if you gather them all together in one place - the waiting-list sagas, the slug invasions, the strange-looking carrots, the shared cups of tea and barbecues at sunset - you have something called a community. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=23 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands For a while in the late Sixties and early Eighties, Britain fostered a youth cult so iconic in its imagery, and so threatening in its pose, that we remain ashamed of it decades later. Steel-capped boots and jeans with back pockets shaped by sharpened metal combs: that was the look, all aggravation and bristle, the terror at station platforms and football terraces and corner shops. Fashion is about many things - money, humiliation, fitting in and sticking out - but until skinheads showed up it was rarely about menace.. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=24 Sun, 1 Apr 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands In the dim and trivial past, when some of us on this fragile planet still gave a moment's thought to the marriage of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, the big issue was not the prenup, the dress or the party guests, but elevation. In his real life and his film life, Cruise had always appeared inches shorter than his new partner, but in the official wedding photos, there was a remarkable transformation: they were suddenly of equal height. Those who believed in fairy tales were inclined to put this down to the magic of Hollywood. The rest of us would have to contend with the medical miracle of a very late midlife growth spurt, or the humiliating spectacle of a hunching and barefoot bride, or the continued transformative possibilities of stacked heels. The world has moved on in so many ways since then, but few mysteries have proved so intractable. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=51 Thu, 1 Mar 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Not so long ago polar bears were a symbol of cold, but these days they are a symbol of warmth. It has become difficult to open a newspaper or web page without seeing photographs of the beautiful yellowy-white animals leaping, or lying on sea ice in the Arctic, the newly helpless emblem of climate change. The traditional threats to the polar bear - hunting, toxic waste, offshore drilling - have been overshadowed by a new one: the ice around them is melting, and we are to blame. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=75 Thu, 1 Mar 2007 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Zaha Hadid, the most acclaimed female architect of our age, has struggled for years with a hurtful dilemma. Despite her fame and success, despite an international reputation that has seen her win the biggest prizes and the most exciting commissions, and despite making London her professional headquarters for 26 years, she has never built a building in Britain. 'It's ridiculous,' she says in the vast conference room at her office in Farringdon, London. 'I have no idea why they don't choose me! I can't speculate any more. Nobody has actually come up to me and said, "They don't want you here ..."' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=52 Sun, 1 Oct 2006 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things It seemed like it was all over for the Who. But solo projects and trout fishing will only get you so far. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=32 Fri, 1 Sep 2006 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People His manager calls him the best central defender in the world, and unlike many things his manager says this is not a minority view. John Terry is 25, and he has grown up fast. Ten years ago he was a midfielder. Six years ago his future at Chelsea was uncertain. Four years ago he was brawling in nightclubs and risked going to jail. And then he began to realize something important: he had the chance of becoming one of England's greatest footballers, perhaps the greatest defender since Bobby Moore. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=70 Mon, 1 May 2006 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Sir Ian McKellen arrives at the Covent Garden Hotel looking very professorial with lots of papers under one arm and a harried air. It is mid-afternoon, and he wants some food - a bit of soup and plain pasta. 'Anything to drink?' his assistant Clair wonders. He looks at her, and then has a sudden thought. 'I'll drink the soup!' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=33 Sat, 1 Apr 2006 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People I really like it here,' Philip Seymour Hoffman says as he takes his seat on a sofa in a suite at the Dorchester. 'The place has some character. It's not just hotelness all over the place.' It is shortly after noon, and in a few hours Hoffman will receive a Bafta for his masterly portrayal of Truman Capote. He shed many pounds to play the role, and learnt to hold himself upright and immaculately, but now much of the weight and slouch and college-boy clothes are back on, and he is doing very un-Capote-like things. The strangest of which is something he is doing with the sofa cushions, taking two on each side and hugging them to his stomach and hips, a brocade buffer against something unknown - extended media interest, perhaps, or the prospect of his career profile changing from indie darling to something much bigger. For this is Hoffman's golden hour - a Golden Globe, a Bafta and in a few days probably an Oscar - and he declares he's finding it 'interesting'. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=34 Wed, 1 Feb 2006 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People They do not look like a family who were once in turmoil. Frank is 91, gentle, elegantly dressed, balding, charming, a former GP. Sara, his wife, is a few years younger and has devoted her life to her husband and three children. At the end of last year they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. The Queen sent a card, and it still sits at the front of a table displaying more than 100 others. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=71 Wed, 1 Feb 2006 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Precisely four-and-a-half hours after a film about her father, mother and stepmother was nominated for five Oscars, Rosanne Cash walks into the Nicole Farhi store near her home in Chelsea, New York City, and orders chicken soup and cornbread at the adjoining cafe. She is wearing a green velvet hat, which she keeps on for the duration of her lunch, and a thick dark coat which she discards. She comments on the cold as she eyes a black leather jacket on one of the racks. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=66 Wed, 1 Feb 2006 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People 'Have you brought three machines?' asks Madonna as I get out my tape recorder. No, why? 'In case they don't work.' In fact, there is recording equipment everywhere. Madonna is sitting on a stool in her producer's tiny home studio in West Kilburn, London, her feet resting by cables, her hands within reach of the keyboards and guitars and microphones that made her new album. She can also touch Stuart Price, the English producer who converted his loft into this studio a few years ago with the money he got from a publishing deal. He says that the walls are so thin that Madonna's new record may accidentally contain the sound of a neighbour weeping. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=35 Tue, 1 Nov 2005 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People I began writing this article after five cups of good coffee, and it turned out to be one of the best articles I had ever written. It had fluency and style, and a narrative drive that gripped the reader from the very beginning and wouldn't let go until every fact had been digested and every bon mot admired. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=69 Sat, 1 Oct 2005 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things 'I hate being the subject of photographs,' Richard Griffiths says not long after being photographed. I had heard that he especially didn't like being pictured from the neck down for fear it might show him as fat - which he is, and which is the singular defining feature of his presence in a great many films and plays, inseparable from his talents as a sensitive, funny and compelling actor. I met him in a rehearsal room in Waterloo where he is preparing for Heroes, a hit French play translated by Tom Stoppard. There was a poster for the show on the table in front of him, Griffiths on a bench between his co-stars, Ken Stott and John Hurt, holding a walking stick and exhibiting his girth. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=74 Sat, 1 Oct 2005 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People There are several ways a middle-aged man may find he has a problem with his prostate gland - difficulty in peeing, getting up a lot in the night - but the way Tony Elliott found out was rather different. In mid-January, he attended the opening of the Turks: Journey of a Thousand Years exhibition at the Royal Academy with his wife Janey. As the founder and publisher of Time Out, he gets asked to these sorts of events regularly and he knew many of the other guests, or thought he did. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=54 Sun, 1 May 2005 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things In the Second World War, only military action killed more Britons than cigarettes. The tobacco industry wouldn't accept it - and the government couldn't afford to. But in Oxford, one scientist was about to prove the cancer link that changed the course of medical history. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=53 Fri, 1 Apr 2005 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things In the next 12 months, at least 21,000 people in Britain will die from heart failure, a condition which is both easy to identify and cheap to treat. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=62 Tue, 1 Mar 2005 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things When the moment finally came, I have to say I was touched. It was about 10.50pm, near the end of a Friday show on Radio 1, after the usual aural assault from Ludacris and G-Unit and Kanye West, when Tim Westwood said, 'I want to big up my man Simon at The Observer - we're travelling with a journalist tonight because we're BIG like that!' I felt honoured, but I tried to be cool, like I knew it was coming all along and it was no big thing, concealing my crushing true belief that I would be leaving yet another Westwood show without a mention. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=47 Fri, 1 Oct 2004 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People At the end of September 2004, Jeremy Deller walked for 10 minutes from his small workroom in Highbury, north London, to an editing suite in Islington, there to meet with the woman who had the most difficult job in show business. A film director called Linda Zuck had the task of making a five-minute movie that would encapsulate a decade of Deller's work, a challenge one might compare with squeezing a zoo into a horse box. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=48 Fri, 1 Oct 2004 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People You have such beautiful skies,' Woody Allen said last week at the completion of another scene in another film, 'when they're overcast.' Allen and his crew had been looking up at the skies above West Kensington all morning, hoping for cloud. They were at Queen's Club, surrounded by the lush tennis courts and white-cottoned members trying not to appear too interested as a small 68-year-old man in a frayed green baseball cap moved among them. 'I never shoot in the sun if I can help it because everything looks much better without it,' the director continued. 'The sun has been the bane of my existence.' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=40 Sun, 1 Aug 2004 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People It started with looking at the tanned girls in magazines. Or it started in Skegness. Or it began when she was in Greece for a fortnight when she was 16. For Rachel Solway, who is now 30, it really started four years ago when her boyfriend noticed an unfamiliar mark on her toe. It was a small thing, about 2.5mm round, and it wasn't itching or bleeding or asymmetrical like they warn you about, but it had turned a little darker than when she had first seen it a year before. Her doctor said, 'I wouldn't worry about it, but do you want to go to see a specialist?' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=59 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things So a man goes to the doctor, and the doctor tells him there is bad news. In fact, there is bad news and really bad news. Which does he want first? 'The really bad news.' 'The really bad news is that you have Aids.' 'Oh my God. And what's the bad news?' 'The bad news is you also have Alzheimer's.' 'Could be worse,' the man says. 'At least I don't have Aids.' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=61 Sat, 1 May 2004 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Because of her position as the pre-eminent singing sensation of the year, there are many hurdles you must leap before you can be ushered into the presence of Beyoncé Knowles. The last of these is an exceptionally tall and fat man called Shorty, who protects his charge and precedes her every move. She goes on a theme park ride for an MTV programme and Shorty rides too. She attends a film premiere in Leicester Square, and the shadow in the photos in the papers the following day is Shorty's. She walks down the corridor backstage at Wembley Arena, and Shorty sweeps the way clear for her like that boulder in Indiana Jones . http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=68 Mon, 1 Dec 2003 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Earlier this month, a selection of the world's most famous pop stars gathered in Edinburgh for the MTV Europe Music Awards, the usual three-hour love-in with Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, the White Stripes and the Darkness. The show finished at 11pm, and then there were the parties to attend, and by the time many of the artists and their entourages and their fans made it back to the city's packed hotels the dawn was breaking over the castle and a few staff from MTV had added an unusual feature to their hotel room door handles. A new, dangling cardboard sign carried a picture of a condom and the phrase Weapon of Mass Protection. Goodness knows what the music people made of it at that time of the morning. If they were like almost everyone else, they would have turned the sign over, to the message that read Do Not Disturb, and fallen into sleep, or perhaps into the arms of another. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=63 Sat, 1 Nov 2003 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things For a few weeks in the middle of summer it was easier to see Jamie Cullum in concert than not to see him. There were phone calls, then a sample CD, then a lunch, then a publicity pack, and then another call with various options but only one outcome. 'You should really come and see him... People are just blown away, even the most cynical... The main thing is to see him play live...' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=46 Mon, 1 Sep 2003 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People 'I was a typical middle-class junkie,' a 38-year-old called John L says. 'Nice family, public school, good at presenting a mask to the world.' He started with cannabis and glue, and got into coke when he was 22. His job took him to clubs a lot, so scoring was easy. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=64 Tue, 1 Jul 2003 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things This is a story I wrote for a book to benefit Unicef called The Weekenders: Adventures in Calcutta (Ebury Press). A group of writers, including Monica Ali and Irvine Welsh, travelled to India in 2003 to write personal stories inspired by a remarkable city. This piece is about a very expensive and ambitious hotel, and the people who work there. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=30 Tue, 1 Apr 2003 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands Much has changed in Pat Edwards's life in the past 40 years. She has divorced, she has moved from London to the South Coast, she has become a grandmother. But one thing has stayed the same: she is still taking the Valium. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=57 Sat, 1 Feb 2003 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Last month I placed the following listing on eBay, the internet's best-known auction site. It appeared under the Books (Entertainment) section, and it had a reserve price of £1. I lifted the sales pitch directly from the jacket blurb on All My Life for Sale: 'One day John Freyer decided to sell everything he owned on the internet. He invited his friends over to tag all the possessions in his apartment, and he systematically put them up for sale on eBay. An unopened box of taco shells, half a bottle of mouthwash, almost all of his clothes, his records, his sideburns (in a plastic bag), furniture: John didn't let sentiment or utility stand in his way. Soon his belongings were sold all over the world, with a bag of Porky's BBQ Pork Skins making its way to Japan, and a chair ending up in the Museum of Modern Art. With almost all the objects in his life now gone, he started the second phase of his journey: to visit his one-time possessions in their new homes.' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=26 Sun, 1 Dec 2002 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands Ant and Dec are always together on television. And in real life too.' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=44 Wed, 1 May 2002 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Seroxat rivals Prozac as the world's favourite anti-depressant. But not everyone is smiling. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=58 Mon, 1 Apr 2002 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things He used to campaign on behalf of the Yanomami Indians, until he found he could make more money looking after Caprice, Stacey and Gabrielle. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=38 Tue, 1 Jan 2002 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Every week, it kills more than 3,000 people in Britain. But the news is encouraging: Britain's two largest cancer charities are about to merge, and Sir Paul Nurse and Tim Hunt are about to receive the Nobel Prize. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=55 Sat, 1 Dec 2001 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Happily married and a mother of two, Sally Harris gave up a career in nursing to act out explicit sexual fantasies on her own website. Clever girl. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=49 Thu, 1 Nov 2001 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People In his heyday Kendo Nagasaki - brutal, silent and with a hint of Samurai savagery - was the most celebrated British wrestler of them all. As his final bout looms, the man with the sword gives up some of his secrets. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=37 Mon, 1 Oct 2001 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Soon it will be time for Danny La Rue to sing. At the Pleasance theatre in north London at the beginning of May 2001, the 73-year-old entertainer stands onstage in a blue dress and high white hair and announces that he has been in show business for 51 years. He has some personal observations about Bill Clinton ('He propositioned me in the Oval Office!') and Zsa Zsa Gabor ('She was wearing so many feathers you could have stuck them up her arse and she'd have flown home'), and then he launches into a suggestive song he used to sing on the Good Old Days. As he sings, the occasional glittery bead and sequin drops from his dress. This, bizarrely, is rather good entertainment, and is relished by an enthusiastic audience of sweet-smelling moneyed gay men, tonight being a fundraising night for the Aids charity Crusaid. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=60 Fri, 1 Jun 2001 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things Eddie Izzard's fashion sense has always been an exciting area for discussion, but on his official website not everyone is impressed with the way things are going. 'Lately, Eddie's wardrobe can be described as black,' writes someone called Squeaky. 'Black T-shirt, black jeans, black shoes.' 'Hi Squeaky,' writes Teri. 'Hubby and I were discussing this in passing last night... I wonder if it is just ease of packing that has him in the same outfit... Or the "bloke" mode he is currently in. He does look good in it... But I would prefer some more flair... He is TV, for God's sake. Hugs to all!' 'Allo Teri!' writes another fan. 'I think he is convinced that black is slenderising and I'm afraid he's caught that Hollywood thin disease. His bloke look is to convince casting directors that he can be cast in any male role and not be stuck in the weirdo transvestite ghetto, a very small ghetto indeed! I just wish he'd put on a touch of mascara though, for telly, to make his eyes show more. But that's just a female thing...' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=45 Tue, 1 May 2001 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Let me ask you a question', says Steve Wynn, the 56-year-old man who seems to run Las Vegas. 'If we could build a hotel that, regardless of the century, was clearly, unequivocally, overwhelmingly the most lovely, elegant, beautiful hotel ever built in the history of the planet, a place where even the people in Johannesburg or Singapore would say, 'It's a wonderment', well, wouldn't that be something?' It would. Unfortunately, Steve Wynn has built Bellagio, a spectacular impersonation of the greatest hotel on the planet. It is the greatest hotel on the planet as designed by people who have never been out of Las Vegas, or the greatest hotel on the Planet of Vegas. It is also, at $1.6 billion (£965 million), the most ludicrously expensive hotel ever, with the only casino in the world containing $300 million (£180 million) worth of Impressionist art. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=29 Sun, 1 Nov 1998 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands Rick Parfitt, the big-haired, blond singer-guitarist with Status Quo for the past 30 years, is reliving his quadruple heart-bypass operation of a few weeks ago. It was a rock star thing, he says, brought about by women, divorcing women, smoking, alcohol, drugs and almost three decades of climbing on stage to ask people if they would, or would not, like to ride in a paper plane. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=42 Tue, 1 Jul 1997 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People In a corner of David Hockney's Los Angeles studio, opposite a new portrait of his wrinkled mother, stands a picture that, when finished, will swiftly make its way to several thousand homes throughout the world. The Tate Gallery wanted a poster to celebrate its centenary, a poster for underground stations and bus shelters and the Tate Shop, and who better to paint it than the most popular British artist alive? http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=36 Tue, 1 Apr 1997 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Last month in Milan, Dora Swire, a small, fit 83-year-old, talked of how her daughter really hadn't changed much over the years. 'When she was a girl she was like she is now, only small,' she observed. 'She's become cleverer. She was always stubborn, inquisitive and bossy. I have two other children, just as important'. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=43 Wed, 1 Jan 1997 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People To be a Frank Bruno fan these days, you must really take a beating. On a grey Monday morning in the Granary restaurant in Luton airport, five days before the big fight, a large man eating a full farmhouse was explaining to his friends the pleasures of the long-distance package tour. 'How am I going to last 11 hours?' he asks. 'The most I ever done was New York, that was seven. I'm knackered now.' http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=27 Fri, 1 Mar 1996 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands Towards the end of last month, 115 people with no arms or legs gathered in a small village in southern Sweden to talk about their common interests. All in their mid-30s, most of them seemed to like the same sort of music and sport. They came from all over the world, but they had a similar taste in clothes, food and beer. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=56 Fri, 1 Sep 1995 -1:00:00 GMT Science, Health and Saving Things We thought we knew Woody Allen - the neurotic hypochondriac Jewish New York intellectual. Then came his custody battle with Mia Farrow, and he seemed rather different. The worst is over. But can he ever play Woody again? http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=39 Sat, 1 Jan 1994 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People Waiting for the lift by his fourth-floor flat, Derek Jarman says he feels like an 80-year-old man, not only old, but lonely, missing all his friends. Walking along Charing Cross Road towards Chinatown he holds a thin brown stick, too short for his needs. On this bright summer Sunday he wears black slippers, baggy blue trousers, a cardigan and a heavy wool jacket. His polo shirt is pink, his cardigan yellow - loose, lounging clothes that were hell to put on. Occasionally, Keith Collins, 27, his partner of seven years, will tuck in his shirt. As he reaches a crossing he asks Keith to hold his hand. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=41 Sun, 1 Aug 1993 -1:00:00 GMT Famous or Interesting People You can hear the dogs from afar, yapping, shrieking, scratching at the walls, not their usual noise at all. Twelve big poodles in torment: a terrifying squeal, high and frantic, hanging in the dry Las Vegas air, hanging on the heat at two in the morning. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=25 Thu, 1 Oct 1992 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands El Cerrito is a rather dull little town in Contra Costa Country, about 40 miles from San Francisco. There are small schools, a Safeway store, low-rise apartment buildings, neat front gardens, and a lot of concrete. El Cerrito also has a small police department, used to handling a bit of car crime and over-excited teenagers. The station is less than 100 yards from an apartment block at 10944 San Pablo Avenue, the scene of the most unusual incident local officers can recall. http://www.simongarfield.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=28 Sun, 1 May 1988 -1:00:00 GMT Vegas and other Lands