Chap From Childhood

David Tomlinson

Briefing notes: Prodigious British actor, acclaimed for his contributions to the great Disney hits of the 1960's and early 1970's. As George Banks in Mary Poppins, his character evolves from stern authoritarian patriarch  to caring, joyful model father. As the loveable rascal  Emelius Browne he shone in perhaps my favourite ever children's film: Bedknobs & Broomsticks. He was a tremendous friend and confidant to Peter Sellers who was quoted as saying "The only person I want to see is David" when he was admitted to hospital shortly before his passing.

Further information: 

Luckier Than Most: Autobiography of David Tomlinson

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1344949/David-Tomlinson.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYBECKl0zFo

March

Watch
People - Alan Bennet at the National Theatre
Side Effects - Steven Soderbergh
House of Cards - Netflix

Visit
Becoming Picasso - Courtauld Gallery
Art 13 - Kensington Olympia

Eat
Mishkins - Soho
Shiori - Bayswater

Read
Bright Young People: The Rise and Fall of a Generation 1918-1940 - D J Taylor
The Further Letters Of Henry Root - Henry Root

Listen
Tom Odell - Another Love
The Clash - The Clash

Image
The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegory of a Seven Year Phase in my Artistic (and Moral) Life - Gustave Courbet 1855

Acting Above Our Station

Mark Rylance

Briefing Notes: Perhaps the greatest living stage actor. His portrayal of Rooster Byron in Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem earned him global  awards and plaudits from the critics. However, it is the acclaim garnered from audience members who never usually frequented the theatre that has marked him out as a true great. Rylance was instrumental in the success of the new Globe Theatre, which had been ear marked as a certain 'flop' by the establishment at its naissance. If Jerusalem ever plays again to audiences, with Rylance in the lead role, make sure you come by a ticket, it is now one of those 'amazements' that you should watch before you move on.

Further Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rylance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTJYmBqQcw4

Directions To A Director

Stephen Poliakoff

Briefing Notes: Back currently with his new drama 'Dancing On The Edge' which I am greatly enjoying. Poliakoff excels at crafting thought provoking and beautifully shot intelligent television. I have recently re-watched 'Gideon's Daughter' and 'The Lost Prince' both of which have brightened up a weekend when the wretched weather has 'stopped play'.  Also intriguing was his recent film 'Glorious 39' which focuses on the British upper classes and their appeasement of Hitler in order to maintain their way of life. The background causes of appeasement have always fascinated me.

Further information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Poliakoff
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Stephen-Poliakoff-BBC-Collection/dp/B000CFX5FA

In The Eye Of The Artist

Alex Prager

Briefing Notes: Supremely talented video artist and photographer. Influenced by the iconography of Hitchcock and William Eggleston. Work displays dark and heavy subjects but in an intense beautiful way.

Further information: http://www.alexprager.com
http://new.fourthandmain.com/editorial/post/alex-prager/
http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/artist,show,3,120,0,0,0,0,0,0,alex_prager.html

February

Watch
Quartermaine's Terms - Wyndham's Theatre
Old Times - Pinter Theatre
Flight - Robert Zemeckis
To The Wonder - Terence Malick
Dancing On The Edge - Stephen Poliakoff - BBC 2

Visit
Man Ray Portraits - Royal Portrait Gallery

Eat
Boca di Lupo - Soho
Shiori - Bayswater

Read
An English Affair: Sex, Class and Power In The Age of Profumo - Richard Davenport-HinesThe Last Tycoon - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Listen
Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues - Various Artists
Françoise Hardy - Le Temps de l'amour

Image
La Trahison des Images - René  Magritte

Winston Smith?

Adam Curtis 

Briefing Notes: Consistently superlative documentary filmmaker. Films mesh together themes of ideology, politics, history and human nature to offer an explanation of events and prevailing thought. He utilises a wide array of imagery to keep the mind focused, interested and inspired to think differently.

Further Information: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Curtis
Film: The Century Of The Self - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prTarrgvkjo
Film: The Mayfair Set - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-05iRb_fug
Film: The Power Of Nightmares - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDUJwKgXu5Q  

Kit List

Ties

Briefing notes: Silk or wool. Printed, woven or knitted. Tipped (lined) or untipped (unlined for less bulk). Nothing 'fun' or childish unless given as a present to someone you do not care for. My recommendations are Hermes or Ferragamo for printed ties and a continental approach or Drakes of London for woven offerings for a 'British Gentleman' look. 

Further Information: http://uk.hermes.com, http://www.drakes-london.com

A Speech To Saviour

Robert Kennedy on the death of Martin Luther King Jr.



Briefing Notes: Bobby Kennedy's eulogy to Martin Luther King Jr. given in Indianapolis. That night riots took place in 60 cities across the USA in reaction to the assassination of Dr. King. Indianapolis was not amongst them which has been put down to the calming rhetoric of Kennedy.

Further Information: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/rfk-mlk.htm

January

Happy New Year

Watch
The Magistrate - National Theatre
New Yes, Prime Minister - UK Gold
Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino
Zero Dark Thirty - Kathryn Bigelow 
Ripper Street - BBC 1

Visit
Manet: Portraying Life - Royal Academy

Eat
Bounce - Holborn
The Moral Fox - Notting Hill


Read
Raffles and the Golden Opportunity - Victoria Glendinning
The Essential Spike Milligan - Spike Milligan

Listen
Forever - Haim
Tuesday Morning - The Pogues

Image
Edouard Manet - Races at Longchamp

A Carol For Christmas

The Pogues
Fairytlae of New York



Briefing Notes: The finest song ever written about Christmas. A tale of Irish immigrants, dreaming of happier times in holidays past whilst sleeping of their intoxication in a New York jail cell. The protagonists' hopes and dreams, once held in youth, have eroded and died. A different side to the usual Christmas sounds and imagery.

Further Information: The Pogues are playing at the O2 tonight!

Contrarian To Celebrate

Christopher Hitchens

'Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.'

Briefing notes: Much missed erudite author, orator, teacher, iconoclast and polemicist. Not afraid of challenging authority, faith or even Mother Teresa. His clarity of argument is astonishing to hear or read along with his total believe in humanity itself. His passing at the hands of cancer was a great loss to the world, although the wretched disease did inspire him to pen a series of beautiful pieces on his experience in fighting off death.

Further information: Hitch 22: A Memoir - Christopher Hitchens 

Mortality - Christopher Hitchens 

God Is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-s9AyNQyCw

Bounder!

Terry Thomas

Briefing notes: Comic actor celebrated for playing cads and rotters. Highlights of his career include School For Scoundrels, Private's Progress and voicing the character Hiss (the snake) in Disney's Robin Hood. Always superbly outfitted and sporting a gap in his front teeth and his trademark cigarette holder. Thomas notably exclaimed  hugely popular catch-phrases including 'what an absolute shower' and 'hard cheese' which are sadly underused in the present day. Thomas suffered from Parkinson's disease and existed for many of his later years in virtual obscurity until his suffering was uncovered and a benefit gala organised in his honour. 

Further information: Bounder! The Biography of Terry Thomas - Graham McCann 

School For Scoundrels - Hal E Chester 

Kit List

Boxer Shorts

Briefing notes: Must always be 100% cotton. Plain, striped or check print acceptable. No cartoon characters, 'jazzy' motifs or slogans. No buttons, labels or branding on the outside of the waistband. Waistband to be covered on both sides by the same cotton as the rest of the short. Best I have found are Turnbull & Asser who fulfil all the criteria specified above. Expensive but if bought in the Winter or Summer sales worth the investment.

Further Information: http://store.turnbullandasser.co.uk

Sprezzatura

Style Influence

Gianni Agnelli

Briefing notes: Patriarch of the family controlling FIAT motor cars. He was in his life, Italy's most successful business man and certainly the most impeccably dressed of its nationals. He combined high quality Italian tailoring nonchalantly with small yet important touches of flair. The most celebrated of theses flourishes was the wearing of his watch on the shirt sleeve rather than on the actual wrist.

Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Agnelli

December

Watch
Constellations - Nick Payne Duke of York's theatre
Argo - Ben Affleck
Peep Show - Channel 4
The Fear - Channel 4

Visit
Death a self-portrait - Wellcome Collection
The Pogues - O2 Arena

Eat
Roganic -Marylebone
St John Hotel - Leicester Square

Read
The Colony Room Club 1948-2008. A history of bohemian Soho - Sophie Parkin
The Last Holiday - Gil Scott-Heron

Listen
Little Green Cars - John Wayne

Image
Dirty White Trash - Tim Noble & Sue Webster

Erudite Eccentric

Colonel Blashford-Snell - 'Blashers'




Briefing notes: Immaculate gentleman explorer and high-spirited lecturer.

Further information: http://www.johnblashfordsnell.org.uk

Essential Read

The Road To Wigan Pier
by George Orwell

Briefing notes: The first half of the tome presents Orwell's insights into the existence of the working class living in the the industrial towns of Northern England in the years before the outbreak of World War Two. The second, explores Orwell's own beliefs and thoughts on socialism. The themes touched upon in the prose have remained relevant to life since its publication and perhaps in this current moment in time, more relevant than ever.

Further information: http://www.george-orwell.org/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier/index.html

Kit List

Penny Loafer (slip-ons)

Briefing notes:  American east coast heritage. Compliment practically any type of suit, considered to be too casual for black tie and morning suit occasions. Can be black, ox-blood, brown, suede or tasselled. Manufacturers recommended include Crockett & Jones and Edward Green.

Crockett & Jones - Sydney

Edward Green - Piccadilly

Further Information: http://www.edwardgreen.com, http://www.crockettandjones.com

Künstler

Polly Morgan

Briefing Notes: Taxidermy specialist, works convey the beauty in fatality.

Further information: http://pollymorgan.co.uk