ART | MAIKO GUBLER

Maiko Gubler is a visual artist working with digital modeling tools in imagery and sculpture. His intriguing use of luminsce colour and contorted shapes are really striking.

FASHION | TRAMP IN DISGUISE

At the Felicities Press night I enjoyed meeting the lovely Sini Moilanen, the talented designer behind upcoming fashion label Tramp in Disguise, whose AW12-13 collection instantly made me smile.

As Sini explained, this latest collection, called ’Arabian Nights’, is inspired by the book One Thousand and One Nights. 

You don't have to know or love the tales (although I do) to be mesmerised by this collection. The combination of structures, layers and draping and use of sumptuous fabrics, such as an amazing variety of silks, make these stunning garments a desirable anecdote to the gloom of Britain, transporting you away to balmy Arabian evenings that are a far cry from these April showers.

In an eye-catching palette of jewel toned pinks and blues, this striking collection includes some unique prints featuring daggers (for executing the king´s wives), pottery and bottles (containing captured spirits), arches, doorways, mosques, minarets, statues, Arabic tiles, architectural geometric patterns, Arab and belly dancing clothing.

What particularly struck me were the panelled full length dresses that showcased the prints and colours in a simple silhouette. Their bold shape gives a sense of power and mystery to the wearer that's rather like an Arabian Queen, and who doesn't want to feel like an Arabian Queen.

The structured metallic jacket - reminiscent of a glowing moon or silver offerings, bold shape of the cropped jackets and trousers and inclusion of tassels, contrasts with the uniformity of the patterns and jewel tones used throughout. Feeling playful and modern, these garments seem to punctuate the collection; Ancient tales meets modern city life.

With her latest collection Sini's telling a story as captivating as the one that inspired the collection.

FILM | ROAD MOVIE (WEATHER UPDATE INCLUDED)

This year the seasons seem to be inaptly replicating a wobbly band reunion much like Girls Aloud; not sure if they want to come back as a group, or even as individuals, or even at all ever. Who knows! Fans get the odd glimmer of hope in the form of a cheeky little appearance from the sun, but it remains short lived and unflinchingly bitterly cold - not unlike behind the scenes at Girls Aloud HQ (I'd imagine).

At least it's sunny!

Spring has officially sprung, well that is if you go by the date on the calendar or consider that the clocks have gone forward. Like concord, this year's changing seasons are failing to get off the ground and aren't likely fly us into Summer anytime soon. Better off getting a flight to warmer climes. Sorry, but it's true.

It appears that the Season's merriest, and most anticipated star's running late. Rumour has it, Spring's apologised and hinted at an attempt to make an appearance around September time having aimed to swap with Summer but Summer's gone on holiday to the Maldives (permanently. This is partly due to ongoing conflicts with Winter. Autumn needs some leaves to shed before it can get started so Winter continues to be overly enthusiastic, like the person who chooses the "Hell Freezes Over" version of Hotel California at karaoke. Total mood killer.

So folks, it appears that we are going to be hanging out in post-winter for a little longer. One solution is to invest in a road trip and get out of this morbid British climate. Churn up the roads of America's mid-west, bottle of bourbon in hand, looking for trouble. If the wallet won't stretch to a long-haul flight and Chevy rental then it looks like we're turning to the good ol' movie film.

Some total winner's are... 

Badlands
This is the Terence Mallick film that meant audiences were willing to overlook the horrific boob that was an English Patient. When it comes to offering a nostalgic atmosphere full of piercing intensity, Merrick a good bet when on form. This is his best, so put all your money here. A winning road movie if ever there was one.

Paris, Texas
This film is so good that when the credits role you briefly feel a little sorry for all film makers who aren't Wenders. With Paris, Texas, Wenders really set the bar for poignant U.S road movies, thanks in a large part to ridiculously brilliant cinematography and an incredible performance by the master that is Harry Dean Stanton.

True Romance
Surely everybody's seen and loved this. Directed by that film maker dude Tony Scott, with a great screenplay from Tarantino, in this gem of a romantic crime film, Slater and Arquette play one of the coolest and most loveable couples to have graced our screens. Those outfits are perfection! Modern day Bonnie and Clyde, but amped up to an extent that recreates that time before crawling out of a warehouse party at 6am, a time you don't remember but know in your pit that you'd like to go back to again. Take a pro-plus (or whatever's your solution) and go back to this film over and over.

Vanishing Point 
I don't drive, but if I did I would want to drive a Dodge Viper in the manner of Kowalski in this film. 'Everybody's after Kowalski' in Spencer's pure cheesefest of a road movie. Some great cars and cracking chase scenes here.Just listen to that trailer's narrator.Gold.



MORE. Winter's looong and these are all worth watching too...

Natural Born Killers - O Brother, Where Art Thou? - My Own Private Idaho - Thelma and Louise -Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia -Kalifornication - Y Tu Mamá También - It Happened One Night - Transamerica - Bonnie and Clyde - Rain Man - The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

If you don't fancy staring at a screen then you could always read a book, or kindle if you really must. Steinbeck's touching tale of his travels with his poodle in Travels with Charlie or quintessential road movie, Kerouac's On the Road are solid options *warning: read, don't watch the film!

So wrap up warm and head off on a journey into warm air and sunnier skies.

MUSIC | ALMOST THERE

TRIP | S.KOREA

Ever wondered what it would be like to find yourself fighting jet lag in front of an eager class of South Korean school children in freezing minus 12 conditions? My friend Clare's going to tell you...

An adventure in a South Korea English Camp

My start to 2013, wasn't my usual January slump of feeling guilty for Christmas extravagance and the draft through the deep holes in my pockets. Instead, I had the opportunity to teach children in South Korea. Ah…I thought, a tropical adventure. Unfortunately this definitely wasn't the case as it was more like stepping into a freezer, with temperatures as low as -12 degrees centigrade in the day and even more bone chattering at night.

I had never taught children before, and certainly never taught abroad before or visited Asia even. I arrived in South Korea with no knowledge of the culture and even less of Korean pop culture – something that I was soon to learn, or rather experience for myself.

Having had some difficulties acquiring a visa and being forced to change my flight as a result, I ended up arriving in Korea after an 11 hour flight and plunging 9 hours into the future, and heading straight into a meeting with my fellow teachers, my suitcase in tow. The teaching was starting at 9 o’clock the next morning!

My class consisted of a group of 12 teenagers who were in Korean years aged 16, western age 14 - in Korea you are 1 when you're born and then everyone increases in age come January 1^st as far, that is as I understand it. The rest of the camp ranged from primary school up to middle school. The camp was set up by a university and was aimed at poorer students in the town and funded by the local council.

My trip lasted 4 weeks with teaching taking up 3. My days at the school consisted of 3 hours of English language teaching in the morning, followed by teaching an Art club after lunch and then working with my class on a different activity every week which would be performed on Saturdays. The first week, was a dance for Naju Idol, an X-Factor style performance. My class chose to do a very repetitive K-pop (Korean pop) song, as Gangnam had been band in camp due to it being over playing at previous events. Somehow, in my weakened jet lagged state I had been persuaded to join in, resulting in me performing in front of the whole school the following Saturday. I sorely regretted this agreement as I have zero co-ordination, which was re-affirmed in the re-play video shown more times than I care to remember. But my class was delight as they won the competition, receiving some class points. The second and third week activities involved performing a skit and presenting a piece of artwork respectively.

The Korean Government had made a rule that institutions, such as school, should limit their energy usage. This had been interpreted by the school, as meaning power and heating should be switched off during the day, for a period of 2 hours. The school overcame this by providing (rather hideous) brown blankets, which the children snuggled up in. The cold didn’t assist the ease of teaching, as trying to keep the children engaged when they were freezing was a challenge to say the least and one that has certainly helped my assertiveness in doing my current role as a Housing Officer, working in Social Housing.

In the final week, a local radio station recorded a set from the school to show what the children had learnt and to demonstrate their English. The questions were already set and the teacher's job was to prepare the student’s. However the DJ (an American man who seemed to have limited experience of dealing with children) had decided to go “off script” throwing the children into complete confusion, making for painful viewing. A fellow teacher, who spoke fluent Korean, also told me that the radio technician had told a member of my class that he was wooden and no one would be interested unless he liven his performance up. This I found quiet shocking as they were children and were expected to present not only in front of the whole school but also on the radio.

The three weeks of teaching flew by and before I knew it, it was the closing ceremony with the parents collecting their children. The closing ceremony consisted of yet another performance of Westlife’ - My Love, which had been constantly overplayed throughout the three weeks and is seemingly very popular amongst boys and girls. This was played with a slide show of photos of the camp, accompanied by weeping children in the background.

After teaching at the camp, I had an opportunity to travel around Korea for a week with an old friend who lives in Korea. I experienced the national delicacy of Bondegi (silk worms) provided as a free side dish to my chicken on a stick, by a street seller who I’m sure was expecting me to turn green at the site of them. However, having eaten worse, I tried a few and he rewarded the entertaining site with a free sweet bread cake, which was lovely. The last week also encompassed a visit to the Demilitarized Zone and Panmunjom,  is the only place North and South can hold talks which has recently been in the news. This was a very odd experience and included signing a disclaimer that if I was kidnapped or shot they would take no responsibility for it (a scary thought). Needless to say but I wasn't and that is how I can write this account, phew!

I could write a very long article about my adventures in South Korea and the interesting experiences I had, but I won’t as the experiences are much better than I could ever describe. However, if you are interested in Teaching abroad and in South Korea there is a vast amount of information online and on the Korea embassy website.  

Clare Simmons

ART | GRRR

Ingo Giezendanner is an artist and member of the Kroesco Foundation, an artistic collective set up by Mark Divo in Zurich. Since 1998, Ingo Giezendanner, has been documenting the urban spaces in which he has travelled and lived. Using a pen and paper he produces fascinating illustrations presented in the form of zines, books and animated films as well as in spacious installations and wallpaintings.

Giezendanner, working under the alias GRRR (not the Rolling Stones' compilation), has been presenting his work continuously in a series of publications which you can see more of on his site and you can also exchange money for his zines at the crackin nieves  store.

CARAMBA | LATIN FEASTS

When it's cold and damp outside the best plan is to dive into one the huge array of Latin American restaurants, bars, pop-ups, stalls, shops and general eateries that have popped up in abundance across London in the last twelve months or so. 

Growing chains like Barrio, Wahaca, La Bodega Negra are all good bets. For a quick but equally delicious Latin American treat check out some of the amazing street stalls such as Anna Maes (set to be at Feast, Tobacco Dock this weekend), Churros Garcia is a winner for a quick sweet treat and the ever popular and familiar colourful trucks full of tasty that are Luardos. If you're craving a burrito then this website will help too.

Crazy Homies on Westbourne Grove is, in my opinion, the most fun mexican around and the capirinhas at Brazilian restaurant Barraca in Kilburn are to die for. If a good Argentinian steak's your thing then check out Buen Ayre on Broadway Market and for good Colombian food check out Santafreno in Brixton market. The opening of Sushi Samba, the first branch of the American chain, which fuses Brazilian, Peruvian and Japanese, in Heron Tower in July - doing a happy dance as I type this!  

Crazy Homies

In the Seven Sisters Indoor Market in Tottenham you'll find a great range of authentic Latin American stores. South of the river, get your fill of Latin American products at La Bodeguita in Elephant Castle. It also has a restaurant which is a good laugh. The list of places to visit could be endless so best to just get out there and enjoy discovering and sampling some amazing food and drink.I know I will!

My current fave is Peruvian cuisine which is fresh, delicious and involves some intriguing dishes such as cebiche (marinated raw fish) and even guinea pig. The fish is delicious but I have two pet guinea pigs (Pip and Darcy) and am pescetarian so can't vouch for the latter. Ceviche in Soho is the new Peruvian hot spot and definitely worth a trip and up-market Lima is getting some pretty impressive reviews. Last weekend, I wandered over to Essex Road to a more established family run affair, La Tierra Peru. This place is usually packed and for good reason, the food's scrumptious, the atmosphere relaxed and the service is efficient and friendly. This place is winner for a Friday night feast and a couple of cheeky Pisco Sours. The ocopa arequipeña is worth a visit alone - trying saying that after the Pisco's!

A Pisco Sour is my all time favourite cocktail, so here's a recipe. Make them, drink them, dance and pretend it's summer - after a few of these and the heater on full whack you won't know the difference!

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces pisco
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 1 ounce key lime juice
• 1 egg white
• Angostura bitters (2-3 dashes)
• Ice cubes

Preparation:

1. Mix the pisco, lime juice, simple syrup, and egg white in a cocktail shaker.
2. Add ice to fill, and shake vigorously.
3. Strain into an old-fashioned glass, and sprinkle the Angostura bitters on top of the foam.
4. Serve immediately!!!!!!

All recipes and recommendations more than welcome!

Kerry