Well another has all but gone; I have bitter sweet memories of 2006. Actually the order is sweet/bitter as the last two months have been tinged with awful sadness-but that’s another story. Therefore I bid you all sincerest best wishes for the year 2007, I really do hope it’s a good year for you. Made any resolutions? I have never ever been able to stick to one! So from me & the team at www.xintense.com..  CELEBRATE IN STYLE!

 

 I just can't believe how warm it for December. I'm sure the younger readers here will think it's cold, but into double figures again I can assure you it's incredibly mild. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventr...ire/6202016.stm  We're also ranking 4th globally in the warmest of all time records http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/resear...lobal.html#Temp. Should I complain? Cheaper heating bills, no frost & ice (yet) & I still have summer flowers in the gardens that should be long dead!  

 BUT...... I live below sea level! I live in an area called the Wash  The Wash & the experts all say this area will be gone within 40-50 years if the sea continues to rise at its current rate. SO I go live on a mountain soon! Or should we be saying, to quote George Formby- "Turned Out Nice Again"

Well I have another operation date, February 26th. I was hoping that was it with my last one, but with my luck it wasn't to be. Oh well, they looked after me very well last time, I can't fault the NHS & even the food was good.  Maybe Boston Pilgrim hospital is an exception to the rule, or maybe so many people just like to knock the NHS for the sheer hell of it. At least I'm just about over my last operation so I will be fighting fit for the next one.

I often get asked who I would love to work with. Now thats a very hard question. I have hummed & harred for way too long over it. I would say a fashion model, someone not zero size yet fun to work with. Hrm... that makes it harder. I have always admired  Annie Leibovitz as a photographer. I also fell in love with her December 2003 shoot for Vogue, 'Alice in Wonderland'. Now that shoot featured an extremely beautiful Russian girl, Natalia Vodianova.

 

So this is certainly someone I would love to work with, & create something so very different yet so very special. There, wasn't so hard after all!

Hrm.. I can't make my mind up whether to pop along to the Clothes show or not. This year I won't be working there so no 'fringe benefits' like free everything. (Access All Areas before you think clothes.) So if anyone's been this weekend, did you enjoy it? Anyway I have a few days in which to decide. 

I must admit I am pleased this year they are moving away (slightly) from the size Zero model, no one enjoys looking at super skinny girls, including me. It also puts a lot of women under unnecessary pressure.

I for one am also very aware of how & what a lot of the girls do & use to maintain that stick-thin image. "Hey, it's not healthy!!"

Watched this film last week Derailed starring Jennifer Aniston & Clive Owen. Brilliant! One of the best thrillers I have seen for a long time. Not the biggest Aniston fan but this film surprised me as to how powerful a thriller it was. I thoroughly recommend it.

The clothes show 06. 1st to 7th December. Here is my interpretation of the clothes show 05, & 04 was pretty much the same.

Is it really worth going? No. But it's a personal choice really You have to get to Birmingham NEC, you may have to stay over if you travel some distance & if you book online it will cost you £22 plus a further £2.50 booking fee. So it comes down to "Is it worth it to you?" If it is then it's worth the money, but from a personal point of view, it's now too commercialised, the bargains aren't there, you may get one show to watch if you're lucky & you'll be hassled & jostled all day long.

This year, unlike other years when they had 'Rooms' they now have one Room, sublet into 'Zones'.

1. THE PINK ZONE. This houses a lot of companies selling make-up etc, the names you will be familiar with offering a try before you buy & lots of silly give away's. Don't expect to get anywhere near stands, the silly schoolgirls will be fighting for space.

2. THE BLUE ZONE Middle range designers, FCUK, Zandra Rhodes, Hooch, Calver etc & the temporary shops. Again hordes of young girls fighting to get close.

3. THE PURPLE ZONE This had a lot os stalls & shops-Playboy, Criminal, Kangol, Punkyfish etc. You also had a runway show every 45 mins so something to look at too.

4. THE YELLOW ZONE. Billed as "Camden Market meets Portobello Road". Lots of bric-a-brac, wannabe DJ's and demonstrations of make-up & hair. Don't expect to see too much though.

The clothes where you can buy your Christmas prezzies for Mum & Dad, Sister etc. Pretty much the autumn stock so if you are a fashion head you will get a bargain-BUT it won't fit the spring collection. Hence "Roll up, Roll up, everything half price" You will get the same deals in the January sales.

The Jewellery isn't anything special either.

Food as you would expect is well overpriced, so expect to pay a fiver for a burger & bottle of water.

Don't go at weekends if you are going. You will queue for everything; see very little, get annoyed, get a headache & lets hope you're wearing sensible shoes! If you do it, I believe you will do it once only.

Model scouts. If you're attractive you may get picked out & fed the usual bullshit. The potential model serves a purpose & fills a niche. You are Just a number. In fifteen years I believe only 16 models have actually been taken on by select, out of those much less actually go on to become a catwalk model. You are making up numbers; your hopes are raised only to be dashed later. Do the lottery; the odds aren't a lot worse.

PS. Before I get an inbox full of hate mail, I'm not attacking the schoolgirl, but if you have been & had hundreds under your feet when trying to take photo's you may sympathise.