FILM OF THE WEEK: LA FRANCE

La France

by Katie Smyth

SquareOne Entertainment

Newlywed Camille awakens in war-torn 1917 France to find a letter from her soldier husband telling her to forget him and that she will never hear from him again.

Undeterred, our androgynous heroine takes off into the wild in search of the Front and her beloved. Garbed as a boy and half-starved she runs in with an unlikely troop of soldiers who after much hesitation, poisonous mushrooms and a wide shot eventually grudgingly accept her company.

All is not as it seems however, as Camille’s new found friends appear less concerned with rejoining the fray than regaling each other with myths of Atlantis and impromptu singsongs. Ever wondered where the Beatles drew their inspiration for Sergeant Pepper? Look no further than the jaunty uniforms, experimental vocal arrangements and dubious instruments of these travelling minstrels.

Unsettling from the start and gripping throughout it’s hard to pinpoint whether La France is more of an indictment of Gallic war mongering or a simple insight into the human need for self-preservation.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: COUNTING CROWS

Counting Crows

Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings


by Christopher Mackie


SquareOne Entertainment


For a man that has squired Courtney Cox AND Jennifer Aniston, Counting Crows' be-dreadlocked warbler Adam Duritz can be a miserable sod at times. His melancholic outlook has informed much of the Crows' output since their acclaimed 1994 debut, August And Everything After.

After four studio albums the arrival of their last effort (2002's Hard Candy) seemed to signal a new cheerfulness. It was an unashamedly sunny affair, full of melodic, commercial pop-rock numbers and even managed to survive the inclusion of a frightful cover of Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi. Thankfully, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings sees Counting Crows back on familiar darker territory and playing to their downbeat strengths.

Six years in the making and at 14 tracks a near double album, its their best since 1996's Recovering the Satellites. The songs are split into two distinct sections, mirroring the titular night and morning theme. The saturday batch is loud, brash and occasionally angry, typified by album opener 1492 which sets things off in rousing fashion. Things blast breezily through the gleeful stomp of Hanging Tree and come to rest after the urgency of Cowboys which is probably the highlight of the set.

The sunday morning section is more introspective, wistful and in places really rather beautiful. Washington Square in particular, with its mandolin and stonking harmonica solo is the equal of any of the Crows' earlier acoustic work.

No doubt the music press at large will criticise their distinctly unfashionable influences (take your pick from any number of seventies rock acts), but to do so overlooks the fact that in Adam Duritz America has one of its most talented songwriters, and in Counting Crows one of its most gifted and enduring bands.


Look out for Counting Crows on tour and at festivals later in the year. More information to be found here: - www.countingcrows.com

You can check out the video for You Can't Count On Me here: - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2lfD2XpnvM

AND the raucous album opener 1492 here: - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG8veGmU2r8

CHALLENGE DAVE: FOOT OF THE WALK

The good news is he's still alive. The bad news is we've sent him to another one of Edinburgh's less salubrious drinking dens to give us a report. This week, our Dave braves the Foot of The Walk at, er the Foot of The Walk in Leith.

by David Hynes

SquareOne Booze

The Foot of the Walk is full of talk. Not because it is a chatty yet viable place to start the Leith pub crawl (which gets seriously tough the higher you ascend), but because it has no music licence. So, rather than some soothing background music all you get is the sound of chatter emanating across what must be the most spacious yet most soul-destroying pub in Leith. Actually, make that Scotland.

Pubs can be many different things to many different pub-goers; a haven to hide from the missus, a place to relax and of course a venue to get sloshed and pull. Unsure of what niche it wants to occupy in a city saturated with drinking holes, the Foot of the Walk seems to have gone for a simple approach of crap drinks, crap atmosphere and even worse food.

"It’s cheap though", a wee lassie informed me (she seemed to have benefited from the Foot’s lenient age restrictions policy). True, I couldn’t deny the cheapness of the drinks, but as I considered a reply, my new friend summed things up better than I ever could: "but it’s f__king shite!"

And she was right. What really struck me about the Foot’s potential as one of the worst pubs in Edinburgh was its design, or lack thereof. Table after table dominate the pub which gives it neither a focal point nor any place of seclusion to actually enjoy your drink. It’s like a weird wooden chess set with a bar along one side.

After all, the Foot is a Wetherspoon's establishment. We all know Wetherspoons are homogenous chains of chatter-filled retailing experiments in utter excretion. But even judged amongst its peers the Foot is at the very bottom of this chain’s anatomy.

SquareOne's top five bar snacks

1. Scampi Fries
2. Nobby's Chilli Nuts
3. Walker's Worcester Sauce Crisps
4. Pork Scratchings
5. KP Salt 'n' Vinegar Peanuts
   

SMOKING SOLUTIONS

by Karen Combe

SquareOne Features

Today is the second anniversary of the smoking ban in Scotland and by now, the sight of what could be the cast of Still Game sitting outside even the most dubious of pubs on shiny aluminium chairs shouldn’t throw you out of kilter for the whole day. Temporary outdoor tables and chairs which give Scotland a continental look are a simple smoking solution, but a new market has emerged, offering increasingly sophisticated solutions to the needs of "smoking huddlers".

The smoking ban legislation requires all "enclosed" and "semi-enclosed" public spaces to be smoke free. Premises must avoid "substantially enclosed" smoking shelters and outside areas are only deemed smoke free if they have no roof or there are permanent openings in the walls.

Products are now on sale that address every aspect of the law in detail. "Patiolas" and "Terasols" may sound like the names of prehistoric creatures but are in fact semi-permanent outdoor shelters. Leeds based company Inn-Fresco describes them as wind resistant to class 3-Beaufort 6 (49km/hr) handy for hardier smokers.

Online, the aptly named smokingsolutions.com can supply environmentally friendly gas heaters and "Fast –Bar" parasols. But as the grudgingly accepted (among some in the licensing trade) smoking ban is no longer fledgling legislation, smoking solutions are becoming part of the fabric of buildings and not just an afterthought.

Dunbar based Belhaven Breweries owns over 100 pubs throughout Scotland and smoking solutions are individually tailored to suit each of their establishments. The brewery’s refurbished Twa Tams pub in Perth has a specially designed smoking area called The Outside-Inn where customers can watch live Setanta football, smoke and drink while being kept warm by outdoor heaters.

In Edinburgh, The Montpelier Group’s up-market flagship hotel Tiger Lily in George Street, offers discerning smokers a sumptuous smoking solution. There they don’t have to go outside for a puff; they are provided with a specially designed internal space within the grand Georgian interior which has the same high spec as the rest of the establishment. The room is walled on three sides with one glazed wall looking into the bar area, but look upwards and you can see the sky as the roof has been omitted to comply with planning laws. A second smoking area outside the hotel’s nightclub Lulu is a more conventional outdoor area discreetly tucked away at basement level.

Adam Gray, business consultant for the group, says: “The smoking solutions at Tiger Lily cost a five figure sum, but a lot of thought went in to the planning of the space with close consultation with council planners. The results are certainly well worth the cost involved.”

Independent landlady Betty Grieve owns the Melville Lounge Bar in Edinburgh. She says that any smoking solution she could employ was limited because the bar is part of a listed building. As a result she utilised a raised flat area within the property's boundary for tables and chairs without breaking any laws or causing obstruction. The pub is popular with rugby fans who stop in for a pint or two on their way home from Murrayfield and Betty says: “I have to stop them from taking their drinks past the boundary of the bar premises to stay within the law."

Betty sources products for smoking solutions from trade reps. A new product for smokers inside the bar is snuff and she is interested to see how it sells: “I used to sell cigars but I am not ordering them in anymore, I am down to the last few. I got a few fancy outdoor ashtrays but to be honest they were rubbish so I got rid of them.”

Following the ban, non-smokers may be tempted to join the smoking huddle outside the pub to get some fresh air. Betty says she has become aware of “deadly pongs” on a busy night and admits that she hadn’t realised that cigarette smoke, being a good deodorant, masks flatulence, sweat and beer-breath very well. No doubt a gap in the smoking solutions market now exists for a pub air freshener or maybe the continental aroma of strong coffee would do the trick.

SquareOne wants your nominations for the most novel smoking solution you have encountered. E-mail us at squareonenews@gmail.com.

ARTIFICIAL REALITY

by Katie Smyth


SquareOne Entertainment





Theatrical self-consciousness is nothing new. In Henry V, Shakespeare recognised the limitations of "this wooden O" by inciting his audience to believe itself to be on the field of Agincourt. Later, the advent of Modernism saw theatre throw off its cloak of naturalism and profess its falsity with a greater degree of openness than ever before. Today, gone are the days of entering the auditorium and suspending your disbelief.

Contemporary theatregoers are treated to stripped back sets and characters that often parody rather than play their parts to expose the performance to be nothing more than an act or representation of the real. In its past season Edinburgh's Lyceum Theatre has embraced such self-conscious drama, playing host to Brian Friel's Living Quarters and Pirendello's Six Characters in search of an Author. SquareOne Entertainment spoke to actor Ron Donachie who played the domineering father figure in each production to get to the crux of the matter and discover why drama which declares itself to be make-believe is proving so popular.

Striding into a quiet café, Donachie retains some of the militaristic air of his Living Quarters' character Commandant Frank Butler. His jaunty tam 'o shanter and billowing trench coat evoke something of the fictional war hero. However, open and friendly, Donachie chats freely about the plays with none of his character's brusque reserve.

Living Quarters enthralled audiences last November when the Lyceum staged its UK premier. Based on the Greek Phaedran cycle it tells the story of Commandant Butler's return from a UN peace-keeping mission to his home barracks only to discover that in his absence his new wife Anna, thirty years his junior, has been sleeping with his estranged son.

Such a classic plot lends itself easily to naturalism and a straight performance yet in a departure from his Greek model, Friel wills into being the character of Sir, an omniscient narrator/director who, assisted by a ledger which has captured every word and significant glance, attempts to afford the family clarity allowing them to replay the events of that day. The resulting self-conscious performance where the characters attempt to take liberties with the plot and break the rules of the ledger borrows as much from Brecht as Euripides.

The desire of characters to alter their destiny was taken even further later in the Lyceum's season when it staged Pirendello's dadaist Six Characters in search of an Author. Unlike Living Quarters in which the action is temporarily suspended, the characters actually invade a rehearsal, stop proceedings and beg the director and his troop of actors to tell their stories.

Donachie explains more: "this is a very sophisticated piece and people tend to get hung up on the legend surrounding it. There's a confusion between art and reality." Yet while Living Quarters drew glittering praise, it seems the blurring between stage and auditorium proved too much in the Pirendello.

Reviews varied in warmth and it appears some audience members were still too committed to suspending their disbelief and buying into the drama as real. Young playwright Hana Mackechnie found plenty to criticise in an apparent departure from realism. Having accepted the presentation that the entire plot was a rehearsal with the "characters" taking over, Mackechnie was disappointed when normal theatrical conventions appeared again: "I don't like that they had the curtain call because it was meant to be a rehearsal. Why did they break the illusion?" Donachie puts her confusion and disappointment down to audiences being unable to distinguish the self-conscious theatre it sees on the stage from the naturalistic performance it expects to see. Or to put it his way, "well that's just bollocks isn't it?"

Yet despite the switherings of certain theatregoers unable or unwilling to let go of their grounding in naturalism, the ever-present self-conscious drama looks set to stay at the Lyceum. In the current run of Vanity Fair, Becky Sharpe and chums delight whilst consistently reminding us that they are simply presenting a version of events. Theatre in Edinburgh has never looked more artificial, more stripped back and more aware of its limitations. And perhaps therein lies its strength.

Break the illusion yourself by going to the Lyceum: www.lyceum.org.uk

FASHIONABLY SCOTTISH

By Caitlin Rattray

SquareOne Fashion

Just a few weeks ago, the catwalks at London Fashion Week were awash with fresh new Scottish talent, confirming that Scotland is bursting at the seams with talented young fashion designers.

What has sparked this surge in Scottish talent? With a little help from the Glasgow: Scotland With Style collective, young Scottish fashion designers have been given support to showcase their talents to the rest of the world.

With so much talent emerging from such a wee country, it seems the big beady eye of the international fashion industry is firmly focused on Scotland. So, here for your very fashionable education, is the first in our series of ones to watch in 2008.

Vidler Nixon

A duo comprised of Glasgow born Kerry Nixon and Australian Stefan Vidler, Vidler and Nixon have collaborated since a coincidental meeting in 2006.

They received a nomination for Scottish designer of the year at last year's Scottish Style awards and they are part of the Glasgow: Scotland with style collective. Combining masculine and feminine with a mix of tailored blazers teamed up with floaty, girly dresses and full skirts, Vidler and Nixon have created a collection with an air of innocence and sophistication.

The pair already have a host of fashion-savvy celebrity devotees including Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley. Unfortunately for the non-celebrities amongst us, Vidler and Nixon’s designs are only available between the pricey four walls of Harrods.

www.vidlerandnixon.com

ARE THE BUSINESS PAGES BORING?

by Christopher Mackie

SquareOne Business


What would happen if the BoE refused BAE’s Triple-A rating on the basis of some dodgy CDOs or PERLS owned by a Non-Dom employee?

Well, let me tell you that the FTSE, the NASDAQ and the ONS might have something to say about it. And, FYI at the COB each day, every CEO is concerned with their OD, HR and KPI. And, as if that doesn’t take up enough time, all company directors love to check with R&D to ensure that the ROI allows for their core values to be facilitated. From VAT to ITV, the business world loves to abbreviate. And if they can’t abbreviate it, they love to invent some jargon to replace it.

Perhaps it is because everyone in a pinstripe suit is just so darned busy to be bothered by full names. Perhaps managing directors across the globe can shave valuable seconds from their working day by abbreviating every name that comes their way. Or maybe they can only remain upright and awake whilst poring over company accounts by inventing spurious allegories to make their business sound more interesting. Well, what would you rather hear – that a company’s new venture into Indonesia was a “major, success following a period of hard work in a difficult market” or that “management’s success in this pathfinder project is a real home run”?

It’s because of this fog of confusing jargon that the business pages of any newspaper run the risk of being viewed as dull, filled with esoteric rhetoric and obsessed by numbers ahead of stories.

At first glance this seems to be true. The business sections carry vast reports showing unit trust performance, or complicated tables displaying interest rate comparisons. Most will carry a graphic showing the stock market performance of the day, which is interesting and important to those in the know but somehow distant and irrelevant to most. There are stories about company restructures and gloomy pieces about underperforming bosses. Company accounts are examined and interpreted and tax regulations explained.

But, increasingly the business agenda is creeping onto the front pages, and our thirst for perceptive analysis increases faster than you can say ASAP. Ignore the detailed lists of pension fund performance or share price indices and focus on the stories. Most of them concern real people and the money in their pocket, and in the hands of a skillful reporter can be as compelling as the most devious politics and as dramatic as real hard news.

Far from being boring, the business pages deal in such Shakespearean themes as; deceit (Enron), incompetence (Northern Rock) and egomaniacal high folly (Societe Generale). But aside from the backstabbing and high drama of vast industry deals, coverage of the economy is vitally important to all of the UK’s citizens. As the world flirts with recession, and ordinary people begin to worry about their mortgage payments or credit card debt, they rely on trusted industry journalists to put things in plain English.

So, if you’ve managed to reach this point without resorting to a dictionary or a stiff drink and you feel like finding out who Fannie Mae is, look beyond the initials in the business sections and you’ll find some real gilt-edged stories.


Unlock the secrets of the business jargon here - Business Glossary

GORGIE HOUSING REPORT

by Atholl Simpson


SquareOne News


Locals in the Gorgie and Dalry neighbourhoods of Edinburgh are unable to afford properties in the area after numerous regeneration projects increased house prices, according to local community groups and estate agents.

Projects such as the new Sainsbury's store in Gorgie and modern housing developments have attracted investors to the area who snap up available properties. The interest has pushed prices up and out of reach of many of the local residents and first-time buyers.

Elaine Brand, Project Manager of Gorgie Dalry Partnership was involved with some of the regeneration schemes. She said: "The one bedroom flats in a block of sixteen used to be good for first time buyers to get their foot on the property ladder, but now that's not possible. There are also plans in Haymarket for a five star hotel, where the Morrison's street car park is, and that's going to give a different picture to Gorgie and Dalry."

Heart of Midlothian FC's recent stadium plans which include an upmarket hotel have also drawn the interest of investors. Other projects include demolishing the B&Q store next to Murrayfield to open up the area for future development.

Some locals have resorted to buying property further out in more affordable places such as Livingston. Local estate agent Gavin Smith from Century 21 said: "A lot of people who are indigenous to this area are finding it incredibly difficult. To even get property in the traditional tenements is hard enough but to get into the regenerated areas is almost impossible. You are looking at professional people or people from outside Edinburgh that can afford it. The average wage just cannot afford the average flat."

Local resident Alasdair Carmichael, 27 is amongst those struggling to afford a place. He said: '"I wanted to buy a property in Gorgie as I have been renting a flat for some time. Even though I work in a bank, I just couldn't get a mortgage that offered repayments I could afford. There is so much competition that I don't know if I will be able to afford it for another few years, and by that time prices will have doubled."