Can't Buy Me Love

OK, so Valentine’s Day is a shameless cash-in fronted by unscrupulous merchandisers to sell guilt to (mostly male) participants who actually believe that they need a day to force them to, you know, do stuff with their partner, other than watch television and empty the dishwasher. But then some people do need reminding, and lets not speak of those separated in faraway locations, like soldiers fighting abroad, who are away from their beloved through the most testing of circumstances. So, happy Valentine’s Day, if you actually hold some weight behind these things. I’ll be spending today updating this blog, so clearly any cynicism, I think you’ll agree, is completely justified.


The news of Lee Alexander McQueen’s suicide reached us just as we had gone to print with our latest fashion-led issue featuring a photo shoot on the designer’s latest spring/summer trends. Our model wears a typically outlandish pair of strappy heels with an eye catching yellow base and a knuckle duster clutch bag, no bigger than a schoolboy‘s pencil case complete with his skull and crossbones motif, which alone fetches somewhere in the region of £850. For menswear, we use stained denim and quirky bowtie Ts. McQueen made bold, statement fashion which always elevated a somewhat standard shoot into something quite intriguing; it’s both unique and stylish, which is a hard thing to master as we’ll no doubt see in the upcoming fashion weeks in both London and New York. He will certainly be missed.

While we’re on the subject of fashion, my hunt for a nice brown brogue has led me, quite accidentally, to a new clothing line from (wait for it) Manchester United defender and new national team captain Rio Ferdinand. He’s launching his own range called ‘Five’ pretty soon. See www.fivebyrioferdinand.com if you don‘t believe me. Its been acquired by the LXY brand and there’s not a fluorescent bib or shin guard in sight. Rio’s sidelining doesn’t end there - his online magazine (called #5) is actually quite brilliant, and certainly one of the better designed multimedia platforms that I’ve seen for a long time. Not bad for someone who appears to have the resounding intellect of a gnat. Go here and enjoy a rather inspiring browse: www.rioferdinand.com.


Clarence Dock in Leeds is “like a ghost town”, according to Conservative councillor Andrew Carter, who I’ve met several times and has always seemed pleasant and genuinely concerned with the future development of the city, even if he did once mistake me for a different journalist at the Yorkshire Post. And with regards to Clarence Dock, he’s bang on the nail. I’ve been to livelier funerals. Even the Starbucks there has had to close, and when the world’s leading franchise of lovely things like hot milk and blueberry cheesecake can’t survive, you know you’re in doldrums.

The dockside development was opened with much fanfare a few years ago by none other than bespectacled chic geek Gok Wan and billed as the new Leeds development which would combine high end leisure facilities with tower blocks of waterside apartments, not to mention a giant casino and a Mumtaz curry house. The development looks fantastic - sleek, modern and perfectly pleasant with a marina and idyllic fishing spots - and I defended it live on the BBC in an interview with Liz Green (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0069p2w/Liz_Green_12_02_2010/).


The problems that many face are its overpriced parking facilities (£5.50 for four hours), which is an issue when people clearly can’t face that extra ten minute walk from the city centre. In regenerating a derelict and forgotten part of the city, the planners could not have done a better job. The turnaround has been quite extraordinary. But the problem has clearly been enticing people to stay there, other than a quick spin on a roulette wheel, a slap up curry and some hot milk.

It will need more than a publicity stunt for it to shrug off its “ghost town” status. Maybe more attractions, landmarks and amenities would help, or something of cultural significance other than expensive clothing.


I must admit to a rather naïve middle class error this week; of turning up to a wine and cheese party without either of the aforementioned items. I stuck to the excuse that I had heard about the event late (which I had) and didn’t have the time to pop to the shops for camembert and Rioja. There was still enough to go round, and found myself discussing some quite severe kitchen horror stories with a chef from Harvey Nichols in Manchester.

The worst I can remember from my formative years as a rather inept if polite waiter was that of a chef (I never saw this myself) who would stand on a steak if it was returned to him from the restaurant for being undercooked. I have never sent anything back for this very reason alone.

But the chef barely flinches at this. He’s heard of much, much worse. I have since wondered whether the most deplorable kitchen stories are indeed just fabrications that have become like grim folk tales, handed down from people who have never actually seen them first hand. I could go into more detail but you might have food nearby. Needless to say it will be hard to imagine seeing a sliced watermelon in quite the same way again.

As for the cheese, I’ll certainly be enjoying more of the deliciously tangy St. Agur with a dollop of homemade cranberry and orange chutney. Ours is produced locally from the Yorkshire village of Knaresborough, although I’m sure you can find it in supermarkets.