Some Hocus Pocus!

There are certain seasonal events which make me wish I lived in the States.  They really seem to go to town with their decorations and festive attitude.  Halloween is a prime example. I love it.  Ever since my mum bought home some Halloween decorations from a trip to the US, back when I was about 12/13, Halloween has been a major deal in my house.  Every year I buy a few extra decorations, replenish the black and orange candles and cook an autumnal themed meal.  This year was no different...

I hollowed out three pumpkins and looked for inspiration from Martha Stewart.  My favourite is the one in the middle, which is Martha's "haunted graveyard" jack o'lantern.  Instead of cutting into the skin like the other two, I drew the outline of the picture and then scraped at the skin, so that when a candle is placed inside it looks like this...

I also further decorated the inside of our house, although I focus mainly on our dining room, which you'll understand why just shortly...

For the autumnal feast, I made spiced pumpkin soup with toasted garlic pumpkin seeds, using the insides of two of my pumpkins, a sausage casserole and then these ghoulish treats...

These were Devils Food Cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook iced with vanilla buttercream, which I dyed with green food colouring.  The haunting cupcake toppers were purchased from Waitrose.  We finished the night with a showing of none other than our favourite Halloween themed film Hocus Pocus, which is made all the more apt by the fact that we have our very own black cat.

I was absolutely devastated that I discovered these gorgeous looking scrubs and creams, from Haus of Gloi too late to order in time for Halloween but still intend to give them a whirl soon.  For a full review check out The Gloss Goss which is where I initially found out about them!

From the Coalition, with Love

Fish Tank one of many British Films funded by the Film Council

Does anybody else get the distinct impression that Britain is slowly shutting down?  After ploughing through a fairly traumatic recession along with many other countries across the World, 2010 was beginning to look up for the Nation, until the election that is.  This isn't a jibe as to who our Government is and who I think it should be, as I don't believe in forcing my political opinions on anybody.  To be honest I'm not sure I'd even have an answer anyhow but I do feel that it is important to address the issues at hand, the latest being the announcement of the abolishment of the UK Film Council today.

For weeks now we have been privy to the cuts being made across the country, some of which I agree with, others not so much.  Realistically, we all know that I'm not about to star in some major motion picture nor am I trying to fund an independent film but as an actress this news has hit me hard.  I am not by any means suggesting that in comparison to cuts amongst police, health workers and school budgets that this is anymore news worthy but I do feel that saying goodbye to the 75 employees and the minimum of £15 million pounds they invest each year into the British Film Industry is more than just a little shortsighted. 

The UK Film Council, primarily is responsible for helping to fund training for those that want to break into the industry and promoting our films abroad as well as us as a film making location.  By doing so it is generating revenue into our economy, something that I think we can all agree, is beyond important right now.  We have a Nation of talented, enigmatic and mostly out of work industry professionals that cover everything from artiste to production and already we are not utilising them, so just imagine the effect of this latest news.

Is the industry over capacitated?  Yes.  Are there people that shouldn't be following their dreams because they don't have one ounce of talent?  Yes.  Are there people more talented than me?  Of course.  But how am I, my friends or the rest of the UK arts industry meant to get ahead when yet another road block is being placed in an already challenging career path?  Jobs are already sparse due to lack of tv dramas and over emphasis on what can only be described as an unhealthy obsession with watching wannabes or has beens being bored 24/7 or eating slugs.  They can be entertaining but should they be so entertaining that our tv is saturated with it and at the expense of creating something new and giving actors and crew a chance to work?  Therefore our recent interest in building our film industry is crucial to many.

This isn't a race against America and Hollywood but if it were we would be performing worse than we did in the World Cup.  We spend a great deal of time watching and anticipating the latest Hollywod blockbusters, which a lot of the time are cliched, unimaginative and regurgitate the same actors.  Recently we have been  builidng a platform for ourselves by saying to the World "we have something to offer to film! We are a force to be reckoned with!"  in order to boost the industry in this country and showcase the talent we can provide and it's paying off, literally.  Although I know this won't just stop, I am at a loss as to how it can continue and develop without a body of people focusing on doing just that.  The Government have explained that there will still be film funding but through other means.  It all sounds pretty vague to me and no doubt a sign that yet another strained employee will be forced to take on more tasks in less time with less funds, therefore highlighting my initial worry that the energy and focus just will not be there, eventually leading to less productions, less opportunites, less UK locations being sought after and of course less revenue for our economy.  This will have a knock on effect for the obvious and the not so obvious.  After all we can't forget the hundreds of people that a film set employs, from actor to caterer, therefore inevitably shutting down more than just an integral part of our arts industry but some of our small independant companies too.

Just wake me up when Britain's open for business again.