CLASSIC STYLE. MODERN VIEWPOINT.

RETRO
THE

COLLECTIVE

OTAKU
From social outcasts
to Japan’s most influential
youth movement

TIM BURTON
Walking in his
cinematic wonderland

GUINNESS
Pure Genius:
Celebrating 250 years
of Ireland’s finest

SNOWBOARDING
Off-piste to the Olympics:
How the enfant terrible grew up

FILM MUSIC FASHION GADGETS CARS LIFESTYLE

 W
elcome to The Retro
Collective, a monthly
magazine international in INSPIRED
outlook and co-operative in spirit.
We’re all about style, whether that’s an
individual’s scene or the products from 4 Top Five
the world around them. 10 Street Style
This month we’ve introduced a new
16 Lifestyle
section where we check out the best
retro-inspired styles and fashions you’re 20 Gadgets
wearing out and about the streets. And 24 Motoring
EDITOR’S LETTER

there’s some fantastic, unique looks 28 Accessories

you’re putting together; mainstream
retailers for the basics but finished off with
some great vintage items from specialist
shops (Page 10)...The top 5 is looking FEATURES
pretty special this month as well and how
can you go past the James Bond-esque
scubacraft (page 4). We know we’re 30 Tim Burton
supposed to be in a credit crunch, but 36 250 Years Of Guinness
there’s something pretty amazing about
being able to step off the beach, jet ski 44 Otaku
out into the surf, and then head 48 Snowboarding
underwater cruising. Now that’s what we
call swimming with dolphins!
Guinness is 250 (Page 36) and we’ve
given you some great facts and quotes to
impress your mates with while out PERSPECTIVE
celebrating their anniversary (got to say I
always thought Guinness was black, not
ruby!). There’s a feature on the much 42 Making A Classic?
derided Otaku (Page 44), who are having 54 The Prawn Cocktail
the last laugh as the industry in Japan
goes through the Billion pound mark.
56 Amanda Blanch &
And we’ve got some great new Chris Edwardes
columnists on board, so check out why
the prawn cocktail should be on every
restaurant menu (page 54) and what
makes a classic product (page 42).
Enjoy,

Bruce Hudson
info@theretrocollective.com
 10

CONTENTS
30
48

4
Cover image courtesy of Bataleon
 1
THE

TOP
FIVE
SCUBACRAFT SC3
Need a James Bond experience, then reach into your back
pocket and pull out £100K and this baby is all yours. It
doesn’t go overland like the Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who
Loved Me but it still has that shaken and stirred (and
completely dunked) feeling any self-respecting playboy, gadding about
their private beach in the Bahamas, would be happy with. Oh, and if
Barbara Bach wants to come for a ride on the back, we’re cool with that
(if James is ok with that first, of course).
www.scubacraft.com
 2
THE IRIS APFEL EXHIBITION
TOP Iris Apfel may be 88 but at this ‘Rare Bird

FIVE
of Fashion Exhibition’ she’s still showing
the young ones a thing or two with her
spirited irreverence and pitch perfect
taste. Renowned for her eclectic mixing
of haute couture with costume
jewelery and exotic baubles make this collection a must see at
the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts.
www.pem.org
 PROHIBITION AND
BLITZ
PARTIES
Prohibition’s New
Years Eve party
featured party goers
decked out in 1920’s
attire, quaffing
bootlegged booze and
bustin' Charleston
moves. Sounds like a
blast. Don’t worry if
you missed it, you can
also hit the 40’s Blitz
party these guys run
during the year.
www.prohibition
1920s.com
www.theblitzparty.com

3
THE

TOP
FIVE
Alice in Wonderland
4
THE

TOP
FIVE
Tim Burton and Alice in Wonderland is a no brainer as fits go and, as per usual, his missus
and Mr Depp are along for the ride. Check out this for a supporting cast: Stephen Fry as
the Cheshire Cat, Alan Rickman as The Caterpillar, Matt Lucas as Tweedledee/dum and
Barbara Windsor, yes Barbara Windsor, as The Doormouse. Can’t see Phil Mitchell on the
cast list yet but as the Red Queen’s (Bonham-Carter) favourite saying is ‘Off with their
heads’, and she has a moat filled with bobbing noggins there’s bound to be a role for him
somewhere as an enforcer.
UK release date: March 5
Eadie Armchair
5
THE

TOP
FIVE
The Eadie armchair was launched by
Donna Wilson during London Design
Festival 2009 at Liberty's 'Britain Can
Still make it' exhibition; a celebration of
British made furniture. Proof that not
only can they make it, we can also like
it. This chair says comfort, this chair
says leave me alone I’ve eaten too
much of grandma’s pud and I’ve got
some serious snoozing to do.
It also reminds us of Martin Crane,
Frasier’s dad, who knew a thing ot two
about a comfy, traditional chair and for
that reason alone it’s in our top five.
www.scp.co.uk
STREET STYLE
CAMEOS

Name: Mary Blackman-Smith

Age: 19
One person you admire: Dita Von Teese
Where do you usually buy your
clothes: In To Be Worn Again and
Camden Market
Where did you buy your dress and for
how much: In Greenwich Village, £30
This month’s best retro-inspired styles
Words and pictures by Cristina Maté

Name: Thomas Edgington

Age: 27
One person you admire:
Humphrey Bogart
Where do you usually buy
your clothes: In London
Where did you buy your
jacket and for how much:
In Portobello Market, £300
 Name: Warren Lambert
Age: 37
One person that you admire:
Nobody
Where do you usually buy
your clothes: In Top Man
Where did you buy your
shoes and for how much:
In Office, £70

Name: Joseph Heaselgrave

Age: 20
One person you admire:
Bob Dylan
Where do you usually buy
your clothes: In Beyond Retro,
Zara and Dirty Harry.
Where did you buy
your waistcoat and for
how much:
In a charity shop, £4
STREET STYLE
CAMEOS
Name: Ester Aventín
Age: 27
One person you
admire: Jeff Wall
Where do you usually
buy your clothes:
In Zara
Where did you buy
your dress and for how
much: In H&M, £25

Words and pictures by Cristina Maté

 Name: Rachel Strange
Age: 21
One person you admire:
Vivienne Westwood
Where do you usually buy your
clothes: In The Brighton Lanes
and charity shops
Where did you buy your coat
and for how much:
In Star Fish, £60

Words and pictures by Cristina Maté

 STREET STYLE
CAMEOS
Name: Raquel Martínez
Age: 24
One person you admire:
Paulo Coelho
Where do you usually buy
your clothes: In Primark
Where did you buy your
shoes and for how much:
In Yoma, £25

Name: Brianna Fryer

Age: 22
One person you admire:
Vivienne Westwood
Where do you usually
buy your clothes:
In Beyond Retro
Where did you buy your
dress and for how
much: I made it myself
INSPIRED
Paul Smith Travel 3/4
Children’s Acoustic Guitar
Forget giving this little
beauty to the kids.
Stick this JHS Vintage
Guitar, featuring the Paul
Smith 'signature stripe' and
famous script signature
logo on the headstock, in
your travel bag and you’ll
be able to transform into a
rock god beside the
campfire.
£153.53
www.heathrowgiftlist.co.uk
Elac ‘De Stijl’ Speakers
This will impress your mates
when they come round for a
session...speakers designed in
the style of Mondrian. No?
Then point out the De Stijl
movement pursued an
aesthetic of geometric forms
and colour simplicity with a
distinctive design principal
based on order and clarity.
If they’re still looking blank,
then, get them another beer
and turn up the sound. There
you go, finally they’re
impressed!
£990 www.elac.com
 NEW PRODUCTS. CLASSIC INFLUENCE.

LIFESTYLE
Ben Sherman Timeless
This silver clock with Union Jack face and
signature Ben Sherman branding will sit nicely
on the bedside table and make you feel like
you’re on the set of an Alfie film. But be
warned saying ‘"Blimey, girl, you ain't as
ugly as I thought" in a Cockney
accent when, you wake up, ain’t gonna get
you breakfast in bed!
£15 www.bensherman.com

Donna Wilson, Hue,

Special Edition Armchair
We’ve gone a little Donna Wilson
crazy this month but this is cool,
sophisticated little number. The
seat itself measures nearly two
metres and the arms are solid and
flat so ideal for resting a laptop
on and finishing that last bit of
work while watching the telly.
£1660 www.scp.co.uk

The Geneva Model L Sound System

A complete stereo system, crafted in a single
cabinet made out of piano lacquered wood which
is powered by a very high quality digital amplifier
delivering 100 Watts of high-end digital stereo.
Awesome. It has a LED display visible under the
front cover showing input and track playing, and
also comes with rubber feet. It doesn’t come with
rubber nose and bottle glasses however, you’ll
have to buy those yourself.
£18.96 www.scp.co.uk
Tronconi Loopy Table Lamp
The Tronconi brand has been a
prestigious and historical benchmark
of Italian design for over 50 years.
Their style is a "classic-cool" look
with extremely contemporary traits,
marked by the most innovative
developments of 3D modelling. The
Loopy was designed by Mario Mazzer,
an award winning architect, and if you
put this in your games room it will
send you snooker loopy.
$600 www.justvanities.com

Tealight Lava Lamp

Aaaah, the iconic lava lamp,
and this one only needs a
tiny candle to set the pink
globules on their hypnotic
way. Just in case you hadn’t
spotted it, the lamp’s
designed to look like a
rocket, to commemorate the
40th anniversary of the moon
landing! One small step for
man, one pink globule in a
rocket lamp for mankind.
£28.99
www.iwantoneofthose.com

Oluce Nerolia Table Lamp

This table lamp pays homage to the timeless
shape of the hour glass, giving off diffused
light through a transparent crystal container.
You can add aromatherapy essences at the
top which are heated by the lamp and as
there’s a dimmer you can turn this on and get
in the mood for…going to bed, of course.
£393 (Including p&p) www.nest.co.uk
 LIFESTYLE
Nostalgia Electrics Snow Cone Machine
Here’s one for the kids. Whack in some ice,
crush it to mush in seconds and then add
some weirdly coloured, preservative laden,
syrupy stuff and you’ll have the kids
bouncing off the walls in no time. Now that’s
what we call old-fashioned fun.
$45 www.walmart.com

Magno Wooden Radio

A radio made out of wood…who would have
thought? Indonesian designer Singgih
Kartono combined the most current MP3
player compatible electronics with
sustainably grown woods working with local
tradesmen and we think he’s triumphed. We
can’t wait to hear ‘Knock On Wood’ played on
it and can’t help wondering if Ron Wood has
bought one yet? Or Natalie Wood. Or
Jedward. O.K. we’ll stop now.
Small from $198 www.anthropologie.com

Jonathan Adler Pillows

Jonathan Adler is our kind of guy. For starters he
owns a dog called Liberace and admits to
having a raging obsession with waspy
country club style of, wait for it,
needlepoint, chinoiserie and acid green
lacquer! Now that’s some kind of
obsession! He started out as a potter but
has moved into all sorts of lifestylely areas.
His website is well worth a gander.
Pillows from $98
www.jonathanadler.com
Olympus EP-2
Olympus has gone all butch on us
with the second of the PEN series
with a ‘Back to Black’ finish. To
enrich photographic and video
potential, the new EP-2 includes a
port for an electronic viewfinder or
external microphones and with two
additional art filters combined with
the new i-Enhance function for even
more creativity and image
enhancement they’re on to a winner,
quite literally, as the EP-1 was named
EISA's 2009/2010 Best Camera of the
Year. £990 www.olympus.co.uk

Newgate Vision Wall Clock
Newgate has a fascination of eras gone by and
enjoy the challenge of resurrecting ideas of the
past and putting them in homes of the future.
Plated with metal hands, spokes and acrylic
numbering this 70’s inspired wallclock
transported TRC back to mum baking in the
kitchen, dad tinkering in the shed and the
English cricket team getting walloped by the
West Indies in cricket. Heady days indeed.
£60 www.heals.co.uk
Magicbox Colombo
Answer Phone
From the Universale, the first chair
to be moulded from one material, to
the all-in-one Boby Trolley,
everything Joe Colombo created
was intended for "the environment
of the future". He may have been
only 41 when he died but his
illumine and legacy live on.
If he’d seen this phone he’d
probably would have uttered his
mantra ‘we’ll just have to make it
better’. We’d love to have seen him
improve on this pretty cool number.
£33.32 www.argos.co.uk
 GADGETS
VOID VO2 WATCH
Voids are the empty spaces between filaments, the
largest-scale structures in the universe, containing very few,
or no, galaxies. Voids typically have a diameter of 40 to 500
million light years. Void watches, however, don’t have a
diameter of 40 to 500 million light years as they’d be too big
for your wrist. In fact, they fit perfectly snug. I mean, what are
the chances of that. Well, as Swedish designer David
Ericsson launched the brand with the belief that just like a
great building is designed to fit its environment Void are
made to sit perfectly on your wrist, pretty damn likely.
£134 www.voidwatches.com

Philco PC Concept
Inspired by the 1954 design classic
Philco Predicta, as well as an eclectic
mixture of modern minimalism, the
steampunk movement, and antiques.
“The result is a design aesthetic that
blends multiple elements of the
familiar, but with some surprisingly
fresh styling that just so happens to
house a state-of-the-art Windows 7
PC.” Can’t say fairer than that.
£TBC www.schultzeworks.com

Beatles Limited Edition USB Stick

Help! With only 30,000 made, this
apple-shaped USB drive is proving tough
to get your hands on. Loaded with
re-mastered audio for The Beatles 14
stereo titles, as well as all the re-mastered
CDs’ visual elements, including 13
mini-documentary films about the studio
albums, replicated original UK art, rare
photos and expanded liner notes. This is
proving a must have for Beatles fans.
£200 http://beatles.fanfire.com
Zumreed Headphones
Is reality becoming a bit too
much? Need to block out the
outside world, then check these
doozies out. They make you
want to don the roller skates
and leg warmers and start 8 inch LCD TV
whizzing around with the cute
Fiendishly clever this. You think t
girl from LA Story.
an old skool, cathode ray tube TV
Now I wonder what ever
think again my friend. This is a st
happened to her?
art LCD TV shaped like a cathode
£50 www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk.
can plug in anywhere and get rec
without wires or aerial. And get th
titchy 8 inches big. You want one
kitchen don’t you.
£815 www.plusminuszero.jp

mintpass MP3 Cube

The mintpass MP3 cube is still at
concept stage and according to its
maker, who looks like a peasant (h
words, not ours, from their websit
wanted something that was less
fanciness and more convenience f
the guy on the go, and as quick as
can say ‘French stick’, here it is.
Designed for your ruck sack with o
skool buttons it comes with blueto
so you won’t strangle yourself wh
you’re running for the le bus.
£TBC www.mintpass.com
 GADGETS
Cassette Speaker
It’s a cassette that plugs into your phone and
will blast out enough sound to fill a medium-
sized room. You may think ‘what’s the point
of that?’. Well my friend, if you’re at the
beach, we’ll be the ones surrounded by the
cool people having a paaarty as this little
number plugs into iPods, MP3 players, and
laptops meaning the Cassette Speaker is
about as hip as a portable speaker gets.
Now where did I leave my speedos?
$19.99 www.onlyhottrends.com
his is
V, then
ate of
e TV that Diesel Retro Digital Watch
eption
With digital and analogue display dials you
his it’s a
can set this watch to two different time zones.
for your
How jet set is that! Water resistant up to 5
ATM, it also comes packaged in a white Diesel
presentation box with a 2 year
international warranty. Got to dash I see the
market’s just opened in New York!
£116.47 www.houseoffraser.co.uk

Central Chef Egg Timer

s This is a 60 minute egg timer. Now
his we’ve watched a bit of Delia in our
te), he time, so we know how long it takes
to boil an egg. And this timer begs
for the question if it’s going to take an
s you hour then that must be one damn
humongous-sized egg you’re
old cooking. Well it is from the States,
ooth and as we all know everything is
en bigger and better over there, so they
probably know best.
$10.99 www.centralchef.com
INSPIRED

Sc
 NEW PRODUCTS. CLASSIC INFLUENCE.

MOTORING

O.K. so this is borderline redneck, but

we’re up for a bit of cattle rustling if this is the
getaway vehicle! While the standard Scion xB is
not even cool in the hatch class, this sleek beast
will definitely impress your beer guzzling, baccy-chewing
mates. And the added bonus is you can throw all the kids in the back and do
the school run. Now that’ll frighten the yummy mummies at the school gate.

cion xB Pickup Concept

BMW Vision Concept
Sleek, stylish with a space
want to take her home fro
about the Fräulein on the
vision of the future, 2015
electric motors the BMW
in 4.8 seconds but is also
consumption. You can als
the two gullwings, which i
 MOTORING
e age look that makes you
om the showroom. But enough
right, this is very much a
to be precise. With two
Vision will crank up to 62mph
o ridiculously efficient on fuel
so access all four seats from
s cool.
INSPIRED

John Smedley is celebrating their 225 anniversary by going back to their origins with
long-sleeved crew neck vest (Brigadier) and white Long-Johns (Admiral) made from
Merino wool. Toasty! To win vouchers worth £225 visit www.johnsmedley225.com
 NEW PRODUCTS. CLASSIC INFLUENCE.

ACCESSORIES

From top left: Fred Perry Inflight retro

shoulder bag £45, Fred Perry Stripe
Trim Trilby £40, Ben Sherman Stalker
£40, Diesel Helmet and Paul Smith
Speedometer Printed Tote Bag £210
 Malice in
Wonderland
Tim Burton has his critics no matter the budget,
length, or genre of film he is directing. In his upcoming
adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic he leaves
himself wide open again as he gives Alice a history and
makes the storyline more cohesive. But the risk taking
is why we love him. Christina Andersson celebrates a
career that just gets curiouser and curiouser

A
fter a film career that has so far spanned 24
years, books of poetry, an autobiography and
now a book of previously unseen artwork, Tim
Burton could be considered a man in touch with his
creative side. Undoubtedly you have seen, if not heard
of, a Burton film. His back catalogue ranges from
producing 1993’s landmark stop-motion animation film,
The Nightmare Before Christmas, to directing 2005’s
remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and
2007’s Sweeney Todd among many others.
But Burton’s soon-to-be-released film adaptation of
Alice in Wonderland is possibly the most eagerly
anticipated he has made to date. Burton has a dark
side, his smaller films are over-the-top in a low-key kind
of way, and his big budget features are often poorly
Image from www.moma.org

received by critics. But he doesn’t have a penchant for

making dark films; it isn’t a habit. He makes films that
he can understand and relate to, and for him and
anyone of a similar mindset, they aren’t
dark, they’re ironic and a warped reflection
of a world that’s designed to be explored.
Tim Burton was born in 1958 in Burbank,
California. He went to the California Institute
of the Arts at age 18 on a program set up by
Disney, the company he subsequently
worked for. By his own admission, he was a
poor employee. He resented the mundane
atmosphere and did not consider himself
good enough at drawing to be an animator
(his first task was ‘work drawing’ fox’s for
‘The Fox and the Hound’) and after a period
of time in which it could be said that Burton
suffered a minor emotional breakdown,
perhaps relating to his helplessness in not
being able to express himself creatively, he
began working as a conceptual artist for
Disney about which he says “(it) was great
because for several months I just got to sit in
a room and draw whatever creature
I wanted to”.
It was during this time that he was given
$60,000 to produce ‘Vincent’ a 5-minute
stop-motion animation based on a poem he
had written. Then followed more short
animations under the wing of Disney. After
Burton split with the company, he directed
his first feature; Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. It
was at this time that Burton began his
working relationship with musician and
composer Danny Elfman, who has
composed for all of Burton’s films since,
apart from, Ed Wood. Released in 1985,
‘Pee Wee’ was a box office hit, although
critically, reviews were mixed. Next up was
Beetlejuice, an odd, gothic and archetypal
piece of work from Burton. It is a film with no
purpose, no catharsis and no explanation. It
centres around The Maitland’s, a couple
who die in a car crash, and find themselves
trying to scare out the family who are
moving in to their old home.
After Beetlejuice, Burton worked on
‘Batman’, which went on to be one of the
highest grossing films of all time, taking in
excess of $500 million worldwide as well as
winning an Oscar. But many critics
complained the film was too dark as well as
criticising Burton for focusing too much on
Jack Nicholson’s ‘The Joker’.
Following ‘Batman’, Burton started work
on Edward Scissorhands, and so began a
working relationship with Johnny Depp,
which continues to this day. Edward
Scissorhands is unable to touch his
surroundings, isolating him from normal
society and he is classed as a freak in the
suburbs he lives in, firstly being used as a
mobile household appliance, to being used
as a sex toy by one of the neighbours. On
top of that he is unable to show his love for
the girl who lives in the house in which he is
staying, because he is too scared he will
hurt her.
Batman Returns was Burton’s next
feature; noted as having a few too many
villains, which overshadowed Michael
Keaton’s return as Batman. Further down
the line Burton produced The Nightmare
Before Christmas and directed Ed Wood,
the latter, whilst being well received by
critics, was a commercial failure. It was
followed by Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the
Apes, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd
(among others).
Planet of the Apes was on the surface,
possibly the least Burton-esque film that
Burton has made so far, being criticised for
being too ‘watered down’ in comparison with
the 1968 film adaptation of the novel.
Reportedly he argued with the studio
continuously during production and it was
perceived that he was only there to ‘do as
he was asked’. In his own words he says, “I
think the real problem with the film was that
the script they wanted to do, I couldn’t do,
and I don’t know anybody that could have
done it for the budget that we had to do the
film for.”
Tim Burton’s smaller productions (Ed
Wood, The Nightmare Before Christmas,
Mad Hatter: Johnny Depp collaborates once again with Tim Burton in his upcoming release, Alice in Wonderland
Beetlejuice etc) have all become so popular would this big, macho, Arnold Schwarzeneg-
that they have gained cult followings. This is ger-type person dress up as a bat?” And
compared to his big budget movies (The referring to Michael Keaton; “that guy you
Batman franchise, Charlie and the could see putting on a bat suit; he does it
Chocolate Factory and Planet of the Apes), because he needs to, because he’s not this
which were met with mixed reviews by gigantic, strapping macho man. It’s all about
critics (although the box office figures speak transformation”.
for themselves). With Batman; perhaps the Effectively, Burtons work is criticised for
problem lies in the viewer expecting a not being ‘typical’ enough. With Batman it
certain something from the film, for it to stay was ‘too dark’ and too much time was spent
true to one of its previous outings on screen on the villain. With Batman he explained that
or print.
Often it is his less he didn’t favour The Joker over
But the studio knew that the title character, it was just the
when they appointed Burton prominent films dynamics of the relationship,
as director, they would be where we get to see which made the Joker seem
getting a director whose a real insight into the more prominent. But that is Tim
creative vision was unique to mind of this man Burton; throughout his films he
say the least. Despite has wanted to get to know the
50,000 letters of complaint from fans of Bat- underdog. Most of his films are about the
man to Warner Bros. Burton decided to use person who is overlooked in everyday life,
Michael Keaton for the role. Burton’s under- the person who is considered strange. And
standing of the character was in the end, that includes Bruce Wayne as well as The
one of the things that made the film so suc- Joker, with his interpretation of these men
cessful. different to any of the previous attempts at
Batman’s (Bruce Wayne’s alter ego) suit humanising them, and judging by box office
was changed from blue to black and figures, the most successful.
included fake muscles. Michael Keaton was When considering Tim Burton’s success
not the obvious choice for Batman, he was in his feature film work, it would be easy to
not the strapping, muscular and overlook his smaller budget movies, to
overpowering crime buster the fans had consider them stepping-stones to something
wanted. But Burton didn’t see that Bruce bigger. But often it is his less prominent films
Wayne should have to be like that, “why where we get to see a real insight into the

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BURTON: From the early days of ‘Vincent’ to the reworking of Lewis Carrol’s classic ‘Alice
mind of this man. A running theme in his
movies is characters that are
underdeveloped snippets of society;
outsiders and freaks.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
although a box office hit, received mixed
reviews. Critics said the characters were too
weird, the whole tone was too dark and
Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka was too
eccentric, though not every critic referred
themselves to the original book by Dahl,
from which Burton’s film did not stray too far.
Again, Burton gave his character a
history, Wonka we find out, was the son of a
dentist who never let him eat sweets, and on
Halloween would collect all his son’s candy
and throw it in the fire. When he eventually
tasted chocolate he wanted to create as
many different kinds as he could. Johnny
Depp’s Wonka didn’t like children, was rude
rather than eccentric but nonetheless it was
a success for Burton and Depp as they
created a character who wasn’t to be
accepted, just understood.
The next big thing on the list for Burton is
the release of Alice in Wonderland. It is an
extension of the original story as Alice
returns to Wonderland many years after she
first went there. On previous versions of the
iconic story Burton says: "It was always a
girl wandering around from one crazy
character to another, and I never really felt
in Wonderland’, Tim Burton is considered one of the most ingenious and imaginative film makers of our time
any real emotional connection."
His goal with this film was “to try and
make Alice feel more like a story as
opposed to a series of events”. It would be
possible to go through every one of Burton’s
films and analyse it, but it would not be
necessary. He has had box office success
and failure and the same with his critics, but
it cannot be doubted that he is one of the
most innovative and imaginative directors on
screen today. Does he struggle to keep
things personal when so much money is
being thrown at a production?
Does he lose a sense of self? No doubt
his small budget films allow him to delve
further into his mind to produce something a
little more avant-garde, there are less boxes
to tick from the studio for one. But
nonetheless, even with Batman – the
grandest production he has undertaken
– he retained his ideals and stuck to his
guns producing a piece of work that was
watched by millions and stayed true to the
original ideals even after his constant
arguments with the studios about control.
Tim Burton isn’t out of his depth in
Wonderland, just so long as you don’t
expect anything from it.
Check out The Moma exhibition, NY till late April,
which explores the full range of Burton’s creative
work, from his early childhood visualisation
drawings to his mature film work. www.moma.org
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1
Probably the greatest investment in the world. Except this
is Guinness we’re talking, not Carlsberg. As the brand
celebrates its 250 anniversary, Purple Gez goes in search
of black gold and reveals her top Guinness facts,
anecdotes and nuggets to impress your mates with while
you wait at the bar for a pint.
Including the fact, Guinness isn’t actually black!
 1 An act of God
W
hen Irish Arch Bishop Arthur Price left £100 in his
will to his godson he undoubtedly made the best
investment of his life (or afterlife). As investments
goes it was pure genius with the money used by his godson
to expand the brewery his father was the steward of, paying
dividends a billion times over.

Alease for life 2

A
rthur Guinness (left) brewed
ales from 1759 in his home town

1759
of Leixlip, County Kildare. That
year, he invented a porter style beer he
made his namesake, and being so
sure of its success he moved to
premises at St James’ Gate, Dublin,
and signed a 9,000 year lease at £45
per year.

3 The ruby stuff

G
uinness is brewed from water, barley, hops and brewers’ yeast;
treated with isinglass finings (from fish air bladders), and is
pasteurised and filtered. A portion of the barley is roasted, giving
the distinctive dark colour and characteristic flavour. Although the brew
appears black, it is officially a very dark shade of ruby. Guinness is
credited with the origination of the stout genre of beer, but use of the word
stout was mentioned in the Egerton Manuscript of 1677, almost fifty years
prior to Arthur Guinness’ birth. The first Guinness beers to use the term
were Single Stout and Double Stout in the 1840s.
Forever blowing bubbles

4 D
raught Guinness and its canned
equivalent contain nitrogen and
carbon dioxide. Nitrogen is less
soluble than carbon dioxide, allowing the beer
to be put under high pressure without causing
fizziness. The high pressure of dissolved gas
is necessary for the formation of tiny bubbles,
caused by forcing the draught beer through
fine holes in a bespoke plate in the tap. This
generates the hallmark surge (the widget in
cans and bottles achieve the same effect).
Bubbles touching the sides of a glass
during pouring are slowed in their upward rise
and appear to be travelling downwards.
However, bubbles in the centre of the glass
are free to rise to the surface, forming
their own inner cascade of bubbles.
As the Guinness rises, the bubbles create a
current resulting in the movement of one fluid
by another. As Guinness rises in the centre,
the brew near the outside of the glass falls,
pushing the bubbles at the side of the glass
towards the bottom, creating a drag effect.
This occurs in any liquid, but is particularly
noticeable in Guinness as the drink
combines dark coloured liquid with light
coloured bubbles.
The perceived smoothness of draught
Guinness is because of the low level of carbon
dioxide; the creaminess of the head is due to
the extremely fine bubbles arising from using
nitrogen and the bespoke tap.

5TAs good as it gets

he Belfast Telegraph, December 21, 2007
featured an article about heart attacks
where researchers at Wisconsin University
found that a pint of stout at meal times, works as
well as a low dose aspirin taken each day. Dogs
with narrowed arteries mimicking those of
humans to test the health-giving properties of the
stout, were given just over a pint a day, and found
to receive most health benefit. They established
the antioxidant compounds present in Guinness,
are similar to those found in certain fruit and
vegetables, and have health benefits as they slow
down the deposits of cholesterol on the artery
walls. If research proves true it would back up
claims made by Benson in the 1920s that
‘Guinness is Good For You’.
 6 Making a mark
G
uinness adopted the
14th century harp of
Brian Boru as its
trademark in 1862, but with a
twist. The Guinness harp faces
left as in the Irish Coat Of Arms,
rather than right as on the
original symbol. The actual
harp is on display in Trinity
College, Dublin.
In 1920, Guinness ran an
advertising campaign based on
market research where people
said they felt good after their
pint – the slogan, ‘Guinness is
Good For You’ was born. The
stout became known as ‘food in
a glass’, though a pint contains
only 193 calories. Although
Guinness was asked not to use
this slogan, and they still do not
make any health claims, the
slogan is still used abroad.
In the 1930s and 1940s,
Benson’s advertising created a
series of posters, predominately
drawn by John Gilroy. These
usually featured animals such
as the seal, lion and the
irrepressible toucan which is as
much a symbol of Guinness as
the harp. Slogans included were
‘Guinness for Strength’,
‘Guinness Makes You Strong’,
‘My Goodness, My Guinness’
and ‘Guinness is Good For You’.
Gilroy’s idiosyncratic
artwork was aided by Dorothy
L. Sayers among others, who in
the 1940s, sketched the iconic
toucan, and coined the phrase,
‘Toucans in their nests agree,
Guinness is good for you, try
some today and see what one
or toucan can do’.
The first Guinness ad to
appear on TV was entitled
‘Poster Comes to Life’ and
carried the caption ‘Guinness –
it’s alive inside’. It was
broadcast September 22, 1955
on ITV, the first ever evening ad
to appear on UK TV and depicts
a zookeeper sitting on a bench,
taking a break, looking for his
pint of Guinness and discovers
a seal dancing on ice with a pint
on its nose.
The 2007 advert ‘Tipping
Point’ was the most expensive
with a budget of £10m. A large
scale domino effect using 6,000
dominoes, 400 tyres, 75 mirrors,
50 fridges, 45 wardrobes and 6
cars; the chain tumbles down
the streets of a small village to a
crescendo of 10,000 books that
flip open to create a giant pint
of Guinness.
 7 The art of pouring Guinness
Using the traditional two-part pour:

* Use a clean normal size, tulip-shaped pint glass and tilt to a

45 degree angle; fill to three-quarters full.
* Allow the 'surge' to settle until a clear separation can be
seen between the dark and the head (which should be about
1.5cm and a light cream colour) at the top. This usually takes
about 90 seconds.
* Fill the glass to the top with a final quarter pint of
Guinness.
* When pouring from a pump you can draw a lucky
'shamrock' shape in the top, although this takes practice.
* Use the same procedure when pouring from a bottle or can.

The double pour stems from when Guinness was blended with
beer naturally fermented in ancient oak tuns. Older beer was
poured into a glass until three-quarters full then left to stand.
When a pint was ordered, it was topped up from younger, more
gaseous beer to produce the traditional head. Although the
stout is no longer blended from older brews, the double pour is
maintained because it produces a better head without the need
to discard the top.
* 70 million glasses of Guinness are poured every week.

Record breakers

8
In the pre-web world where facts
couldn’t be checked instantly,
Guinness found a niche in British and
Irish pubs where genial conversation
often deviated into heated debate
concerning certain claims to fame or
infamy. In order to determine the
rights and wrongs of such claims, the
Guinness Book of Records was
instigated, the first edition appearing
in 1955.
It is now the best selling book behind
The Bible.
Famous Guinness quotes...
1
At the Battle of Waterloo a severely injured cavalry officer made
the following entry in his diary:
‘I was sufficiently recovered to be permitted to take some
nourishment. I felt an extraordinary desire for a glass of
Guinness. Upon expressing my wish to the doctor, he told me I
might take a small glass. I shall never forget how much I enjoyed
it. I am confident that it contributed more than anything else to
the renewal of my strength’.

2
Guinness has a longstanding relationship with food, in particular
seafood. Benjamin Disraeli is known to have had the perfect
combination of oysters and stout on the night of November 2,
1837 which he commented on was ‘the most remarkable day
hitherto of my life’.

3
In 1829 The Morning Post was recommending Guinness
consumption: ‘Guinness’s Dublin Stout. This article is
confidently recommended for home consumption and for export,
and must, from its age, purity and soundness, ensure the
approbation and support of the Public’.

4
James Joyce wrote in Finnegan’s Wake:
‘Let us find that pint of porter pace...Benjamin’s Lea...and see the
famous homely brew, bebattled by bottle, then put a James’s
Gate in my hand’.
This is an extract from an article entitled ‘Speaking of
Grandparents’ by Compton Mackenzie:

5
‘HL Batemen was a man of immense vitality characteristic of so
much old American stock. Some time before his marriage in 1839
he had travelled back from Ireland to America in an emigrate
ship, and way across the Atlantic by inserting a pipe into a barrel
of Guinness. To live entirely on Guinness for over a month was
indeed a tribute to its virtue’.

6
James Joyce submitted a slogan to the brewery:
‘The free, the flow, the frothy freshener’. It was passed over in
favour of ‘Guinness is good for you’.

7
From A.J. Cronin’s Grand Canary:
‘I got me eddication holdin’ horses in Sackville Street, and
learned me letters spellin’ the Guinness’s adverts. Ye wouldn’t
believe it, me that reads Playto like a scholar’.

8
An extract from Dylan Thomas Adventures in the Skin Trade:
‘I remember once I drank forty-nine Guinnesses straight off
and I came home on the top of the bus. There’s nothing morbid
about a man who can do that. Right on the top of the bus, too,
not just the upper deck.
Hilary Tailor
Classic In The Making
After ten years in the sportswear industry working for adidas and
Puma as a trend and colour consultant, Hilary set up her own
design consultancy, HST Creative. She now works with clients in
sportswear, fashion, design and publishing.

This month in her first column for TRC, Hilary considers

what it takes to create a classic.

A
s we get older, part of the ageing process is Denmark’s most sold chair. Why? Partly because
our dislike of unnecessary complication. We the design is pared down, but crucially, it is
need to cut to the chase. Things must work, stackable. A simple detail, but one that sets it apart
must work quickly, and they must look Being uncomfortable from many of its rivals. Simple and
great while doing it. How many is what inexperienced functional. I don’t deny that a sense of
thirty-somethings do you see clubbing in people do. Products history is important here: there is a
the winter without a coat? Being we hold close to our reason people pay a small fortune for
uncomfortable is what inexperienced heart are tied Big “E” Levi’s as opposed to their more
people do. together by two key modern offspring. But a product would
Products we hold close to our heart, elements: simplicity not endure if it didn’t work in the first
many years after conception, are tied and functionality place. But what about modern brands?
together by two key elements: simplicity It’s hard to find any future classics
and functionality. Take the apple I-phone, a classic amongst all the detritus on our high street. Why?
in the making. The reason we love it, is that we can Because nobody can be bothered investing in
use child-like sweeping movements with our fingers product development, craftsmanship or quality. We
to get where we want to. A pre-schooler could are enduring the era of Primark and our forefathers
master it. The underlying technology might be are rolling in their graves. Thankfully, there are
complicated, but the way we use it isn’t. It’s examples of companies who really care about their
instinctive, it works and it looks great. product, and they design it with the
And this is why a classic endures. hope that it will still be sitting in your
Think of all those seventies adidas home years from now.
shoes still in production and living Lodger Footwear: 2008 was not the
under your bed. Why would you want best time to launch a luxury footwear
to buy them when footwear technology brand, but Lodger combines traditional
has advanced so much in the last 40 hand crafted gentlemen’s shoes with
years? Because they do the job and new details, cutting edge technology
they look fantastic. They look fantastic and a modern approach to selling. They
because they go with everything in have a 3D laser scanner in their Clifton
your wardrobe. Street shop, flat screen tellies and a bar
The Arne Jacobsen’s “Ant” chair underneath the store. They’ve defied
(right) made from a single piece of the recession by saying something new
steam-bent plywood was first about a product rooted in tradition.
produced in 1955 and still remains Biomega: Beautifully designed city
bikes that make you want to ditch the car. They
team up with luminaries like Mark Newson and
Ross Lovegrove, who designed a lightweight
bamboo bike.
Folk/Shofolk: Founded in 2001, Folk is a
casual menswear brand who are fussy about
details, colour and fabrication. They spend a lot of
time looking for the right (not the cheapest)
manufacturer, so they have an eclectic mix of
product made in Uruguay, England, Portugal and
Peru. Their footwear is made in limited numbers.
Lena Bergstrom: (above) Swedish Glassware
that is simple, elegant and cool. Her thoughtful use
of colour makes her work stand out in a quiet way.
Lara Bohnic: (below right) O.K., so not the
most simple of designs, but her jewellery is original,
beautiful and the simpler pieces endure. Her stuff
gets noticed and is copied, badly, by less talented
souls.
Companies that didn’t make the grade:
Philips: The time and trouble they spend on
their research and development is let
down by forgettable design.
Honda: Great ads, good brand
personality, but would you really want one
sitting in your driveway?
The Dyson washing machine: The
Dyson Contrarotator was supposed to
revolutionise the washing machine
industry in the same way the Dyson
Vacuum did, but it was withdrawn from the market
due to poor sales despite being more
efficient than its competitors. Weird.
Sony: Once the pioneers of portable music,
Sony were overtaken by better product produced by
rivals. They tried to relaunch the Walkman in 2005
but by that time, Apple were dictating the market.
Hollister: Any company that has the audacity
for making up a fictitious brand “history” deserves to
fail. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened to Hollister
yet, but there’s still time.
So what does all this mean for the modern
company, or designer, who is eager to create
their own classics?
Firstly, it helps to have a sense of HISTORY:
adidas, Levi’s, Burberry are lucky in having a
company heritage they can rely on to bring about
authenticity to their product.
Secondly, it should be FUNCTIONAL: If it
doesn’t work, it won’t be treasured. You may love
those beautiful shoes that cost you a month’s
salary, but you won’t buy another pair if they shave
your heels off every time you take a step.
Thirdly, BE A PIONEER. Apple deservedly
occupy their position at the top of the tree because
they are often first in the market, or they
revolutionise what is already there. James Dyson
will forever be remembered as the man who
brought us transparent bagless vacuum cleaners.
Finally, KEEP IT SIMPLE. There is a reason the
Little Black Dress endures but the Big Red One
doesn’t. Simplicity dates less than ostentation.
There is certainly a market for fussiness, but it is
a safer bet that a design will endure when there is
less to dislike.
I work as a trend consultant, and much of my job
involves looking at the past, taking lessons from it
and applying them to future designs. Successful
companies, like the ones I have mentioned, are
often held up as role models for others. These
companies were all pioneers in their time, and no
doubt the technology behind the design was often
very complicated to master, but the
outcome does not reflect that, it just makes
it look effortless.
The era we live in now is very different.
We have a much shorter attention span.
We are reluctant to wait. Information is bite
sized, instant and immediate. Price is often
the first thing we think about before we
design a product. The result is a rejection
of traditional craftsmanship and long-term product
development in favour of a quick, impactful,
attention-grabbing bargain. And companies who
follow this ethos are unlikely to be making classics.
Those who are taking a bit more trouble to get a
product right and invest in quality deserve your
full attention.
And you should give it to them.
REVENGE OF
Who said being a nerd wasn’t cool. Mainstream Japanese society
may look down on these obsessive animé, manga and gamer fans.
But a billion pound industry driven by conscientious, young males
with disposable income has become a lucrative target market.
Purple Gez looks at the geeks who inherited the worth.

O
taku wasn’t meant to define a
cultural phenomenon. Otaku
may be a Japanese label, but it’s
not a designer label to be worn with pride.
The term Otaku is a barbed comment made
by a conservative, traditional Japanese
society on a generation of young males
schooled on rampant capitalism who they’re
now unable to connect with. In its most
basic form it’s a term used to refer to anyone
with obsessive interests but has come to de-
fine a social group: Young men who spend
too much time on their computers, who don’t
have a social life and would run a mile if they
came into contact with somebody from the
opposite sex. But as these supposed social
outcasts retreated to their bedrooms and
their computers in controlled rebellion, they
chose their subject matter astutely, their
screens lighting up with animé, manga and
to a lesser extent, video games. Their
commitment, fanaticism and dedication to
the cause was something their state and
work proud parents would have respected if
they thought they were involved in
worthwhile pursuits. So as the market for
these genres exploded these nerds are now
in positions of power and gaining a grudging
respect from an elder generation much as
60’s rock and rollers did in the UK. Otakus
are now reclaiming the term and wearing it
as a badge of honour but where does the
term come from?
William Gibson in his 1996 novel Idoru,
makes several references to Otaku which
has served to bring the term to a wider
F THE OTAKU
audience: “The Otaku, the passionate
obsessive, the information age’s
embodiment of the connoisseur, more
concerned with the accumulations of data
than of objects seems a natural crossover
figure in today’s interface of British and
Japanese cultures.”
In his opinion, the understanding of
Otaku-hood is one of the key elements in
understanding web culture. The main
enthusiasts would seem to be mostly male
in their teens or twenties, usually dressed in
jeans, T-shirt and trainers. The garb is
synonymous with Otaku, and in fashion
conscious Japan is identifiable with the
genre. Otaku devotees relish technical
communication, media and the sphere of
representation and simulation generally.
They are avid collectors and tacticians of
impracticable artifacts, information and
edification. Although they are clandestine,
somewhat avant-garde, they do not oppose
the system. Rather Otaku devotees adapt,
manipulate and subvert available products;
while being the zenith of consumerism and
an ideal workforce for contemporary
Japanese capitalism. In the first in a series
of articles TRC portray the various sectors
that the Otaku branch into.
Animé:
Animé originated at the beginning of the
20th century with Japanese film makers
experimenting with techniques in use in the
west with distinct genres, such as Mecha
and Super-Robot, emerging in the 1970s.
Very few complete early Japanese
animations have survived as once the clips
had finished their designated run, the reels
were sold to smaller cinemas, which clipped
and sold them as either strips or single
frames. A notable animator from the early
1900s is Kochi un’ichi, a caricaturist and
painter. He began drawing cartoons in 1912,
and in 1916 was employed as an animator by
Kobayashi Shokai. He is considered to be the
most technically advanced Japanese
animator of the 1910s, making about 15 films.
Kitayama Seitaro was an early animator who
made his own films, rather than for large
companies. Although he founded his own
studio, this eventually closed from lack of
commercial success. He employed the
chalkboard method and paper animation with
and without pre-printed backgrounds.
The Namakura-gatana (An Obtuse Sword,
1917) by Jun-ichi Kouchi (pictured below),
and Urashima Taro (Legend of a Japanese
Fisherman, 1918) were discovered at an
Osaka antique market in 2007. These are
thought to be the earliest cartoons ever
produced in Japan. Urashima Taro has been
identified as the earliest example of time
travel, the fisherman finding himself 300 years
in the future as the tale progresses.
Toei Animation, founded in 1948,
produced the first colour animé feature film in
1958, Hakujaden (The Tale of the White
Serpent). Although more ‘Disney’ with musical
numbers and animals, it is considered to be
the first ‘animé’. In 1961 it was released in the
US as Panda and the Magic Serpent.
Between 1958 and the mid 1960s, Toei
continued to release Disney-style films.
Toei’s style was emphasised by each
animator using his own production ideas.
One example is Isao Yakahaha’a film Hols:
Prince of the Sun, 1968. This film is
perceived as a dramatic break from the usual
animé and the origins of a later
movement of ‘auteuristic’, or progressive
animé, in which directors such as Hayao
Miyazaki, creator of Spirited Away, and
Mamoru Oshii would later be involved.
In the 1970s Japanese animation declined
due to competition from television, reducing
Toei animation staff. Former employees of
Mushi Productions founded
Madhouse Production and
Sunrise, becoming directors
as well as animators. This
new talent heralded a variety
of experimentation, the
earliest success being in
1970 with Tomorrow’s Joe, a
boxing animé which has
become iconic in Japan.
In 1974, Isao Takahata’s
television series Heidi, Girl of
the Alps, became an
international success and
enabled Hayao Miyazaki and
Takahata to establish the
World Masterpiece Theatre, a
unique concept at the time. Two of Miyazaki’s
critically acclaimed productions, Future Boy
Conan, 1978 and Lupin III: The Castle of
Cagliostro, 1979 were made at
Nippon Animation, the studios famous for
producing animé literary works like Anne
of Green Gables and The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer.
Simultaneously another genre, Mecha,
appeared. Early works include Mazinger Z,
1972-1974, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman,
1972 – 1974, Space Battleship Yamato, 1974
– 1975 and Mobile Suit Gundam, 1979 –
1980. These titles illustrated progression in
the science fiction field, moving from the
super hero fantasy type to more realistic
space operas and blurring accepted
boundaries between right and wrong.
The 1980s saw Japan accept animé into
the mainstream and production boomed. The
film Akira, a 1988 adaptation of manga, set
records for production costs and became a
worldwide success. Animé series Dragon
Ball, Sailor Moon and Pokemon, with films
similar to Ghost in the Shell became
worldwide successes in the 1990s and 2000s.
Other animé series largely popular in
Japan: Gundam, Macross, Neon Genesis
Evangelion also attracted
interest from the West who
produced their own animations.
The expansion of the internet
enabled fansub (fan-subtitled)
animé; fansub being a version
of a foreign film or television
programme translated by fans
in to any language other than
the original.
In 2004, Akira’s creator,
Katsuhiro Otomo produced
“Steamboy”, the most
expensive animé film produced.
The Super Dimension Fortress
Macross, modified as part of the
Robotech and Megazone23
gained worldwide recognition when adapted
as Robotech.
This brings us full circle to Japan’s longest
running and oldest animation known to
almost all Japanese Sazae-san (see above),
created by Machiko Hasegawa and first
published in his local paper. The animation
dealt with contemporary situations in Tokyo
until Hasegawa retired in 1974.
A typical Sazae script for the comic was
topical. In the beginning Sazae just wanted
to be herself rather than dress in a kimono
and use make up to attract a husband.
Hasegawa was before her time in advocating
feminism. Sazae was a liberated woman and
early plotlines show her dominating her
husband, to the concern of her neighbours
who firmly believe the man should be head of
the household.The storylines depicted family
dynamics and presented in a jocular fashion,
despite the topical nature. This popular
animé, shows how roles in traditional
Japanese society were changing, something
any Otaku would view with a wry smile.
Avalanch
Snowboarding was patented as a concept in 1939, made popular for kids
during the 60s by the Snurfer and finally gained international respect
becoming an Olympic sport in 1998. Graeme Coop goes on the trail of the
bastard son of skiing and discovers it hasn’t been all green runs for the sport

A
drenaline junkies, it seems, can be
traced back to 5000BC. Norwegian
cave paintings of men on skis
hunting prey, are proof that hurling oneself
down snow-covered hills at breakneck
speed has always been a cool thing to do.
Strange then there is no solid record of
skiing’s rebellious cousin - the snowboard,
until the 20th century. Accounts of soldiers
in WW1 sliding on barrel staves and a
snowboard dating back to the 1920s are as
good as it gets, so to find how
snowboarding was brought to the masses,
we have to go back to Christmas morning
1965 in Muskegon, Michigan.
Fascinated by surfing and a big fan of
the recently released Beach Boys
‘California Girls’, Sherman Poppen, was
chucked out of the family home by an
irritable, pregnant wife. In a moment of
inspiration he looked up at the snow
covered hill and saw a wave. Remembering
his daughter’s attempts to stand on her
sled, he screwed together two pairs of
children’s skis, and fixed a rope to the nose
so the rider could hold on, and the first
prototype snowboard was created. His wife
later named it the ‘snurfer’.
In 1966 the first Snurfer board went into
production, and were seen as mostly a toy
for children. Poppen began to organise
Snurfer board competitions where one of
the earliest competitors, Jake Burton,
became interested in making his own brand
of snowboard. Burton is currently the sport’s
leading manufacturer.
In 1969 Dimitrije Milovich, inspired by
sliding down hills on a cafeteria tray started
his own company, Winterstick, which
combined the way surfboards and skis work
with uni-directional boards and a 'fish tail'
design that was conducive to riding in
 Image courtesy of Bataleon
he
powder conditions. In 1972 the first 'snow- Magazine in 1987 helped the sport grow in
board' went into production. Winterstick popularity, and by 1990 every European
gained exposure in 'Powder' magazine and country as well as Japan, New Zealand,
'Newsweek,' and although no longer in Canada and Australia offered exclusive
production, the Winterstick board is viewed coverage of the sport.
by enthusiasts as a collector's item. Tom However, the young sport’s climb to
Sims, who was an avid skateboarder, read popularity wasn’t so readily accepted in the
the articles on Winterstick and became eyes of the traditional media, an article in
obsessed with snowboarding. He made his Time magazine in 1988 claimed
first snowboard in a shop by glueing snowboarding to be “The worst new
plywood together and putting carpeting on sport...a clumsy intrusion on the sleek
top for traction. Sims is now one of the precision of downhill skiing. Snowboarding
biggest manufacturers of snowboard and is not about grace and style but about
skateboard gear in the world. raging hormones.”
In 1981, the first The Wall Street
magazine called Sherman Poppen looked Journal in 1994 described
'Snowboarder' went into up at the snow-covered snowboarding as ‘the
production.1982 saw the fastest growing sport with
first National Snowboard
hill and saw a wave participation up 50 per cent
race held on a steep, icy downhill run, since the previous winter’.The next day
called 'The Face' on Suicide Six, Vermont. Ride Snowboards became the first
In 1985 only 39 of the approximately 600 snowboarding company to go public, raising
ski areas allowed snowboards. over $5m in its first day on the stock
Despite the sport’s growing popularity, exchange.The sport was still struggling for
the skiing community was slow to warm to it acceptance on the world’s ski slopes until
and snowboarding was allowed at only a the late 90s, when it was first included at
few resorts with ski patrols looking out for the winter Olympics in Japan 1998.
these young men speeding down the Snowboarding captured the public’s
slopes causing problems to the skiers. attention for the duration of the games, and
The first magazine dedicated exclusively by the next winter games held in Salt Lake
to snowboarding was launched in 1985. City, where the Americans won their first
Absolutely Radical was the vision of medal sweep at a games since 1956,
publisher Tom Hseih and helped bring the establishing the sport as a media darling
sport to the mainstream. The magazine and firmly in the mainstream.
changed its name six months later to By the following Winter Olympics in
International Snowboard Magazine to tone 2006, held in Torino, Italy, the sport featured
down the sports already ‘radical’ image. three disciplines: slalom, halfpipe and
Snowboarding got its first movie boardercross. The events attracted more
appearance in 1985 in the James Bond media attention than ever, the riders
classic ‘A View To A Kill’, which sees Bond performing to sold out crowds at each one.
escape from his ski clad pursuers with ease There are now over 5.1 million
as he glides over a lake on his snowboard, snowboarders every year in the US alone,
leaving them to sink behind him. with millions more visiting resorts all over
The launch of Trans World the world. For a sport that didn’t exist fifty
Snowboarding Magazine and Snowboarder years ago, it’s become a permanent fixture.
 Bataleon
Cutting edge: Norwegian company
Bataleon are leading snowboard design
with their triple base technology. They
Image courtesy of Bataleon

also look seriously sharp and you’ll be the

funkiest guy on the slopes with these
under your feet (see above).
www.bataleon.com
 Top Five Snowboarding
Destinations In The World
Planning a last minute snowboarding break? Forget the travel agents, and let
The Retro Collective recommend some places worth a visit

WHISTLER, CANADA
Host to the 2010 winter Olympics and rated the number one resort in North America,
Whistler is a must see for all snow lovers, boarders or skiers. The village itself lies
cradled between two monstrous mountains and boasts over 7000 acres of varied and
challenging terrain, including bowls, steeps, trees, 2 terrain parks and 3 pipes (2 of them
super pipes). The resort is extremely popular, so best to avoid school holidays as the
10,000 population swells by up to five times
during peak times. Whistler, Canada

TIGNES, FRANCE
Known for its expansive terrain and notorious
nightlife, Tignes has all the ingredients for a
truly memorable trip. Due to the height of the
resort (around 3500m) the snow is often better
than elsewhere, but of course this does mean it
gets mighty cold! Great off piste, at the top of
almost every lift, and views to die for.

ST ANTON, AUSTRIA
Reputed to have some of the best terrain in the
image: www.summitlodge.com

world, St Anton has variety to suit everyone,

although freeriders enjoy it the most. Whether
you’re an experienced rider or a first timer, the
steeps, deep powder, air, and trees on all sides
of the mountain slopes make it a hard place to
beat. It is renowned for its vast off piste tracks,
and while it may not give the appearance of a

Whistler, Canada
 boarder friendly resort, the snow will show, and therefore appearances in this case
are very much deceptive.
image: www.stantonski.com

LAKE TAHOE, USA

One of the world’s most picturesque alpine
lakes, Tahoe is situated between two states,
California and Nevada. It has excellent freestyle
facilities due to the fierce competition to attract
boarders to the 13 resorts situated there.
St Anton, Austria Definitely a place more about the boarding than
the nightlife, but the ones who visit are rewarded with perfectly set half pipes and
numerous parks.

SNOWPARK, NEW ZEALAND

Built as a specific terrain park in 2002, Snowpark features over 40 kickers, rails,
boxes and a world class super pipe and is a must visit for all freestylers. Last year
they introduced night riding, two nights a week during July and August, but visitors
need to have their own gear as there are no hire facilities available in the resort yet.
image: www.snowboarding.transworld.net

Snowpark, New Zealand

Jeremy Daldry
Culinary Comebacks:
The Prawn Cocktail
Spending most of his time skulking round kitchens or with his nose in an
obscure cookbook, Jeremy’s made food shows for the BBC and
commissioned for UKTV Food. Here he comes out fighting for a 70’s classic

I
t’s difficult to think of anything ‘good’ that Back in the 70s the quality of prawns left an
came out of the 1970s. It’s the bastard decade awful lot to be desired. Fresh un-cooked
that the rest of the century is embarrassed prawns, on ice, in their shells? Forget it. What
by. The inbred cousin who at family gatherings prawns we had were deep frozen, badly
gets over excited and starts dribbling, only to be transported, little pink bullets which when
ignored in the hope that he will just do the defrosted had the strange texture of rubbery
decent thing and die, quietly in the corner. It cardboard and the lingering taste of the inside
was the decade that gave us Peters & Lee, of a cat’s mouth. But despite these major
terrorism at the Olympics, suburban wife drawbacks in both taste and texture we couldn’t
swapping and Thatcher. Thanks a bunch 1970s. get enough of them. Prawns screamed glamour,
The food wasn’t a whole lot better. they screamed expensive, they screamed that
In our house, Vesta Curry or a Fray Bentos ‘yes, we have a new Ford Granada, Melamine
pie from a tin followed with, if we were lucky, a kitchen and wall to wall shag’.
fluorescent Angel Delight that tasted like A prawn cocktail was a social indicator that
shampoo and bubble gum was considered the you where going somewhere, that you had
cornerstone of a balanced and faintly exotic money and therefore good taste. But, of course,
meal. The only, and very occasional, jewel that you didn’t have ‘good taste’ because as with
lit up the 70’s table was the most things that people buy
appearance on high days and Prawns screamed glamour, to impress others with, the
holidays of a deep pink mound they screamed expensive, they only impressive thing about
of freshly defrosted prawns, screamed that ‘yes, we have a 1970’s frozen North Atlantic
covered in a wonderfully cloying new Ford Granada, Melamine prawn was its price.
sauce all piled on wilting lettuce kitchen and wall to wall shag So the 1970’s host had a
and served in a Martini glass dilemma. How to show off
with a slice of lemon jauntily wedged on its rim. your taste in expensive ingredients without
The prawn cocktail drenched in Marie Rose actually making your guests retch? What was
sauce, possibly the best, and maybe the only,
decent thing to come out of the 1970’s kitchen.
So why has the Prawn Cocktail fallen from
grace? Why isn’t it celebrated and enjoyed in
the very best restaurants, why can it only be
found on the menu at Harvesters (£3.49 with a
Thousand Island Dressing - wrong) or at
painfully ironic dinner parties held in
Shoreditch? It’s all because of the sauce.
The very thing that makes a prawn cocktail
great, the thick almost cackling Marie Rose
sauce that catches at the back of throat, is also
what makes the dish deeply unfashionable,
Bentleys: Provides the Rolls Royce of seafood cocktails
hated by chefs and sublimely wonderful.
needed to make the dish eatable, enjoyable
even, was a strong flavoured sauce, so strong
in fact that the main ingredient could be hidden,
masked, used purely as a delivery system for
the sauce. What was needed was a sauce that
could stage a culinary coup and usurp the main
ingredient entirely, taking over and becoming
the reason for the dish to exist in the first place.
And that is what a Marie Rose sauce was
born to do – it’s the ultimate culinary bullyboy.
No one in their right mind would take a flavour
as delicate, light and precise as a fresh prawn
and smother it in a combination of ketchup,
mayonnaise and Tabasco but, in a trick as old
as cooking itself, it you are faced with
sub-standard produce that is exactly what you
do… smother it in a heavy sauce.
Thankfully things have changed. Some of the
countries best chefs have, while not embracing
the prawn cocktail, allowed its upper class
For the perfect Modern 1970’s
Prawn Cocktail:
Raw king prawns on the shell. 3 per
person depending on size
2 tbsp Hellmann’s mayonnaise
2 tbsp Crème Fraîche
1 tbsp Heinz Tomato Ketchup
A dash of Tabasco
1 Baby gem lettuce per person
Olive oil
Lemon
Fresh chives
To cook the prawns:
Boil a pan of water, reduce to a simmer and place
the prawns ‘shell on’ into the water to poach.
Depending on the size this can be several minutes.
While still warm peel the prawn but leave the heads
on (if you are a serious prawn lover the meat gained
from crushing the heads in your mouth is not to be
missed). Dress the prawns in a very small drizzle of
olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the sauce:
Mix the mayonnaise, with the Crème Fraîche and
the ketchup. The Crème Fraîche helps to keep the
sauce lighter and less claggy. Add Tabasco to taste,
a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. Marie Rose
sauce is so intensely personal that there is no other
option than to taste as you go along and balance
cousin the seafood cocktail to creep back onto
their menus. Richard Corrigan’s Bentleys does
a very fine, very dignified seafood cocktail that
is light, luxurious and full of ozone tasting
morsels. However, most restaurants serving
prawns, or any sea food, with anything other
than the lightest of sauces, a little chilli or
maybe a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil would be
burned to the ground by a rampaging mob of
Sunday supplement reading food snobs. And
that’s a shame.
Because when it’s done with skill and
attention there is a place for the 1970’s inspired
Prawn Cocktail. A place which isn’t to do with
the ironic, the kitsch or the camp but because it
tastes really good and, with a few small
alterations and changes, can work well with
good quality, meaty, fresh king prawns.
Oh…and Prawn Cocktail is never acceptable
as a sandwich filling.
the sauce in the way you like. Mix together and put
to one side.
To prepare the lettuce:
Shred as finely as possible, preferably into long thin
strips. Just before assembly, dress in a little olive oil
and add some finely chopped chives.
Do not add salt as this will draw water out of the
lettuce.
To assemble:
Place the dressed lettuce in the bottom of a glass,
pile the prawns on top and spoon some of the
sauce over the prawns.
But don’t flood the glass with the sauce – let the
prawns be the stars. Sprinkle a small amount of
chopped chives on top, twist of pepper and serve
immediately.
RETROSPECTIVE
H
usband and wife, Amanda Blanch
and Chris Edwardes have run
Brighton’s Blanch House for 10
years. Amanda, moved into
interior design via motherhood.
Inspired by a passion for colour she
transformed each room at Blanch
House into a unique visual experience:
"A stay in a hotel should never be dull
or predictable”. Chris has managed
many renowned bars, restaurants and
clubs in London, including The Groucho
What is your all time favourite song?
Amanda Blanch: That is impossible,
London Calling /
The Clash, Ride A
White Swan /
T-Rex, Five Years /
David Bowie, The
instrument
version of This Is
Hardcore / Pulp,
I'm In love With A
German Film Star
Blanch House: Award winning bar and cocktails
/ The Passions,
Never Let Me Down / Depeche Mode,
Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien / Edith Piaf, while all the meat is cooked on an
My Way / The Sex Pistols or Sinatra,
just too, too many.
Chris Edwardes: Tom Waits / Romeo
Is Bleeding.
Where did you have your most
memorable meal?
AB: Eating crab we had just caught
while filming a month on a desert
Club, The Pharmacy, as well as opening
The Jazz Cafe and The Atlantic Bar and
Grill. His cocktails skills have been
described as 'legendary' and after more
than 30 years in the business Chris was
awarded Theme magazine’s Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2007.
Having won, individually, bar design
and cocktail making awards they were
named, as a couple, in the 50 most
influential people of the world bar
industry, in 2008.
island for the BBC. We hadn't eaten
properly for ages and the whole family
just got stuck in
on a paradise
beach.
CE: El Disnivel in
Buenos Aires,
wow the best
steak in the world
in a small but
packed local
restaurant. All
plastic table
cloths and waiters running about
open grill in the restaurant and
butchered there as well. Not for
vegetarians!
Do you collect anything?
AB: Shoes and snowstorms.
CE: Cocktail shakers.
Do you have a 20th century hero or
idol?
 Amanda Blanch
& Chris Edwardes
AB: Emmeline Pankhurst.
CE: Gene Kelly.
What is your favourite film of all time?
AB: Diva by Jean-Jacques Beineix.
CE: Singing In The Rain.
What was your first job?
AB: Working at Selectadisc,
Nottingham (one of the great
independent record shops in the UK).
CE: A paperboy.
Who is your all time favourite actor?
AB: So difficult again, Jack Nicholson,
John Hurt, Terence Stamp, Cary Grant,
Gabriel Byrne, Johnny Depp.
CE: Audrey Hepburn.
Who or what has been the biggest
influence on your life?
AB: Chris, my husband.
CE: My wife, Amanda.
What is your favourite TV show?
AB: I'm loving In Treatment with
Gabriel Byrne on Sky Arts right now
but probably Top of the Pops and
Match Of The Day.
CE: Match Of The Day.
Which career would you have
followed if you weren’t doing what
you are today?
AB: I wanted to be a holiday reviewer
like Judith Charmers, but I do think I
would have still gone into the music
business as I did.
CE: Something in music or dance.
Do you remember your first boy/girl-
friend’s name and are you in contact?
AB: Yes, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd were all
called Andy
and no, not
anymore.
CE: No and no.
What is your proudest achievement?
AB: Having my two children and
somehow between us raising them to
be wonderful human beings.
CE: Winning two outstanding
achievements awards for my work in
the bar industry in the same year.
If you could live in any decade, which
one, and why?
AB: The roaring 20s: the start of
liberation for women, the vote,
cocktails, bright young things, total
change. Followed by the 60s for very
much the same reason.
CE: The 20s for the same reasons as
my wife and the 50s very close behind
for the birth of the teenager; rock n'
roll; dancing and the cars.
Have you ever ‘splashed’ the cash on
something big?
AB: Apart from the bloody hotel,
Blanch House? I suppose our
wonderful 1967 split screen VW
Campervan.
CE: My 1958 Mark II Zephyr.
Is there one thing you want to do
before you depart the stage?
AB: Learn to sail and drift around
Europe eating fresh fish, mooring at
pretty harbours and relaxing in the
sun drinking good wines.
CE: Travelling is top of my list.
Contact The Retro Collective: info@theretrocollective.com