Frost Magazine - Latest Comments

Re: Theatre Collection present Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

BradPitt2 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:36:20 -0000

Saw this play the other night. I must say, the performances were off the radar... I particularly enjoyed Lucia Edwards as Sonia , she brought such depth to her role. I was so moved. She is one to watch. I for one will be watching her again. Lovely performance.

Re: Win London Fashion Weekend Tickets. 4 Pairs to Give Away

MissStyle — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:57:47 -0000

Thanks for the confirmation. Hopefully I have something amazing to look forward to this weekend!

Re: Win London Fashion Weekend Tickets. 4 Pairs to Give Away

frostmag — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:44:59 -0000

Yes, you read it right. It is either/or. You are entered in! Good luck.

Re: Win London Fashion Weekend Tickets. 4 Pairs to Give Away

MissStyle — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:30:37 -0000

Just signed up for your newsletter and hoping I can be entered into the competition to win LFW tickets! Hope signing up counts as an entry? It came across as an option to tweet OR sign up in order to gain an entry.
Thanks :)

Re: Golden Globes 2011. George Clooney and Meryl Streep Win.

Amy Wallington — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:27:05 -0000

Just to let you know, this was Gervais' third time hosting the Golden Globes, his first appearance was in 2010, and has reappeared each consecutive year. :)

Re: How To Clear Out Your Wardrobe.

InspiredCapsule — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:23:44 -0000

If you are looking for some inspiration to style the core elements of your capsule wardrobe, Inspired Capsule has daily posts with great ideas for outfits using the basics pieces in your wardrobe. Enjoy!
inspiredcapsule.com

Re: Social Fabric Exhibition

Josef Accerelli — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:35:13 -0000

fascinated/ing . . .

Re: Why We All Love Ron Paul

Ryan Paterson — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:33:45 -0000

Ron Paul 2012!!!

Re: Too Short and not Very Funny Either, That’s Life

Don Turner — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:12:31 -0000

Great article, I feel the same way about LTS. I desperately want the show to be funny but end up feeling bored.

Re: Casting Notice For Shakespeare Project.

La Steven Hue — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:18:10 -0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

JDMusic — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:08:43 -0000

I have to disagree, I think he's picked a perfect topic for a blog - you just don't like his opinion.

I kind of agree with the sentiment, and like Ian I don't hold anything personally against Susan Boyle herself; rather I hold the whole record industry machine with contempt for promoting her (along with various other TV talent show prodigies) rather than cultivating real talent.

She is an OK singer at best, but now has the advantage of a very slick and professional studio production team behind her; but she is (IMHO) certainly not worthy of the career she is now enjoying. She is sadly the latest example of a record industry clutching at straws, and chasing the lowest common denominator rather than striving to promote/produce quality acts.

I am a professional musician (not a singer!), and know and work with many singers who would knock SUBO into the proverbial cocked hat (with or without the polished studio production). As for 14 million CD's in 14 months etc - sales don't automatically equate talent: don't forget, the general public regularly buy records of dubious merit - even Timmy Mallet managed to shift quite a few copies of Itsy Witsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini!

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

Ian Watson — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:10:30 -0000

Hi everybody. Firstly, let me thank you all for taking the time to read my blog. I just thought I ought to put a few things straight.
Firstly, my wife isn't struggling, in fact she's doing very well indeed. she's an established performer in musical theater and has played some of the biggest roles in some of the biggest musicals- I only mentioned her to illustrate that, unlike your average guy, I am surrounded by highly trained and successful professional performers and singers.
Secondly, I have made it quite clear that I don't begrudge Susan any of her fame or fortune. As I said, she appears t be a lovely, decent person and I wish her all the best. The point of my blog is really about the level of her fame. People with equal status usually have something that I can say, 'it's because of that' whether I agree with it or not but with Susan it's really just her voice [she doesn't play anything, or write anything and it's not about being pretty or having huge stage performances and a wild lifestyle- not that any of that is in itself a good thing or any more deserving of success) and although I agree that she does have a lovely voice, it's not, in my opinion, good ENOUGH to warrant such a level of fame.
She's a good singer and I would expect her to be at the same level as others of that ilk who have a solid fan base and release cover versions of famous songs- and do very well out of it, deservedly so. But her stratospheric fame isn't accounted for, in my opinion, by her talent alone. That's my point.
I'm not saying she doesn't deserve what she has because who can say what anyone deserves from footballers to painters- is Justin Bieber worth more? not in my opinion but he's a megastar and fair play to the lad I say. It's no skin off my nose if she earns billions, I'm really just musing on why she's as famous as she is when her talent isn't that much better than many others.

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

LIBERTIES2DAY — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:32:56 -0000

Also…You & quite possibly any sharks coming here ready to devour made an assessment of Susans talent or “singing ability” on THREE songs.
You did lousy research.
Try 52.
That’s how many songs sung by Susan Boyle are on-line.SEVEN from before BGT , FOUR during BGT- including 2 expanded versions for the BGT Tour, and the rest post BGT - including 3 RECORDED Duets, and 2 unrecorded duets sung on stage.This also includes 4 songs exclusively for Japan and 2 extra songs exclusively to QVC when you purchase her current Cd SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME .
.Its what SETS SUSAN APART from other singers , that have made her so popular.
Real Susan Boyle fans have made the discoveries of just what she is capable of vocally’’a voice that only comes along once in a century.Babs, Celine,Whitney,Annie Lennox Mariah, Kelly, Adele, Carrie they are all phenomenal singers, but for every song they sing , their voice is recognizable.
Not so with Susan.Cant tell you how many debates Ive come across from folks trying to convince others that “its not Susans voice” but someone younger ..or …its autotuned.
Nope. She is a mezzo soprano at 50 with perfect pitch no auto tune required and she can sound like so many DIFFERENT singers at once:
Bette, Celine, Judy Garland,Beverly Sills,LULU, Tammy Wynette, Liza Minelli, Kate Smith Julie Andrews,Kate Bush, Aretha, Tori Amos,Adele, Janis Joplin,Lena Horne, just to name a few.
Pick a genre , she can sing it .Her voice also transports you to times and places.
Wild Horses sounds like you are watching a herd of wild horses running across a misty field.
Up to the Mountain she sounds like a worn and weary hillbilly woman from the Smoky Mountains.
Wings to Fly feels like an angel lifting you to heaven. Her high notes in O Holy Night are different then her high notes in Unchained Melody ..or Proud or Who I was Born to Be.
O Holy Night will either knock you to the floor or rapture you .
Autumn leaves sound like the crispness of Autumn, First Star (or Sukyaki) only exclusive to Japan sounds like she is IN Japan..
Enjoy the Silence is haunting. Mad world SURREAL and sounds like a teenager.Her vibrato makes your body shake and go check out Don’t Give Up on me exclusive only to QVC ( on Youtube) .
She sounds like a whisky drinking chain smokin "bluesy soullful " Janis Joplin !
Before you make ur “assessment” go listen to all 52 songs then you will hear what gets Susan Boyle fans excited and shes only just begun…at 50 ! Sorry but NONE of the popular artists today match that calibre. Even Barbra Streisand called her a “musical poet”. And artists everywhere are dying to work with her …and YOU thought all she was capable of was SHOWTUNES. Trust me she has A LOT more sides to her, to reveal to the world.SUSAN BOYLE FANS KNOW THIS !

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

LIBERTIES2DAY — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:26:17 -0000

　
Dear Sir, you picked the wrong topic for a blog.
If you really want to get the convos going , then you need to do some deeper research , into the RADIO industry , revealing the dark truths about it , because , here is the truth: Susan Boyle SHOULD be even MORE successful then she has been , but , what you & many others don’t even know is that she is “locked out” of Radio play ; UNLIKE all the other artists that you hear of .
You speak of your wife , and to any sharks coming here to devour Miss Boyle ,you best listen too , cause this could be YOU in the future .
How do you think it feels to a Susan Boyle fan knowing that , all the OTHER “name” artists (many belonging to a certain “club” ) that you REGULARILY hear about all the time , get frequent daily RADIO PLAY and Susan gets NONE ;not on easy listening or soft rock ;NONE .
Have any of you ever once thought about how artists GET played on the Radio or do you take it for granted cause your so conditioned to not give it a second thought when you turn on your car radio. ? How would you like it if your WIFE was locked out of regular radio play sir , but all the other artists get heard ?
You best do some research , to find out how things work , cause they are NOT as they seem.
Susan became as successful as she did , WITHOUT the benefit of frequent RADIO play, unlike Adele , whom NEEDED that help & it has been that non stop RADIO PLAY that has catapulted ADELE to the fame she has now, but, the reality is that WITHOUT it , few people would even know whom Adele is .
Well…this is the year that Susan NEEDS that frequent radio play to MAINTAIN her success, because unless she is HEARD , not many people even know she has a cd out , so now you’re learning about the unfairness of the biz. It will disilusion you and discourage & enrage , when you dig deeper to learn what goes on behind the scenes and why some artists get that non stop play & others are locked out .
Are you sure all you sharks coming here hungrily to prey on Miss Boyle , really want to do that , knowing that one day YOU TOO could be locked out of radio play, just like she is ?Don’t you think that’s just a bit unfair to Susan and no different if it were to happen to you ?
Write up a new blog sir, one worthy and beneficial for others -not a menial piece like this to tear down some little 50 yr old Scottish woman whom only wants to be a professional singer.If she doesn’t get the FREQUENT radio play that she DESERVES , she will LOSE that success sir (it could happen to any of you ) then do you really want to kick someone down further ?
14 million cds in 14 months & NO#1 in 30 countries DOES NOT automatically mean frequent radio play ,so whom does she have to rely on except her diehard fans.

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

J S — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:29:18 -0000

I'm wondering which other successful singers you don't feel are worthy of their good fortune. I'd imagine there are quite a few who you think should give it all up and allow people who are better to fill their spot.
Now the question is, just how will this be accomplished? Who's going to decide who deserves a singing career and who doesn't? You? Then everyone will get to enjoy only singers that you deem fit.
Talk about hubris.

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

J S — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:08:43 -0000

Mr. Watson, if your wife ever gets her big break, I know that she'll just throw it away because there's thousands of better singers out there who deserve that chance. Am I right?

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

Jeanwkirk — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:44:26 -0000

Susan has grown so much in the past two and a half years. Her music has grown with her. Her voice is rich and powerful, and you can hear her heart when she sings ... she doesn't just sing a song - she sings a whole feeling. I'm sorry you find it necessary to compare what she has worked for and achieved with people, like your wife, who are still pounding the boards, as you say. Those people have a hard task, but Susan deserves all she has received!

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

littlecee — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:47:51 -0000

Not only does Susan have an engaging and beautiful voice, she also possesses a charisma that a lot of singers don't have. But, some don't get it, as you don't. That's ok with me...sorry...that's your loss. I wish your wife well in her career. But don't begrudge someone who-after working on her craft against many odds for many years-finally caught a break.

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

trennie — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 12:53:29 -0000

The theatre is a hard road to take and I sympathize with your wife.

Perhaps, you don't know that Susan Boyle attended the Edinburgh Theater School for 2 years to prepare herself for what your wife is doing. But family responsibilities prevailed and when she was free, she was too old to start at the bottom. She needed to sing and make a living at it. She took the path that was available to her. Don't blame her that it turned out to be lucrative beyond her wildest dreams. Money, other than paying her bills, clearly doesn't mean much to her. Given the option, which she wasn't, I think she would have preferred to have your wife's career.

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

AmberDuke — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:26:02 -0000

Well, that about sums it up: you just can't see it. What I read here is an awful lot of resentment, which just might be coloring your hearing. The implication is that everyone who loves her voice (sorry, there really are many) is either tasteless or gullible. I know better than that; I know all the reasons (the real reasons) why so many of us genuinely like her. But I also know better than to try to explain it to you, because you don't want to know. I'm sorry your wife is struggling, and I'm sure she's very good. Maybe it's just bad luck. But then maybe not all good singers can reach me deep inside as Subo does. There is something about her voice. It's OK if not everyone can hear it. I can.

Re: Susan Boyle- The Emperor’s got Talent.

kathyMu — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:56:40 -0000

http://twoplustwoequalsfive-ts...

Re: REVIEW: THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Anscombe — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:02:08 -0000

"Stage actors are allowed to be bold and brassy, vocalising their emotions to the back rows, but apply that to cinema and it feels melodramatic. Where things should be told with glances, looks and clenched jaws, they are often told with screaming speeches."
--So, melodrama has no place in the cinema, does it? That rules out "The Night of the Hunter", and the films of Douglas Sirk, for starters. What an extraordinarily ignorant and stupid criticism. And it's not even original. Catherine Shoard made exactly the same sweeping, prescriptive, myopic point in her recent review of this film in The Guardian--she even employed the same tired titular pun. This makes me wonder: have you actually seen this film? Or have you just cobbled a review together from other cine-illiterate sources?

Re: Is The Royal Family Worth It?

Stephen du Toit — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:33:57 -0000

Seems like a rather one-sided video, even though it's a point of view with which I agree! It does however point out that Parliament derives its power from the Monarch rather than from our vote, a real weakness in our democracy which is rarely addressed, but fails to mention that a President would not be without costs - running the French Presidency actually costs MORE to each French taxpayer than the Monarchy does to Britain! 69p a year - what a BARGAIN!

Re: Anonymous: Damaging The Vital Cause Of Internet Freedom

James Yardley — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:25:43 -0000

Thanks for your comment Charles. I wish I could write with your natural flow. Why don't you put your thoughts up as a separate article?

Re: Anonymous: Damaging The Vital Cause Of Internet Freedom

Charles Rivington — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:47:30 -0000

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I think this article's strong suggestion that Anonymous endorses the riots lacks evidence. I don't support the linked statement; it displays a tenuous grip on reality, has a weirdly aggressive tone and is frankly a bit silly. It is also simplistic and vague and features some wonderfully overblown phrasing ('Let your enemies stand forewarned' is a particular favourite), but it does specifically condemn violence and advocates the use of peaceful protest to point to the social problems, of which many people (including myself although perhaps not including the article's author) agree the riots were indicative, in order to bring about change. It is therefore hard to agree with the above article when it states that 'the comments can only be interpreted as seeking to incite a revolution' and that 'the comments on the UK riots were pretty categorical, worryingly and obviously so'. I also disagree with his suggestion that the riots 'had no political point' as I do believe that, despite the fact that the rioters themselves were not taking a political stand by robbing Currys, there is a lesson to be learned about the distribution of wealth in this country and the issue with dealing with this dissafected, opportunity-less generation

On the other hand, Anonymous has always struck me as a group (albeit a decentralised one) that really just needs to grow up. Clearly there are some very talented people involved, I can't fathom the kind of skills needed to hack into bank websites for example, but it's hard not to think that they could be putting their talents to better use. While some of their protest targets are almost admirable (white supremacists etc) the vast majority of Anonymous' actions are immature and irritating and, as the article suggests, using criminality to protest (regardless of how apparently deserving your target is) is at best fairly pointless and at worst runs the risk of garnering public sympathy for your target and even damaging the legitimacy of legal protests that might otherwise have been effective. Anonymous has always struck me as being about self-promotion for the sake of self-promotion, just adolescent showing off. Their message about free speech (something I think many people would normally agree with) is too vague and wooly to be effective and the concept of anonymous protest has always struck me as redundant.

That brings me to the other comments which are actually what prompted me to comment in the first place. At best they are bizarre and at worst, they are deeply offensive. This talk of revolution is so entirely vague and nonsensical that I can't really be bothered with it (I get the impression these people think they are living in a graphic novel) and quoting an entire Beatles song and making vague threats ('inconvenient as that may be for you' meester Bond...) do nothing to dissuade me of this view.

I agree with the UN's decision to declare that internet access is a human right but I do not agree with liz rex when she says that 'everyone should have a free internet and a means to use it, without government or corporate interference, asshole'. This is nonsense and is not what the UN was saying at all. The internet is not above the law and needs to be regulated to prevent criminal activity, actually allowing for freer speech than if it was the free-for-all liz wants. I'd also suggest that you have a lot of 'freedom of voice' (some might argue too much) and certainly infinitely more than you would have had 10 or 15 years ago. Also calling someone an 'asshole' on the internet is childish and makes it impossible for you to be taken seriously.

Finally (and I'm aware that I'm rambling), freedom_forever's suggestion that Anonymous' so-called 'revolution' shares similarities with the African American Civil Rights movements would be laughable if it wasn't so aggravating. How you can sit there behind your computer screen and suggest that a group of childish attention starved computer geeks are worthy of mention in the same breath as a woman like Rosa Parks is beyond me. This is a woman who stood up, showed her face and refused to be bowed down. You are a supporter of a group that by definition is anonymous and wastes time and money taking cowardly pot shots at easy targets while pretending to be a free speech movement. There is no comparison. You are living in a computer game. The thing is I can see what you are saying and I agree that if there had never been any revolutions the world would be worse off but the difference is that concerns about internet privacy and over-zealous regulation (while genuine issues) cannot be compared to the oppression of an entire race of people and any attempt to do so is disgusting. Revolutions are brought about by oppression. You are not being oppressed. Inconvenienced? Maybe. Restricted? Perhaps. Oppressed? Absolutely not.

Whoops, my comment is longer than the article. Someone thinks a lot of their opinions...