Latest 7 magazine

Paul Disney caught up with Andrew Hanuman of Open Door – the HIV drop in centre in Kemp Town

Describe yourself:
I am Andrew Hanuman and I have lived in Brighton for just over six years. I am a qualified trainer, registered social worker and I am in the process of completing my training as a person centred counsellor. I manage a page for Gscene magazine for local HIV+ writers, to express themselves. I’m also a big music fan and Brighton has always got something on whether local or international.

What’s so cool about Brighton?
I guess living by the sea is one of the big pulls for me; there is nothing nicer than lazing around on the beach on a hot summer’s day, or watching the beautiful sunsets in the evening. I also enjoy being close to the countryside. The best thing about Brighton is its people; it’s a very diverse place where many creative, kind and interesting people live.

How did you come to work at Open Door?
I initially joined Open Door with an aim of being here for about two years but I’m still here nearly seven years later. I am very proud to have worked for a project that has an ethos of creating an environment where individuals can empower themselves to live independently.

What’s Open Door all about?
Read the rest of this article »

Dan Higgins talks to Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson about sex, Heath Ledger and his new film The Bucket List

Seeing as the film deals with lists of things to do and things you have done what would be on your list of things still left to do?
Well, I did meet Princess Diana. She was a charming woman. I don’t make lists. People ask me what picture I like but since they came relatively late in life I wanted to live long enough to see my children graduate, go to high-school, stuff like that. I always wanted to speak another language, learn how to cook. I actually worked professionally as a cook… that was hot dogs, hamburgers, so forth but I still have to learn.

I had one experience with an old lady in New Jersey who wanted pancakes. I didn’t get a lot of orders for pancakes so I made them the wrong size and shape and I kind of tried to sneak them by her and she just looked at them and said “what is this?” and I picked them up, threw them against the wall and shouted “make your own goddamn pancakes!” That was my leading failure as a cook.

What would you say makes you most happy nowadays?
I think it’s hard to recognise when you’re happy. People sometimes seem afraid to be happy. There’s some joy in my day every day. I took particular joy in the faces of all the pundits who predicted that Hillary Clinton was dead in New Hampshire and watching them scurry. There was unanimous glee. Joy comes from a lot of angles. I saw my daughter in a play just before I left. I snuck up behind Dennis Hopper to scare him and he turned around and he had just seen his son playing Lennon in a play where he had an axe in the middle of his head.
Read the rest of this article »

Celebcity with Jo Brooks

New street art exhibition at O Contemporary

American Coyote by John Simpson

As the latest auction of Banksy’s work at Sotheby’s – including the monkeys he painted way-back-when, on wood, behind the bar of Brighton’s Ocean Rooms, which sold for an eyewatering £220,000 – shows that street art is still the thing for serious collectors to get involved in, we have a new show of three of the best contemporary artists from around the world showing their work on our doorstep.

Brazilian urban artist Thais Beltrame from Sao Paolo; San, from Spain, and Brit John Simpson are all showing original work at the O Contemporary gallery in Brighton’s Trafalgar Street.
www.ocontemporary.com

Omega’s Escape by John Simpson

Beltrame’s beautiful line drawings of childlike figures are both tender and dark, and she is showing in the UK for the first time.

San regularly sells out his shows around the globe and is also showing for the first time in the UK. An illustrator, painter and street artist, his work is influenced by magical realism, graffiti and also the culinary arts.

John Simpson is already a highly-collectable British artist who made his impact with illustrations for a variety of streetwear brands and fashion designers.

Could any of these be the next Banksy? Get down to the show, which runs until next month, to find out.
Read the rest of this article »

Sandra Omo decides that patience may well be an overrated virtue

I have just finished doing a fashion show and I am completely exhausted, not from the fashion show itself, from the long hours of preparations and waiting for the show to begin. I have never been a fan of waiting and even now, I still wonder where I get the patience to wait extremely long hours for some shows to begin. Do not get me wrong, I love the runway. I will walk a thousand miles just to be on one. In fact, my love for it has kept me going and given me the patience to wait really long hours without getting frustrated, because I always look forward to the crown – the runway. But do models really have to wait ten hours each time for fashion shows to begin? I am dying to know.

Like I said earlier, I just did a fashion show and this show has kept me wondering (for the 1000th time) all day why we (models) have to wait hours upon hours backstage for shows to begin. On this particular occasion, we were asked to arrive at 9am. We all did, but the show was not planned to begin before 6.30pm. It is true that we are paid anyway, but why spend all that time doing nothing?

Read the rest of this article »