The Sunday Telegraph London back issues from May 2004:
Suits you, darling! In the latest television make-over show, five gay men - experts in fashion, food, decor and grooming - take a 'straight guy' under their wing and try to create the ultimate, sophisticated man. John Preston, 'robustly heterosexual', volunteers for a revamp
May 02, 2004; ... A first I was apprehensive, but that feeling has gone now.Unfortunately, it's been succeeded by blind panic. I am standing inthe window of my flat looking down at the street below. A van hasjust drawn up. Five men jump out. From the back of the van they startunloading an array of ...
It's parents who make children unteachable Two weeks ago in the Review, a teacher painted a bleak picture of school life in Britain. He used a pseudonym; now he has broken cover. He tells Max Davidson why he spoke out
May 02, 2004; ... Whistle-blowers have become so common that, when Stuart Williamsdecided to let out a little toot on his own whistle, he did notexpect the world to sit up and take notice: "I honestly never thoughtanyone would be interested. I am not a writer. I am a maths teacher." He was ...
Me, betray my friends in print? As if 2! First Person
May 02, 2004; ... My novel had been out barely a day and the phone was alreadyringing. "Love your book," my friend cried. "But Belinda's not goingto be happy to see she's in it. Especially with you saying she's gota drug problem. And you weren't too subtle in portraying Penny. Ican't believe you've told ...
Gordon ** bleu! Interview He heaps shame on chefs with a stream of four-letter words, and this week he was filmed ramming one victim's head into a basin of whisked egg whites. But it's not only crimes against cooking that make Gordon Ramsay curse
May 02, 2004; ... For the first time in 50 minutes Gordon Ramsay, he of the caustictongue, scathing put-downs and extensive vocabulary of obscenelanguage, is nonplussed. Speechless, in fact. Did he, I have just asked, ever swear in front of his four youngchildren? "Ah," he says slowly, a rueful ...
The secret life of a cat burglar By day he was an estate agent, by night he stole from the rich and famous. Charles Laurence talks to the audacious thief who plundered $35 million worth of jewels in three decades
May 02, 2004; ... There is no thrill, says Bill Mason, quite like hanging by yourfingertips from the parapet, 200ft above ground, knowing that a hoardof diamonds and gold is only a few feet away. All you have to do is swing carefully onto the balcony - the veryrich are sure to have balconies with ...
When a spring roll is followed by a cold sweat In Sickness and in Health
May 02, 2004; ... When staying for any length of time in a foreign land, it is onlynatural to visit those restaurants whose sounds and smells evokeone's country of origin. So it was for Dr Ho Man Kwok, newly arrivedfrom China to take up a senior post at the National BiomedicalResearch Foundation in ...
Kultur in the driving seat Is it a town? Is it a VW car factory? No, it's a vast arts centre, writes Nick Foulkes, in the middle of Germany, where the People's Car has given Autostadt to the people
May 02, 2004; ... Wolfsburg is to Germany what Detroit is to the United States. Justas Ford and GM "own" Detoit, so VW "owns" Wolfsburg, a town and hugecar plant about 20 minutes from the former border between East andWest Germany. Talk here is more likely to be about Passats than pasde deux and pistons ...
Too wet behind the ears Theatre
May 02, 2004; ... Hamlet Coyote on the Fence Provenance We know how old Hamlet is. The gravedigger first took up his trade"that very day that young Hamlet was born". A few lines later he adds, "I have been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years." Yet 30 is surely ...
Stick to the script Radio
May 02, 2004; ... The glory of BBC radio is "prepared speech" - the programmes whichhave, to some extent, been scripted, or at least thought about, inadvance. Such radio is a species of literature - whereas DJ-ing orhosting a phone-in is merely a performance art. Or perhaps a sport. Language doesn't ...
Something stirring in the bushes Television
May 02, 2004; ... Something is stirring in the undergrowth. What could it be? Ohlook, it's Peter. But why is he standing like that? Because he isexposing himself. In Flashers Uncovered (Thursday, Channel 4), PeterLawrence talked, with a fondly reminiscent gleam in his eye, aboutthe dark pleasures of his ...
Electronic fringe on top Pop 2
May 02, 2004; ... Matthew Herbert The quiz show has been re-invented. So has the cafe, the chat showand the mini car. So why not the Big Band? The man to do it isMatthew Herbert, a serious musician who has operated behind a numberof aliases during the past few years but who is best known for ...
All grown up but still sweet Pop 1
May 02, 2004; ... Britney Spears The second of Britney Spears' four sold-out shows at Wembley Arenais preceded by a thunderstorm of Old Testament proportions. As the800 m dash from the tube station plays havoc with carefully-appliedpre-teen mascara, the thrum of hailstones against ...
Clever clogs makes true romance Cinema
May 02, 2004; ... Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Secret Window Our House Imagining Argentina The Calcium Kid Bus 174 The Honeymooners We all have things we'd rather forget. A fudged word, a missedopportunity, a row with a friend. But just ...
Polish National Opera was at ...
May 02, 2004; ... Polish National Opera was at Sadler's Wells with three Polishworks, a cultural calling card to mark Poland's joining the EU. Imissed their national opera, The Haunted Manor, and I gather thedance scenes and choruses were impressive, though an opera lover didexpress the opinion that he'd ...
Is this Mimi's last gasp? Music
May 02, 2004; ... La boheme Mahler 7/Sinaisky Beleaguered Scottish Opera, threatened with extinction by Scottishgovernmental philistinism, bravely, perhaps defiantly, mounted achallenging new production of Puccini's La boheme (sung in Italian)at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, on Wednesday when it ...
Lady in the lamplight Claire Bloom is back at the Almeida, this time playing Florence Nightingale. She talks to John Preston about acting with Charlie Chaplin and marriage to Philip Roth
May 02, 2004; ... Claire Bloom doesn't give many interviews. As far as I can tellshe seems only to have given about 12 in the course of a 50-yearcareer, and one of those was for Celebrity Needlepoint magazine inwhich she talked - guardedly - about her love of embroidery. It's hardly that she's ...
Pianola precision Dance
May 02, 2004; ... The Royal New Zealand Ballet Igor Zelensky A foreign ballet company making its London debut might be temptedto play safe with one of the classics, but Royal New Zealand Ballet'sartistic director Gary Harris decided instead on a bold programme ofcontemporary work ....
The old old is out; the new old is in 'Apollo', the bible of art connoisseurship, is relaunched this month. Michael Hall, the magazine's new editor, describes how he plans to broaden its appeal
May 02, 2004; ... On a trip to Munich last year with a group of friends to see theNeue Pinakothek, the city's newly opened gallery of modern art, Isuggested we spent a free afternoon visiting the Alte Pinakothek'scollection of German paintings, which includes masterpieces by Durerand Holbein. "No, ...
Caveman's last relic Art
May 02, 2004; ... Newcastle: The Hatton and Laing Galleries Towards the end of his life the German Dadaist Kurt Schwitters(1887-1948) led a necessarily peripatetic existence, seeking refugefrom the Nazis, who had branded his work "degenerate" and declaredhim - like many another ...
How embarrassing, we're English Anthony Daniels is dubious about this attempt to pin down the quintessence of Englishness
May 02, 2004; ... Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox Hodder & Stoughton, pounds 20, 424 pp pounds 18 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 SEVERAL TIMES , at social gatherings in countries remote fromhome, where the people had only ...
First the battles, then the war Raymond Seitz assesses Bob Woodward's account of the frictions in President Bush's war cabinet
May 02, 2004; ... Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward Simon & Schuster, pounds 18.99, 467 pp pounds 16.99 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 WHEN GEORGE W. BUSH arrived in Washington as President, seasonedobservers were apprehensive. Here, after all, was a Texas politicianwho didn't ...
The king who kept his head Hugh Thomas on a Life of Juan Carlos, the king who survived a coup and took Spain from dictatorship to democracy
May 02, 2004; ... Juan Carlos: A People's King by Paul Preston HarperCollins, pounds 25, 614 pp pounds 23 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 IN THE mid-Seventies, we were all scratching our heads wonderinghow to change our politics for the better. Spain offered what ...
Moved to tears Which book, poem or play has made you cry more than any other? Continuing our series, the journalist and MP Boris Johnson chooses John Milton's Paradise Lost
May 02, 2004; ... I WAS sitting on the Tube the other day, and by dint of colossalwillpower over umpteen journeys I had flogged myself to the end ofParadise Lost. It was round about Oxford Circus and line 620 of book12 when all of a sudden my eyes misted and my cheeks were wet withtears. It was the bit ...
How strikers came unstuck Geoffrey Owen on a well-researched and lively - if politically partial - history of the trade unions
May 02, 2004; ... United We StandA History of Britain's Trade Unions by Alastair J. Reid Allen Lane/Penguin Press, pounds 25, 470 pp pounds 23 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 BRITAIN 's trade unions had the stuffing knocked out of them byMargaret Thatcher, and they have not fared ...
Six feet six inches of words Less than a decade after his death and Stephen Spender's poetic reputation is in doubt: is this justified? asks Anthony Thwaite
May 02, 2004; ... Stephen Spender by John Sutherland Viking, pounds 25, 627 pp pounds 23 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 New Collected Poems by Stephen Spender ed by Michael Brett Faber, pounds 30, 393 pp pounds 26 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 ...
Paperbacks
May 02, 2004; ... Perkin by Ann Wroe Vintage, pounds 8.99 THE young man known as "Perkin Warbeck" is one of the mostintriguing characters in English history. Was he, as he claimed,Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower,miraculously saved from death in 1483, and ...
Paperbacks
May 02, 2004; ... The Colour by Rose Tremain Vintage, pounds 6.99 19TH-CENTURY New Zealand provides Rose Tremain with the settingfor her latest novel, a characteristically accomplished effort whichopens quietly, but slowly draws you into its distinctive world.Joseph and Harriet, the ...
A one man soap opera Russell Davies on a Life of William Lever, philanthropist, eccentric and soap magnate
May 02, 2004; ... The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned up the World by Adam Macqueen Bantam Press, pounds 12.99, 328 pp pounds 11.99 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 THERE ARE things we do well in this country, and cheap biscuits,cheap chocolates and cheap soap possibly ...
The Literary Life
May 02, 2004; ... AN AMERICAN journal called Death Studies is not what most peoplewould consider light reading, yet the November 2003 edition containssome laughable findings. James C. Kaufman, director of the LearningResearch Institute at California State University, has studied theendings of 1,987 ...
Diplomat and butcher John Adamson on the long career of the notorious Duke of Alba
May 02, 2004; ... The Duke of Alba by Henry Kamen Yale, pounds 22.50, 204 pp pounds 22.50 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 IT IS ONE of the unfairnesses of history that many otherwise long,dutiful, and distinguished careers are often remembered for a singleall-begriming episode ....
The theatre's fourth man? Charles Spencer wonders whether Michael Redgrave was the equal of Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson
May 02, 2004; ... Secret Dreams: A Biography of Michael Redgrave by Alan Strachan Weidenfeld & Nicolson, pounds 25, 484 pp pounds 23 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 THE OTHER week I was writing a piece about the Old Vic andincluded a list of some of the great ...
A story-teller's turmoil
May 02, 2004; ... Mansfield by C. K. Stead Harvill, pounds 14.99, 246 pp pounds 12.99 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 THIS IS a vivid and engrossing historical novel about KatherineMansfield who, although born in New Zealand, lived her adult life inBritain and on the Continent ....
Flashes in the dark Christopher Tayler is yet to be convinced of Jeanette Winterson's brilliance
May 02, 2004; ... Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson Fourth Estate, pounds 15, 232 pp pounds 13 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 JEANETTE WINTERSON was justly covered with praise when her firstnovel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, was published in 1985 (andlater televised) ....
The hotel checks out
May 02, 2004; ... Invisible by Jonathan Buckley Fourth Estate, pounds 16.99, 342 pp pounds 14.99 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 THE END IS in sight from the very beginning of this elegiac tale.It describes the last days of a country hotel, in its time ultra-modern, with the ...
A long road to freedom
May 02, 2004; ... The Society of Others by William Nicholson Doubleday, pounds 12.99, 224 pp pounds 11.99 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 THIS CROSS between a thriller and a philosophical novel begins asa comedy of contemporary manners. The story is told by a sulky,skulking ...
The enemy at his side This may be the 20th Sharpe book, but there's lots of life in the old curmudgeon, says David Robson
May 02, 2004; ... Sharpe's Escape by Bernard Cornwell Harper Collins, pounds 17.99, 350 pp pounds 15.99 ( pounds 2.25 p&p) 0870 155 7222 IF RICHARD SHARPE were in the Army today, he would not get near abattlefield. He would be court-martialled for insubordination orhauled before ...
Opening this week The 8th International Cello Festival
May 02, 2004; ... The 8th International Cello Festival at the Royal Northern Collegeof Music in Manchester (in association with the BBC) has beendirected since its inception in 1988 by its founder, thedistinguished American virtuoso Ralph Kirshbaum (above). It opens onWednesday with a concert by the BBC ...
Classical CDs
May 02, 2004; ... Mahler Symphony No 4 Claycomb, San Francisco SO/ Tilson Thomas(Avie 821936-0004-2, pounds 18.99). There is no shortage ofrecordings of Mahler's fourth and probably most popular symphony.Most are good, some exceptional. This new issue, recorded live at theSan Francisco Symphony's home in ...
Rock CDs
May 02, 2004; ... Jolie Holland Catalpa (Anti, pounds 10.99) and Escondida (Anti,pounds 13.99). There's a big buzz about Texan-born Tom Waits protegeeJolie Holland, whose beguiling, drowsy honeyed voice has drawncomparisons with Billie Holiday but whose lovely deliquescentslurring reminds me more of a ...
Cinema
May 02, 2004; ... Kill Bill Volume 2 (18). Whether or not you enjoy the secondinstalment of Quentin Tarantino's over-puffed revenge epic doesn't infact depend on how much you liked the first one. It's a wholedifferent beast - talky where Vol 1 was gory, character-driven wherethe original was basically ...
Theatre
May 02, 2004; ... Oleanna Garrick 020 7494 5085, to July 17. Eleven years after itwas first seen in London, David Mamet's play about politicalcorrectness on the campus still packs a punch: you watch infascinated horror as a young woman's grievances turn in to a deadlycampaign against her professor. In the ...
DVDs
May 02, 2004; ... Le Doulos (BFI, 12, DVD pounds 19.99, video pounds 15.99). Doulosis French slang for a hat, which Jean-Paul Belmondo sports in stylein Jean-Pierre Melville's riveting 1963 policier. A tale ofskulduggery and double-dealing, it recreates in Paris the fatalism ofclassic Hollywood films ...
Art
May 02, 2004; ... Ana Maria Pacheco: Land of No Return, Brighton Museum and ArtGallery, 01273 290900, to Oct 3. The Brazilian artist's sculpturalinstallation of seven larger-than-life painted wooden figures and atouring show, Prints, to June 27 which focuses on folklore, fables,myths and ...
Dance
May 02, 2004; ... Cullberg Ballet Brighton Festival, Dome, 01273 709709, Tue, Wed:the Swedish company with three recent works by the former NederlandsDans Theater star Johan Inger, who has taken over from Mats Ek asartistic director. Phoenix Dance Company Sadler's Wells, London EC1 020 7863 ...
Concerts
May 02, 2004; ... Brighton Festival Dome Concert Hall, 01273 709709, today, 7.30pm:the Philharmonia under Thierry Fischer plays Tippett's CorelliFantasia and the world premiere of Piers Hellawell's Cors de chasse,with Hakan Hardenberger (trumpet) and Jonas Bylund (trombone); thenJanacek's tumultuous ...
Opera
May 02, 2004; ... Royal Opera 020 7304 4000. Revival of Elijah Moshinsky productionof Verdi's Il trovatore (tmw, Thur) with Fiorenza Cedolins as Leonoraand Marco Berti as Manrico. Sir Edward Downes conducts. ENO Coliseum 020 7632 8300. Wagner Ring cycle continues with TheValkyrie (Sat, 4pm) with ...
Rock
May 02, 2004; ... Urban Music Festival. Part of the Prince's Trust, this is thebiggest urban event ever to hit the UK. Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jamelia andDizzee Rascal are just a few of the big names. London Earl's CourtSat, next Sun, 0870 160 7030. Dogs Die In Hot Cars. Despite their appalling name, their ...
The Hill that keeps on rising
May 02, 2004; ... People who live amid the 19th-century splendour of Holland Parknow claim to live in Notting Hill, a place classed by police in 1987as one of the three most troublesome inner-city areas of London. Infact, if you were to design the Monopoly board today, you might wellput Notting Hill next ...
Pipped to the post More and more City workers are chasing a dwindling supply of quality homes. It can mean only one thing - the return of the sealed bid. Catherine Moye reports
May 02, 2004; ... Like the first cuckoo heralding summer, the return of City bonuseshas augured the revival of sealed bids. With City professionalschasing properties in areas such as Kensington and Chelsea, more andmore sales in the Stucco Belt are being conducted using this sudden-death ...
Word on the Street
May 02, 2004; ... According to a report issued by the Skipton Building Society lastweek, the average British household will soon resemble the Waltons.The society calculates that the number of Extended Financial Families(EFFs), defined as households where three generations of the samefamily live under one ...
Bulgaria beckons The prices are almost irresistible, but buyers must beware dodgy deals and 'iffy' infrastructure, writes Cheryl Markosky
May 02, 2004; ... With recent reports that Bulgarians and Romanians have beenforging documents to sneak into Britain, it is ironic that at thesame time British home-buyers are flocking to the latest hotspot ofBulgaria to cash in on cheap property. While it is said thatBulgarians are paying as much as ...
Look before you leap
May 02, 2004 ... Bulgaria recently became a full member of Nato, has pegged itscurrency to the euro, and is in line to join the European Union in2007. The likelihood of entry is high, as Bulgaria has complied with26 out of the 30 EU accession criteria. The exchange rate is 2.6 leva to the ...
Wheal of fortune This once-derelict Cornish engine house, admired by Daphne du Maurier, has been restored to make a stunning home, finds Christine Webb
May 02, 2004; ... Daphne du Maurier often leaned on a gate to gaze at the romanticruins of an old copper mine about a mile from the Cornish house whereshe spent the last 20 years of her life. The same old engine house,now painstakingly converted into a remarkable home, has been offeredfor sale, just in ...
My Property Nightmare Undisclosed subsidence The water margin
May 02, 2004 ... Tom and Julia King were hoping to move into a three-bedroom flatin north-west London. As the exchange date drew near, however, aserious subsidence problem emerged, which the vendor had notdisclosed, writes Mary Wilson. "We had decided to move from our two-bedroom flat in Kensal ...
The Water Margin CHEAP FOR A REASON Hunsett Mill, Stalham, Norfolk pounds 650,000
May 02, 2004; ... Rare bitterns boom in the nature-lover's paradise that surroundsthis special property on the River Ant, from which the large BartonBroad (and the rest of the Norfolk Broads network) can be reached byboat. And therein lie Hunsett Mill's best and worst features, dependingon your ...
Switched on to danger Ask Jeff
May 02, 2004; ... Last week you answered a question about electricity in thebathroom. It is well known that you cannot have a power point in abathroom, lest someone kills you by dropping an electric fire intoyour bath. However, there is almost as much water in a kitchen, wherethere are power points ...
Pebbledashed hopes Ask Jeff
May 02, 2004; ... My elderly parents are considering having their pebbledashed hometreated by a company that specialises in "an exterior protective anddecorative coating which consists of modern synthetic resins notedfor their ability to form strong and permanent films". I am slightlyapprehensive because ...
Behind that pale face lurks an expert tiler On the Level
May 02, 2004; ... It is an oft-observed fact that different building trades canproduce different physical characteristics in their practitioners.Lifelong bricklayers, for example, tend to become round-shouldered,because they are constantly bending over their work. Plasterersusually have very ...
Garden Solutions Salvage
May 02, 2004; ... I am working on a small village garden surrounded by high stonewalls, the centrepiece of which is a magnificent, old, stone font.Not only is it a beautiful piece, but it comes with a history ratherthan a mere price tag from a garden centre. This sort of salvage is not easy to ...
Urban Gardener
May 02, 2004; ... There's a new love in my life - or rather, in my garden. Everymorning, I hurry downstairs and open the curtains to feast my eyes onthe object of my affections. And every morning, I am greeted by thesight of new fronds of fresh green growth, unfurling like shepherd'scrooks - or, I fancy, ...
Anger at airport 'credit card touts'
May 02, 2004; ... CREDIT CARD companies have been criticised for luring customersinto expensive credit deals by offering free flights to those whosign up for a card. Mark Lazarowicz, the Edinburgh MP who chairs the Commons all-party personal finance group, has called for further investigation ...
Endowment holders face yet more pain
May 02, 2004; ... HOMEOWNERS may have far larger endowment shortfalls than theypreviously realised, because insurance companies are usingunrealistic calculations to assess what the policies will be worth onmaturity, according to a survey by The Sunday Telegraph. A massive switch towards ...
Ernie heads for the record books
May 02, 2004; ... SALES of Premium Bonds have soared by more than 50 per cent in thepast year as nervous investors continue to seek shelter fromuncertain stock markets. National Savings & Investments said on Friday that it raked inpounds 7.4bn in Premium Bond sales over the past 12 months ...
Tories: We'll compensate Equitable victims
May 02, 2004; ... THE CONSERVATIVES have pledged to pay compensation to EquitableLife victims who lost money through regulatory failure, if they winthe next general election. In a forceful letter to Ann Abraham, the Parliamentary Ombudsman,Andrew Tyrie, the shadow financial secretary to the ...
Property price boom returns to London But economists warn of crash amid signs of overheating
May 02, 2004; ... LONDON PROPERTY prices are once again surging ahead, outstrippinghouse price inflation in the rest of the country, as the return ofbig City bonuses and an influx of overseas buyers push house pricesin the capital to record heights. New figures due to be published tomorrow by ...