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Cyd Charisse. March 8, 1922 -June 17, 2008 My goodness, such a stunningly beautiful and talented lady. There are hundreds of pictures to be clicked upon, lots of film clips, lots of quotes. Indulge in the timeless beauty of this amazing Glamour Puss.

"Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical." "Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." "If you haven't cried, your eyes can't be beautiful."

Gerald and Sara Murphy. Before the early Twenties, no-one fashionable went to the French Riviera in the summer and sunbathing was unheard of. But in 1923 an American expatriate couple, Gerald and Sara Murphy, persuaded the Hotel du Cap to stay open during the hot months so they and their guests could spend time frolicking in the sea, lying in the sun and sharing gossip. Their friends included Picasso, Cole Porter, Dorothy Parker, Hemingway, Cocteau, Marlene Dietrich and Zelda and F Scott Fitzgerald. Indeed, so fascinated was Fitzgerald by his hosts that he based Nicole and Dick Diver in Tender is the Night  upon them! A very glamorous set then, and they all looked the part- Sara always wore pearls with her bathing costume because, she said, "they needed sunning." Since the Murphy's heyday, the beach has retained its allure and provided a constant inspiration and backdrop for some of the most memorable fashion photography.

A bathing beauty, photographed by Richard Rutledge. 1957. "A hat is like a superpower times ten." said master milliner Stephen Jones. "You move differently in a hat, you feel differently, you act out a part. But more than anything, hats are about the person wearing them." Think of Faye Dunaway in her beret, Jackie Kennedy in her pillbox or dear Isabella Blow in an outlandishly fabulous creation. Hats add glamour and they are worn for precisely that reason. Huge hats add serious glamour but really anything goes- if it's worn with conviction.

The Tory party are in a mess following the calamitous speech given by Theresa May at the Tory Party Conference. She coughed and spluttered all the way through, was interrupted by a silly twerp (a self-described comedian)who handed her a spoof P45 and then the letters of the slogan behind her started falling off the wall. A REALLY bad day at the office. The state of the party which is supposed to be delivering Brexit can be summed up in the words of Disraeli: artycelia   22 hours ago " You behold a range of exhausted volcanoes. Not a flame flickers on a single pallid crest." Apologies to Disraeli but so fitting a quote to describe the Tory party as it presently exists. Delete 21 Recommend Reply

artycelia   17 hours ago While we are in such disarray it would seem sensible to cancel Brexit. I think the EU would agree. Britain is in turmoil. We need to sort ourselves out. We need a sturdy house before we renovate and we are far from that premise. Exit Brexit. Delete 46 Recommend Reply

artycelia   2 days ago That was a REALLY bad day at the office. The cough was unfortunate, perhaps she should have had a contingency plan in place for the speech- asking Amber Rudd to prepare to deliver it  maybe? The content was lost amid the coughing. The silly twit who handed over the P45 should be thoroughly ashamed of himself, there might have been a moment of sheer panic before she realised what was happening. That action put her off her stride.  The letters falling off the slogan - it all went horribly wrong. The thing is though, that this is the government who is responsible for taking us out of the European Union. Bloody Brexit. Are there any contingency plans in place if/when that all goes horribly wrong? Two letters I would like to see fall to the floor are a 'B' and an 'R' . I am no fan of Mrs May but blimey, I hope her husband has a very large 'in and 'onic waiting for her when she gets home tonight. Delete 24 Recommend

artycelia   2 days ago I hope the little twerp who (very shakily) handed Mrs May the P45 rests very uneasily in his bed tonight and for many nights to come. If this was the US he might well be brown bread. Like it or not we are living in a tolerant democratic society which is great but don't take the p**s. It wasn't clever or funny. Shame on you. Delete 10 Recommend Reply

artycelia   2 days ago Brexit is casting not a shadow but a rolling in, devastating storm which will buffet and then shatter the United Kingdom. Our politicians are not armed with the necessary knowledge, intuition or wisdom to carry out such a negative policy, a policy that is unsupported by half of the electorate. British politicians of all parties need to move to halt the Brexit negotiations, get the UK house in order, deal with home affairs and make the most of at least having cohesion somewhere. Half of the nation wish to remain in the EU. The British ship is off course, the Captain seems determined to go down with her ship. However for a lot of us this journey to a final destination is not over. Exit Brexit. Delete 13 Recommend Reply

Sometimes I come across such a brilliant post in The Times that I really wish I had written it myself. This post is in reply to an article by David Aaronovitch : 'Macron offers us a way out of Brexit mess.' Published online: 27/9/2017. Paper version 28/9/2017 John T   1 day ago The fact that Brits (particularly Brexiters) thought Brexit would break the EU apart shows how out of tune we are with continental Europeans. It's no surprise we can't negotiate with them. We simply don't understand them. The 2 Global wars in which Continental Europe's 2 biggest powers, France and Germany, were the crucible prompted some introspection among them both, and one of the results of that was the EU. The EU was envisaged as their way of preventing any more Verduns or Holocausts. To achieve this, national interests which could easily become nationalist fervour were supplicated to ideals of pan European cooperation. Henceforth France & Germany would coo

artycelia   I am quite dreading the speech in Florence on Friday. I hope Boris is gagged and chained while Mrs May spouts another load of silly meaningless slogans and soundbites. ' We will survive and thrive following our departure from the European Union ' 'We will continue to have a close relationship with our European neighbours.' ' We will be enjoying new trade deals outside of the EU ' 'We are stuffed, can we call the whole thing off?' Boris wriggling out of his chains yelling, 'bus, BUS, what about the BUS? ' Ho hum. I am sure the EU are shaking in their shoes. What an embarrassing mess we have gotten ourselves into.

artycelia   'The Bill, as it stands is an astonishing monstrosity.' Dominic Grieve, Conservative, Beaconsfield, gives his opinion on the EU Withdrawal Bill this afternoon. (7/9/2017) Tom Brake (Lib Dem Spokesperson, Exiting the European Union) described the Bill as 'a sow's ear, and a 'power grab' by ministers. He has deep concerns regarding Human Rights. There are concerns in The House that by exiting the EU, Great Britain will have a less democratic society than it has now. Immigration, Economic Independence, and Sovereignty are key issues. There are worries about the Henry V111 Clauses particularly Clause 7 and Clause 9.  The fact that the Bill does not deliver any clarity is another cause for concern. There appears to be a lack of safeguards in place. So, overall, it does indeed appear that The Bill, in its present form is 'an astonishing monstrosity.' To be continued.

artycelia   Surely a 'vote of no-confidence' should now be the order of the day? Mrs May's handling of the Brexit negotiations is embarrassing and damaging. There will still be a Europe across the beautiful briny sea long after the British ship has sunk but does May realise this I wonder. She needs reining in, shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted will not wash. We need sensible, fair, and levelheaded policies to lead us out of Europe. But how I wish we could just stay. Mrs May is not inspiring confidence for the future of Great Britain.

artycelia   Will the government stop spinning and telling porkies please?! There is no mandate for Brexit. There is no consensus as to what Brexit will do for the future of Britain. The referendum vote was to stay or leave. Stay with what or leave with what? Who knows or knew? Shambles. A disgrace. Politicians should hang their heads in shame. I'm all right Jack no longer cuts it. My Conservative MP is as old as Methuselah, nice house etc unable to rebel against his own beliefs. Am really fed up with the status quo. I want to stay within the EU. There than here in an uncomfortable and disconcerting Little Britain. Delete

                                                              Marilyn Monroe  "They've tried to manufacture other Marilyn Monroes, but it wouldn't work. It never will, she was an original and there will never be another."  Billy Wilder.                                               Bye Bye Baby

I watched an interesting 'A Conversation With...'  programme the other day, the guest being Nigel Lawson. (Ex- Chancellor under Margaret Thatcher)) Mr Lawson was explaining that although he backed Brexit and thought it about time we left the European Union he was at pains to explain the crucial points of policy. Policy. Policy. Policy.  He could not re-iterate his point enough.  No decision, he said was a good decision unless the policy behind it, ahead of it and by its side (my words) was well researched, strong and ultimately do-able and in the best interests of Britain. A weak policy should not be given the light of day. In my opinion, there was never ANY policy for Brexit. Although I am a Remainer I believe for the sake of democracy that Brexit is sent back to the drawing board. When (and if) a sound Brexit POLICY is written it can then be discussed in The House and The House of Lords and then ( after amendments and in full) be gi

I brought my dad back from his hospital stay today. He is 81. He has been fitted with a pacemaker. The hospital staff have been absolutely brilliant, kind and lovely. To his surprise though dad admitted that they were all ' Bloody foreigners. ' As he walked back through his front door I reminded him that without those bloody foreigners he would have been carried out of his house in a long box. He voted to Brexit. Britain, wake up and smell the coffee. Exit Brexit.

Exit Brexit. Politicians come and go. As do their egos. Britain is European. Little Britain is long gone. Wake up and enjoy your life. Strong coffee and a croissant. That's breakfast sorted. A chicken and chorizo pasta lunch. With a glass of red. Coq au vin for dinner with crusty French bread and a Fitou. Let's embrace our union rather than leave the party, empty handed, alone and bored. Only to return to an empty flat and a bowl of cornflakes.

Brexit died a death as soon as the words 'transition period' were mentioned.  They appear in every article concerning the process of leaving the EU and are pounced upon by our cousins in the EU. (Quite rightly in my opinion as the words make a mockery of the 'leaving process.') You can't 'leave' a little bit and over time. You announce the time of your departure and on that date you leave. The good thing being that once you have left you could perhaps return. Our government's dithering, hesitating ,faltering and fluctuating position over Brexit, what it actually means and when it will take place will be the death of it. 'Transition period' has been eased into the Brexit talks to replace the non-entity that was ' No deal is better than a bad deal.' The Leavers have been well and truly duped. Delete

Britain is in chaos and our politicians are to blame. The problem lies with too many 'career politicians.' We see this so much today and it must alienate a lot of voters who are struggling with every day, real-life issues. There's nothing more annoying than listening to views about the NHS, the rail service, dealing with bureaucracy, the reality of unemployment, social care etc from people who have never experienced these issues. Also, it seems to me that politicians have a mind-set that is fact based, but that's all. They are lacking in intuition, and that all important sixth sense. They simply don't 'understand' people. This was so evident in the EU referendum. People were pleased to be given a voice, but that voice wasn't really to do with our membership of the EU. For a lot of people, it was a protest vote against their personal circumstances. Their lives were hard, they wanted something to blame. And since the referendum t

The Leopards, David Davis, Boris Johnson, Liam fox and Michael Gove, the advocates of Brexit presented us with a situation where Britain would be better off both politically and economically. To adopt or even envisage the compromises necessary for agreement with the rest of the EU would be to recognise that Brexit was sold to the British electorate on a false prospectus. Far from improving the UK's position in the world Brexit can only diminish it. The Brexit choices are: Minimum change from the status quo. Maximum change from the status quo. Half-way house between the two. All of which are inferior to the present state of affairs. The Lions, Philip Hammond, Damien Green and Amber Rudd need to ROAR. Mrs May needs to admit that Britain needs to Exit Brexit , and take herself off into the long grass to lick her wounds.  The Leopards have never been and never will be the kings of the jungle. (Lions and Leopards from Rachel Sylvester: The Times)

As a UK citizen residing within the European Union can I declare a 'State of Emergency' My reasons: A really rather reckless referendum. A lot of porkies. A minority government in disarray. A total confusion on exit strategy. A Prime Minister on her last legs. A total lack of cohesion within the government. A feeling of absolute dread that my country is making the biggest mistake in its entire history. As a nation clinging onto the our membership of the EU are there ANY statutes that the EU can bring forth to change the direction we are going in? Over the edge of the cliff that is. Please Macron, Merkel etc hatch a plan and save us from ourselves. Even if it's a gracious (but long) breathing space while our annoying politicians sort themselves out. Delete

Brexit has turned into Hard Brexit or No Deal Brexit.  What happened to 'the best deal for Britain'? Why is David Davis allowed to decide that we to leave the customs union and the single market? Did every voter in the referendum know the difference between the  customs union and the single market and did they take their studious views as a basis for our future trading relations with Europe? Does it not seem unarguable that if we put between us and the biggest free market in the world new tariffs, new regulatory barriers, new customs procedures, certificates of origin etc we are bound to be weakening the economic position from what it would otherwise have been? Why are we going backwards? Why are we allowing ourselves to be so distracted by Brexit to the exclusion of what needs to be done for the future? The NHS, schools, the workplace, communities, the retired, the young, the old, all are  affected by this backward looking nonsense that is Brexi