Literary Icons: Richard Colburn's who and why

 Richard Colburn is the drummer for Belle and Sebastian.

1. Who is your ultimate literary icon and why? My literary icon is Christopher Rush. He was born in the Fife fishing village of St Monans in 1944. He read English at the University of Aberdeen, and taught English in Edinburgh for 30 years. His semi autobiographical A Twelvemonth and a Day was published in 1985 and was selected as one of the 100 Greatest Scottish books ever.

A Twelvemonth and a Day was also made into a film in 1988, Venus Peter. He has twice won Scottish Arts Council Book Awards, and was short-listed for the McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year.
I'm obsessed with where I live(east neuk of Fife). It's completely magical. It's a group of five fishing villages within a distance of around ten miles along the east coast of Fife. All the villages have harbours, and they specialize in different catches. It's very reminiscent of Cornwall. They are ancient villages, and they have special powers.
Christopher Rush wrote a few books on growing up there in the 1940s and 1950's. When you read his books, he makes you believe you're there, like every good writer should. Every character is real, and still alive. He gives the places an Alice in Wonderland quality. His writing is very poetic, and very dreamlike.

2. If you could emulate the style and pastiche of any character in literature who would it be? Francis Begbie, from the book Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh.

Two minute book review...

 ...from my friend Anna Whatley's Twilight-themed birthday party in Brixton. The lovely lady is an actress and is reading the fourth book in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn (naturally). She said: "I don't know where to start - it's just amazing. There are lots of twists and turns and it is just a fantastic story. It's good to see how it turns out with Edward and Bella and how it all ends. All four books are just really good."

After two vodka jelly shots with eyeballs in, I was a bit scoofed and had a grand old time. Everyone was dressed in suitably vampiric attire and Anna had decorated her flat with lots of Twilight-esque touches such as red apples and massive pictures of Robert Pattinson's head.

Sadly I didn't have fangs so just bared my teeth for most pictures. Looking at this one of me and my friends Jo and Kelly now, I'm not sure this was the best idea...

Erb Thai Spa comes to Urban Retreat

A quick note to say Erb Thai Spa has launched at Urban Retreat in Harrods. At the press event yesterday, I experienced the Body Revival massage and it is quite incredible. I've had some bad massages in my time - to name one - at quite a famous spa - in which the therapist told me it was my fault her pressure was too hard. But this was divine. I was a bit stressed at the time because my little sister thought she had went into labour (false alarm, poor little mite is still carrying her soon-to-be son) and it was just the ticket. Also, the oils smelled so lovely I was complimented all night last night while drinking too much red wine in London Bridge. Erb Thai Spa at Urban Retreat. Go.

Tried and tested: SPC Active Facial Glow

You know you're somewhere deserving of its five stars when you show up rained on, with a rash on your face, and the doorman still looks delighted to see you. Technically, the poor fellow should have shielded his eyes and asked me if I was lost. But I was at the Baglioni in Kensington, and such behaviour would just not do. They were so nice to me you'd think I was Princess Bea. Or at least a Geldof.

Anyway, I was there to visit the spa which now offers treatments and products by the divine Stoke Park Club also known as SPC. Formulated by and for the Buckinghamshire hotel and spa, the range for the face and body is made using rose, kiwi and ginger to name but a few ingredients that leave your skin looking marvellous and smelling delicious.
I had the SPC Active Facial Glow treatment and it certainly did what it said on the tin. As mentioned, I arrived with a rash on my face. I can't explain how this happened, it is a mystery. All I know is that, as a very vain person, I was not pleased. A rashy face does not an attractive lady make.

 After explaining my distress to the understanding therapist, she told me to relax and not to worry - lots of people get rashy faces and anyway she would fix it. And that she did.
The facial is a deep cleanse and exfoliation followed by lymphatic drainage and a facial massage to reduce puffiness. The therapist then performs a relaxing scalp massage while a face mask gets to work.
Being practically narcoleptic, I was asleep for half of this. However, the parts I was awake for were blissful, and waking up the following day, the rash had disappeared. Just. Like. That.
Amazing facial, gorgeous products and a beautiful spa.

Budapest spa experience: Part 2

After an afternoon spent in genuine Hungarian baths, we decided to indulge ourselves and go somewhere a little bit more luxurious: Omorovicza.
This spa, found in Budapest's Andrassy Ut, is a little beauty. With its sparkling chandeliers and marble floors, you instantly feel like you are somewhere special.

I had the spa's signature facial while Sonia read Vogue from every country and continent (the relaxation area is AWESOME if you are a magazine fan) and the results were impressive.
Both deep cleansing and relaxing, the spa's eponymous products got the city grime off my face and the Hungarian massage performed by the very skilled facialist put me straight to sleep.

Following this, Sonia and I admired my newly fresh-looking skin and headed for a walk along the Danube, where I considered abstaining from alcohol for the rest of our trip after two purifying spa trips...

 ...but there were more cons than pros to this idea so we made our way to Szimpla Kert (too-cool-for-skool bar where people sit in empty bath-tubs) to drink all of the Hungarian wine. There were smiles all round.

PS. We saw this gorgeous little book stand on Erzsebet. Sadly, all of the book were in Hungarian or German and neither of us can speak either. Still, just another noteworthy little charm in the city of Budapest.

Budapest spa experience: Part 1

On a recent sojourn to Budapest, my first port of call was the public baths. Now, I've heard some pretty stomach-churning stories about these places. Stumble into the wrong one, and you may be faced with scarily poor levels of hygiene. Find a good one, and you will stay in that much-populated water for the duration of your trip.

The one we found was a combination of these two categories that, thankfully, veered more towards the latter.
The Szechenyi Baths was the first thermal spa on the Pest side of the city and opened in 1881. Found at the end of Andrassy Ut, the main draw of this facility is the large open-air heated pools and fountains.
When we visited last Friday, it was minus three outside and the prospect of hanging out in a bikini was not really appealing to me.
However, once you get over the freezing cold dash from the changing rooms to the water, those five minutes risking hypothermia are completely worthwhile.

Heated to perfection, the baths contain  fluoride and metabolic acid, along with calcium, magnesium, hydro-carbonate, sodium and sulphate. According to the Hungarians, this combination is effective at curing degenerative illnesses of the joints.
While I don't have any of those, I was pretty stressed out when I arrived in Budapest and two hours in the Szechenyi sorted me out a treat. If you can get over the many amorous elderly couples floating past (my friend Sonia thought they were married couples still in love, I suspected this was a location famed for affairs - with neither of us speaking Hungarian we'll never know who's right), the outdoor baths are a joy.

 The indoor ones feel a bit like human soup and the smell was too much for my weak stomach. The saunas are undoubtedly good for the skin, followed by a good scrub down with ice chips from the ice fountain.
But bear in mind you are most likely to be thigh-to-thigh with generously proportioned Hungarian men. I'm okay with such proximity, but Sonia lasted 90 seconds before fleeing to the open air. Like her, you may find the winter climes preferable.
www.szechenyibath.com/

How to get The Literary Look: Part 3

And so, after quite a lapse, the next Literary Look has been decided. The character of Tess from the 1891 book Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy will be the next How To.
Now, before purists get offended and exclaim she would have been a bit of a hag, all things considered, we will be creating her look pre-being screwed over by Alec D'Urberville (swine) and Angel Clare (spineless - the real villain in my opinion).
Lovely make-up artist Heather White, assistant director of make-up artistry for Daniel Sandler, will be detailing how one gets the perfect skin and blush of a rosy-cheeked country maid.

Fairy Tales revisited (Carter, not Christian Anderson)

Given the title of this post, you would be within your rights to assume I'm getting into that revisiting your childhood trend that's capturing Shoreditch at the moment. I wish. Sadly, I overdid it with Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson as a child and they have nothing left to give me.
Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales, on the other hand, are back on my reading list following a five-year hiatus. After buying the book for my flatmate earlier this week, I started reading the collection of stories again, and my, are they good.
A radical writer and fierce feminist, Carter is better known for The Bloody Chamber and The Magic Toyshop. But in my opinion, her fairytales are sharper and skew the archetypal female character from this genre so often blamed for encouraging little girls to dress up as brides rather than brain surgeons.
The tales are inspired by folklore of countries across the globe and feature rogueish maids, enchantresses and bad, bad girls. Rescued princesses do not have starring roles because more often than not, the female is at the sinister epicentre of the story, rather than playing the poor victim part.
Don't get me wrong - I wanted to be Thumbelina as much as the next little girl in my childhood. But as a 26-year-old woman, I'd rather be one of Carter's rascals.

Trapeze artists, Fyfe Dangerfield and Wings of Desire: The enchanting Secret Cinema

Last night I attended one of the best events I've been to since moving to London four years ago. This post veers slightly off the books and beauty theme, but it was so so fun it would be criminal not to write about it.

For those who don't know, Secret Cinema is a film, music and fancy-dress monthly clandestine event held in unlikely locations across London. Attendees receive emails throughout the month with clues about what the next film will be and are given slightly esoteric direction on how to dress.

Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire was screened last night and the dress code was 1980's Berlin bohemia. Wearing heavy eye make-up, red lipstick, a mink hat and black and gold lace dress, I felt less like a tired Londoner and more like a pixie with questionable sense of style.

The night kicked off with circus-style performances, before lovely Fyfe Dangerfield sang a few numbers accompanied by two violinists. A trapeze artist flew through the air in a bejewelled leotard, while an opera singer in a dramatic ballgown showed off her enviable pipes. The film, which was ripped off by Hollywood when it was turned into City of Angels1998, was magical to watch. The cinematography was beautiful and the female lead, Solveig Dommartin, had an incredible perm. Also, it featured a young Nick Cave (best Australian EVER) and the Bad Seeds, which alone would make the night a good one.
The bar area had been turned into a 1980s Berlin dive and a live cabaret act played until the early hours.

Dancing the night away, my friends and I noticed there were a lot of cool cats at Secret Cinema and took some pictures just for you...