'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote

‘In Cold Blood’ sets a precedent as a seminal piece of non-fiction drama through the thorough and dangerous investigation carried out by journalist Truman Capote.  The book follows Capote’s own exploration into the savage murders of the Clutter family, killed in the small, quiet town of Holcomb, Kansas, in November 1959.

With no clues and no apparent motive for an horrendous crime in which the parents and two children of the same family were tied up and shot in the head with a shotgun from point blank range, the case was investigated but subsequently closed following a lack of information. Capote’s ceaseless probing into the case eventually brought the two perpetrators to justice five years later, and consequently two men were hanged at a gallows at Kansas State Penitentiary in 1964.  

This mesmerising book is a true masterpiece in non-fiction storytelling and Capotes attention to detail brings the peaceful, loving, Clutter family to life in a truly harrowing way. Through countless interviews, diary entries and obsessive detail collection, Capote is able to reconstruct the Clutter family and the lives of the two murderers. He recounts that 16 year old Nancy Clutter would religiously comb her hair one hundred times each night, the scratches and scuffs of Dick Hickock’s ominous black ’49 Chevrolet sedan and the shocking red blood on the walls of the Clutter house.

‘In Cold Blood’ works so well contrasting the happiness and innocence of the Clutter family with their eventual sad and disturbing demise but also shows the pathetic and miserable murderers in a way that it is difficult not to be moved by Capote’s poignancy. The portrayal of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith is interesting in that the two drifters were not quickly condemned as vicious killers but truly represented as the confused, violent and disturbed characters that they were. This is perfectly pieced together and relived with Smith’s desperate attempts to cover his tracks from his father and the old man’s sad realisation, when it dawns on him what his son has done.



Truman Capote

The distressing case became an obsession for 35 year old Capote who himself was so disturbed by ot that he felt he must make sense of the brutal killers and the mind-set of the two men. Eventually interviewing the men regularly, his final discussion with Perry came on the day of his execution, five years after the robbery that went wrong and ended in homicide. The route to Mexico and eventually back into the US that the men took after the crime is captivatingly written but also highlights the pathetic, miserable and vulnerable lives that the men led. They initially both claimed the murder was carried out by the other, but the truth eventually emerges after some exploration by Capote that summarises a book that went past the details of a thorough police and FBI investigation, and into the lives of a small town community in rural Kansas and the minds of two killers; one dangerously disturbed and the other weak and pathetic.

Keep Right On 'Til The End Of The Road

Birmingham City football club have played over 60 games in all competitions this season so far and will hopefully end on a total of 62 matches. By the time Barcelona play the final of the Copa Del Rey on 25^th May they will have played 61…part timers.

Despite a lacklustre start to the campaign, the Blues quickly got into their stride and despite huge losses in both personnel and financially with the arrest of chairman Carson Yeung, have had a fairly good season with particularly impressive displays against Leeds and Milwall. Having played more games than anyone else in the league they still managed a remarkable run in the FA Cup holding eventual winners Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge and forcing a replay at St Andrews. Hovering within the play-off places for the majority of the season most Blue Noses were fairly pleased to finish 4^th after having lost £20million worth of talent after relegation.

Truth be known The Blues are rather lucky to still be in with a shout tomorrow as they should have been punished in the first leg for what can, at best, be described as a defensive performance last Friday.  Although Marlon King should have equalised right at the death, the Seasiders could have finished us off and hopefully they will rue those misses. If Birmingham win tomorrow they will play West Ham in the final of the playoffs at Wembley on 19^th May after they beat Cardiff 3-0 over their two legs. 

 

At this stage of the season it is all down to fitness and fight. Though Blues are a team that pride themselves on their drive and desire to win every game with West Ham having played 10 games less this season let’s hope the legs don’t go and have still got the energy for another 90 minutes. Let’s also hope those Blues boys aren’t eating from the clubs catering facilities outside their Wasts Hill training ground!

Travelodge announce the Opening of new Ealing hotel

Budget hotel company, Travelodge, yesterday announced the opening of a new 99 room hotel in the heart of Ealing town centre. 

The 5000 square foot hotel, which has cost the hotel company £6.9 million, opened its doors yesterday for the first time and has received mixed feelings from the local community.

The planning application received by Ealing Council in July 2009 for a new six storey building on Uxbridge Road was passed three months later and work began to expand the growing portfolio of hotels that budget firm Travelodge has both inside and outside London.

Despite the recession the hotel firm, which started out with just one hotel, has announced this year that it will be building 35 new hotels both in the UK and Spain creating 700 new jobs as a result.

With an investment of £300 million to develop the new sites this year alone, the chain famous for its ‘cheap and basic’ ethos, is boosting its empire to 495 hotels and 35,841 rooms. In another sign of success the chain has also increased its growth targets to 1100 hotels and 100,000 rooms by 2025.

Travelodge Chief Executive, Guy Parsons, said, “The hotels we built have been a result of Travelodge’s commitment to expand during the recession whilst many companies put their developments on hold”.
Despite the new jobs and business the venture will bring to Uxbridge Road and Ealing on the whole, some residents are dubious of the multi-million pound hotel.

Amin Saied, 23, of Queen Anne’s Rd, said, “I personally feel that it is yet more evidence of London sprawling out of control. One of the reasons I moved to Ealing was that it still held some peace and quiet, but more and more over the years we are losing that”.

Asked whether he thought the hotel may have a positive effect on local area he listed an increase in drunken behaviour and littering as potential negatives adding, “Locals won't be gaining anything from the hotel, we all have houses here. All we get is more people passing through”.

Ealing Travelodge

West London District Manager, Muhammad Munan, explains that the new site on Uxbridge Road will be beneficial for the whole community, even helping to decrease unemployment within the community.
“We contribute a lot to the economy by creating more jobs in the area and work with the local ‘Job Centre Plus’ returning the long term unemployed people back to work which makes a massive difference to people’s lives and their confidence.”


Munan added, “We always get a warm welcome from the community. Travelodge is a well-known, trust worthy brand so the local community feels proud if a Travelodge is being built in their area.”
The hotel that opened yesterday in Ealing adds to the list of hotels the budget firm is opening around London in time for the 2012 Olympics, including Bromley, Harrow, Vauxhall and Olympic Park venue Stratford.

Brasil, Ó Pátria amada!

Criciuma Skyline

During a recent visit to the old mining town of Criciuma in South Brazil, I was introduced to the delicious world of churrascaria and the mystery of the gauchos.

Not to be mistaken for the culinary zeitgeist that is Gaucho restaurant, the way of the Gaucho is Brazil's very own cross between America's Cowboy and the British Shepherd. A quiet, tranquil, nomad existence meets the men who travel on horseback, up and down the Southernmost tip of Brazil in Rio Grande do Sul state in search of better grazing and finer chimarrão. (Chimarrão is a potent tea-like drink, actually made from infused yerba mate leaves, the real theatre comes in the specially designed gourd from which it is consumer and the traditionally preparation rituals).

Modern Day Gaucho

Chimarrão

If in Brazil one thing that simply cannot be missed is the local churrasco rodizio. Imagine a never ending supply of tender spit roasted prime steak, of a quality quite unlike anything you have tried before. This is brought to your table at a rate that is impossible to keep up with and all washed down with a cold crisp skol beer or sweet and refreshing caipirinha....oh I should add this is not for vegetarians, strictly meat lovers.

Churrasco Rodizio

    

Rio de Janeiro Skyline

As well as visiting one of the most naturally beautiful cities in the world, Rio de Janeiro, I feel it is my duty as a temporary Catarinense to inform you of the beauty and spirit of Brazil's wealthier south. The Santa Catarina state capital, Florianopolis, is already well known to world superstars Beyonce and Sir Paul McCartney, as well as the high earning Brazilian elite, but luckily still remains a secluded haven free from Western influence.


The city of 420,000 inhabitants is an island, connected to the mainland by the magnificent Hercílio Luz which although no longer used still maintains its title of one of the most recognised landmarks throughout Brazil and the symbol of the island. It boasts some of the best beaches in the country attracting surfers from all over the world, even attracting swathes of Argentine and Uruguayan tourists in the summer months.

Hercilio Luz Bridge

Box 32 Restaurant inside Mercado Publico

   Mercado Publico, at the heart of the old town is located near the port and boasts an unchartered maze of seafood restaurants all positioned within an open plan two storey market that showcases wonderful Portuguese architecture. If, by any chance, you find yourself there one day you simply must order a whole tilapia and a fish stew, both the food and cheap price will blow your mind.

Mercado Publico, Florianopolis

Huts Off To Two Inventive Shepherds

Staging something of a comeback, a shepherd’s hut sits peacefully in the field. Meadow grass gently tickling its underbelly, the quaint little hut looks at home and is certainly the talk about town since its sudden rejuvenation over the past few years.

Once considered an old relic, an almost fictional object used in a more idyllic time by shepherds to watch their flocks day and night. The old huts, most of which lie discarded and decaying in hedgerows or corners of fields are back and stronger than ever before.

The huts, that feature in many of Thomas Hardy’s novels detailing the hard yet beautiful life of everyday people within 19th century Dorset, were once a familiar sight and have been found to date back as far as the 16th century during the reign of Queen Elizabeth1.

The hut that once signified a hard, and at times harsh, life of work and frequent upheaval has had somewhat of a “facelift” and is now a firmly countryside must-have, having reinvented itself as a luxury item, not to mention a savvy business venture.

Usually timber framed with cast iron wheels and clean cut stylish interior, the huts really are fit for any purpose, from office to music rooms, therapy room to children’s playroom.

Phil Jones, of Goodlife Shepherd’s Huts, says that the opportunities aren’t limited solely to personal and private use, “The huts really offer a niche angle to many different forms of business. We have had interest from all sorts of people, from B & B owners to music tutors to beauticians. Many people do their sums and realise that our huts are cheaper than an extension and much less hassle as they generally don’t require planning permission”.



The huts, that follow exactly the same design as the originals, come fully insulated, equipped with a small wood burner, access to electricity and oozing nostalgia. Jones says that he puts the recent flourish of popularity down to changing attitudes towards the countryside. “Rural England is a beautiful place. I think over the last 5-10 years people have really started to get back to nature and cherish our wonderful outdoor spaces. What better way to do that than in a traditional yet modern and comfortable piece of rural history”.

Lovely Old Deer

Why go?

If you get tired of the city then you can take solace in the fact that there is a place close by that offers a break from the metropolis’ aggressive, humdrum of activity. Whether made by man or machine the clamor drives many of the most hardened city folk to Richmond Park on a weekend and never is it more beautiful than on these cold autumnal mornings. Nowhere else in Britain can claim to have two more different landscapes juxtaposed than Richmond in Surrey. The 2,360-acre park offers a diverse range of grassland, heath, wood and copse all grazed by a six hundred strong group of red and fallow deer.

During  autumn the red stags and fallow bucks are rutting to attract females, often bellowing their low intimidating roars. Occasionally they are followed by a clash of antlers, a sight and sound that is not only spectacular and mesmerizing but also illustrates the sheer bulk and power of these usually docile animals.

It’s not just the deer that attracts the wildlife lovers to the park but the large array of birds, butterflies, fungi and small mammals. The presence of the endangered stag beetle is a particular coup for the parks hard working team of ground staff and conservationists.
 

Originally the park served as a hunting ground for Charles I when he fled the plague in London to live in Richmond Palace in 1625, and today many of the roads through the park follow the original paths. These roads connect all the different areas and buildings within the grounds, most of which offer a completely ulterior perception of it than the last. Pembroke Lodge is particularly worth a visit offering a ‘wow’ inducing view of Ham and the Thames twisting east towards the city, from King Henry VIII’s Mound. Or, if it’s still light and legs aren’t getting too tired try the Isabella Plantation, a beautiful tranquil woodland created after world war two, gated and with a small stream running through it, it really carries a magical aura.
 

Outside the park are some lovely little river communities that are well worth a visit. Ham and Richmond have a village feel about them but still manage to offer all the conveniences that most visitors would expect; with shops, theatres, pubs and beautiful little coffee shops, most of which can be found down Richmond’s small cobbled alleyways. If the park has worn you out, why not let a boat do the hard work and take a trip upstream from Richmond St. Helena Pier. A leisurely ninety-minute sail will take you to Hampton Court Palace, an astonishing residence, last occupied by the royal family in the reign of George II in 1760, but built over five hundred years ago by Henry VIII in 1514.

Stay:

Richmond is full of wonderful hotels but due to it’s fabulous location the Richmond Gate Hotel cant be overlooked. Right on the edge of the park this luxurious four-star hotel really has everything. With a two AA Rosette restaurant and private leisure club, complete with swimming pool and spa you can wander around the park safe in the knowledge you will be thoroughly rested in the evening. Another pleasant place to stay is the privately owned Petersham Hotel. Beautiful and traditional accommodation on the side of Richmond Hill, it is renowned for its English Country house feel but with all the practicality of a modern hotel.

Eat:

Pembroke Lodge, within the park itself has a lovely little café that serve hot drinks and delicious cakes, but the real crowd puller is the view, it’s always busy when the weathers nice, and for good reason. Gaucho Grill, in Richmond is one of only a few restaurants that can boast a river view. It’s great for eating outside, has a stylish interior and excellent food, particularly it’s steak. Or, for a slightly cheaper option why not go for a traditional pub lunch at The Britannia down Brewers Lane. Located just off Richmond Green this little pub can be found down a small alleyway offering everything you would expect plus the added bonus of an outdoor area at the back.

A local secret:

As you wander through the park don’t be surprised to hear a high pitched shrill and a flash of green coming from way up in the trees. Ring-necked Parakeets, usually native to the foothills of the Himalayas have come to make Surrey, and more particularly Richmond Park, their home, the RSPB estimate their numbers to be around 50,000.