Beatrice Barclay: The London Lookout

This is a long over due post, and many apologies to Julie who has been waiting for something to happen. I finally have something to report.

Last weekend, my boyfriend took me to a filming of the show Unsigned Acts. http://orangeunsignedact.co.uk/ This is a UK reality TV show to find the best band. Whoever wins gets a contract and a record deal.

Not knowing what to expect, I naturally went along. We arrived around noon, having "priority tickets" I thought I would be in the front row sitting next to the equivalent to Simon Cowell, unless he was there, which would have made my afternoon that much better. (Yes, I have a strange crush on Simon). We arrived at the University of London and waited in a queue with other people. Having "priority tickets" meant that we got to enter first...to a room that was a standing room. They created a set to make it look like we were at a real intimate rock concert where people would rock out.

They introduced the judges and I had no idea who any of them are. Apparently, they are well known in the UK. Then it was time for them to introduce the celebrity judge: Kelly Osborn. Knowing this was going to be a fantastic story for Julies blog, I tried to get up close and take pictures. She is actually prettier in person and not as massive as she looks on TV.

Overall, there were four bands and they were decent. Only one of them were voted to the next level.

Later that evening, as I was walking home, a fancy Land Rover was stopped at a traffic light. Now I always look into Land Rovers in this neighborhood to catch a glimpse of who it might be. Right away I saw this person and said, OMG I know who it is! It was Tommy Hilfiger. Thank goodness for MTV where I watched that reality TV show years ago about his daughter and that friend of hers. I totally reconginzed him right away. And it made sense that he was on the road I saw him on, since his store is about a 10 min drive away.

Anyway, thats the updates on London. I still have heard more Kate Hudson reports and sitings but I have yet to see her.

xx

Beatrice Barclay: The London Lookout

TWO MORE WORDS:
Hugh Grant!!

I heard another report today that my colleagues saw Hugh Grant in the same area they saw Kate Hudson last week. And lets not even talk about how many times everyone is seeing Kate Hudson.

I am going to leave you now to go look for them. Hopefully I see them and have more to report next week.

Until then....

B
xxx

Beatrice Barclay: The London Lookout

Two words: KATE HUDSON.

No, I did not see her, but apparently my colleagues did! It is Fashion Week here in London and stars are everywhere! However, as I am chained to a desk that the stars don't seem to come visit I instead live my life through others! I was so excited hearing the report. I knew my instincts were correct that there are people living in this neighborhood higher on the celebrity list than the "Weakest Link Lady".

However, some reports on Kate Hudson:

1) She is shorter than expected. Apparently she looks taller on TV. She was running through the neighborhood and looked 'short'.
2) She is gorgeous. Airbrushing is apparently not needed for her as even in her most sweaty moments of jogging she is still beautiful.
3) Even thought she is gorgeous, she had some pimples on her forehead :)

I think for lunch I am going to walk around the neighborhood staring at people that are running around :)
If you are in London, check out some of the London Fashion Week events or some of the shows at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/

Till next week....

Beatrice
xx

Beatrice Barclay: The London Lookout

In hopes to complete my A-list goals, I allowed myself to be harassed by a person in Soho to view a 'special screening' of a movie that has not been released. This woman heard my American accent last weekend and came running after me saying "Excuse me! Excuse me! Are you American?" Being very scared, I responded that I was and quickly learned that it was safe to candidly answer as the woman was only looking for someone to participate in her movie focus group. Being focused about movies (stars that is) I decided to sacrifice myself and mobile number (we don't call them cell-phones in this neck of the woods).

I think I signed something tonight that does not allow me to disclose publicly what I saw, but I will tell you it was a movie staring Eva Green. Naturally, and naively, I thought that perhaps Eva Green herself would attend this special screening to see what I have to say about not only her acting but the movie itself.

A group of us gathered in this bizarre office building in Soho. For those of you not familiar, Soho is the red-light district of London. Since we all seemed to have our 'golden ticket' at hand that allowed us access to see this movie, I was totally expecting a 'Willy Wonka' moment where some weird guy would bring us into a room and make us eat ice cream that never melts. Instead, we just waited to see this very boring film that I will not disclose the details of.

Once the film was done, I was ready for Eva Green to come and explain why she let her agent allow her to act in such a piece of trash. But unfortunately instead, I was stuck in the middle of a focus group with other Americans and some British giving their opinion of the film. Apparently, I am a minority as people thought this film was 'compelling'. Eva Green did not pop out and give me her autograph and invite me to the pub. Instead, I was informed that the film makers were in the back row and listening to our critiques of their rubbish film. Turning my head hoping that Steven Spielberg was back there, I was disappointed only see a row of no-bodies.

Another week, another miss at the A-list. But if I was near movie directors, does that count for something?

Until next time….Cheers!

~Beatrice

xx

Beatrice Barclay: The London Lookout

Another day, another dollar...or should I say another pound. This past week has flown by that I am not sure what to talk about. Well, when people don't know what to talk about in the UK, they talk about the weather. And England gives you plenty of weather topics to talk about. Let me first tell you that even though we are now in the first week of September, it is still considered summer in some parts of the world. However, not in London. The leaves are already starting to fall. They don't seem to turn those beautiful colors that they do back in the Northeast of the United States. Instead, they turn orange-brown and fall off the tree as if the grim reaper of leaves killed them in the night. Lovely thought right? Perhaps I am stuck in a bit of Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" as I think of my flower and vegetable garden at home along with the amazing autumn that occurs in the US. But it is normal to think of what was and wonder what it would be like if you were back there.

But for now, the quote by Nelson Mandela resonates in my life, "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." For me right now, this is how I feel in London. I have been here a million and one times and I speak fluent British. :) Yet, the time I spent away from London and now my life on my own again makes me realize the changes that have occurred within myself. I guess I am getting old.

This topic has become too heavy. Let me wrap this up by saying I found out where the woman from the British version of the show "The Weakest Link" lives. I pass her house almost every day after work. I haven't seen her yet, but she has a beautiful London home. I wonder if I did see her, what I would do.What should I ever say to her if I see her taking the groceries out of her car? She is certainly on Kathy Griffin's D-List when it comes to celebrities, but she is still a celebrity. I wonder if anyone has ever ran up to her door, rang the doorbell and said, "No, YOU are the weakest link!!" That would be fun, or juvenile, depending on what mood you are in now after reading my own life reflection above. For now, I leave you from London knowing I have not found my A-list yet, but we have at least started to hit the D-list...

Beatrice Barclay: The London Lookout

As I write this from my bijou flat in the Royal Borough, I am
reflecting on the week that was by sipping a glass of chenin blanc,
waiting for my quiche Loraine to finish cooking so that I could sit
back in a warm bubble bath infused by coconuts and shea butter. But
enough about how I like to de-stress from my very important job, let
me tell you how I am working on completing that list of goals
mentioned last week....

This week, I have seen 103 Range/Land Rovers, 102 Mini Coopers, 79
Mercedes, and 5 BMWs.. The other types of cars such as a Ford Focus or
VW Golf do not matter in this neighborhood. As you can imagine, every
time I see a car that is worth the same amount I spent in two years of
my undergraduate education, my head will do a double take wondering
who is in there and if it is someone from the big list, what will I
do? So far, I estimate that I might have seen three no-name
celebrities. How can I tell? One woman was dressed in fancy clothes,
and was making an effort to look hidden. Last time I checked, it was
really hard not to stick out when you are wearing head to toe Channel.

After leaving the theater the other evening, a few friends and I went
to out for dinner in a section of London that is notorious for
celebrities partying in these clubs. Most of the paparazzi pictures
that you see, come to this area, well except if they are looking for
Amy Winehouse and then they go to the crack house and I don't know
where that is in London. But I digress. As we were walking to a place
to eat dinner, we passed a club where all of the sudden a pack of
paparazzi appeared and started following this woman into the club. I
was not ready for this situation. And really, what should one do when
they are in this situation? Should I stop and stare? I wasnt prepared
to suddenly see flashing bulbs and movie cameras following this
person. Unfortunately the person was not recognizable. I even lacked
the motivation to fight down the 7 foot 3 tall bouncer and find out
who it is. (who thought that the UK had big and tall bouncers). So
noticing the paparazzi, being intimidated by the big bouncers and
still trying to look "cool" I decided I would walk by like I didn't
care....whether I do is up for debate...

XX
Beatrice

New Weekly Installment: Beatrice Barclay: The London Lookout

Hello out there internets-
A very good friend of mine just moved to London for work, so I have asked her to do a weekly piece for all of the WTF-ers out there. Look for Beatrice here on WTF Have I Done every Wednesday!

Enjoy!
Or should I say... Cheerio!
***********************************************************************************


I have been hired for a job that you should not expect me specify
publicly about. All you should know that is I am working legally in
the UK and I am responsible for some really important stuff. In
addition to this job and making sure that everyone is safe, there are
a few personal goals I have developed while I am here. One is stalking
celebrities.

Now I am not one for being star struck. In fact, even if I ever met a
celebrity I would probably be turned off. There are a handful that I
could get star-struck about, Chris Martin, Bono, Vaclav Havel, and
Tony Blair. The last two would be very difficult to stalk and could
actually get me into serious trouble in some circles. In fact, I
should really just stop using the word 'stalk' as it reminds me of
that creepy man just arrested for stalking Uma Therman.

So let me re-phrase, I will be "looking" for celebrities. Not in a
paparatzi way, but more in the "Ooooh I am walking in London and
look...there goes Madonna and Gwyneth!" And, as I really don't have a
game plan once I see M&G go walking back to their Kensington flats
from an intense pilates workout carrying bottles of blessed water from
some Himalayan village that pe-ons like me will never drink, I do
think it will come in handy some day at a cocktail party. In fact, I
think most random events in life are meant to be the ultimate cocktail
party story...but that is for a later blog in time...

For now, my weekly guest spot here, will discuss what actually happens
while walking about London-town "looking"...at the locals...

~Beatrice Barclay