What’s scarier than receiving post written in cut-out letters, ransom-note style?
Nothing ups the shudder ante more than when said message spells out one of the most chilling of quotes from the Hitchcock horror classic Psycho, in which Mr Norman Bates talks about his dear old mother.
So thanks to TFT for such a suitably dark invite to its Halloween party, complete with mysterious brass key and keyring attachments. Diary is just relieved it wasn’t a serious threat, which would have been out of character from our friends at TFT. But then, we all go a little mad sometimes…
The astonishing Shard
Diary has noted before how the Shard is increasingly prominent in blockbusters, supplanting established rivals such as the Palace of Westminster and the London Eye as Hollywood’s go-to symbol of our capital. And now the same is true of comic books.
Marvel’s new Astonishing X-Men sees the mutant heroes fighting to spare London from evil menace, Shadow King, with the Shard towering above all. It’s a fair bet the X-Men will save the city, but the Southwark landmark doesn’t go unscathed. Indeed, as battle rages, one of its iconic glass walls soon ends up, ahem, in shards.
Eerily familiar
Imagine moving into a new house to find a box of animal skeletons, a collection of shed tarantula skins or even a group of dolls with their eyes removed… These are all among the creepiest items found in new homes, according to interiors specialists Hillarys.
Diary readers may find something familiar about this, because in getting into the Halloween spirit, Hillarys has raised an old survey from the dead. Back in April, the focus was on the strangest items – including taxidermy beavers and nail clippings – but the firm held back the creep factor for late October.
Nothing like digging out some extra Ouija boards from your poll findings to make a topical news hook.
Hey Jude!
Allsop auctioneer Gary Murphy is a master at commanding the room. But Diary hears that at a recent performance on the rostrum, he was upstaged.
No shame in that, as the one to whom all eyes turned was none other than Jude Law, making a less-than-subtle early exit from a charity auction.
As the two-time Oscar nominee hurried to catch a flight to New York, the man with the gavel resumed his own award-worthy performance, and all for a good cause too. He wasn’t selling homes but lots in aid of the Lyric Hammersmith’s fundraising gala, raising £46,000 towards the gala’s total of £125,000.
Perhaps Law was rushing off inspired to bring the high-drama world of the auctioneer to the silver screen – might we suggest “The Talented Mr Murphy”?
The dream team
However phenomenal your success, there is always room for unfilled ambition. So it goes with starchitect Lord Norman Foster and the former mayor of New York and founder of the eponymous data business, Michael Bloomberg.
Speaking at Bloomberg’s new European HQ in London on Tuesday, the latter acknowledged that some had perceived a tension between him and Foster. “People said that working on this building was a billionaire who wanted to be an architect and an architect who wanted to be a billionaire,” he said. “Well, we made a great team.”
Foster retorted: “I’ll never escape that one.”
Economy all at sea?
How do you explain something as intangible as the performance of the London office market? Almacantar’s Jonathan Evans, looking at a sea of faces in a conference room, chose to cast a very descriptive sailing metaphor.
With eyes on the economic horizon, he described the market as a well-tuned vessel in choppy waters, speaking on an EG panel at MIPIM UK. “You’ve got a good ship; you’ve got to refit the sails. It’s getting choppy, but it doesn’t mean it stops. It’s tougher, it’s windy, it’s a bit miserable and wet, but we will get through it.”
