Boy With Apple

Ed Munro, (Boy with Apple) photographed at home by his brother John.

Ed as he appears in Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel….

And now appearing in the Secret Cinema presentation of the movie.

David Wickham Photography

Premiere Premiere

Off to Paris for Ed's first film premiere. SCREAM!!!!

Boy With Apple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fg5iWmQjwk

Grand Budapest Hotel

We can barely contain our excitement! The poster for Wes Anderson's new film (featuring Ed Munro as Boy With Apple) has been released at last. A delicious cocktail of sugar and sinister it is the most tantalising thing I have ever seen. 

Brian! Cancel all plans this weekend... Never mind the silly football, we have DIY to do. I want the whole of the front of the house painted... well pink, obvs.

Official trailer coming out any minute!

Ed Plays Wembley

Stop fussing. There's going to be hundreds of kids on that stage, you'll be right at the back, it'll be dark, no-one will be able to see you, they certainly won't notice what trousers you've got on and definitely won't be able to tell whether you're wearing 'Topman Spray-On' jeans or those old things of Joe's. Get in the car, we're going to be late.

Ed (far left) with Italia Conti Boys, Wembley Arena, Voice in a Million
Probably won't even be that many people there because of all the snow...

Curtain Call

So, after six months and 73 shows to a combined audience of 98,000 Ed will step onto the stage at the Palace Theatre for the last time tonight. It's been brilliant fun and we are sad to say goodbye.

Tuesday Night Chocolate Cake

We had a day off today so Ed took full advantage, spending the day laid on the sofa, wrapped in his duvet looking up recipes. Brian and I left him in charge of the dogs while we went to Kings Cross to see a couple of art exhibitions.
Text from Ed: Get 197 chocolate cigarillos. I want to make cake. 
Tesco on Caledonian Road doesn't stock chocolate cigarillos (whatever they are) so I got a couple of boxes of Matchmakers which I thought might be a bit like cigarillos and headed home.
Ed played me the video of Lorraine Pascale's 'I Can't Believe You Made That Cake' in which she suggests that the cake is ideal for weddings and christenings but I noticed that she didn't especially advise it for after a microwave curry. Never mind, Ed was adamant, so we made it anyway. The Matchmakers are a bit long and twiggy and we regretted nibbling a few while we were waiting for it to cook - as you can see, we didn't have quite enough to go right round the edge but other than that it worked really well: I'd definitely make it again.  

Debbie Bliss Knits at Lordship Park

Debbie Bliss Luxury Collection photographed at Lordship Park

Debbie Bliss and the gang are here today photographing some of Debbie's gorgeous new knitwear designs. I watch as Debbie starts to unpack; delightful babies booties peek out from tissue paper; sparkling shrugs and gossamer dresses emerge from bags and are hung on rails; intricate cable-knit jumpers are laid over the back of the chaise-longue; exquisite pieces of jewel-coloured swatches, still on the knitting needles are casually placed on the mantle-piece. Everything is so tactile and beautiful. Sigh... And the yarns! Squishy skeins of silk and candy-floss balls of angora as soft as marshmallows tumble from bags onto the table. 

I'm itching to knit something.... I'll start with... a scarf maybe. I'm not very good at knitting. When I was seven I knitted my dad a tie. It was bright orange (well it was the 60s), had quite a few dropped stitches and was very, very long. I made him wear it to the advertising agency where he worked. 

Here's Ed when he was younger - ahhh - modelling a cosy Debbie Bliss jumper (knitted by Debbie, not me, needless to say).

  

An Italia Conti Star and Pixie Lott

Lovely Pixie Lott came here in September to have her picture taken for Bliss Magazine and the issue is in the shops today! Ed has avidly followed her rise to stardom, partly because she went to the same school as him and partly because she's so genuine, warm and seemingly unaffected by her success. She chatted to Ed and Ryan about Italia Conti and they shared a few amusing stories about the teachers - no names mentioned.

Ed Knocks Spots off Nijinsky

Text from Ed: Goin Primark after school with Mimi to get outfit for Max's party.
Me: Fine. You got money then? xx
Ed: Yeah it's 7.99
Me: Great :) x


When I get home from Pilates at 8.30 Ed is snuggled up on the sofa wearing the cutest all-in-one cow costume. Made from soft white fleece printed with irregular pale grey splodges, it has a hood with ears and cosy little booties for feet. 
"Ed! you look adorable in that baby-gro!" 
"It's NOT a baby-gro, it's a onesie." he replies, not taking his eyes off Gears of War on the Xbox.
"Well its lovely! Did you get anything to wear to Max's party?"
"Yeah, this."
"What, you're wearing that baby-gro to the party?"
"ONESIE" The cute baby cow machine guns the head off one of the Locust Horde.
"You're wearing that onesie to the party?"
"Yeah, I'm going as Dopey. I told you I was going as Dopey. Don't you remember anything? Olivia is going as Snow White and I'm going as Dopey."
"But it's a cow costume."
"You've got to dye it mauve - by tomorrow."
"Ed, that fabric won't dye. It's the wrong kind of material. It has to be cotton and that's.... well, I don't know what that is but it won't work."
"Yes it will. Try it."
"It won't. I dyed loads of fabric when I was at college and that man-made stuff never dyes properly."
"Well that was about fifty years ago. They'll have invented something new by now." 
Brian wanders in with another glass of wine.
"I rather like it as it is. Reminds me of Nijinsky in Diaghilev's production of the ballet L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune by Debussy."
Ed's scowl deepens.

The Kid Speaks

Another random screen shot from the School for Stars series on CBBC last night.

Watch the whole program here and listen to ED talking! It's what your Mac was made for!

Hackney to Harley Street

… I’d put a ‘posh’ frock on because Ed and I had an appointment in town. (We had been referred to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist to get a second opinion on Ed’s enlarged tonsil.) However, I sometimes feel that the vintage 60s little black dress and grubby trainer combo gets a little lost in translation when heading West.

The doctor has a consulting room in a magnificent building right on Harley Street. Presenting ourselves to the predictably turned out receptionist - Ed in his disheveled, old-fashioned Italia Conti School uniform and me in what might be construed as some kind of mourning get-up we suddenly felt like a pair of Victorian orphans that had wandered in off the street. Politely turning down her offer to use the lift, we ran excitedly up the grand staircase to the top floor as if arriving at the London residence of our wealthy benefactor.

It’s the same with the Volvo. The poor thing is quite misunderstood in the West End. The battered old estate is perfectly at home here amid the hundreds of other battered old estates (the car of choice amongst the large Hasidic population in the neighbourhood). Drive it into the Congestion Zone and alongside the shiny Minis, cute Fiat 500s and swanky Porsches it takes on the menacing persona of a vehicle from Grand Theft Auto V. Gesticulating cyclists fall by the wayside and pedestrians stepping out to cross the road jump back onto the pavement in fright when they see us coming. Great fun.

BTW - Turns out Ed will grow into his giant tonsil.

JLS at Lordship Park

What to wear?


At 6am it's dark. I'm hungover. From the heap of clothes on the dressing room floor I need to pull together some kind of outfit that will be suitable for whatever the day has in store.
As it turns out -
- Dropping Ed at the bus stop for 7.15
- Hoovering.
- Feeding dogs the ghastly mush.
- Walking dogs in the park.
- Helping a set builder bring a man sized cage into the house.
- Greeting a few people from the BBC, two photographers, a couple of stylists, a groomer and various others.
- Kissing all four members of a boy band at the front door.
- Ciffing pigeon shit of the UFO.
- Having a lie down.
- Whipping up some lunch for Bri.
- Raking up rotten apples and chucking them in the compost.
- Struggling with reluctant whippet who CBA to have her picture taken with JLS.
- Flicking liver treats off Marvin's trousers.
- Picking Ed up and taking him doctors to have his tonsils looked at.
- Driving Ed to Palmers Green for gym class.
- Food shopping for the weekend.
- Saying hello to bunch of weeping girls outside the house as I struggle in with bags.
- Making curry.


A 1960s black mini dress with sequin collar, pale grey cardi, Converse All Stars. 

School for Stars

The 2nd instalment of School for Stars went out tonight. Here's a random screenshot. If you can take the excitement watch the whole episode on BBC iPlayer.

A Lott of Apple Pickers Wanted

After being cruelly slashed from Respect La Diva, Ed and Ryan have decided on a career change and are trying their hand at apple picking. "Hurry up boys! Pixie Lott and Nathan from The Wanted are waiting to say goodbye to you. Get a move on!"

Respect La Diva

Ed and some of his Italia Conti mates are the backing singers in this dazzling production at the Garrick Theatre - starting tonight!!! Hurry and book your tickets now.

School for a Star :)

The first episode of the new BBC series about Italia Conti was broadcast last night. SCREAM!
Here's a random screen shot from the show...

Return of the Eddie

Sarah and Ed returned from Greece late last night. I hope Ed doesn't miss the sun and sea too much. Apparently, he got in with some Greek kids and thoroughly immersed himself in the local way of life - I don't want him moping around the house dreaming of sunnier climes....

Anyway, I think Sarah will be pleased with the way I've coped single-handedly with running a business, looking after an ever- shifting number of unruly teenagers and two mental whippets.
Now, where's the instructions for the washing machine? Oh, and where can I get my hands on some dog make-up to cover that nasty scar Enzo???

Sarah Has Been Gone For Some Time

Sarah has been doing the morning drop-off in Wimbledon this week and I've been shouldering the burden of the much more trafficky, road-ragey, cycle-dodging evening pick-up. She dropped Ed off at the theatre on schedule at 9.00 and set off on the return trip to North London. Clapham - text from Ed - 'might be finishing rehearsal early, WAIT.' She killed half an hour in Boots buying some travel size toiletries for hols awaiting further instructions. 'Finished. Come and pick me up.' Back in the Volvo. U-turn. By now the shopping destinations of Balham, Tooting Crap and Collier's Wood are rammed. The Volvo crawls along, over-heating. Much later, back in the New Wimbledon Theatre car park, Sarah and Ed while away the hours contemplating the rain dripping down the steamed-up windows.

It's about 5 hours between the end of rehearsal and call time for the evening performance. The journey home takes 2 hours, the journey back takes 2 hours so it's not worth it for 40 minutes downtime. I listen sympathetically to the distressed phone calls from the comfort of LP. I've read Arseblog, walked the dogs, tidied my desk, watched a live stream of Arsenal playing a meaningless friendly in China, walked the dogs, texted the kids at 4.30pm to get up ('we are, chill'), administered paracetamol to a hungover 18 year old and thrown 2 pizzas in the oven for Joe and Phoebe's breakfast. Time for a glass of wine.

Shit! It's Harper Seven. We're gunna be late.

It was a relief to swap the driving seat of the Volvo V60 for seat G27 in the Royal Circle of the Wimbledon Theatre for a few hours on Tuesday night. The show was out of this world. Yesterday morning at 7 we’re back in the car listening to Johnny and Lisa on Capital 95.8. I’m using a liberal sprinkling numbers alongside words here, a la Posh and Becks. Ed thinks their choice of baby name is unfathomable but at the same time it’s cast a seed of doubt as to the coolness of a straightforward one syllable/two letter name and he ponders an imaginary life with either a whacky name or Posh and Becks as parents. I daydream about how I would spend the £161 Euromillions Jackpot as we approach Elephant and Castle roundabout and head towards South West London. I’m down to my last couple of mill when we eventually pull into the car park at the theatre and Ed scoots off to the stage door. According to page 9 of the itinerary he will be in non-stop rehearsals all day. By the time I get back to Stoke Newington it’s lunchtime. There’s a text from Ed.

‘Finished rehearsals going Kung Foo Panda 2’

Brian does the evening collection. Referring to page 11, Wednesday's final curtain is at 10pm so he needs to leave Stokey at 8ish. Of course there's a text just as he’s put his jacket potato in the oven. 

‘Finishing early. Leave now.’

I’m in Abney Park, trying to get myself spooked up ready for the performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream. There are about thirty of us gathered just inside the gates. Its hard to get much atmosphere going stood next to Joe who is eating Doritos and clowning around dodging a swarm of mosquitos. It’s dusk as we are led away into the depths of the gloomy, 32 Acre (that’s a nice name for a sleb baby, but not as good as After 8 which B came up with) Victorian Cemetery. 

Review of the magical show later, when I get back from taking Ed to Wimbledon. Late start today - hope to God I've read that right.