Dear Readers,
Good afternoon and welcome to Off The Fence, a newsletter, thank you very much. Issue 17 is out and about, in stores all over the world. And Issue 18 is being sent to design this very evening. So it’s ‘all go’ around here.
As we mentioned last time out, we’ve got a competition going. It’s very simple: the jazziest snap of Issue 17 will win a prize: a bottle of Bollinger Champagne from Fortnum and Mason (paid for by us, not sponcon). And we’ve had some fantastic entries this week: Josh Mcloughlin has plucked the heartstrings of the ‘cat cabal’ on the editorial team by pairing the mag with a feisty tabby; Alex Fleming-Brown has been sowing confusion on the Golborne Road; John Conway is having a lovely time in Umbria and we love this snap from Jayne Manfredi, who’s having a ‘trulli’ special time in Puglia. And James Outram is in the pub and we’ve even had a snap on Instagram, too, from Octochaz – the guy’s on a train.
So please keep sending these snaps through and you will be in with a chance of some absolutely delicious Champagne. Now, if you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do so here, and we would love to have a few more of you in the hutch. And if you’d like to get in touch with us about an order, you can do so by emailing subscriptions@the-fence.com.
Right. We’ve got a shortish newsletter today as we’re finishing the magazine. We’ll go longer next time!.
What Does Emily Ratajkowski Think About?
The world’s most beautiful women have been writing books. Why do they need to write books, some people say. Do they even really read books? Does it matter if they do or not? Is it wrong of us to wonder if they do or not? Jo Hamya has put together a zippy feature on the tensions between brains and beauty, and it’s available to read here, for a short while longer.
Meet Me At 180 The Strand
Every three or four months there is an article that you can recommend to anyone – practically anyone, at least. Anyway, everyone who reads this newsletter will be mustard keen on Air Mail’s bizarro story from the London art world, where a youngish man called Amar Singh, who has made a name for himself championing women artists and LGBT causes, seemed to have been tricked by his Swedish girlfriend, who has the attentions of a number of other men of significant means. But not everything is as it seems. Stay for the triple twist at the end – it’s Patricia Highsmith meets The Usual Suspects for a 2023 audience. It’s that good!
Congratulations to George Pendle and Hannah Ghorashi for landing a slam-dunk of a story about the London art world, an infuriatingly cloistered community who are terrified of speaking to journalists (unless the hacks are going to run a puff piece about them). Now, we hope that will change. We know of at least one more Ripley-like figure on the Mayfair gallery scene.
Those Glittering Prizes
In a very surprising and pleasantly shocking turn of events, the editor, Charlie Baker, has been nominated for ‘the editor’s editor of the year’ award by the British Society of Magazine Editors, which is a pretty serious thing. And, would you believe it, but today is Charlie’s birthday – 35 years of age. No longer young! It would make this no-longer-young-man pleased as punch if we were to get 10 new subscribers today. Sign up and make him happy.
Sexxxxxyyyyyy Arbre
You probably know that Hampstead Heath is a place where gay men meet for casual sex, and has been for decades: it’s the Old Trafford of homosexual intercourse, probably the most famous cruising ground in the world (read all of this back in Jeremy Clarkson’s voice, if you’re not doing so already). But did you know that, within the Heath, there is a tree that looks like it’s being bent over? Its name? The Fuck Tree.
Yes. And people meet there. Yes. A quick fuck at The Fuck Tree. Somehow, this astonishing bit of London lore has been kept relatively secret by the gay community. To elucidate our readership with only the finest intel, we thought a respectful piece of gonzo journalism was in order, so dispatched Bron Maher to NW3.
In Case You Missed It
Tom Parker Bowles asks why Pret is so damn expensive.
In a truly great example of the ‘oh yeah that guy’ genre, Emma Madden tells us what came next for Jason Russell, the charity activist behind the Kony 2012 campaign.
Andreas Babst takes us inside the luxury hotel run by the Taliban.
Gus Carter embarks on a journey to scatter his father’s ashes on the Santiago de Compostela Camino trail.
Ian Penman excavates the enigmas of Lou Reed.
And Finally
We’re not the first publication to highlight this – there are adverts on the tube for Lord’s sake – but we are pretty pumped for the BFI’s celebration of the films of Powell and Pressburger, which kicked off yesterday, and goes a little bit beyond screening the classics. There are reissues. Remastered films. Blockbuster exhibitions. It all looks amazing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZetKbMvEFs
So many mouth watering highlights to look forward to, and it’s great to see The Archers celebrated on a national level, and no longer being a niche concern. This South Bank special from 1986 captures the time – the decades – when the films of P & P were dusty archival concerns. It’s held up beautifully and we commend it to you now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUCpQkq2NCk
That’s it for this week. We’ll be back with a longer outing next Tuesday, and look forward to joining you then.
All the best,
TF