Business Not As Usual...

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Does 2020 have a re-set button?! Asking for a friend...

Assassinations and abdications aside, watching the Australian bushfires unfold have left so many of us feeling completely overwhelmed, hopeless and, besides being able to make donations, utterly helpless. I have felt unable to continue à la ‘business as usual,’ whilst knowing that over a billion animals have perished in the fire’s path, and many species are now hastening towards extinction.

After spending last week beating myself up over this uncharacteristic lack of chutzpah, and feeling unable to rally, I’ve decided however, that perhaps a ‘business as usual’ mentality is not actually what is needed from me, or any of us, right now - because let’s face it, ‘nothing changes, if nothing changes.’ What’s clear is that we need to hold ourselves and our leaders to a greater responsibility for the well-being of our planet... None of us have been, or indeed are, perfect, but let’s all agree that by making more sustainable and less polluting choices in our daily lives and businesses, we can all be and do a helluva lot better... Now is definitely the time, friends.

*To donate to the Australian emergency and rescue services, please see HERE.

Australian Bushfires - How Can We Help?

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My heart is breaking over the footage I’m seeing from Australia. 14.6 MILLION acres of land has so far been destroyed (that’s the size of the of Belgium and Haiti combined), 480 MILLION animals have perished in this catastrophic fire’s wake (including 30% of New South Wales Koala population), countless homes are gone, thousands of people are stranded and at least eighteen people have died, including several volunteer firefighters... And this is all before we’ve even reached mid-January/February, when the Australian bushfire season typically peaks.

How can we help the emergency relief and recovery efforts, even from afar?

Please consider donating to the following;

Australian Red Cross

Wires Wildlife Rescue

Australian Salvation Army

Food Bank Australia

Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

NSW Rural Fire Service

Country Fire Association of Victoria

South Australian Country Fire Service

My thoughts are with all the exhausted, heroic firefighters and volunteers battling these fires, and hoping they can stay both strong and safe.

Climate change is here and its impacts are only going to get worse, unless we act now, together…

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UPDATE (12.01.20)

Scientists from the University of Sydney had estimated that 480 million animals would be killed by the current bushfires, however, with the extended range of the continuing blazes, they have updated that figure at more than ONE BILLION animals. I don’t know what to say…

Best Of London - Chris O'Dowd

31 year old Irish actor Chris O’Dowd is used to playing affable nerds and the sweetest of slackers, becoming well known for his role as the hapless Roy in The IT Crowd and for playing Simon in 2009’s ‘The Boat That Rocked.’ This summer however, Chris was catapulted into the ‘Leading-Man-Eye-Candy’ category when he played Officer Rhodes in the whopper blockbuster hit ‘Bridesmaids’ - eclipsing seasoned screen hottie Jon Hamm by a mile.


Taking some time out from being swamped with marriage proposals (to say the least) via Twitter from swooning women all around the world, Chris shares with us some of his London favourites;

My Pint – A pint and a whiskey in the Toucan in Soho with my best mate, Jamie.

My Date Night – With my beautiful lady friend, Dawn, at a French place called La Brasseriein South Kensington.

My Sunday Brunch – We host a roast at our place in Bermondsey for a big bunch of our mates 2/3 times a month.

My Building – I love the Art Deco Tesco headquarters on the M40 on the way to Pinewood.

My London Shop – I love the stuff A.Sauvage makes. Sweet, classic suits with an African twist.

My London Extravagance – High tea at The Dorchester. Nothing quite like it.

London's Best Kept Secret  I really like L'Entrecote just off Marylebone High Street.

My London Icon (Past or Present) – Richard Harris. I loved that he spent his final years livin' it large in The Savoy...

Below: A recent picture on set of 'The Sapphires' in Australia. Set in 1968, four young, talented Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship and war when their all girl group entertain the US troops in Vietnam.

Below: With Meghan Fox and Jason Segal on the set of the Judd Apatow's new film, 'This is Forty' which follows Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd‘s 'Knocked Up' characters. Chris says, “it’s an in-depth look at relationships, marriage and parenting in this kind of post-boomer generation."

Follow Chris (or tweet marriage proposals) @bigboyler