All in the Mind

You might be forgiven for thinking that we Anti-Room ladies are obsessed with childish crushes. We’ve talked about the shameful crush (nothing, absolutely nothing, will beat my friend J’s childhood love for Paul Daniels). We’ve talked about role-dependent crushes (hello, Don Draper!). And now, my friends, we’re going to talk about one of the most [...]

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It’s A Mad World

This is a spoiler-free post: Mad Men, the drama series about ad men on Madison Avenue in the early sixties, is probably the most written-about show on the planet right now. So here’s just what you need – another post on the subject. The second season has just kicked off on BBC4 but I finished [...]

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Revoking your crushes or ‘How Giovanni Ribisi broke my heart’

I think it’s fair to assume that all of us have crushes on famous folk. Some, of course, are more predictable than others. Brad Pitt and George Clooney are obvious choices, and there’s the whole ’scarlah’ spectrum of our crushes of shame. Erotomania sufferers aside, none of us are delusional enough to think that [...]

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TV Heaven, Telly Purgatory

Question: how to you react when you hear everyone banging on about a new and much-hyped TV programme? The type of shows, say, that turn people into heinous YouTube bores at house parties? If you’re anything like me, you’ll run straight in the opposite direction of it all. Given that every cat, dog and divil [...]

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The Ex Factor

Just before Christmas, on a night out with some friends, I found myself in a pub I haven’t been in for years. Unsure as to whether I had arrived before my mates, I wandered the length of the bar to see if they were lurking in a darkened corner. The pub was a blur of [...]

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Crushes of Shame

We’ve talked about hot girl crushes, we’ve talked about role-dependent crushes, but now it’s time to talk about the crushes that dare not speak their name. Yes, the crush you know is wrong, wrong, wrong (or, to put it more accurately, embarrassing) but can’t help it. The men or women you know aren’t really attractive [...]

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Advice on men and career from Joan Rivers

It’s a bank holiday and I’m in work; how is that fair? Stepping briefly away from the accounts I’m supposed to be wading through this morning, I came across this interview with Joan Rivers. Ah Joan Rivers, how I love thee. The first time I saw Joan Rivers live I went into a laughing fit [...]

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Movie and TV men – illusion versus reality

On this lovely Monday morning (it’s July, it’s actually sunny, what gives?), I’m looking for a little help with a definition. I’m not quite sure what to call it, but for now let’s loosely dub it “Man in certain role syndrome”. It all started way back when the first Lord of the Rings film appeared, [...]

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