Latest news with #Nineties
Mail & Guardian
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Mail & Guardian
A super Cooper by Mini — but is it too expensive?
The fifth generation Mini Cooper I have blurred memories of the Mini 1275e that my parents owned back in the Nineties and the early 2000s. All I remember is that my mum piled up her students in the back to give them a lift to and from her tuition. To get an image of what that looks like, you might have to picture Mr Bean putting a few passengers in his Mini. That Mini cost my parents R2 500 back in 1991 and, when they eventually let go of it, they were able to sell the car for R6 000. If only we could buy cars for R2 500 now. If only we could make a profit on vehicles after piling on years of mileage. Thirty-five years on, it costs 238 times the price to get into a brand-new Mini Cooper. For those who are bad at maths, that means the new fifth-generation Mini Cooper starts at R595 000. If you need the five-door variant, it will set you back R617 000 and the Mini Cooper SE, which is electric, is rather reasonably priced at R802 000. At an entry price of just under R600 000, I was expecting big things from the little Mini. The exterior For starters, Mini has never lacked style. This one does not disappoint. The front has a striking grille that ties into the headlights well. The headlights also have a very cool animation and wink at you when you unlock the vehicle. The daytime running lights run around the oval-shaped headlights and it just looks distinctive in every aspect. The three-door Cooper sits on 17-inch black alloy wheels that add to the stylish exterior. The brand has also built itself by making vehicles customisable. For example, I had a bright yellow version on test with black alloy wheels, a white roof and white exterior mirrors. Mini is the one brand that could tie those colours together and make it look fun. The rear of the vehicle is just as exciting as Mini has brought a completely new design to it. The weirdly shaped triangular tail lights are connected by a black strip with the 'Cooper' lettering across it. Ultimately, the exterior of the vehicle embodies fun and gives you an idea of what the vehicle is about. The interior The interior of the fifth-generation Mini Cooper amplifies the message you are given on the outside. Once you jump in, you are greeted by a superb leather and cloth interior. Majority leather on the seats means that the driver and passenger are comfortable. For those wanting to squeeze into the back, the room is very limited — that's why I used the word passenger in the singular above. It is a three-door, so I did not expect much room for backseat passengers. The boot space is also very tight. After a short experiment, I realised this is not the vehicle to take on your monthly grocery shopping trip. The boot isn't able to take more than exactly three Checkers packets. The dashboard gets some lovely cloth which has ambient lighting projected through it. For me, this was aesthetically pleasing but also subtle enough to not be distracting. Unlike most vehicles with their large rectangular screens, the Mini Cooper has a circular screen that is 240mm in diameter. That screen has all your driving information, so you don't get an instrument cluster. It is a touch odd to not have an instrument cluster, because there's nothing behind your steering wheel, but Mini has taken a minimalist approach and decided to just push everything into that one screen. The infotainment system can be changed to different experiences: Core, Go-Kart, Green, Vivid and Timeless. The Timeless experience set the infotainment screen into an elegant and classic format with an analog clock that made me feel like I was back in that Mini 1275e again — but with some technology. The car just gets more unique as the stop-start button is shaped like a key that needs to be twisted to start the vehicle. The gear shifter is also tiny and placed under the infotainment screen next to the stop-start button. That timeless experience: The mode that took me back in time in the new Mini Cooper The drive I was surprised by the drive. For a small vehicle, on the poor roads we have, it was exceptionally smooth. Mini has given the Cooper a three-cylinder 1.5 litre turbocharged engine that delivers 115kW of power and 230Nm of torque. This was more than enough power to get you by. In a vehicle this small, those numbers are impressive. There was also no turbo lag and the car gave an instant kick whenever you needed the speed. Because the car is so tiny, and has a good amount of power, it is really fun to drive. Navigating bendy roads becomes exciting and it's the type of car that makes you want to drive it all the time. The new tailights really bring the back of the Mini together Safety The 2025 Mini Cooper E has earned a five-star safety rating from both the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) and its counterpart the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (Ancap). Euro NCAP tests show it achieved an 89% score for adult occupant protection, 85% for child occupant protection, 77% for pedestrian protection and 79% for its active safety systems. It also has safety features such as automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and parking sensors. Blind-spot monitors, rear cross-traffic alerts, lane-departure warnings, rear automatic braking and an exit-warning system are optional. Verdict Easy to park, fun to drive and with great manoeuvrability, the Mini Cooper is a gem on the road. The exterior and interior both embody the fun nature of the car and it has a personality that very few manufacturers can match. And, while it is no longer the Nineties, where you could purchase a car for under R10 000, the hefty price tag of R595 000 is just about the only downside of this little vehicle.
Daily Mirror
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Phillip Schofield joke branded 'sick' as it's cut from TV show
The Power of Parker returns to the BBC this week for another hilarious series - but star and creator Sian Gibson has revealed that some '90s references had to be cut From the Queen's annus horribilis and John Major as prime minister to Depeche Mode storming the charts, The Power of Parker is taking us back to 1992 for its second series after two years off our screens. The BBC sitcom sees Conleth Hill return as down-on-his-luck businessman Martin Parker, who is out of a job after losing his electrical goods store over an affair with Kath (Sian Gibson) - the sister of his wife Diane (Rosie Cavaliero). While the series fully embraces the early Nineties, star and creator Sian admits that there are some references that had to be left in the past. 'We did have one joke about Diane saying that her ideal man was Phillip Schofield,' she says. 'But that went because it's sick isn't it?' The disgraced TV presenter, who left This Morning two years ago after an affair with a younger male co-worker, didn't get a mention in the end. However, Sian and her co-writer Paul Coleman did include a few figures who happened to make headlines this year. 'Gene Hackman - we didn't know he was going to die,' Sian says. 'And we didn't know Daley Thompson was going to be on Celebrity Big Brother.' We last saw Martin turn up on the doorstep of his mistress Kath after he was believed to have perished in a fire at his shop. Now two years on, Martin is living with now-girlfriend Kath and desperate for a job after Diane ran him out of the family business - now new and improved after the blaze. 'We left it on a cliffhanger thinking that the BBC will want to know what happens,' Sian admits. Conleth is lacing up his cowboy boots once again to play Martin - but reveals that his family weren't too impressed with the character when the first series aired. 'My older relatives didn't like him because he was an adulterer,' he shares. 'I based him on a mate of mine back home who wears cowboy boots and suits. When he doesn't, he looks like a dumpy middle-aged man but transforms in the suit and cowboy boots,' he admits. 'It's just something about the choice of 'I'm going to give myself a couple more inches' in the boots that I liked immediatley.' Martin is at 'his lowest' at the beginning of the series, but resorts to his old manipulative ways as the series progresses. 'It's just self preservation at all costs. He'll betray the woman he used to love and betray the woman he currently loves just to save his own skin,' Conleth says. 'There's something liberating about playing somebody that selfish.' Conleth wasn't the only star in dodgy Nineties fashion however, with Sian and Rosie sporting 'flammable and tight' clothing and bouffant heads of hair. 'The hair took ages,' Rosie says. 'We would get in the chair for about seven or six in the morning and then the rollers would stay in for ages.' Sian adds, 'I wore a very tight red dress and I said to Rosie at the fitting, 'I can't wear this, what can I do?' Rosie said, 'You're a comedy actress, you can't be vain.'' Meanwhile, the huge high heels proved to be dangerous for Sian. 'I slipped over for real in front of 70 supporting actors, all male over the age of 60,' she admits. 'I fell by Rosie and Steve [Pemberton's] feet. They burst out laughing. It went right up my coccyx to my head. Everyone tried to act concerned. All day, all these old men kept asking if I was OK.' BAFTA winner Steve Pemberton returns as Martin's former business partner Sandy - who joins forces with Diane and turns out to be a chauvinistic nightmare. The Inside No. 9 star and co-creator admits that working on someone else's project for once made for a rewarding change. 'It feels like play to me because I'm not thinking about the schedule or the scripts or the casting. I'm just enjoying myself,' he says. 'That's genuinely why I said yes - I thought I'm going to really enjoy going back up north. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't very good.' Sian adds, 'I'm always nervous when I send the script to you. I'm like, 'Steve, just say what you want!'' Happy Valley 's Bob Costigan plays the role of Diane and Kath's dad Dougie - whose storyline was inspired by Sian's own life. 'We didn't want Diane and Kath to row over Martin anymore and me and my sisters row over my dad - who does the most, who went to see him the week before,' Sian says. 'We tried to bring a bit of that into it. I feel now we're all of a certian age where our parents are a certain age and that's another challenge you have in life. Maybe you have children and older parents - it's the juggle with all of that. That's the one thing that hasn't changed since the '90s.'
New Statesman
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
Why I'm falling for East 17
Illustration by Charlotte Trounce We seem to have chosen just the right moment to move to Walthamstow. The week before we got the keys to our new flat at the end of August last year, the area's only cinema – closed since the previous summer – reopened under new ownership. Next, in March, the Times named E17 the best place to live in London. Getting 'Stay Another Day' stuck in my head every time I write my postcode seems a fair price to pay for such heights. Then, last Friday, the new outpost of Soho Theatre, the confusingly named Soho Theatre Walthamstow, opened. It's not often that a PR invite lands in my inbox that I actually want to say yes to, but a long-anticipated opening night a ten-minute walk from my flat? It was an easy yes. The site has been a cultural landmark since 1887, when a Victorian music hall opened there. The building that now exists opened in 1929 as a cinema, and was often frequented by Alfred Hitchcock, who was born in the borough (though too late, sadly, for William Morris, our other famous alumnus). Later, it operated as a music venue, hosting the Beatles, the Who, the Rolling Stones and Buddy Holly. In 2003 the building was bought by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, but they were unable to get planning permission, and it fell into disrepair. Various groups campaigned for it to be restored and reopened as an arts venue, and in 2018 the council acquired it and announced that Soho Theatre would operate it. We missed all these years of hard work by local activists, swanning in at the last-minute for the rewarding part. But still, seeing the buzz on the street on opening night, I felt pride for my little corner of London. For our first six months of living in the area, the theatre was boarded up and, save for the odd glimpse through a door left open by a workman, we had no idea what lay behind. As it turns out, what lay behind was an opulent baroque theatre, which, at 1,000 seats, proffers a new sort of comedy venue for the capital: far bigger than Soho Theatre's Dean Street home, but far smaller the Hammersmith Apollo. The opening-night show, Weer by the LA comedian Natalie Palamides, is a piss-take of Nineties comedies, in which Palamides plays both on-off lovers over the course of their three-year relationship. When her right-hand side faces the audience she is Mark, with a plaid shirt and a brooooooo-ish drawl; her left is Christina, in alarmingly low-rise jeans and a G-string pulled up to her waist. It's an extraordinary feat of physical comedy; Palamides, at various points, runs into herself, snogs herself, tries to revive herself after a car crash. It's clownish, explicit, and fearless. There are a lot of in-jokes – knowing nods to the duality of the performance; references to Notting Hill and The Notebook – and some truly hilarious audience participation (though perhaps I'd feel differently had I been called upon to pretend to dance in a club on stage). Those roped in are generally good sports, though Palamides has to petition three audience members before one will deliver the traditional 'discovering he's cheating' voicemail. I am all ready to go, should the mic be pointed in my direction: 'Hey baby, I had so much fun last night. You left your pants behind…' There's also a lot of nakedness; I keep waiting to get used to the fact that Palamides has her boobs out for a considerable chunk of the show, but the moment never comes. After a high-energy 80 or so minutes, Palamides gives an emotional thank you and the whole room stands to applaud, and I find myself moved that this space could mean so much to so many, as I often am by collective demonstrations of emotion. I never really wanted to move to Walthamstow – leaving Islington was a financial necessity more than anything. But I'm getting to know it, growing to love it, more each day. Here's hoping those drawn out to the end of the Victoria Line by our very own Soho Theatre don't feel the same, because house prices are bad enough as it is. [See also: The solitary life of bees] Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related
Top Gear
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster Driving, Engines & Performance
Distract yourself by holding down the glass starter button. The V8 catches after a teasing starter motor whine and idles with an expensive, brooding rumble. Where Ferrari flat-plane crank motors blare at idle, and McLarens drone hoarsely, the V8 sounds like it's quaffing super-unleaded like a well-lubricated sommelier. Which button to press first: Engine Start or roof down? The Roadster's top-folding mechanism is impressive: swift and quiet, though the ugly clasp where the roof tensioner hooks on looks a bit Nineties. Also, when the roof is down, there's an unsightly gap around its final resting place. A sort of moat we'd worry would fill with dried up leaves and rubbish. That should be flush, surely? By twisting the (oddly stiff) collar around the starter button, you cycle through the modes: Wet, Sport, Sport+ and Track. There's also an Individual option to tailor your personal faves. But (like the coupe) the Vantage has a high baseline of aggression and never really deviates from it. And if your only previous experience of a drop-top Aston was an Eighties Vantage or perhaps a DB9 Volante, which tended to shiver like ice cubes had been tipped into its seat pockets, then it's good news in the latest Vantage Roadster. Even on challenging roads the windscreen doesn't shake. No embarrassing chassis groans as you park up. At speed, the cabin is rippled with a pleasant breeze, not attacked with a category-five hurricane. Wasn't expecting that, given the teeny wind deflector and lack of rear buttresses to block the turbulence. Not quite. Aston has reworked the rear suspension settings for the Roadster and even changed the transaxle gearbox mounts to rein in the mass, but you can sense, when uncorking that mighty engine, that the car is struggling to multi-task. Encounter a bump while applying the power and it'll snatch for traction, taking one-and-a-half movements to settle before totally regaining its composure. This means you can't just slap the pedal to the carpet in a binary, point'n'shoot sort of way. Full power is something to build up to. If that's frustrating to you, then buy a 911 Turbo. If it isn't, you'll enjoy the naughty sense of occasion. Torque is what defines driving the Vantage. There's just so much oomph to lean on. You can almost sense the wheels twisting inside the tyres at times. And that's what papers over the Vantage's occasionally haphazard traction. Or the still-too-slow gearbox, which treats commands from the downshift paddle as optional. Annoying if you're chasing tenths. But when you've got a tactical nuke under the bonnet, you only really require third. Will I care that the engine is turbocharged? No, because this is one of the most characterful engines still in mainstream production. It cackles and rumbles, it bellows and gargles, and yet it manages to have a zingy top end that's worth occasionally spinning up for. Only for the noise – there's so much torque you could upshift at just 3,000rpm and still be home from work early. Does the handling feel dumbed down? Because of that nagging sense the rear axle isn't brilliantly tied down, the Roadster has lost a step on the coupe. This is an observation rather than a deal-breaker. In the old days no cabrio was anything like as nice to drive as a coupe version. These days, a select few manage it. Aston's getting close, but you can sense there's been a compromise made. What impedes the Vantage from true greatness, on a British road at least, is its size and visibility. Too much of the former (that width looks fab but it slaps cats-eyes everywhere it goes) and too little of the latter. The scuttle (the dashboard height) and tall shoulderline make what ought to be the wieldiest Aston tricky to place. And because there are no 'humps' in the front wings to sight the front axle, it's impossible to place the nose with precision. Luckily, the steering is reassuring to lean on (though why Aston still offers three steering 'weights' is beyond us, just choose one already) and the car has phenomenal lateral grip. Keep the dampers in their softest setting and it's an excellent seven-tenths car. Take it beyond that with the eight-stage traction control ratchet and, well, you've been warned.
Scottish Sun
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
‘I can feel the blisters' shoppers cry as River Island is latest high street store to jump on ‘painful' 90s shoe trend
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HIGH street favourite River Island has become the latest shop to jump on a 'painful' Nineties shoe trend. Clips from inside one of the London-based retailer's stores show that it now has a full range of jelly shoes - including flip flops, sandals and ballet flats. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 River Island has become the latest shop to jump on a 'painful' Nineties shoe trend Credit: River Island 4 Bosses at the fashion giant dubbed the range 'ideal for sun, sea and sand' Credit: River Island Bosses at the fashion giant dubbed the range 'ideal for sun, sea and sand' in an Instagram post. However, not everyone shared the sentiment, with some fashion critics saying they 'can feel the blisters through the screen'. 'They cut our feet to bits in the Eighties,' one shopper commented. 'I won't be making the same mistake 40 years later.' Another joked: 'My heels developed blisters just looking at this post.' A third said 'the foot rub is real' when it comes to wearing jelly shoes, while a fourth sarcastically remarked that they would be in 'blister heaven'. Among River Island's offerings is Mary Jane-style jelly shoes for £25, jelly flip flops for £18 and jelly ballet pumps for £25. There's also the iconic caged jelly design up for grabs in translucent brown or pink for £25. Jelly shoes truly made their mark in the Eighties thanks to a brand called Jelly Shoe, which later rebranded to Melissa Shoes. The brand mass-produced the now-famous kicks made from soft, flexible PVC plastic in bright colours. Such sandals were marketed as a fun and carefree footwear option which were easy to wear and clean, and a cheaper alternative to leather sandals. The trend faded out of favour in the late Nineties as fashion tastes changed, and the shoes started being regarded as childlike and outdated. Jelly shoes had a small comeback in the 2010s thanks to Gen Z's growing interest in Nineties and early Noughties fashion. And now, fast forward to 2025, they're back with a vengeance. Everywhere from Primark and River Island to Kim Kardashian's apparel brand SKIMS are flogging them. Fashion critics had the same fear of blisters when they saw clear glitter caged jelly sandals being sold in Primark. 4 Jelly shoes had a small comeback in the 2010s thanks to Gen Z's growing interest in Nineties and early Noughties fashion Credit: River Island
