http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/nicky-darling-deborah-ross-pins-down-nicky-haslam-britains-busiest-social-butterfly-1814675.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/nicky-darling-deborah-ross-pins-down-nicky-haslam-britains-busiest-social-butterfly-1814675.html ]]> <p>When I first call Nicky Haslam, the interior designer and fervent man-about-town, to arrange a meeting he says: "Shall we do dinner at The Wolseley?" "Yes, please," I say, "great." He then calls back and says: "I've booked, dinner at nine." "Great," I repeat, even though what I'm actually thinking is: nine? Nine? Heavens to Betsy, who on earth has dinner at nine? Seriously, this is my first thought. This is how old and boring and fusty and stay-at-home and washed-up I am. Heavens to Betsy, I even say "Heavens to Betsy" which no-one in their right mind says anymore. But nine? Who does go to dinner at nine? Only young people, I initially suppose, and Nicky Haslam, who is 70, but works so tirelessly at being young that it would be unspeakably cruel to exclude him. </p> Profiles Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-skin-singer-42-1814690.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-skin-singer-42-1814690.html <p> <b>My parents were ... </b>fun-loving, very strict, very Jamaican. My dad was in the Air Force and then worked on oil rigs. My mum was a nurse before she took a position in local government, working in the environmental department. </p> Profiles Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/michael-haneke-bleak-house-1816596.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/michael-haneke-bleak-house-1816596.html ]]> <p>For a film director who demands quite so much of his audience, and even more uncompromisingly of himself, it has taken the Austrian director Michael Haneke a long time (20 years to be precise) to gain the Palme d'Or at Cannes, that quintessential approbation of the art-house auteur. But then maybe, like Martin Scorsese's long wait for an Oscar, it isn't so surprising. Haneke is a director who challenges but he does not satisfy; his ever so precisely organised films grip you with their remorseless catalogue of pain only to leave you unrelieved at the end either by resolution or even explanation.</p> Profiles Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/lawrence-dallaglio-england-have-had-no-strategy-since-we-won-the-world-cup-1815575.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/lawrence-dallaglio-england-have-had-no-strategy-since-we-won-the-world-cup-1815575.html ]]> <p>Lawrence Dallaglio ambles out of the room, checking the messages on his mobile phone. A couple of minutes later he returns. "About all that England stuff..." he says and then pauses. This zealous communicator, a happy chewer of the fat, for once does not have the words immediately to hand. "I'm a patriot," he states after a moment, and shrugs. "All I want is to see England doing well."</p> International Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/infamous-hecklesand-some-ruffled-responses-1815365.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/infamous-hecklesand-some-ruffled-responses-1815365.html ]]> <p> Hecklers. Those gloriously irreverant types who like the sound of their own voices so much that that they feel everyone should listen to them. </p> <p></p> <p></p> Profiles Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:53:10 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jack-dee-the-bbcrsquos-populism-is-no-joke-1814131.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/jack-dee-the-bbcrsquos-populism-is-no-joke-1814131.html ]]> <p>Dee. That's dee for dour, or dee as in dry and deadpan and, yes, droll. But not dee for dresser. "The snappiest dresser in comedy," Esquire magazine once said of Jack Dee, which is to entirely miss the point behind his act. </p> Profiles Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/charles-clarke-you-ask-the-questions-1813210.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/charles-clarke-you-ask-the-questions-1813210.html ]]> Profiles Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-duncan-macmillan--jamie-cullum-1811035.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-duncan-macmillan--jamie-cullum-1811035.html ]]> <p> <b>Duncan Macmillan, 29, is a playwright and director. His play Monster won two Bruntwood Awards at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, where he went on to be writer-in-residence. In 2008 he was Pearson Playwright at Paines Plough theatre company in London, and his work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. He lives in south London</b> </p> Profiles Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-boy-in-the-corner-why-is-will-young-in-therapy-1811049.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-boy-in-the-corner-why-is-will-young-in-therapy-1811049.html ]]> <p> There are certain things that strike you when you meet someone famous. In the flesh they are, invariably, fatter, thinner, taller, shorter, uglier, prettier than they look on telly. Will Young? Much, much fatter. So huge, in fact, that it's impossible not to do a double-take as he emerges from behind a rail of clothes in his dressing-room.</p> Profiles Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ryan-giggs-a-humble-genius-the-man-who-is-the-very-heart-of-united-1812841.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ryan-giggs-a-humble-genius-the-man-who-is-the-very-heart-of-united-1812841.html ]]> <p>When Manchester United completed their historic treble in 1999, it was Ryan Giggs's miscued shot in the Champions' League final that set up Teddy Sheringham for the dramatic saving equaliser. When Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a stray boot across the Old Trafford dressing room in a fury, drawing blood from David Beckham's face, it was Giggs standing rather anxiously next to his friend, then helping to drag him away from the manager. When Rio Ferdinand missed his drugs test, who else was chosen to provide a specimen and could have saved a lot of trouble – and saved the League title from slipping away that season, he believes – by reminding his team-mate of their appointment? It is not only since moving into centre midfield that Giggs has been at the heart of United's footballing fortunes and everything connected with them.</p> Premier League Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tricky-ive-found-my-calling-its-helping-the-youth-1812779.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tricky-ive-found-my-calling-its-helping-the-youth-1812779.html ]]> <p>For much of the past year, Tricky has been in Paris exercising a little philanthropy. Sitting in the living room of his city-centre apartment on a bright October afternoon, and inhaling deeply on the kind of cigarette one doesn't find in the local newsagent, he nevertheless cuts quite a different figure to the trip-hop maverick whose 1995 album Maxinquaye is frequently hailed as one of the decade's best (it's re-released this month). In fact, he can't keep the zeal from his voice.</p> Profiles Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-alice-cooper-singer-61-1810970.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-alice-cooper-singer-61-1810970.html ]]> <p> <b>My parents were ... </b>the best. They totally understood what I was doing with the whole Alice Cooper thing, even when I started at the age of 16. They understood my humour. </p> Profiles Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-suzy-gale-1812302.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-suzy-gale-1812302.html <p> <b>Monday</b> </p> <p> I'm the office manager for my husband Roger Gale, Conservative MP for Thanet North, so I drive 15 minutes to the office in Birchington between 6.30 and 7am. </p> Profiles Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/king-of-new-york-michael-bloomberg-1812297.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/king-of-new-york-michael-bloomberg-1812297.html ]]> <p>The slight fellow a few seats to my left had a marooned, almost woebegone look about him, hunched up against the cold in long coat and knitted ear-warmers. As a new president was being sworn under a January blue sky before us, all manner of private thoughts may have been burrowing in his brain like, "I should be at the Bermuda house improving my swing right now" or "That could have been me up there".</p> Profiles Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/first-person-i-am-a-modernday-witch-1810972.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/first-person-i-am-a-modernday-witch-1810972.html ]]> <p> I was raised a Catholic, but had a variety of spiritual influences as a child. My grandmother was a follower of "Theosophy" and my father was into UFO spotting, so I was always aware of other belief systems. For many years, I didn't have my own faith. I didn't feel that Catholicism was the right spiritual path for me, as it is too male-dominated, and I couldn't find a more appealing alternative. </p> Profiles Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-haye-im-not-looking-forward-to-all-that-matted-body-hair-and-sweat-1811533.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-haye-im-not-looking-forward-to-all-that-matted-body-hair-and-sweat-1811533.html ]]> <p>David Haye has wanted to become world heavyweight boxing champion since he was seven years old, living in an 18th-floor council flat in Bermondsey, south-east London. A week tomorrow in Nuremberg, south-east Germany, he finally gets a shot at a version of the title. Standing squarely between the 29-year-old and the realisation of his long-cherished ambition, however, will be the WBA champion, Russian giant Nikolai Valuev, 7ft 2in and 23st of solid, hairy and, according to Haye, not particularly sweet-smelling flesh.</p> Profiles Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-phill-jupitus-1810841.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-phill-jupitus-1810841.html ]]> <p> <b>Phill Jupitus, 47, is a regular on BBC2 pop quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He played the first record on BBC 6Music and is a frequent guest on BBC1's QI and The News Quiz on Radio 4. This week he joined the cast of the musical Hairspray at Shaftesbury Theatre, London.</b> </p> Profiles Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/simon-calver-the-next-big-thing-in-movies-1811060.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/simon-calver-the-next-big-thing-in-movies-1811060.html <p>North Acton is an unlikely outpost for Hollywood. Yet in a West London business park, in headquarters filled with film memorabilia, Lovefilm is plotting its rise. A life-sized model of Indiana Jones cracks his whip next to the reception desk, while Kung Fu Panda aims a kick at visitors. The walls are plastered with stills and quotes from iconic movies from The Godfather to Jaws. The office is a vibrant reflection of an online DVD rental company that has leapt from 100,000 subscribers to more than a million in four years – one that hopes to more than double its customer base by 2014 and is set to launch an online service direct to television screens. </p> Profiles Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/jamie-oliver-takes-on-americas-fastfood-culture-1810361.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/jamie-oliver-takes-on-americas-fastfood-culture-1810361.html ]]> <p>On his first day in Huntington, West Virginia, Jamie Oliver spent the afternoon at Hillbilly Hot Dogs, pitching in to cook its signature 15lb burger. That's 10lb of meat, 5lb of custom-made bun, American cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo. Then he learned how to perfect the Home Wrecker, the establishment's famous 15in, 1lb hot dog (boil first, then grill in butter). For the Home Wrecker Challenge, the dog gets 11 toppings, including chilli sauce, jalapeños, liquid nacho cheese and coleslaw. Finish it in 12 minutes or less and you get a T-shirt. </p> Features Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/talent-show-contestants-that-are-so-bad-theyre-good-1810331.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/talent-show-contestants-that-are-so-bad-theyre-good-1810331.html ]]> <p> Hang on, someone said talent shows like X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent are designed to find talent. Well, actually it seems they’re designed simply to entertain and that much of the British public is prepared to vote for their favourites on the basis of laughability rather than skill. </p> Profiles Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:39:12 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/theresa-may-you-ask-the-questions-1809451.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/theresa-may-you-ask-the-questions-1809451.html ]]> <p><b>Since 1997 everything has been taxed, including employment, effectively at 12.5% through employer's national insurance contributions. How will your party, when elected, address this problem and reduce unemployment and from where will you replace revenue lost from any reduction in the direct and indirect tax on employment? </b></p> Profiles Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-bob-flowerdew--trevor-baylis-1807367.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-bob-flowerdew--trevor-baylis-1807367.html ]]> Profiles Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/frankie-boyle-fierce-fearless-and-expletive-deleted-funny-1808992.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/frankie-boyle-fierce-fearless-and-expletive-deleted-funny-1808992.html ]]> <p>Frankie Boyle doesn't give a flying... If you're familiar with the angry Glaswegian comedian best known for his fierce rants on BBC's satirical current affairs show Mock the Week, feel free to add your own expletive. But he wants you to know that he doesn't give one: not about his career; the human race or the controversy over his comments about the young Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington. In fact, the only thing he admits to caring about at all is his young family.</p> Profiles Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-the-man-who-met-his-match-with-murray-1809033.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-the-man-who-met-his-match-with-murray-1809033.html ]]> <p>Given that they were born just a week apart, perhaps it should be no surprise that Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have matched each other rung for rung in their climb up the tennis ladder. Long-term rivals from their junior days, they earned their first senior ranking points within a fortnight of each other in 2003, broke into the world's top 100 within three months of one another in 2005 and reached the top 10 within one month of each other two years ago.</p> Tennis Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-giles-deacon-fashion-designer-39-1807343.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-giles-deacon-fashion-designer-39-1807343.html ]]> <p> <b>My parents were ... </b>and always have been incredibly supportive of what I do. I'm very lucky. </p> Profiles Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/claudia-schiffer-its-only-on-a-shoot-that-i-become-sexy-1807355.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/claudia-schiffer-its-only-on-a-shoot-that-i-become-sexy-1807355.html ]]> <p>in an age where airbrushing rules supreme, we no longer expect celebrities to actually look like their magazine or screen images. It comes as a strangely reassuring sort of surprise then, when Claudia Schiffer looks, well, just like Claudia Schiffer. For a start, she is so tall that tilting my head to look upwards at her face feels like staring up at one of her billboards. Then there is her skin: taut, unlined, and as creamy and pale as a panna cotta. Her cheekbones are arched and cat-like, her eyes a bright ice-blue. Her long, thick blonde hair is straight out of a Timotei advert – it's the kind of thick, shiny mane that men want to tousle, and schoolgirls want to plait.</p> Profiles Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/in-her-life-sam-taylorwood-1808429.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/in-her-life-sam-taylorwood-1808429.html ]]> <p>Sam Taylor-Wood says her earliest memory is of dancing naked on her grandmother's table singing "Sugar, Sugar", aged about five. It's an image that could be considered the first work by the artist, now 42, whose whole life has turned out to be something of an extended performance piece.</p> Profiles Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-wayne-hemingway-1808434.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-wayne-hemingway-1808434.html <p> <b>Monday</b> </p> <p> I'm working on a project called Vintage at Goodwood, which is the biggest start-up we've done since Red or Dead. It's a music, fashion and lifestyle-led celebration of creative British cool. </p> Profiles Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/sir-jackie-stewart-unstoppable-scot-puts-his-foot-down-1807444.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/sir-jackie-stewart-unstoppable-scot-puts-his-foot-down-1807444.html ]]> <p><i>HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Royal Hashemite Kingdom, Amman, Jordan</i></p> Profiles Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-broadcaster-jeremy-vine-1806673.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-broadcaster-jeremy-vine-1806673.html <p> <b>Jeremy Vine, 44, left 'Newsnight' to take over the Jimmy Young slot on Radio 2. He is a presenter of 'Eggheads' and, also on BBC2, 'The Teaching Awards 2009' at 6pm on Sunday</b> </p> Profiles Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tom-alexander-orange-boss-heads-for-pole-1806839.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tom-alexander-orange-boss-heads-for-pole-1806839.html <p>As Jenson Button was securing the Formula One world championship last weekend, it was hard for Tom Alexander not to feel a pang. Orange's chief executive is a racer at heart, who always saw a job in industry as a stop-gap. "I really identify with Jenson," he says. Both are Somerset lads with a thirst for speed, and both were crowned European karting champion. </p> Profiles Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/caroline-wozniacki-talk-of-the-tour-1806130.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/caroline-wozniacki-talk-of-the-tour-1806130.html ]]> <p>Caroline Wozniacki might feel a little uncomfortable when she arrives in Doha for next week's Sony Ericsson Championships. It will not be a question of nerves on her first appearance in the elite end-of-season finale so much as the fact that Qatar is one of the few stopovers on the women's tour where the 19-year-old Dane might have trouble conversing with the locals. </p> Tennis Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/big-think-eu-ambassador-to-the-us-john-bruton-talks-lisbon-humanitarism-and-climate-change-1805531.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/big-think-eu-ambassador-to-the-us-john-bruton-talks-lisbon-humanitarism-and-climate-change-1805531.html <p> EU Ambassador to the United States John Bruton talked to Big Think about the merits of "humane" European politics and the implications of the Libson Treaty for Ireland. </p> Profiles Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:03:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/starck-naked-the-king-of-design-bares-his-soul-1805062.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/starck-naked-the-king-of-design-bares-his-soul-1805062.html ]]> <p>The lobby of the Sanderson Hotel, just off Oxford Street, is a vibrant relief from London's grey October sky. Sheer curtains shroud lamps illuminating a hotch-potch of furniture. There's a baroque chaise longue, a postmodern, winding bench, and a copy of Salvador Dali's red lips sofa greeting you as you walk through the door. It's not so much checking in, as being on the receiving end of a sloppy kiss.</p> Profiles Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/norman-baker-you-ask-the-questions-1805258.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/norman-baker-you-ask-the-questions-1805258.html ]]> <p> <b>Are you in favour of extending the London congestion charge? It seems to an effective redistributive tax to me. Chelsea tractors: bad. Public transport: good. Yes?</b> </p> <p> RUPERT GRAVENEY </p> <p> SEATON </p> Profiles Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-candida-lycett-green--tory-lawrence-1803235.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-candida-lycett-green--tory-lawrence-1803235.html ]]> <p> <b>Candida Lycett Green, 68, is a journalist, television presenter and author whose books include England: Travels Through an Unwrecked Landscape. She also edited and prefaced the collected letters and prose of her late father, Sir John Betjeman. She lives in Uffington</b> </p> Profiles Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/ray-mears-its-that-bloke-who-lives-in-the-woods-1804763.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/ray-mears-its-that-bloke-who-lives-in-the-woods-1804763.html ]]> <p>Clutching an iPhone and dressed in a pressed tablecloth-checked shirt, shiny cufflinks and blue chinos, Ray Mears does not look like much of a survivalist. A leather knapsack at his feet is the only hint that the man folded into a plump leather armchair opposite is not an accountant, but even the contents of that disappoint. </p> Profiles Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/thomas-vermaelen-wenger-pulls-another-rabbit-out-of-the-hat-1804821.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/thomas-vermaelen-wenger-pulls-another-rabbit-out-of-the-hat-1804821.html ]]> <p>If it was mildly surprising that Arsenal, having sold a leading striker, should have set a new record for most goals in the opening seven matches of a Premier League season, the identity of the leading contributor was more of a shock. For Thomas Vermaelen, the Belgian centre-half hired in June from Ajax, "it's nice to score goals but not the most important thing".</p> Premier League Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matt-damon-i-have-turned-down-scripts-if-the-violence-is-gratuitous-i-do-believe-it-has-an-effect-on-peoples-behaviour-1803189.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matt-damon-i-have-turned-down-scripts-if-the-violence-is-gratuitous-i-do-believe-it-has-an-effect-on-peoples-behaviour-1803189.html ]]> <p> Matt Damon is almost visibly shivering. He's turned his mind back to the beginning of the decade, to a time when his career was on the skids. Robert Redford's golfing saga The Legend of Bagger Vance and the Cormac McCarthy adaptation All The Pretty Horses, both of which cast Damon in the lead, had tanked. Holed up in Paris, he was on the fourth round of re-shoots for The Bourne Identity. "All the indicators were that that was going to be a turkey too," he says. Going through his mind was the simple rule of baseball: three strikes and you're out. "Nobody had offered me a job in about nine months." </p> Profiles Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/first-person-my-inventions-help-people-in-africa-1803191.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/first-person-my-inventions-help-people-in-africa-1803191.html ]]> <p>I got into design through my inspirational 79-year-old grand-dad, Peter. When I was four he gave me a hammer. I used to spend hours with him at the end of the garden making toys or jewellery boxes. We would take things apart to see how they worked. Being able to experiment at such an impressionable age allowed me to gain that creative spark, and I don't think it will ever leave me. </p> Profiles Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-harry-connick-jr-singersongwriter-42-1803194.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-harry-connick-jr-singersongwriter-42-1803194.html ]]> <p> <b>My parents were ... </b>Harry and Anita Connick, who were both lawyers. They were pretty big on discipline and manners but they were also real cool, real laid-back. Playing music in a club at 3am was not that big a deal. </p> Profiles Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-hansulrich-obrist-1804383.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-hansulrich-obrist-1804383.html <p> <b>Monday</b> </p> <p> First thing this morning I go and interview Damien Hirst at the Wallace Collection for part of my ongoing project of interviewing artists. It's a sort of time capsule of conversations with artists which are published. I'm very interested in the idea of unusual museums, ones that are not necessarily contemporary art museums, more like historical collections or house museums. </p> Profiles Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tescos-finest-sir-terry-leahy-1804379.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tescos-finest-sir-terry-leahy-1804379.html ]]> <p> Are schools failing our children by sending them, after years of increasingly expensive education, into the world of work without the basic skills they need to land a job? </p> Profiles Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/pap-attacks-1804051.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/pap-attacks-1804051.html ]]> <p> I, for one, think that constantly antagonising someone by flashing a camera in their face is basically akin to begging for a punch in the face, you may not agree. </p> Profiles Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:22:46 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/kevin-davies-i-knew-id-be-booked-fergie-had-done-his-job-1803523.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/kevin-davies-i-knew-id-be-booked-fergie-had-done-his-job-1803523.html ]]> <p>Sir Alex Ferguson has had other fish to fry these past few days, but his usual tactic in the run-up to a Manchester United v Bolton Wanderers game is to put it about that Kevin Davies, the Wanderers captain and centre-forward, is an aggressive so-and-so who needs watching as much by the officials as by the United defence. "Two years ago it was spread all over the papers," says Davies, with a rueful smile. "All this stuff from Fergie about me bullying and kicking. And I went there and hardly made a tackle, because I knew I'd be straight in the book. So I suppose he did his job. That's what Fergie's good at, isn't it?"</p> News & Comment Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-author-conn-iggulden-1802531.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-author-conn-iggulden-1802531.html ]]> <p> <b>Conn Iggulden, 38, is the author of the Emperor series about the life of Julius Caesar. His non-fiction books includes The Dangerous Book For Boys and, just out, Tollins: Explosive Tales For Children. He is due to appear at the Guildford Book Festival today and The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival on Saturday.</b> </p> Profiles Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/news-comment/ian-mcgeechan-it-was-vital-this-year-for-the-lions-to-stay-competitive-1802674.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/news-comment/ian-mcgeechan-it-was-vital-this-year-for-the-lions-to-stay-competitive-1802674.html ]]> <p>There is a billboard on the London-bound platform of Ian McGeechan's local station peddling flights to South Africa. It's a journey he knows well and one that has very probably come to define him. It was a quarter of a century ago that he first embarked on it and only three months since he last made the return trip. Each time it has been as a Lion and each time he has come home with his reputation enhanced and the standing of the blood-red jersey that is so dear to him similarly burgeoned.</p> News & Comment Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/nick-wheeler-from-failed-photographer-to-jermyn-streets-king-of-the-shirts-1802779.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/nick-wheeler-from-failed-photographer-to-jermyn-streets-king-of-the-shirts-1802779.html <p>Nick Wheeler certainly knows his shirts. "I would hope one of ours would drape better," the founder of the Charles Tyrwhitt shirt company says thoughtfully, surveying my own "shabby" article with a critical eye. He has just correctly identified it as coming from one of his main rivals. "Puckering around the stitches is not a sign of a good shirt," he says, "although it may also be a sign of someone who doesn't like ironing."</p> Profiles Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-we-cant-expect-just-to-shorten-the-season-1802092.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/novak-djokovic-we-cant-expect-just-to-shorten-the-season-1802092.html ]]> <p>Novak Djokovic arrived for the interview with food rather than tennis at the top of his agenda. "I've just had an unbelievable lunch," the 22-year-old Serb said here at the Shanghai Masters yesterday. "The food here is just incredible. It was sushi, international cuisine, everything."</p> Tennis Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-gael-garc237a-bernal--diego-luna-1799842.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-gael-garc237a-bernal--diego-luna-1799842.html ]]> <p> <b>Gael García Bernal, 30, is an award-winning stage and film actor best known for his starring roles in 'Y Tu Mama Tambien', 'The Motorcycle Diaries' and Pedro Almodóvar's 'Bad Education'. He lives in Mexico and Spain with his girlfriend and their child</b> </p> Profiles Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/irene-khan-banged-to-rights-1800924.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/irene-khan-banged-to-rights-1800924.html ]]> <p>The Place of the Ravens, 30km west of Baghdad, has long been of interest to civil liberties groups. The largest prison in Iraq, built in the 1960s by British contractors, has for decades generated stories of abuse, not least under Saddam Hussein, who kept as many as 15,000 people imprisoned there. But it was in 2004, when pictures of offences ranging from the grossly humiliating to murderous leaked out, that the jail's name became a byword for torture – Abu Ghraib.</p> Profiles Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/nikolay-valuev-goliath-v-david-1800950.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/nikolay-valuev-goliath-v-david-1800950.html ]]> <p>He lumbers towards the gymnasium, his 23-stone frame filling the corridor, his bison-sized head almost scraping the ceiling, and you half-expect him to be roaring: "Fe, fi, fo, fum!" Instead he waves a cheery "hello". Nikolay Valuev, the biggest man in boxing, may be a genial giant but he does indeed smell the blood of an Englishman, an uppity one named David Haye.</p> Others Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-chipmunk-rapper-18-1799791.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-chipmunk-rapper-18-1799791.html ]]> Profiles Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/letter-to-a-teenager-four-writers-offer-advice-to-their-younger-self-1799796.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/letter-to-a-teenager-four-writers-offer-advice-to-their-younger-self-1799796.html ]]> Profiles Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/is-this-the-coolest-teenager-in-the-world-1799802.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/is-this-the-coolest-teenager-in-the-world-1799802.html ]]> <p> Tavi Gevinson has been described as "an inspiration" and "a poster child for her generation". But perhaps more dubiously, she is also a 13-year-old girl who has made her name taking photos of herself in her bedroom and posting them on the internet. In March 2008, Tavi, then just 11 years old, started an online diary inspired by her passion for fashion, under the alias "Style Rookie". Ever since, this tiny kid from the suburbs of Chicago has spent the majority of her spare time dressing up in a series of bizarre get-ups, and uploading photos of her efforts for the world to see. It's a hobby that has already brought her celebrity on a scale she can hardly have dreamt of – and today she has millions of followers around the world. </p> Profiles Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lady-in-waiting-samantha-cameron-1800596.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lady-in-waiting-samantha-cameron-1800596.html ]]> <p>Slowly, unavoidably, Samantha Cameron is becoming a public figure. The cameras were trained on her mercilessly this week as she was put through the ordeal of hearing her husband speak about the death of their young child, in a hall packed with strangers.</p> Profiles Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-billy-hayes-1800600.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-week-billy-hayes-1800600.html <p> <b>Monday </b></p> <p> There's the impending ballot result about whether postal workers are to strike, so I know it's going to be a tough week. I'm in Belfast today to attend an employment tribunal, although I keep in touch with senior management of the Communication Workers Union, of which I'm general secretary. We discuss strategic issues and also hold the central officers' meeting, which covers wider issues such as health and safety. </p> Profiles Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/teen-idols-bright-young-things-tell-us-what-they-really-think-about-the-pinups-of-2009-1799805.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/teen-idols-bright-young-things-tell-us-what-they-really-think-about-the-pinups-of-2009-1799805.html ]]> Profiles Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/top-ten-celebrity-religious-conversions-1800294.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/top-ten-celebrity-religious-conversions-1800294.html ]]> <p> In the world of celebrity culture, religion is the new black. Renounce worldly goods, wear a robe and take up chanting, and your celebrity star rating will soar. But the tricky bit is - which religion to choose? In today’s multi-faith society, there’s a bundle of religions to choose from, each with their pros and cons, and the choice can be tough. We take a look at ten famous figures who have felt the pressure of choice and made dramatic conversions from one faith to another. </p> Profiles Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:48:22 +0100 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/kevin-pietersen-ill-take-the-abuse-on-tour-as-a-compliment-1799812.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/kevin-pietersen-ill-take-the-abuse-on-tour-as-a-compliment-1799812.html ]]> <p>It is more than four years since I first interviewed Kevin Pietersen. That was a couple of months before the 2005 Ashes, when his fame did not yet transcend cricket, and although he had announced his prodigious talent in a one-day series in his native South Africa the previous winter, even cricket fans weren't sure whether he should play at Test level for England. I spent more than a hour with him that day at a cafe in Southampton: he was thoughtful, chatty, and engagingly eager that I should consider the interview worthwhile. </p> Cricket Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:01 +0100