Run for Her: A Mann’s Tale

A ballet audition (not mine, obviously) in the morning and a flight to Italy (most definitely mine) in the afternoon meant that I had to delay my participation in this year’s Run for Her, the Annual Los Angeles 5K Run & Friendship Walk, which took place on 11 November. Walking the walk in sunny Essex

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When (duty free) dinosaurs roamed

Words and pictures reach The Moodie Blog from the industry’s first ‘Dinosaur lunch’, held in London recently.  As regular readers will know, the event was organised by Anita Rothermel (formerly Duty Free Buyer – Wines, Spirits, Tobacco, Confectionery at Sally Line) together with some close former industry colleagues. All had played an important role in

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Zegna shows off its new man in Milan

This week, for a couple of days, I’ve been The Moodie Report’s Mann in Milan. That moniker is especially suited to the launch in question, Ermenegildo Zegna’s new masculine fragrance Uomo, which in Italian means – you guessed it – Man. The new Zegna Uomo men’s fragrance is unveiled in Milan The scent was created

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Run for Her set to raise over US$1 million

Run for Her, the 8th Annual Los Angeles 5K Run & Friendship Walk on 11 November, sponsored by DFS Group through its ‘Sleepwalkers around the World’ theme, has raised over US$900,000 and is set to break through the million Dollar barrier in coming days. As reported, Run for Her is held each year to raise

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How MM became the monocled mutineer

Conundrum. What do you do when your eyesight is poor and you break your only set of glasses just before you are due to give a major speech? In fact let’s qualify both the breakage and the speech. In my case the right ‘wing’ had fallen off (maybe in solidarity with the US Presidential election

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Florence makes my day at World Duty Free Heathrow

“Is Shanghai your final destination?” The question from Florence (pictured), the woman at the World Duty Free check-out was correct and politely put. I was buying a bottle of £8.49 Flagstone Noon Gun [a modest, quaffing blend of Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier] to have with my room service supper later that night at my temporary Shanghai

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From Siberia to Shanghai

I’m flying over Novosibirsk, about five hours out from my destination, Shanghai, The Moodie Report’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Bureau in full production. Yes, Novosibirsk (Russia’s third-largest city, population1,473,754) – regular readers of this Blog will know that I have an uncanny knack of timing my entries to coincide with flying over the Siberian city. One day, I vow,

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Retail role recognised as Adrian Littlewood steps up in Auckland

How good is it to see Auckland Airport’s General Manager of Retail & Commercial Adrian Littlewood appointed as Chief Executive Officer of New Zealand’s main gateway? Besides being a top fellow, Adrian has driven Auckland’s commercial revenues to new heights and helped enhance the overall consumer offer at what I consider to be one of the world’s

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Running for her, running for Lynn

There’s just a week to go before Run for Her, the 8th Annual Los Angeles 5K Run & Friendship Walk on 11 November, which will raise monies to fund research into curing and preventing ovarian cancer. The event is being championed by Lynn Arce (below), DFS Vice President Global Creative and Consumer Marketing, who, as readers of

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Moodie Mascots fail to fire up the Foxes

Whoops! The Moodie Report’s adoption of Leicester City Football Club as our official English football team went a little awry at the weekend as we paid our first visit to the King Power Stadium. As reported, Leicester City is owned by Asian Football Investments, a Thai consortium led by Vichai Raksriaksorn, Chairman of one of

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Championing Chambord

From Cannes to the Loire Valley might seem a short hop from south to north through France, but for those of us who made the trip at the end of TFWA World Exhibition last week, the contrasts could hardly have been sharper. The balmy weather of the French Riviera was replaced by late autumnal chill,

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The Moodie Blog: Reflecting on a job supremely well done

And so another TFWA World Exhibition draws to an end. I have been coming down to Cannes since 1988 and each year the event seems to grow bigger, more extravagant, more tiring, longer. Those who pioneered the event, notably people such as Sarah Branquinho and Erik Juul-Mortensen, must sometimes pinch themselves when they see what

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Especially when the October wind…

Especially when the October wind (Some let me make you of autumnal spells, The spider-tongued, and the loud hill of Wales) With fists of turnips punishes the land, Some let me make you of the heartless words. The heart is drained that, spelling in the scurry Of chemic blood, warned of the coming fury. By

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