They started work this morning down at city square

It's been a good Christmas season for me generally, and I finished the year with a brace of great gigs, including New Model Army at the Astoria, for what I figured was going to be the last time.  I don't want there to be 'a last Astoria gig' but if there has to be, that was a good one.

Turns out I was right - Closing Day has been announced as the 15th January. London's now short two great venues, and more memories than I can begin to document are now homeless. 

(I said a while back that I didn't care overly about the small Astoria 2, but over the last year I've seen so many excellent shows there, I'm upset to loose that too.)

And then, to continue the less-than-happy music news over the holidays, I read this article: How Form 696 could pull the plug on the capital's music scene. OK, so that's not the snapiest title ever, but the story behind it really bothers me. Demanding personal details about all musicians makes me very uncomfortable (most contracts treat bands as single objects, and if you want to get hold of a musician, mobile's about the only contact detail that's going to be useful to you, so this goes well beyond the basic Data Protection principle of collecting and holding the minimum relevant information needed) but asking venue owners and promoters for the ethnic background of the likely audience? I'm sorry. Is there a world in which that isn't discriminatory and racist, not to mention asking the venue owner or promoter to typecast their punters? 

The actual wording on the form is "Who is the target audience' but I imagine they would not take kindly to all the forms from all the venues always reading 'fans of live music', although it would be true ...   (want to bet that would constitute not offering 'full co-operation' and come back around to bite venues in the ass?)

If it bothers you, and you're a UK citizen, there's an online petition but I suspect letters sent to your local Police, MP, London Assembly members, and to the Met commissioner will have more chance of effecting things.  (As always - They Work For You - your one-stop shop for identifying your elected representatives.)

Down towards Glasgow she descends

I love travelling by train - especially the moderately long distance stuff - so this video of the newly upgraded route between London to Glasgow in five minutes made me smile today.

It's not nearly as pretty as the East Coast York / Edinburgh route, and the film itself is no Night Mail, but still!

These are our streets

These are The King Blues.

I finally saw them live for the first time at the Astoria2 last week.

They are every bit as good as their most ardent fans had given me reason to hope.

I've just heard that they're busking in Covent Garden tonight from about half five, raising money and awareness for Crisis (A London homeless charity).

I know which way I'll be heading after work ...

(This is The King Blues at Last.fm , and this is The King Blues on youtube if you want to hear/see more.)

Warrior in Woolworths

The BBC ran an article at the end of last week called What is the point of Woolworths? which spawned a Diamond Geezer post on the subject where he visits three of his local branches, one of which is also my local branch.

Interesting, for one thing, because so many of the comments are talking about the competition from Tesco or online retailers and so on, and I don't think anyone's mentioned Wilkinsons, which is - I realise now I think about - the chain I tend to end up in when I'm looking for cheap *stuff* with an emphasis on kitchen equipment or other house-based or DIY things. Or, in other words, the sort of thing I might once have into Woolworths for.


Interesting, also, as people point out the (fairly obvious) fact that a catch-all shop like Woolies has most benefit in small shopping areas - I've probably used the branch in Whitby, where I've stayed for a handful of four-day visits, far more often than the branch in the large shopping centre that I've lived near for eight years.

It's a small town thing, a suburb thing (in the UK rather than the US sense of the word), a 'we've got to get out of this place' kind of thing*. And yet, it serves a purpose. Or it did ...

*subject line for this post is from the X-Ray Spex song of the same name.

Take my hand, divine or damned

Saturday 15 November 9am-10pm

To mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Milton, Patsy Rodenburg will be leading an all-day marathon reading of the epic poem Paradise Lost in St Giles Cripplegate, the medieval church in the Barbican where the poet is buried.

I'm not a committed enough Milton fan to try and listen to all eleven hours, but I am going to try and pop in for an extract, at least.

With your feet on the ground

I am forced to admit that, unless someone invents free,
instant transportation inside the next hour or so, I am not going to make it to this Films On Foot guided walk this evening.

Instead I plan on borrowing Movie London, by Tony Reeves - which is helpfully organised by area rather than by film - to use as my guide at some point in the future, when I'm less busy, and it's less freezing cold.

(If there are any of 'my'; students reading, it's just been added to the London Collection in the LUP Library.)

Olympic parade tomorrow

Ah - so that's what they're building the big stage for in Trafalgar Square.

Murder by numbers, one, two, three

In an emergency, call 999.

I remember being taught that, over and over, in infant school, junior school, in the brownies (our required uniform pocket contents included two 10p coins to make emergency phone calls with, even though 999 calls are free).

I also remember the first time I needed to put that piece of information into action - a road traffic accident in London I witnessed, when I was a post-grad student - and the moment of sheer disbelief when I was put on hold ...

The 999 teams do a phenomenal job, but there are only so many lines, so many call takers, so many crews that can be sent out. Unfortunately, some terrifying number of people have no real idea of what constitutes an emergency (note: ingrowing toenails, not being able to hear the tv, and needing to know what year the internet started are not emergencies.)

For health related 'I don't know what to do' moments, where the problem's probably not ambulance-worthy but you don't know what it is, NHS Direct has been doing sterling work for years now. (0845 46 47)

Now the London Met Police have launched a similar non-emergency single-point-of-contact number, so instead of having to find a yellow pages and look up your local police station, there's a (relatively) easy to remember phone number to call. 0300 123 1212

Here's hoping that both helps out the folks who need to contact the police that way, and frees up the 999 lines for genuine emergencies.

(See also http://www.neenaw.co.uk/ for a glimpse at life on the other side of the calls)

NHS Direct: 0845 46 47

London Met Police: 0300 123 1212

Gunpowder, treason, and plot

Planning ahead - Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, is midweek this year, and it looks like there's a fair split of weekend before, on the 5th, and weekend after fireworks displays to take advantage of.

Time Out has started collecting details already, although neither Wanstead Flats (my local) or Woolwich Arsenal (for the most explosions) are listed yet, so it'll be worth checking back as we get closer to the 5th November.

In the dead of night

Chills in the Chapel - the Union Chapel's Halloween Horror season - is booking now. The Union Chapel is an active, working church, who use their fabulous listed Victorian gothic building (designed by James Cubbitt in the 1870's) to host live music, and other arts events to help restore the building and fun their work with the homeless.

This is a great opportunity to see some horror classics on the big screen, in a suitably spooky setting.

cause they're playing my favourite song

Passing this on, un-edited in any way, because The Holloways are fabulous. I'd love to be there, and I can't so - other people should go and enjoy!

WANT TO SEE THE HOLLOWAYS FOR FREE? (Over 18s Only)

SEE THE HOLLOWAYS AT PROUD CAMDEN courtesy of Intel

Intel, in association with Proud Camden, is giving you the chance to see The Holloways headline the sixth round of Intel Studio, the stage for unsigned artists, on 24th September 2008.  Doors open 7:30pm.

We're offering The Holloways' most loyal fans the chance to attend this intimate event, alongside two unsigned artists who are both vying for a record deal with one of the UK's top independent music labels on www.Intel.co.uk/studio.

Places are limited for this free gig , so get your name on the guestlist for this must-see event by sending your name,  e-mail address and how many spots on the list you need, to intelcompetitionwinners@hillandknowlton.com.  Please include 'Holloway Tickets' in the subject of your e-mail.

Any remaining spots will be filled by the first to the door on the night, and entry is free.

See you down the front!

Alfie, Rob, Bryn & Dave xx
www.the-holloways.com

It is written in the stars above

I know - two posts in a day, and this one not even London based. Tough.

This news makes me smile especially, because I was part of the chain of connections that took this book from the donation bins of an Oxfam bookshop, to becoming one of the jewels in Reading's collections, saving the book from being broken up, and raising a goodly sum of money for Oxfam's work at the same time.

Not a bad outcome for my putting my mum in touch with a friend of mine in Reading, really.

Understated is how we prefer to be

The Streets' fourth album, 'Everything Is Borrowed', is coming out on Monday - I linked to the free teaser track a couple of weeks back - and they're continuing to celebrate the free, with an instore show :

<I>On the day the album is released, Monday September 15th, The Streets will be playing a free instore show at HMV on Oxford Street in London at 6pm. There will no wristbands, just first come, first served mayhem. In other words, get there early. We're very much looking forward to experiencing the joys of a "go low" amongst the CD shelves.</i>

I won't be able to get there in time - I finish work just as they'll be starting - but people with more fluid schedules should take advantage.

I live by the river

Read Neverwhere! - Actually, this instruction is one I'd like to give more often, as Neil Gaiman's story of an alternate London is one of my all time favourite London books. As Harper Collins have kindly made it available as a free e-read for a month (download or online) I have a good excuse to do so today.

Richard Mayhew is an unassuming young businessman living in London, with a dull job and a pretty but shrewish fiancee. Then one night he stumbles upon a girl lying on the sidewalk*, bleeding. He stops to help her, and his life is changed forever.

Soon he finds himself living in a London most people would never have dreamed of - a city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels.

London-under-London is such a vivid and a rich place, and Neil's love of the city shines through so strongly - highly recommended.

* their blurb -- the word's pavement. Sorry.

one more step

It' a bit last minute, but this looks like both an enjoyable evening, and an excellent pair of causes:

Sunset Walk - 14 September - 5 miles - Central London

Don’t miss your chance to join this short stroll with a big heart a week on Sunday.

It’s your chance to take part in the season of Ramadan, making new friends as you walk and talk. It’s the most sociable and laidback fundraising you’ll ever do. We’re asking for a minimum of £50 per person to go towards food projects* around the world. And when the sun goes down, you’ll share a fabulously tasty meal at the London Central Mosque.

Sunset Walk: Sunday (5pm) 14 September 2008

Sign up by Tuesday 9 September :
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/fundraise/sunset/

You’re more than welcome to turn up on the day and register but pre-registering is the surest way to guarantee your place - and saves our admin costs.

We’d love to see as many of you there as possible, so please pass this along to friends, family and colleagues who might like to join in.

* Money raised is split equally and goes towards both Oxfam and Muslim Aid projects.

Today is where your book begins

Londonist gets further behind the scenes at the British Library than I've ever managed.

And, by the most fragile of thematic links, I shall add the news that they've apparently made a musical out of one of my favourite children's books, The Tiger Who Came To Tea.

Free music:

Edinburgh-based electro band, Double Helix, are releasing their new album into the wild for free : http://www.audiodacity.co.uk/
I particularly liked Science Fiction (lyrics), and Copernican Shift

And, on a not unrelated note, the only-technically-from-London The Streets have a free teaser track up at the moment too : The Escape.

England's pleasant dreaming

Good - the Trafalgar Square Festival is back!

Less good - program is decidedly slim-line compared to past extravaganzas.

Good - looks like there's some really good stuff on the program* ( week 1 / 2 / 3)

Irritating - their website is a miracle of minimalism, which doesn't tell you which things are on on which day, or in which slot so you can, you know, turn up to see them.

Good - big screen of Olympic goodness in the square. 'Trafalgar square is like London's living room' is one of those phrases that you hear all the time, and it's pleasing to me when it turns out to be more-than-usually true.

* if I can figure out when, I'm interested in both the Olympic pieces, and in The Garden of Wonders, having missed them at Greenwich.

If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet

I've had a friend visiting from overseas these last few days, which always provides a great excuse to go and do the touristy stuff you otherwise don't get around to.

We did a lot of walking, and took advantage of several of the free things that London has to offer - museums, galleries, the events of the always fabulous Greenwich and Docklands Festival - but also decided to splash out on a couple of the pay-for tourist sights.

We had a lot of fun, and in the process I tripped over an unexpected bonus.

Both of the 'big ticket' sites we chose to spend our money on - the Tower of London and York Minster - ask that, if you're a British tax payer you gift-aid your entry fee so that they can claim back about 25% of the money from the Government. (I think, technically, you're making a donation of the same amount as, but in lieu of, the entrance fee...) As I am a British tax payer, and I'm very happy for both these historic buildings to get some extra cash, I paid for both me and my guest, and both times got a pleasant surprise - I now have a years worth of free entry into both buildings!

We certainly felt like we got our money's worth out of both buildings on the single days we were at each one, but the fact that I can now pop into the Tower to take a few photos and wander away again, or when I'm next in York, I can go into the Minster with a local friend* without either of us having to pay, is just a really nice extra.



* (Both the local councils have residents schemes, which make entrance either £1 or free, but I don't qualify for them at either site, despite the fact I walk past the Tower several times a week.)

In which Stephen Fry has very sensible things to say about the future of the BBC:

In a sense the nature of the BBC as it is, ‘gives permission’ to all
kinds of people to watch programmes they otherwise might not.
What is the alternative, a ghettoised, balkanised electronic
bookshop of the home, no stations, no network, just a narrowcast
provider spitting out content on channels that fulfil some ghastly and
wholly insulting demographic profile: soccer mum, trailer trash,
teenager, gay, black music lover, Essex girl, sports fan, bored
housewife, programmes made specifically for them with ads targeting them. Is that
what we mean by inclusivity? Is that what we mean by plurality? God
help us, I do hope not.

But it’s glorious, loveable, eccentric, magnificent - and ours!*

It's June, which means the free festival circuit is really getting going.

This coming weekend will see me trying to fit in events from the Greenwich and Docklands Festival (free dance - hurray!) and West End Live (free musical theatre - hurray!) and not making it to any of the Spitalfields Festival events after all...

Next week there's a couple of films I want to catch at The Scoop

I've just been booking ahead for some of the events happening under the London Lit Plus, an open literary festival that's running from July 5th from the 19th, and by dint of realising that the Liars’ League event next month clashes with a gig and digging a little further, I'm already thinking about the August performance - as they put it : Writers write. Actors read. Audience listens. Everybody Wins.

Also in July, free music at The Scoop, and The Big Dance, which is always a packed week of goodies.

Whilst I'm quite angry about Mayor Boris' decision to remove Rise's anti-racism tag line, it still promises to be a fantastic event - loads of good free music on the 13th July.

The following weekend, for a total change of pace, there's the Lambeth Country Show.

Further ahead still, The Scoop's free theatre offerings this year are a Ted Hughes version of Lorca's Blood Wedding and a New Orleans musical version of Little Red Riding hood, and I'm going to do my best to catch both.

***********

* from a poem currently being used to advertise cider,

The Great British Summer

Music festival-ing
Mixed mud wrestling
Fourteen degrees
Knobbly knees
Catching the rays
The big squeeze
Traffic jams
Hand-held fans
The hottest day since records began
Yes we’ll complain it’s too hot
We’ll moan when there’s showers
But it’s glorious, loveable, eccentric, magnificent -
And ours!

we're a star above stars

London short films - ITV London Tonight' 'viewers choice' award has six short films up on their site to be voted on as part of the Film London festival, all focussing on different parts and moods of London.

(The website works best in IE, rather than being properly cross-compatible,
but even so, the content's worth putting up with it, I think.)

So, which is your favourite?

we walk these city streets

I spent Sunday having a Proper Wander with a good friend of mine - London Bridge to Greenwich (mostly) along the Thames Path. You can see the resultant photo set here - there's not a lot of either the London Bridge to Tower Bridge leg, or the Greenwich end, as they're more familiar to me than the bit in the middle.

The BBC have a good illustrated guide to a chunk of the middle of our route, including the part we missed, around the Pumphouse Museum, by following a park and loosing the Thames Path. Still - free range navigation on the principle 'that looks kind of interesting' got us to the city farm via Stave Hill so all was well. Compared to the central London stretches the path is less well signposted, and less, well, Thames-based, than you might assume, but still perfectly followable, and we had fun exploring odd corners and dead ends.

We were most taken by the semi-derelict Chambers Wharf and Cold Stores, which is slated for imminent re-development, but at the moment is beautifully and eerily deserted. The contrast on the river front with the turbo-posh flats next door was far more marked than I managed to capture.

We also collected several lesser-known bits of public statuary - Antony Donaldson's 'Waterfall' off Shad Thames; Doctor Salter's Daydream by Diane Corvin, which I found, frankly, creepy (the cat's the least creepy thing about it - the style just does nothing for me); the almost equally creepy animals advertising the City Farm; and Chemiakin's pleasingly whimsical Peter the Great group. (And I finally took a photo of the Navigators in Hays Galleria that I don't hate.)

There's about a hundred pubs and cafes along the way, although we mostly sat at various points on the river admiring the view and swigging from our water bottles, and Greenwich isn't short on places for dinner at the end of the walk, so, all in all, a good way to have spent the day.

Day trip of the day - St Albans

St Albans is about 40 minutes north of London, and a day return on the Thameslink route will set you back about £9. (There are two stations, but the Watford to St Albans Abbey line is much less convenient.)

There are a good number of walking tours available (the ghost walk, especially, is a good mix of local history and good story telling) but I'm going to write this in the style of one anyway. I grew up in St Albans, and writing this post is giving me flashbacks to a school project to write a tourist brochure for the city when I was 12... Anyway.

Leaving the station by the ticket-office side, and turning left and left again it's a short pleasant walk to the top end of the town centre, past the Victorian Clarence Park (home of St Albans City Football Club - a decent and cheap choice if you want to catch a 'local' football match in season - tickets are a mere £10 / £5 which is dirt cheap compared to the premiership clubs' prices.)

Following the road straight up, over the railway bridge and past the college, brings you out just by St Peter's church, originally founded in 948, along with the market. Bits of the 13th and 15th century church remain, but the current building almost all dates from an 1893 restoration. (personal aside : they have a ten bell tower, and are regional champion bell ringers, and I spent hours of my childhood sitting in a windowsill of the tower, as my dad rang there.)

The market runs on Wednesday and Saturday, with 170 stalls stretching the whole length of St Peter's Street, and it's worth timing your visit to coincide. Wednesday's market's got a slightly more 'arts and crafts' tilt to it, as not all the food stalls turn out mid-week, but either day is good. (The second Sunday of each month there's also a farmer's market outside the town hall, so if you're in town for a worship-visit to the Cathedral, check that out.)

Following the length of the market will take you down to the Medieval Clock Tower (80p/40p to climb on a Saturday) and the area of town used as a refuge by Henry VI during the War of the Roses (St Albans saw two major battles in the Civil War), and, across the road, a arrow passageway that will take you past the walled garden down to (mostly Norman) St Alban's Cathedral and Abbey Church.

St Alban was the earliest English Christian Martyr, according to the Venerable Bede (line vii). A Roman resident of Verumanium, Alban sheltered a priest, and was converted to Christianity by him. When soldiers came in search of the priest, Alba swapped cloaks with the man, allowing him to escape, and taking upon himself the punishment that would otherwise have been dealt to the priest - being made a human sacrifice to the city's Roman gods. The cathedral is supposed to be built on the site of his execution - originally as an important Abbey (the Magna Carta was drafted here) and then as a Cathedral.

When you've explored the Abbey, you can head down the grassy hill towards Verulanium Park for a drink in The Olde Fighting Cocks, which is the Guinness Book of Record's pick for the oldest pub in Britain (St Albans is also in the running for 'most pubs per head of population' and HQ of the Campaign for Real Ale) before heading past the lakes to go even further back in time, to the Roman occupation of the city.

There are several chunks of the Roman city walls visible in the park, and there square white building part way up the hill preserves and displays a (circa 100 AD) mosaic and hypocaust (free entry) while the impressive newly-extended Verulamium Museum (£3.30/£2) has good displays on everyday life in Roman Britain, and some of the finest Roman mosaics and wall plasters outside the Mediterranean (and if you hit a weekend when Legion XIIII are on patrol, even better). On, past the Verulamium Museum, there's the Roman Theatre (£2/1.50), the only British example of a theatre rather than an amphitheatre.

(There' also a City Museum, back towards the station, looking at the post-Roman history of the city, but I've always loved Verulamium, and am being shamelessly biassed.)

Coming back, you have the option of waffles in a 16th century water mill, and if you head back through the park, past the lakes, and picking up the Ver river, you will land at the foot of Holywell Hill, which will take you back into the town centre via several old coaching inns.

There's a bunch of things to do around and about the city, but I'm assuming that you're day tripping on foot / by train, so I won't include them here. (Hatfield House may show up as a separate trip.)

St Albans isn't short on pubs,and places to eat, but there's not a single club I'd recommend. The Horn Reborn, by the station, is the best venue for small bands, and won ‘Music Pub of the Year’ earlier this year.

Day trip of the day - Brighton

Brighton's just about the classic daytrip from London, and has been since the 1840s. Nowadays, about an hour on the train (two an hour from Victoria, four an hour from St Pancras International / Blackfriars / London Bridge) or two hours on the coach will whisk you out of London and down to the seaside. If you can co-ordinate with some friends, a GroupSave train ticket is excellent value for four people.

A day spent messing about on the beach (yes, that pile of stones is a beach), promenading on the pier, and poking about in the shops in the Laines wouldn't be a day wasted, but if you'd like a little bit more direction than that, there are two companies offering MP3 walking tours - CoolCityWalks and Tourist Tracks (get £1 off with a voucher from DaysOutGuide)

John Nash's Royal Pavilion is one of my favourite 'stately homes' - it was built as Prince George's pleasure palace and is suitably frivolous and OTT. Entry is £8.50 adults / £6.50 students, and I think it's worth every penny. Brighton Museum and Art Gallery (free) is just across the beautiful gardens, and covers the wider history of the city - I particularly like the fashion and style gallery, which is fantastically eclectic.

If that's not enough to keep you busy, taking the 77 bus from Brighton Pier to Devil's Dyke is a lovely way to get out into the countryside, or the sea life centre, the oldest operating aquarium in the world, is fun, if a little expensive (£12.99/£10/99). I'm glad, from an animal welfare point of view, that they no longer have performing dolphins, but I must admit that my strongest memory of the Aquarium was going to see the dolphin show with my gran when I was a kidlet. Now, if you want to see dolphins playing, you need to look out to sea, as it should be.

Or skip all of that and head down for a day at the races instead, with tickets in the £9 - £20 region for most events, and a courtesy bus running from the station from about two hours before the day's first race.

There's no shortage of good places to eat and drink (I like Food for Friends, or The Greys, especially for Sunday lunch) and no shortage of clubs, gigs, and events either, but beware: check the time of your last train home - it's pre-pub closing for the Victoria route, and only 11.37 on the London Bridge line.

Day trip of the day - York

I'm being asked a lot about day trips at the moment, so I'll try and put together a mini-series of day trip of the day posts*, starting with York.

Now, York is really on the far edge of day-trip-able, and if at all possible I'd recommend taking a weekend or longer, and spending some time outside the city - maybe take the bus over to Whitby or up to Durham - but if, as is the case with the friend I'm planning this with, you're only in the UK for a total of five days, a day trip can be done and is worthwhile - it's a fantastic city.

Trains run from London direct to York in a shade over two hours, and you can get tickets around the £25 return mark by booking ahead and being flexible about when you travel. (My friend and I are on the 9am train, as that's cheaper than earlier trains that could be used by business travellers with morning meetings, for example) Buying a ticket on the day, however, will set you back over £100, so book ahead.

£25 for nearly ten hours of York - that's a bargain, and enough time to walk the city walls, visit York Minster, the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe (entry costs between £4 adults/£3 students and £9/£7.50 depending on which areas you want access to,) and find somewhere fabulous to eat, before joining one of the ghost walks.

If you get a really early train, you could maybe also squeeze in a trip to the JORVIK Viking Centre (entry £8/£7.50, call 01904 615505 to pre-book and skip the queue) or if Viking's aren't your thing, consider the National Rail Museum (free), Yorkshire Castle Museum, with it's recreated Victorian street (£7.50/£6.50), or the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, (Museum £5/£4, garden's free).

~~~
* aimed towards my students, who are for the most part newly arrived in the UK for the first time, so if you're a local reader, I apologise if what I'm about to write seems obvious to you.

Oh we can dance again, take a chance again

A new group of students has just started their first week of classes, and I've been asked several times about my favourite things to do in London. It's always a hard question. (The real answer is 'almost all of it, which is why I still live here'. ;D)

I usually default to 'walking' as an answer, because it covers so much ground (pun intentional). I know I've asked the question of favourite free things to do here before, and the routes offered in the comments varied, but the walking was a constant*.

My other common answers (it really depends on the moment I'm asked) include the British Museum, the V and A, gigging**, and Borough Market followed by a kitchen full of friends, or a picnic in the park of your choice, depending on the weather.

And 'taking advantage of some of the free stuff that's going on'. No one's ever going to make an argument that London's a cheap place to live, but we're positively spoiled for fantastic free events, on top of all the free museums and galleries. Time Out lists no less than 101 free music events in the next seven days, and 36 free club nights.

Tabs I currently have open as I try and plan my diary over the next few weeks include:

• - A Beginner’s Guide to Cryptozoology at the Grant Museum tomorrow.
• - A selection of gigs at the Ritzy Cafe in Brixton.
• - Paradise Gardens this weekend.
• - V and A Late (writing and confession theme) on the 30th (which clashes with the Orla Murphy Quarter at the National Portrait Gallery).
• - Burn So Bright on the 6th.
• and a shortlist of lectures and screenings at the RSA (see also the audio page for downloads of past lectures)

(Plus the Royal Ballet's Romeo and Juliet on the big screen on the 1st, and a free new play, Nobody Lives Forever, at the Wellcome, which I can't go to because the performance times clash with my working hours. Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 May, 12.30-13.30 and Thursday 22-Saturday 24 May, 15.00-16.30 for any readers with more flexible schedules.)

All of them, free as a free thing, and probably not even 10% of the free events happening in the near future.

~~~
* while Greater London is undeniably huge, there's so much within the bounds of the Circle Line that's never much more than an hours walk, so it seems crazy not to take advantage.

** it's been an excellent gig month for me, with shows ranging in size from the 02 to a friend's band in the pub, hitting the Union Chapel, Brixton Academy, Astoria 2, and Indigo 2 along the way (plus one Birmingham date, and another out of town show next weekend.) Friends and good live music - what's not to love?

See the glow up above

One of the marketing blogs I read mentioned this site, which is a collective experiment in brand perception - tags are generated by the public. Their relative size in the cloud indicates how common that response was. I had a bit of a play, and the results are very interesting. But it does rather beg the question, is it too late to change the London Olympics logo?

(for the record, I'm massively pro London hosting the 2012 Olympics, and super-excited about having them in my back yard, but the logo? Not so much.)

and the choices come

Voting Day!

I've been quiet here about the London Mayoral Election campaigns, out of a sense that I ought to try and be non-party-political.

My principles say that I can try and tell generic-you to vote but not try and tell you who to vote for. Pesky things, principles.

*sigh*

Go! Vote! Be informed, and exercise your democratic rights!


***

I hit my local polling station on the way into work this morning, where there was a small queue, and a team of three mid-twenties guys manning the tables and patiently explaining the voting process over and over and over again. Patience of saints. It's not complicated, but it is more fiddly than a single-ballot, single-vote would be, so it can't hurt to have the process re-enforced on the day.

I do wonder how much the opinion poll results are affected by being based on traditional 'first past the post' thought processes - certainly both the surveys I've been invited to participate in were only asking for a first choice, not first and second.

I truly hope that the two-vote mayoral ballot will give the 'mainstream minority' candidates a chance, as my first choice is neither of the two front runners. It's quite refreshing to have the tactical votes advice be to give your first vote where you actually want it to go, and then apply your second as insurance against the worst case scenario!

(I also hope that turn out is high enough, and the general population of London sane enough to keep the BNP and co out of the London assembly. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.)

I like the choices

St George's Day tomorrow, and at least one of my neighbours was flying the English flag this morning.

I've mentioned before that I think of myself as British more than English, and that I am very cautious about patriotism, but I can get behind both the celebration of Shakespeare's birthday, and the celebration of good food. Fortunately for me, this matches up very well with the official festivities on offer tomorrow.

Neither of my favourite cheese stalls from Borough Market' are on the list as being at the Festival of English Food, which will be conveniently located close to work, but I'm sure Neal's Yard Dairy will provide. Some excellent cheese, a hunk of good bread, a crisp English apple, maybe a sweet juicy tomato or two(1) - what better lunch could there be? If the weather holds like it is today, I may even be able to picnic in St James.

(1)(The tomato stall's also not on the list, so no midweek oak smoked tomatoes of bliss for me)

Today is where your book begins

I have been remiss, and totally failed to mention the Get London Reading project, the physical events of which are almost over.(1)

However, the Books In London map will hopefully be sticking around, as it looks to be a fascinating way of getting to London-ish books.

It's also going to grow, as people add books to it - I just need to check when I get home tonight which street in Upton Park to use as an anchor for Benjamin Zephaniah's Face, and I'll start putting my contribution into the hat.

(1) (just a week to go - if I could get out to Barking tonight, I would very much do so for Kate Mosse. Unfortunately, I can't, but I am going to the Simon Armitage reading tomorrow. Hurray for free things!)

Her perfume smelled expensive and sweet

It was my birthday last week, and as a joke present one of my friends sent me a can of Impulse "London" , because it's purple and London related and thus made her think of me. I am amused.

(also, unlike the 'London Vibe' spray that was around a couple of years ago, this one actually smells pretty nice, although not, I would have to admit, particularly London-y. I'm not sure what I'd say London smelt like, but 'sort of like Thierry Mugler's Angel' isn't it.)

Doctor who-oh, doctor who*

Things that make life easier and better, the way technology's supposed to : The BBC iPlayer

(Specifically my unoriginal but genuine pick for the week: iPlayer - Doctor Who: Partners in Crime )

* I know. I'm sorry. It had to be done. If it makes you feel better, I have got it stuck in my own head, too...

Then they send me back to Kentish Town

Tonight, the BBC manage to report on the launch of the London Profiler website without once using the phrase "that's so nifty!" - that'd be because they're all high paid reporter types...

It really is very nifty.

The 'help' buttons in each heading also lead to useful sites / explanations of methodology, which just make the maps niftier still, by explaining things like "how we ended up with 'Sikh' and 'Other Muslim' in a list that's otherwise based on national/regional divisions, and doesn't have any non-other Muslim categories", which is the kind of thing that otherwise bugs me.

***

Also, in unrelated, and far less nifty, news: apparently the Bull and Gate is on the market, and thus under threat as a venue. When I was writing about the Astoria the other day, the Bull and Gate is one of those smaller places I mentioned having a lot of affection for.

Here's hoping it stays in sympathetic hands.

say hello, say goodbye

Sad, if not surprising, to see confirmation that the Astoria will be demolished as a necessary cost of the CrossRail developments. Mine is one of those 35, 000 signatures.

The Astoria is my favourite large-ish venue, and I can't count the number of excellent gigs and good nights out I've had under it's less-than-glamorous roof. (Meanwhile the Astoria 2 (by whatever name) has hosted some much loved bands I've really enjoyed, but there's nothing about the space there that means anything to me - and I don't know why that is.) Both the Roundhouse and Union Chapel have recently reminded me how much I enjoy them as venues, and there are about half a dozen smaller spaces that I think of fondly, but of the venues in the Astoria's capacity range, none of them come close for me.

It is positive, though, to see the commitment to a new venue in the same central location.

Part of the reason I'm so sad to see the Astoria go is the building and the memories, true, but a good part of it is practical. For example, I quite like seeing bands at Brixton, once I'm inside, but it's a royal pain to get home from. All the other similarly sized venues in the capital - even the ones that are desperately practical for me personally - have that same problem for a large proportion of their punters. Meanwhile, TCR is good and central for everyone - walking distance to the main overground stations, a short stroll to the night bus hub that is Trafalgar Square, tube routes towards all four compass points... If they put something with facilities like the Hackney Ocean in that location, and I think they're onto a winner - and we'll soon build up the patina of sweat and memories on the new place, right?

Fortunately, all this is several years off, thanks to the oh-so-zippy speed of development, so there's time for a few more shows before the curtain comes down for good.

Don't know what you got till it's gone

Um, colour me unobservant, but when did the London FreeList close it's doors?* What a loss!

Now to hunt down some replacement sources... LondonIsFree looks pretty spiffy.



* 10th Feb, apparently.

Again with the leaving the links until I have time to write the post and then realising that such a time is unlikely to arrive before the events ....

- UCL Classics dept tackle Agamemnon at the Bloomsbury, tonight and tomorrow.

- Freeborn John @ The Union Chapel : A star studded cast of English folk royalty perform the world’s first historical folk opera. English history has provided us with no more dramatic or colourful a character than England's first radical, ‘Freeborn’ John Lilburne, unsung hero of the English Civil War. Brought to life in an astonishingly vivid and tangible way by the inimitable Rev Hammer, Freeborn John tells the story of this true English people’s hero

(I'll shoot for writing them up after the event instead, but I've not done so well with that on anything else this year, so no promises!)

And I am walking in london

Walkit.com's managed to improve its already excellent service by adding an option to search for routes that avoid busy, high-polution, roads, thus making your walk easier on the lungs, often at only a few minutes' cost. (I have also, while playing about testing that out, realised that one of my regular routes is about a mile longer than it needs to be - you live and learn.)

Unrelated thing: I have Samuel Pepys' Diary RSSd (it's a little overwhelming as a giant volume). Today's entry, with its reference to Pancake Day pleases me.

flip reverse it

Pancake day tomorrow. Sad to see in the Metro this morning a piece about how few people apparently celebrate it any more, partly because it's not a fixed date to remember (it's tied to Easter, so it's a movable feast, and this year it's crept up early, the earliest it's been in 60 years), partly because it's less commercial than other celebrations (surely that's a good thing?) and partly because people claim not to know how to make pancakes.

Pancakes? Are really really easy. You can get fancy, sure, but the basic model? flour, milk, eggs, frying pan, enjoy. (there's the recipe I use here if you want more specifics.)

When I was 14, our Young Enterprise Scheme company made and sold hot pancakes to fellow pupils in the breaks at school. If a bunch of teenagers with a hot plate can turn out saleable results in a fifteen minute break, how hard can they really be? (It is, however, practically impossible to get the first pancake of any batch to go right, so don't let that put you off.)

Ok - *flipping* the pancake is a bit tricksy, but it's also totally non-essential. It is, in fact, mostly for showing off with. All you really need to be doing is turning the pancake over, which I tend to do with a wide spatula, and at least one of my friends does with the aide of a plate.

So, in conclusion. Pancakes aren't scary, and they are tasty, so: what are you cooking tomorrow?

No police, no summons, no courts of law

Things to try and get to tomorrow : Temple Open Day

I really think so

As mentioned to several students this week : the link for the Yo Sushi half price voucher is here.

It is a great sadness that Gili Gullu has closed down, which cuts down the options for budget sushi. Yo (conveyor belt) and Wassabi (take away) are good chains with branches all over, Moshi Moshi is less ubiquitous, but also tasty

Kulu Kulu (Branches in Covent Garden and Soho) is pretty good, Itsu irritated me no end by having not one single vegetarian roll on offer so I can't rate them on anything else, and I've yet to try my luck at a Feng Sushi.

Yoshino has a good reputation, although I can't vouch for them personally (They also stock the Japan Centre's sushi bar, which I can recommend). Many of my friends rate the Tokyo Diner, but I've never been impressed there - it's good enough, but nothing special. I prefer to go to Zipangu, which is two doors down. I mostly go for ramen, but what I've sampled of their sushi has been good.

all of these things and more

I don't know if I should be admitting this in public, but tonight is Torchwood night (first episode of the second season) and I'm looking forward to it.

Why would I be worried about admitting to that? Well, it's not so much the lingering stigma of SciFi - if I was posting the day before new Doctor Who I would have no shame at all about being full of anticipation and encouraging everyone to watch it. But that may be because everyone *does* watch it. My best friend's ten year old, through to my parents. It's proper family telly.

Torchwood? Well, season one was, to be honest, a bit rough in places. Didn't seem to know what it wanted to be. Had some fantastic episodes and some total dross, and some amazing acting, and some annoying failures to act (Gwen, I'm looking at you, lass.) some great writing, and some really clunky bad bits.

I missed a few episodes in the middle of last season, and wasn't too stressed about it, and yet, I have a soft spot for the show and I find myself caring about the launch of the second season.

I think part of it may be down to location. I went to uni down in Swansea, so the accents, and the real-world parts are pleasing to me. It's nice seeing Cardiff playing Cardiff (instead of Cardiff playing London and Swansea playing Cardiff, like in Doctor Who). Gwen's mundane boyfriend, Rhys, and her ex-partner on the police remind me of people I know. The accents feel like one flavour of home. It's all about the little things.

It looks like there will be folks coming round to watch en-mass, so even if the show does completely bomb, I'll still have a good evening, but I'll be waiting for the credits with fingers crossed, thinking 'please don't suck'.

And you know what? I have hope.

please open your eyes

apropos of nothing: John Duffin's noir-ish London prints please me.

But I see the statues beginning to fall

Fourth Plinth shortlist announced.

I thought I was going to find myself in the unlikely situation of rooting for Tracy Emin, because Meerkats and then I scrolled down the final few lines and: Anthony Gormley wants to ask members of the public to stand on the plinth for an hour each to occupy it for constantly for 12 months

Vote Gormley I say!

(Health and Safety will probably nix the idea, but the idea of it!)