A walk along Kings Road (part 5) leapfrog and Peter Jones

Short and sweet is this section of the walk (see previous posts for parts 1-4)

Walking East, Allister Botwell's "Two Pupils" (2002) can be found in a pedestrian side turn off Kings Road that leads to the new Duke of York Square. The leapfrogging boy and the seated girl are a reference to the Royal Military Asylum which occupied the site 1803–1909 and was opened by the 'Grand Old' Duke of York (the same fella from the nursery rhyme).
And finally we arrive at Peter Jones. Turn into Cadogan Gardens just before the store and admire the gorgeous tiled floor in the entrance there. I suspect all the entrances once had the same or similar designs, only it seems odd for there to have only have ever been this one. The building is not a uniform shape – I love the soft curves, especially at the corner.
That'll do!

Accentuate the positive – three more nice things along the No.19 bus route

Big and beautiful x3:

 Clocked at Highbury

 Inspired in Upper Street

 Feeling perky in Shaftesbury Avenue

Three nice things – a series by Jane's London

St George's, Bloomsbury

I hadn't noticed until April this year that the lamps at the foot of the front steps to this gorgeous church echo the design on the spire.
But if you look closely and compare these little metal designs to the larger edifice on the roof there are few differences.
If you look closely you can see that the lamps feature George looking more llike a toddler, the lions standing wearing crowns and the unicorns also on all fours but with no horns.
Perhaps the lamps are from earlier designs.

The six images on the left show the roof, and other six to the right show the lamps.

A lack of movement in Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is full of statues including Nelson, George IV, some lions and a big blue cockerel that are made of stone, bronze and other strong arty substances, but there are also some other statues to be found there.
I am referring to the street entertainers who stand motionless like a statue but then move slightly or suddenly to scare or amaze passers-by.

I have seen some very clever ones in Barcelona, Prague, even Covent Garden, and marvelled at their strength and ability to stand still for so long, possibly just moving their eyes, but what we have here in Trafalgar Square these days are people making no real attempt at all – they don't even paint their bodies to look like statues any more. Instead they dress up head to toe in purchased outfits complete with rubber masks and then most of them wobble about on platform constructions intended to make it look like they are levitating. On the day I took these photos, back in November, there were four Star Wars characters including two Yodas and a girl in a Stormtrooper outfit who just made five minute attempts to hold poses but mostly stood around holding her helmet.
And the really annoying thing about this? People actually give them money!!!

The Princess and the Spacehopper

I was recently asked by an online shopping site about my worst ever Christmas present. 

Nothing immediately came to mind until I remembered one year when we set spending limits and so we gave a lot useful, silly or edible things from the pound stores. 

One of my presents from that source was a framed picture of Prince Charles's first wife. Aaaargh! Cries of 'hang it on the wall Jane; it will look lovely here... or here..." were met with "get that woman out of my house!".

I don't think I even kept the frame!

My best present? Has to be when my sister and I each got a Spacehopper. I have fond memories of us bounding up and down the garden.    

Nudity and royalty

Shock horror, Prince Harry's been photographed naked playing cards!

Turns out he's nude under those clothes just like the rest of us. 

Playing strip poker, in Vegas, sounds like a fairly normal thing to do, better than betting and losing his crown jewels.  

Throughout history male members of the royal family have been rogering around and siring illegitimate children hither and thither. It's a perk of the job! I consider that Harry's being fairly tame in comparison.
If you haven't seen a naked man before, here's are some to be found in London. Shocking!

Today's news – the bloody Oscars

Here we are in a recession/depression and millions of people on the bread line, yet a disgusting amount of money is thrown at an event (and other similar events) to give awards to people who spend their lives pretending to be other people.
Actors. Hardly saving lives and planets are they?
Ooh darling... I am an actor you know.
Really? Like I give a...
And before anyone starts ranting back at me... I like films. I love films. I just don't see why all this lavish patting on the back is necessary. There may be awards ceremonies for bakers, nurses, charity workers, bomb disposal men etc. But these events are not on the news.
Go figure. Gold figure.

Clockwise from top left: Bank of England, Cockspur Street, Grays Inn Road, Haymarket, Victoria Palace, Oxford Street.

There's an a-MAZE-ing thing in Trafalgar Square

Ooh, I love puzzles. So too, do I like mazes; Black Gang Chine, Longleat, Hampton Court – been there, done them. But I don't think I am gonna be able to get to this one in Trafalgar Square as it's only gonna be there until Friday 6th August. Check here for more details.

As ever, any event is always a catalyst for me to put together a collection of 'relevant' photos... Nelson doesn't look very comfy does he?!

Above (except for the obvious shots):

Top row: The crowds making a big noise with vuvuzelas on the first day of The Football World Cup earlier this year

Middle row: Three different travel-related motifs along Cockspur Street.

Bottom row: The Queen's coronation procession, 15 May 1937, and Eat London – London created in food, 2007.