Notting Hill Carnival

It has just been pointed out to me that it's the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend. Every year this last bank holiday weekend of the Summer (where did that go?!) creeps up on me so fast that I miss the event. As you can see in the link it's a jam-packed colourful weekend that attracts 1000s of people from all over the world* and huge media interest. And it's loud; my friend lives in the middle of it and recorded the visible sound.

I've only ever been twice. The first time I hated it – I wasn't in the mood for lots of people that day and so getting from place wasn't enjoyable. I just sat and watched the world go.

The second time I went to a friend's 3rd floor flat in Powys Square and we looked down on the heaving throng below who were dancing to loud, very loud, dance music. It was mesmerising.

I do like a carnival parade; I love the one at the end of the Thames Festival which is 3 weeks away, so I think I might actually go and watch the parade at Notting Hill this year...

For those of you who do go, please count how many times you hear "olé olé... feeling hot hot hot"!

*Where do they all these people stay? I hope they are using £15 off promotions like this? More voucher offers here. And VoucherCodes' fab new site here.

All of the images below are in and around the carnival route.

Filthy London

This post is sparked off by an ad on TV that really niggles me; it's for a hand cleaner that comes in a soap dispenser that has a sensor so that you need "never touch a germy soap pump again".

OK... so let's think about this... if you were to directly touch the dispenser, or the bottle, or whatever, then surely this product of theirs will eradicate the 'germs' when you wash your hands!? But how are you going to turn the tap on/off after you have applied the soap?

Actually, how did you get in the kitchen/bathroom in the first place... did you open a door? With your filthy fingers? Oh ugh!

This is all getting so ridiculous.

I recently heard one mother telling her son not to hold the moving handrail on the escalator because lots of people touch it. I don't know what she would do if the thing stopped and the poor kid fell over and hurt himself. Do you think she let him hold on when he got on the tube train? Dunno. But she probably let him wipe his dirty shoes on the seats.

And I heard another woman tell her children, who were sitting in the front seat on the top deck of a bus, not to hold onto the rail in front of them for similar reasons. Yet, when getting off, she told them to hold on tight when going down the stairs.

Top row: Angel tube station, Lavender Soap in Acton, dirty beasts in Fleet Street, Pears' Soap in Highgate Village.

Middle row: Sanitary Brixton, Holloway litter, dusty windows in EC4, manicule near Lea Bridge.

Bottom row: litter in Camden, Sunlight Soap in Highbury, door knocker in Spitalfields, dusty tiles in Old Street.

Ikea Future Kitchen debate / The Surreal House

Having this blog means I get invited to things such as openings, events, seminars, etc. Most invites have nothing to do with anything on my blog and often it's evident that the person who emailed me has not even looked at the content but has just seen the 'London' in the title. But every now and then something good crops up, as it did when I accepted the was invite to the Ikea-sponsored Future Kitchen debate at the Barbican Centre last Thursday. Yes, I know this site isn’t about kitchens, but I was interested to hear what the interesting panel of eight had to say about how we might be cooking and cleaning and living in 2040.

It didn’t start well. The word ‘topline’ kept being used. As in “I want to topline to you…” i.e. the first thing on the bill. Oh dear, I thought, it’s gonna be Jargon City. Then Gerry Dufresne of Ikea told us that in the future we will have more individual needs and Ikea could help us with that. Begs the question how a multi-national company can give us our own individuality. And he boasted that some Ikea products are now half the price. So, were they over-priced in the past? Or is this down to supply and demand? If the latter, then where’s the individuality?!

But moving on… The panel discussed the various issues and I became really engaged in it all, though not necessarily in a positive way. I learned that the new designer trend of ‘upcycling’, making new products out of old ones, is expected to take off big time. They said people between the ages of 18 and 44 have developed a throwaway disposable attitude to consumables and aren’t genned up enough re recycling. What a sad state of affairs.

A recurring theme was that it should be our own individual responsibility to become more aware of the environment, our surroundings and our impact on the future. I wondered that if people today had been made already more aware of the issues then we wouldn’t be in such a mess now. The 'debate' was starting to make me feel I was at a middle class dinner party*.

The poorest areas of the planet are the areas suffering with the most waste and its repercussions. Out of sight; out of mind. The average man eating his fast food on the street really doesn’t give a shit about any of this. He just wants everything now and cheap cheap cheap. Hence the rise of the pound shops. There is too much waste and packaging. When I was a kid it was normal to take a bag with you to the shops; you didn’t come home with six plastic bags. Today's average shopper has come to expect plastic bags as some kind of divine right. I reckon supermarkets provide them because they know they will sell more produce if our bags aren’t a pre-specified size. The government needs to better educate people about the future implications of all this.

Managing our utilities sensibly was another point for discussion. Water will become scarcer so we must come up with ways of getting Joe Public to be aware of this and not waste it. The engaging eco-friendy and smiley Oliver Heath said he has pedal-operated taps in his house. Top idea! Why, in this country, are we cleaning all our water to drinking standards and then washing our dogs, cars and windows with it? And to better control and manage our use of gas and electricity, in 11 years' time, all household will have Smart Meters.

I loved a lot of what the cute and interesting Martin Raymond said. I liked his ideas for staying light-hearted, keeping the humour. Though I am still trying to work out what he meant by “the future will look like the past”, because it won’t… will Tescos implode? Will we have a return to unique little shops and women scrubbing doorsteps with rollers in their hair?!

A comment Martin made at the end rankled me; that we need to have vegetable ripening cabinets in our kitchens. No we don’t Martin; what we need are vegetables that don’t go off in less than a day – like tasteless bananas that go black, carrots that go bendy and potatoes that go soft and green. None of this would happen if fruit and veg wasn’t kept in huge refrigerated sheds prior to sale. It’s daft how, due to this, we have to now keep these items in the fridge. Again, when I was a kid, you bought your mis-shapen earth-covered potatoes from the greengrocer and then stored them in an open vegetable rack in the kitchen where they lasted for weeks. Oh, and they didn’t have sell-by dates on them either – we used our eyes and noses to work that out! Why do we ‘need’ to have every kind of fruit and veg all year round? Seasonal vegetables are the way forward. Again, more education is needed.

The panel went on to discuss the future of communal living and neo-villaging, no less. But if you refer to this piece I wrote about the Isle of Dogs, it’s gonna be very difficult now to just introduce a community vibe where it’s been absent for so long. And Charlie Luxton, eco architect, said that in the future we will be able to design our kitchen and change it later. Well,what have we been doing all these years? And how is ripping out and changing things, as and when we get fed up with the colour or finish of the doors, an eco-friendly thing to do?

And finally, to the organisers of the event, I suggest it’s not a good idea for the girls who walk round with the mikes for the (all too short) Q&A session to wear stilettos!

*Jasmine Birtles assumes that every house on a suburban street has its own lawnmower. Really?

After the discussion I drank lots of red wine and scoffed lots of Ikea-style canapés inc mini hot dogs, and I chatted to some nice people, including Martin, Jon & Stu and Grahame, and had a quick peek around the Surreal House exhibition, which was really good – I must go back before it finishes on 12^th September – and after another drink at Mary's lovely Barbican flat, I went home with the bag of mini Daim bars from my Ikea goodie bag.

All-in-all an excellent and thought-provoking evening. Thanks Cakegroup.

The Dandy Warhols, Sunday 8th August, Koko, Camden

As ever, they made a wonderful noise.

And what a lovely venue.

All the letters below can be found in Camden.

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.

Ping-pong, whiff-whaff and other stinky things

100 table tennis tables have appeared at prime locations around London.

More about that below, but it got me thinking that the names 'ping-pong' and 'whiff-whaff' both sound like bad smells, hence this collection of stink pipes, also known as stench pipes.

These tall metal tubes, larger versions of the ones found on many old houses, were put in place to direct the foul smells from underground passageways up and above and away from our ancestors' nostrils, and as you can see, a lot of them are still in place today. Many were quite ornate and designed to blend in with the other street furniture of the day. Indeed, these days, sometimes it's hard to discern whether what's left used to be an arc light or a stench pipe.

For more, see here, here, here, here and here.

The month-long ping pong table event in London is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Innovation Fund and aims to get a million more people playing more sport by 2012. It will then travel to four more UK cities over the next two years, returning to London for 2012 in time for the Olympic Games.

Oh, and according to Boris, whiff-whaff is/was table tennis's original name... something to do with that being the sound the champagne cork made as it was hit with a hard-backed book or cigar tin back and forth across the dinner table.

The Isle Of Dogs and Canary Wharf...

My scavenger hunts along the Thames beaches led me recently to the Isle of Dogs.

When I first got there I was thinking that I should write a jolly blog post about it's possible to spend a lovely afternoon in the sunshine on the beach without leaving London*. At one point I even bought an ice cream and looked at the view across the river. Nice.

But then I decided to walk all around the edge (coast?). I even ventured into the centre a few times. Sad to report that, as I suspected, nothing has improved in recent years. In fact it's getting worse.

There are some lovely little cottages and houses at the southern end, which still retains a modicom of historical charm, but the lack of a real high street means everyone there is reliant on the nearby superstore (another bugbear of mine!).

But, as for the rest of it, there is barely anything in this modern dreamscape to indicate that this was once a bustling area packed with families working on and around the docks. Where once there were thriving communities, there are now charmless glass and metal tower blocks.

Yet here and there it has been decided to leave in place some random bits of decommissioned machinery or large chains but there are no signs or plaques to explain why they things are there or what they used to be used for.

The north side of east entrance to the West India Docks seems to have been neglected by the developers (so far). Sadly, where it could look really good, it looks instead like a wasteland; some cranes still remain (as per the ones on West india Quay), there are some rusty old barges, decaying wooden barriers, dilapidated buildings, fenced off areas etc. It's a huge contrast to the shiny tall buildings that loom over it.

The paths along the Thames are really disappointing; again, there is barely anything left to hint at what went before except a pathetic attempt at a couple of information boards about Millwall and the docks, and IKB's Great Eastern. But these are useless because the boards are so bleached out, sctratched and uncared for that they might as well not be there at all.

Looking across the river to the wharves along the Deptford waterfront the same rape of the past is happening there too. I find it all so sad.

And, finally, the privately-owned Canary Wharf Estate; I could write a long piece here about what I think of this charmless zone but "aaargh, is this really progress?" will have to do. I wonder if people who live and work there say to their friends "ooh, you must come and have a drink in this wonderful little place round the corner; it's been there for three whole years"!

If you do want to find out more about this area and its past go to the fabulous Museum of London Docklands.

*Just opened this week's Time Out and Michael Hodges has beaten me to the London beach thing as he's already written an article about it.

No Segars or Cigars

I recently noticed that this lovely Marshalls Segars sign in Finsbury Park has been filled in and painted white. Such a shame. Why, why why, why WHY?!

I featured it in my 1oth Londonist Urban Sightseeing piece about smoking, entitled 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes'.

Those lovely people at Londonist must think I have left the country as I haven't put together a post for them since Jan 2010... oops. Sorry guys.

Here's what this sign looks like now where you'll also find some pics of the old hand-painted shop sign.

Dragons' Den

It seems like every time I put the TV on lately there is that trailer for BBC's Dragons' Den, which starts again tonight.

I have question... if Deborah Meaden is so bloody wealthy, how come that in the trailer it is evident that she is suffering from very bad VPL? Euch! Surely, in her position, she should be able to find either a skirt that fits her properly or some better knickers?

Sadly, I cannot find the trailer anywhere on the web to be able to link to it here in order to enlighten those of you who don't live in the UK, but according to this link Deborah likes to look good but, though she really likes clothes, she has no time or inclination to go shopping herself, so it's all down to Minty, her personal stylist, who "pushes the boundaries" for her. Thanks Minty.

Shown above is a repeat of a mosaic of dragons I have used before with captions.

More dragons here.

The Chap Olympiad in Bedford Square

Taking place in Bedford Square this Saturday is the 6th Chap Olympiad.

So curl your hair or wax your moustache, dress up in something dapper and go put on a damn fine show. What?!

Top row: LRT Acton Depot, Clerkenwell Road, Belgravia, Holloway Road.

Middle row: Chenies Street, Curzon Street, Olympic Park, Bedford Square [c]space pavilion.

Bottom row: New Oxford Street, Bedford Square, Jermyn Street x2.

Holloway Street Party, Saturday 10th July 2010

Gorgeous weather for a street party.

Well done to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen.

Sorry I got there so late, but hey, I took some good snaps....

Hairdressers and barbers

I was just about to put together this collection of interesting, ornate, old and decaying hairdressers' shops signs when someone emailed me about a series of events being put on by LIFT (The London International Festival of Theatre).

One of the items on the programme this year is Haircuts by Children. So if you fancy letting a 9 year old give you a free haircut then check out the site and pop along sometime between this Saturday 10th June and next Sat 18th.

Other LIFT events include 'Nevermore', a theatre production about the "Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe", 'Oxygen', a reworking of the Ten Commandments and 'We Built this City' where children can build a city from cardboard boxes (thinks, how can I make myself look like a 12 year old...?).

Anyway, check the LIFT site for the full list of events.

Top row: Dean Street, South Moulton Street, Balls Pond Road, Muswell Hill Broadway, Scotland Green.

Middle row: Newington Green, Caledonian Road, Chatsworth Road, Berwck Street, Leather Lane.

Bottom row: Holloway Road, Kings Cross Road, Pentonville Road, Seven Sisters Road (Fins Pk), Aberdeen Place.

All of the above, as far as I know, are all still in situ. But this one, on Royal College Street, uncovered whilst renovation, has vanished. Shame.

And perhaps I should have included this one!

Wimbledon 2010

There's a tennis tournament on in south London.

I have actually been watching some of it.

As I write this Andy Murray is taking on Rafael Nadal in the second semi final. I have no opinion on that, but I'd like Tomas Berdych to take the championship title final on Sunday after I saw him beat Federer on Wednesday and then Djokivic earlier today. I might even watch the final. Stranger things have happened.

I still haven't watched any of the football though.

Here's a collection of loosely-themed tennis pics:

Top row: Bethnal Green Road, Holloway, Centrepoint, Praed Sreet

Middle row: Kingsway, Kew, Balcombe Street, Kilburn

Bottom row: Gracechurch Street, Westbourne Grove, Well Court, Chenies Street

Art in my garden

Anna made this. It was on show at her degree show and now it's in my garden.

Result!

I need to help her set up a blog/site to show off what else she can do...

Art Art Art... Private Views at C&G of London Art School Degree Show 2010 and PayneShurvell

My talented sister has just finished her 3 year degree course in stone and wood carving at C&G Art School. I went along yesterday for the awards and presentations and had a quick look round at the diverse degree show which is just as good as last year with exhibits covering all bases; fine art painting and sculpture, conservation, installations etc.

I will be back there for the Private View on Thursday evening, and at some point over the weekend too, so why don't you come along and find me?!

Why they call these things Private Views is beyond me, seeing as anyone can stroll in!

Which reminds me that a couple of weeks ago I spent a very pleasant evening with a friend going from PV to PV in the Hoxton/Shoreditch area. The best show that night was the opening eve for PayneShurvell who have pulled together a really eclectic mix of artists for their show 'A Bright and Guilty Place'. I liked quite a lot of the work there esp Dan Hay's revised repetitive A-Z map of London and Anka Dabrowska's line drawings and her little 3D shops and houses which displayed a lot of love and care and attention. As regards work exhibited there, I was impressed that, even if I didn't like the finished product, I could see why it was created and how it had come about. It was a lovely contrast to an earlier show we saw that evening where an 'artist' had created large colourful ill-conceived and badly-executed canvasses obviously with an eye on the 'art as investment' market. Indeed, one man there told us that he already owned two other pieces by the artist's but he didn't really like them much and hoped they would make him some money. Oh dear. It's so wrong.

ART ART ART:

Top row: St MARTin's Lane, BARTon Street, BARTholomew Road, ChARTerhouse Square.

Middle row: DARTmouth Park, HARTley's jam factory, BARTon Street, CARTer Lane.

Bottom row: St BART's church, MARTello Street, White HART Lane, Brown HART Gardens

All of these can be found within my Flickr photostream

Football crazy; football mad

My life is already, through no choice of my won, dictated by football; living 5 mins from Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, yet not caring a jot whether they win or lose, I always have to check the fixtures list or the signs at the bottom of my street to see if my visitors can park outside my home without getting a parking ticket.

Due to the traffic disruption it can be a bit frustrating trying to use the bus or tube just before or straight after a match. During these times hoardes of "fully grown" men dressed as overgrown toddlers in three-quarter length trousers, bumper boots, multi-coloured logo'd polyester T-shirts and hardly any hair, fill the streets and pubs and chant rhymes. Ah bless 'em.

Have you noticed that sports news, at the end of the 'real' news on the TV, is really only football news? I fail to see why there even has to be a sports section within the news at all. Surely if people want sports news, sorry, football news, they can tune in to a sports channel? After all we don't get an arts news section on there, for instance.

And now the World Cup is upon us. Oh deep joy.

Actually, what am I saying? I don't mind the World Cup at all. To ignore the World Cup would be daft. It's like not being interested in horse racing and having a bet on The Grand National. Likewise athletics and The Olympics, and tennis and Wimbledon.

So I will be watching some of the matches wearing my stylish cotton T-shirt with 3 lions on it.

C'mon England!!!

World, cup, foot, balls, team

Boots, players, matches, posts, marks

Half, 3 lions, boot scraper

Passing, dribbling, crossed, tackle, stadium

(locations upon application)

Fox attacks babies in east London

Disturbing news today that twin 9 month old girls are being treated in The London Hospital after being mauled by an urban fox. Really?!

I know this isn't a good thing to put together a set of pics about, but it's going to be interesting to see how, or if, this changes what people think of these animals vis-a-vis the hunting ban etc. Here's Newsy's take on the subject.

Clockwise from top left:

Slug & Lettuce, Upper St; Southwark Bridge Road; Orford Road, E17; St Barnabas Street, SW1; Wardour Street, W1; coal hole cover; 2 pics of the Fox and Anchor, Charterhouse Street, EC1; Fox umbrella shop, London Wall, EC2; Surrey Docks, SE16

Luther; a wonderfully preposterous TV cop drama

I was a bit late finding Luther. I watched the first two episodes back-to-back on iPlayer and was hooked. Idris Elba, in the title role, is great. And Ruth Wilson, as Alice, is sublime. Paul McGann must be good too, because I despise him in it.

It's all so ridiculous that it's compelling. And I love recognising all the different places around London, like Blackfriars Bridge and Daniel Libeskind's building in Hollway Road, used as a place where Paul Rhys's creepy character held a press conference. Also interesting that his character's macabre art gallery was at 73 Leonard Street, an address that I am sure a company I used to work for moved to. The Shoreditch area, specifically Leonard Street, is used a lot in the programme and is in real life littered with art and art galleries, one place even has a suitable macabre name to tie in to this piece.

Top row: Cornhill, Old Broad Street, Leonard Street, Little Newport Street.

Middle row: Leonard Street, The Blackfriars pub, Holloway Road, Upper Street

Bottom row: Blackfriars Bridge above and below, Praed Street, Bow Street Police Station

Museum of London's Galleries of Modern London opening soon

I am a friend of the Museum of London and last night I went to the private view of the new Galleries of Modern London in advance of the official opening (this Thursday 28th May).

It was all a bit too much as there is so much to see; it's all laid out and arranged so well. The interactive screens and 'touch tables' are really informative and impressive.

I especially liked a room papered with Booth's poverty map where you can zoom in on different areas on the screen at the rear, a long blue 'touch table' depicting the river where you can find out about today's Capital Concerns, a wonderfully ornate Selfridges lift dating from 1928, a replica Victorian street with a tobacconist containing some full length clay pipes, and the sign that bloke used to cart up and down Oxford Street.

Also good was the use of projected films showing actors as part of the exhibits as in the Pleasure Garden and the Lyons Tea House. In the main foyer there is a film showing London today on a large screen; airports, markets, city, houses, parks. I could have watched it for hours.

So, to sum up, it's brilliant, go and check it out when these galleries are open... it's free!!!!

No Souls For Sale at Tate Modern

On Sunday May 16th I went to the No Souls For Sale event thingy at Tate Modern. They'd sectioned the floor of the Turbine Hall off into 70 spaces that were filled by a different gallery or organisation.

It was a mixed bag. There was a lot of stuff I couldn't be bothered to suss out, but there was also some interesting and thought provoking exhibits.

Most of the things that moved me came from abroad, from countries such as Italy or Vietnam... and now, looking at the NSFS site link (top line above) I am confused as to which site was for which gallery and I am kicking myself that I didn't make a better note of things as a lot of the posters in the link don't seem to tie up with the things I saw. Which is a shame. In fact some of the posters are better than the the exhibits I saw, and vice versa.

I really liked a stand in the middle that, on the outside, was made from old walnut furniture. And I loved the Buddah craved into a basbeall bat and the art books with contoured holes drilled into them. The square of white ribbons hanging from the ceiling was lovely, though I have no idea what it was meant to be about. In another area, children were having a great time throwing piles of little bits of paper with 'Local Artist' written on them up into the air. The big brown inflated globe that looked like a big Malteser was also strangely compelling.

Anyway... I took some photos.

Maria Nepomuceno and Grayson Perry at the Victoria Miro Gallery

Last week I went a private view at The Victoria Miro Gallery in Wharf Road, N1.

This gallery is always worth popping in to as I think over the years it has had some fabulous shows. This is where, amongst other shows, Grayson Perry's showed 'The Walthamstow Tapestry' and his some of his wonderfully detailed maps based on the Mappa Mundi. His atmospheric and thought-provoking 'Charms of Lincolnshire' show was also there in 2006. Check past exhibitions in theie site for more.

But to the point... Mr Perry was there on the night in one of his colourful outfits, but even he must have felt quite pale and insignificant against Maria's wonderful, almost organic, creations made of rope, straw and beads. I found her use and understanding of colour and fluid shapes to be mesmerising and uplifting.

If you are in any way of a crafty leaning, as I am, then I urge you to go and see her show and be further inspired. It's on until 12th June.

The pics below are of the last show that inspired me in this way; Hyperbolic Crochet at the Hayward Gallery, August 2008, where whole coral reefs had been created using little metal hooks.

London Bloggers Meetup, May 2010

Last night I went to a Meetup. (Thinks: that would be a good pun title for a collection of butcher shop related images...!). For those of you who haven't heard of Meetups, they are a great way to meet up with like-minded people and make new friends.

So Joanna and I pitched up at the Theodore Bullfrog pub in John Adam Street expecting a social get together. To be honest, we hadn't really read up on what it was about in advance and expected a bit of networking (ech, I hate that word) and chats over a few beers. We'd just about bought our drinks when a lovely woman called Tamara started giving a talk about blogging and how to get the best out of it, illustrating it all with her top 10 of dos and don'ts.

I must admit at first I thought, oh gawd no, please get me out of here! But listening to her explain how her site has become massive, and I mean massive, in nine short months, I was really impressed. Tamara puts an awful lot of time and effort into her site and posts more than once a day. The woman is truly obsessed. Or as she puts it, 'addicted'.

She had lots of great tips about tagging and links and keeping up with trends and the news and knowing who your readers are and following up on things. Some of it was relevant to me, a lot of it wasn't. But it got me thinking.

So when I got in last night I checked my stats for this site (and Jane Made This). It's something I don't do that often because it's like entering a vortex and hours can fly by.

It's fascinating; it's absorbing. For instance, the map above shows the countries coloured in different shades of green indicating where my traffic comes from. A lot of the paler green countries are deceiving because it turns out on closer inspection that only one person may have accidentally clicked in and immediately hit the back button (as in the case of individuals in Madagasgar and Peru, and 5 people in Thailand who probably put words like 'cock' or 'body parts' into Google!).

But it's heartening to know that 1,638 people in the UK have looked at this in the past month, 1,143 of them in London alone, spending an average of 2.47 minutes on here each time.

And then there are people from further afield; someone in Moscow was on here for an impressive 10 mins.

Jane's London was 2 years old last week, so it's really nice to know that you are all out there and I am not sitting here writing to myself.

A big thanks to those of you who keep coming back, and hello to all my new readers...

;-) xxxxxx!

A Belated Happy Birthday to David Attenborough!

The wonderful David Attenborough, naturalist and presenter of many fascinating TV programmes including the Life series, turned 84 on Saturday 8th May.

Eighty-four!!!

I have just been looking for links to clips for here and realised watching this that his comforting and friendly delivery (perhaps mingled with that of Michael Palin, who narrates the piece) sounds not unlike that of Oliver Postgate who created The Clangers and much more.

Planet Earth was my personal favourite of David's series as it was impossible to watch it without saying "wow!' at least ten times. And then "ugh!" as in things like this.

Thanks David, we love you!

Elephant, Kentish Town Road; Talking Parrots, Camden Parkway; Grasshopper, Cornhill; Goat, Kensington High Street.

Bear and Staff, Leicester Square; Bald Faced Stag, East Finchley; The Fox (Slug and Lettuce), Upper Street; Bull and Gate, Kentish Town.

Monkey, Holloway; White Horse, Parsons Green; Lion, Natural History Museum; Horatio Myers, Vauxhall.

Women! Know your place!

That's a ref to a sketch from the Fast Show that I was reminded of when I saw the wonderful old photo of suffragettes on the cover of a copy of yesterday's free Stylist magazine that I found on the bus home last night.

So I turned to read the article on page 41 and it seems women may have made great leaps and bounds since that photo was taken but apparently we still can't do our sums....

If you look closely at the standfirst it reads,'Thanks to the suffragettes, British women were finally given the vote in 1918. Eighty-two years on, how has this hard-won right shaped politics today?'

It seems we are still living in the past.

And on the loose subject of women, I went to see 'Women Beware Women' at the Olivier Theatre the other night. It's had mixed reviews, and don't be put off by what I think is a misleading title as it's bloody brilliant; the set, the costumes, the choreography. Wonderful. Go go go!

10 years of the Tate Modern – a really good bookshop

The Tate Modern is now 10 years old. According to this great article in The Times recently, it’s the most popular art venue in the world and one of the top three attractions (!) in the country (whatever that might mean), though it doesn’t mention what its rivals are.
I’ve never been a fan of the building myself. I have always felt that it’s an opportunity wasted. Pre 2000, when I heard the building was being converted for use as a gallery I was quite excited at the prospect, but when I went there I was so disappointed. And ten years on I still hold that view.
It’s the conversion of building itself that I have got the problem with, not the contents. Logic says that the main access to the building, and then to the art, should be through the door facing the river, especially if you have just walked across the Millennium Bridge. But no; if you use that door you will end up confused for a while wondering which way to go, trying to find a sign or a map to direct you to the art. On looking down into turbine hall you realise you may have to go down to go up. Hmmm. Once down there you'll realise the bulk of the art is on the floors above, so you then have to take a ride on a very long escalator like an extra in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
At the top of every escalator on every floor it feels, to me, like being in an institution or a hospital. There are some great works of art up there but the effort involved always seems to me to diminish the enjoyment.
In case you are still wondering, the main entrance is what looks like the delivery/service doors down the ramp on the west side of the building. Access by this route brings you directly into the vast turbine hall that almost everyone else (I am aware that I am so in the minority here) cites as so amazing. It seems to me to be just a big redundant space; the only way of using it being to commission works to fill its cavernous hole. I just don’t agree with a gallery commissioning art in this way. I have seen a few of the commissions and felt either that they were diminished/dwarfed by the building or that they reeked of commerciality.
Could this fantastic space not have been better used with rooms at high levels on the south side connected across the turbine hall by walkways? Something like Musée D’Orsay in Paris? Had they done something like this perhaps the need to spend money on the new extension wouldn’t have been necessary. But, again, I’m no architect, what do I know?!
Call me old fashioned but I like to walk into a gallery and be immediately tempted or distracted by what I can see through a door to the left, or the hall ahead. Tate Britain and the National Gallery, for instance, achieve this with ease and are always a pleasure to visit. You are ‘in the art’ within minutes.
Last year I was discussing all this with a friend on the down escalator at Tate Modern. A fella behind us joined in and said he totally agreed with me as he always liked to refer to the building as “A really good bookshop with an art gallery attached”. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Top row: Cleveland Square, W2; Barton Street, SW1; Reeves & Sons Ltd, Ashwin St, E8; Camden High Street, NW1.

Middle row: Orford Road, E17; Charterhouse Square, EC1; Westbourne Terrace, W2; Highbury Place, N5.

Bottom Row: Crouch End Broadway, N8; Rivington Street, EC2; Farringdon Road, EC1; St Barts, EC1.