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Retro meets Soho
| So I'm walking along to Old Crompton Street where my favourite falafel shop is to meet girlfriend. On my way I see a pretty girl walking a cute little dog, a very basic description for an interesting scene. It's a busy street and I don't think anyone notices just what's so different about this girl, or maybe they're indifferent to it because they're used to seeing "weird" people and they've seen it all. But this girl looks like she's just jumped out of a 40's advert for soap or some house cleaning product. Her shaven eyebrows are penciled in with a high Bette Davis arch. Her lips are scarlet red and her wardrobe looks spectacular in her cute yellow print blouse and cocktail skirt. Her hair is tied up in curlers just like they did in the old days, but covered with a scarf to hold them all in. What's missing is a cigarette hanging between her lips to make that image complete, because she really does have that pout down to a tee! What sets her apart from the vintage adverts you see is that she has a piercing in each cheek where a dimple should be. I absolutely loved her look and wished I had a camera to take her picture. To me she looked priceless because you cannot see that anywhere else. The description is in the present tense because I see similar people dotted around Soho all the time. The difference is they give their look that punk twist. There is a man who walks around Wardour Street with his snappy vintage suits and spiffy spatz. His black hair is usually slicked back and his thin moustache is always groomed against his otherwise clean shaven face. What sets him apart from the vintage poster for a jazz club? His tattoos. He is absolutely covered in the most colourful tattoos you can imagine. It's like a walking retro acid trip looking at him as most of his body is covered in different colours and images, including his ears which have a star tattooed on each lobe. I love how these people look like they've just stepped out of a Dick Tracey comic book with their colourful outfits. It's like retro meets punk. I love how they strut their stuff down the street in their 3 inch pumps and scarlet or ruby red lipstick. Maybe they exist in other parts of London, but when sitting in my fish tank I can't help but be mesmerised when watching them go by. |
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All That Jazz - London Jazz Festival
 It's that sultry time of year for the London Jazz Festival to kick off, so try and get in there for some good times. There's the best of British, some weird shit and your all-time favourites. It starts tonight and there's a great line up, so find a venue and take some friends for some good music and a catch up. Personal Pick: Herbie Hancock at the Roundhouse this saturday night... I'm looking for some spots so get in there if you can and see this all time jazz legend with an awesome line up... Read a little bit more about it here Lot's of sold out events? Don't worry, there are 150 events over 30 venues from the Southbank to the Spitz, so I'm sure there will be something out there for everyone.. Go to their official website here Get a useful little cut out of all the events here |
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Remember, Remember, the Fourth of November...
| Bonfire night coming up - everyone get on your rooftops and wish you were on Primrose Hill (only allowed for the locals, Madge & baby David I suppose) to watch the fireworks display this weekend in London... Our favourite picks? Battersea Park and Ravenscourt Park are supposed to be especially good this Saturday night... if you miss things this weekend, don't worry, the Mayor of London's throwing his usual big bash next weekend on the 11th (a week late better than never) on the Southbank between Waterloo Bridge & Blackfriar Bridge... thanks to daylight savings, the party also starts early at 5 p.m. More about Bonfire night here, don't forget your Guy Fawkes masks and all the explosives you can get your hands on... Remember, Bonfire Night isn't about roasting marshmallows or Independence Day, it's about celebrating the day parliament didn't blow up into smithereens... Oh, and we burnt this guy at the stake... Awesome-ness...  |
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Celebrities and Mere Mortals
| So I live in a city where the streets are rampant with mere mortals that move from point to another. In between these mortals prowl celebrities that wish to lead a "normal" life and not want to be hounded or chased down streets and roads by predators, also known as autograph hunters and paparazzi. I am an autograph hunter but not a full fledged one. Oh let me be clearer on that, I'm not a hunter of sorts, I just happen to bump into celebrities every now and then. London is a place that is buzzing with life, and people from all walks... of life... will be found all over London. People do not necessarily believe me when I say I've seen or met soandso, but in all honesty could the same not be said if I were in New York? Or Florida? Is it just because I'm in London that I can't meet someone from Casulty and end up with their email address? Is it because I'm not glamorous that a certain Mr. Stamp wishes me luck in Soho? Or is it just dumb luck that I bumped into Jason "Lucius Malfoy" Isaac on the street and got chatting with him? It could be a mix of things, but more along the lines of London is a great place to see celebs at their most natural. Honestly, it is! A lot of the time I will meet people from various TV shows and British films in Soho, which is one of the places where media companies seem to set up camp. I've met a couple of people from Coronation Street in a Starbucks in there. I've chased down the street (for a friend - cue blush from Girl, Interrupted) to get Graham Norton's autograph. I've stared at G4 walking past me in the street to Itsu for lunch a number of times, before running up to them for an autograph, and ended up shaking and in a nervous mess thanks to my overload of caffiene just before that burst. Eastenders characters are known to prowl the streets of Soho as well, as I've bumped into "Jake", "Danny" and "Chrissy" all in the same area. I also managed to annoy Dawn French with a request for an autograph for my mother. There are a couple of celebrities though who I've managed to spot but never managed to pluck the courage to talk to. One was John Hannah (the Mummy) who was looking very rugged in a slightly wet trench coat. Another was Dale Winters, only because he took one look at me, realised I'd recognised him but just strolled past me. I've seen Rik Mayall one more than one occassion, and on the third he just stared at me with an odd look about him, probably thought I was stalking him. But I have to say the nicest was seeing Brian May in front of me before we crossed paths crossing a road in front of the Dominion theatre where "We Will Rock You" was playing. It was probably because I'd had just started my MA in London and my new life, and it was the first time I spotted someone famous. My jaw dropped and my eyes widened, plus I was a bit of a Queen fan. He saw my expression and smiled. Realising I was catching flies, I closed my mouth, smiled shyly and made my way across the street. There are a couple more celebrities which I have met, but I can't really disclose on here, for a number of reasons. However, knowing the friends I do (TV and film producers, media researchers and location managers), only ONCE have I made contact with a celebrity, and that was in a detached form. It's sad, as these people come in contact with various names and people, and yet they do not share them. As I spoke to the owner of a media company, I mentioned how friendly Jason Isaac was, the owner turned to me and said, "who?" Maybe the world isn't split up into it's Celebrities and Mortals, but with the few in between who are not dazzled by it all because they see what they're really like without the airbrushing and entourage. It may still make me a little embaressed to ask, but I don't think I could give up the habit or lose the excitment of seeing someone famous on the street. Why should I? |
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London Film Festival Begins Today!
| From the 18th of October to the 2nd of November, the London Film Festival will keep you entertained with a group of awesome movies and events (under cool strands like New British Cinema and Experimenta - ooh). "Hmphs" will be frowned upon from those who will compare our treat to Cannes - this year does have a lot of cool movies lined up (I wrote about my excitement in my blog) and I'm personally looking forward to a couple, including Venus, Breaking and Entering and of course, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Making Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - "Why not? I like. It nice!" Besides the popcorn, don't forget the events being held at the National Film Theatre with special guest talks by Tim Burton, Dustin Hoffman and many, many more... Remember: it's so cool 'cause i'ts happening in London - way cooler than wherever else film festivals are held.
Download your event calender HERE (pdf). |
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The 5 Minute Difference
beep... beep beep... Bang the alarm and slap the sleep off my face. There's only one thing on my mind this morning, "Conference call at 9 a.m., Conference call at 9..." I have very little time to dilly and none to dally at all: I had to be in the office pronto. I manage to jump into the shower, out of the shower, into my clothes, jump my breakfast into my mouth, jump out of the house (in my red shoes) and off to work - all very Super Mario Brothers style, all very quick and efficient as I try for once to beat the human traffic to the city. Put on socks, jump, jump, grab some gold coins, jump, jump, out the door. "Conference call at 9 a.m., Conference call at 9..." I'm not wearing a watch today so I swiftly pull out my phone to look at the time as I walk to the bus stop and feel the rain begin to spit at my forehead. Go on, mock me while I'm vulnerable, the clouds taunt me in my own voice as I look at my telephone. Five minutes earlier than usual: good stuff, seroo, good stuff. Let's hope this works. I need to be in with plenty of time to spare for my dreaded conference call. Walking to the bus stop, I'm surprised by the lack of suited umberllas queuing for a spot on the bus. I look at the time again and start to panic as I realize the last bus must have already left. "Conference call at 9 a.m., Conference call at 9..." I try to calculate how long it will be until a bus comes and whether I'll make my call or not - how soaked I'll get in the now drizzling rain and how long it will take for me to dry and whether I won't dry at all and maybe I'll get pnemonia and will I get admitted to the hospital and will they bring in a vicar if it's serious...? Thankfully, I'm interrupted in my train of thought by the D7 flashing its lights at me. Great. I'll live til yet another rainy day. "Conference call at 9 a.m., Conference call at 9..." Wait a minute, something's different about this bus... There aren't any noisy children in school uniforms and I'm standing comfortably in my own space. The bus driver isn't driving like a maniac either and I get to the station in record time. Hmm. Poseiden and Medusa aren't waiting for me at Canary Wharf station, so things must be normal. Hmm. I hop off the bus then proceed through the station mall to the tube. I'm welcomed by the mass exodus of people rushing out of the trains and every orphus underground to get to giant tickers overgound. I look around; There's the bottleneck of people trying to get on the escalators, there's the mess of newspapers scattered about, and yet there is something different in the air. I contemplate the thought as I go through my usual routine of dodge-shift-swerve,-pirouette through the masses - am I getting better at this or what? It all seems too simple as I find my way down the escalator to the back of the train as it was approaching. Something does not seem right, but "Conference call at 9 a.m., Conference call at 9..." is still in the back of my head and I look through the moving glass to see which carriage to weave my way in. Train approaches, I walked to the back carriages and smoothly walked through the sliding doors and found a seat with a neatly placed Metro on it. Slie into my chair smugly, looking for recognition from my other fellow commuters for my slick moves to an empty seat and looked up aghast at how many people were standing: near none compared to my usual morning journies. Almost everyone had a seat, everyone was quiet, people looked relaxed, no BO... Could it be that I've actually avoided the crowd by 5 minutes? Bigger Surprise: my train journey was pleasant as I sat the whole way - even after my change at Green Park (to which the Gujrati folk singer was there today but was still setting up her gear). My commute was fine and I got in the office with plenty of time to sit down, have a cup of tea and contemplate who would win in a fight between myself and a giant baracuda (trick question: I'd never fight a baracuda because I'd already have died of a heart attack on seeing a live fish up close. And now you know). "Conference call at 9 a.m., Conference call at 9..." no sweat, got there in time without collapsing at my desk the second I got in. Definitely a tip for commuters - sometimes that 5 minute boost in the morning really does make a difference. Look at my journey this morning: I wasn't soaked, I didn't have to clutch my bag in suspicion of every little brat that bumped into me, I didn't have to read the paper over someone else's shoulder and I actually sat on the train today. I sat down people, and that in itself is worth rushing yourself for 5 minutes. Well worth it, I'd say. |
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EAT yer sarnies
London may as well be the sandwhich capital of the world - I haven't seen as many people flock to as many different sandwich shops between the hours of 12 to 3 p.m. as I have here, with The City being no exception... (to those of you who are Irish don't contend with me - we gave you potatoes! Sandwiches are ours!) It seems that the sandwich is the prime choice here for lunch, with your basic English sarnies like Cheese & Pickle, Ham & Cheese, (Cheese & anything really) to your more fancy Thai fusions and the odd crayfish combination: They're quick, they give you enough sustenance to last you til coffee time and some of them taste pretty good. There's is an explosion of sandwich shops all over the place: Old-time favourites Marks & Sparks do a great Tuna Sandwich and Pret have done a pretty good job with putting avocado in a lot of things - but today's entry goes to EAT, who I must say, are pretty damn tasty. If you think £2.80 is a little pricey for a sandwich then start making your sandwiches at home - most places have their lunches ranging up to £4 for a basic plastic sandwich and EAT's are on the upper average price range. However, they are well worth them - the eateries are clean, the service is good, the packaging is friendly & not frustrating to tear open when you're on a quick break AND their sandwiches are tasty. EAT's selection is pretty good: They do have a range of sandwiches for the meat lover (rare scottish roast beef), the vegetarian (mozarella, avocado & tomato) and even the fussy eater (wheat free dairy free - no farmyard animals hurt of involved in any way). Their selection is good and the actually have variety which some places lack nowadays as they've chosen to stick to chosen favourites. Everything is fresh and you can actually taste it, which is a pleasant surprise. They have 2 different types of tuna sandwiches (with red onion or with sweetcorn) which is pretty awesome since both are under 5% fat so you know they're not overloading them with mayonnaise as other places do. Their roast beef & horseradish is also very good, as is their Turkey & Cranberry, which both have enough meat & enough spread that compliment eachother perfectly. Their other choices include toasted ciabattas and very good soup - EAT always have 2 options of freshly made soup, with a veg & non-veg option. Dairy free versions of your favourite soups still taste just as good and warm you right up on a cold day. If you're feeling the pounds pile on from having sandwiches everyday, they also do a number of interesting salads like their POWER FOOD salad that's high in anti-oxidants and is presented well. Their Sandwich of the week is usually quite good - today I opted for the Wheat Free option and had the salmon & cream cheese (which is never a favourite but tempted me today thanks to my counterpart who loves the combination and smells of it too - hee hee!) . I must say I did not stink up my office as I pulled out my half and did not have polar bear breath afterwards. The salmon was cut in good slices, the cream cheese was not too dull and there was an interesting addition of capers and an awfully good dill mustard which was delicious (kudos to that). The bread was also good, soft and hearty, and unlike most wheat-free products, did not taste like it was made in a lab. Other than sandwiches, their coffee is a little pricey for a sandwich shop (1.80 for a latte) but they make up for it for providing nicer coffee than places that threaten to break your legs if you don't drink their coffee. They also have good crisps (for those who eat 'em) and lot's of healthy sides, like greek yoghurt with muesli, fresh mango parfait and some good ol' English fruit. Overall, they've got a good selection and you walk out paying under 5 quid for your lunch of a sarnie, packet of crisps, a smoothie & a cookie - which is pretty standard here in the city. EAT outlets are found all over the city, big compilments to the one on Kingsway who always have more than 1 of everything during late lunch hours and have fed many-a-colleagues. If you really can't find one, look for your local branch here. |