Check this link out, my droogs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/sets/72157624079183751/with/4695639446/
Posters from the 1950s uncovered at Notting Hill Gate. Alas, not accessible to the public, but this photoset by London Underground is the next best thing.
It is good to see that Geri Halliwell is still working.
Filed under Bijou note-ettes, Buildings and architecture, Food, Geography, Lies, London, Music, Photos, Suburbia, Weird shops
I cannot believe I missed this story. Now, as regular readers of this web-log will be aware, I’m a fairly decadent sort. I was seated in my armchair at home in a mood of ennui just a short while ago, attended by my butler, Stives.
“Stives,” I said, “it is Saturday night, I am at home alone but for your faithful company, and I have nothing to do.”
“If you’ll pardon my saying so, sir, it is my experience from working with you that such boredom is generally the precursor of a deep and dark melancholy.”
“Ah, Stives, you have worked for me too long. The usual, then?”
“Indeed, sir. I shall fetch a revolver and discreetly leave the room, while you hold the barrel to your head with your finger on the trigger for up to two hours. Then, in a mood of some embarassment, you will also leave the room, I shall collect the revolver and we will both pretend that nothing has happened.”
“Capital. Wait a second, Stives, what’s this?”
“It is a newspaper, I believe, sir. The Daily Telegraph.”
“A what paper? A news-paper? Does one use it to wipe up news?”
“No, sir. News is printed upon it, and you may read the news.”
“Hmm, isn’t that awfully wasteful?”
“Indeed, sir. The technology was superseded some years ago by the Internet. However, this particular newspaper has an article that may be of some interest.”
“Oh, really? Sum it up for me, do.”
“Well, Ms Jane Goldman, wife of popular entertainer Mr Jonathan Ross, purchased a two-headed skeleton last week from an antique shop in Hackney.”
“Antique shop? Hackney? Two-headed skeleton? Why do I sense the sinister hand of the Last Tuesday Society in all this?”
“Most likely because it was bought from their establishment, sir. Perhaps you would care to read the article?”
“Hmm, sounds like an awful lot of effort. How about if you tell me where I might find that article online?”
“Thank you, Stives. I shall blog this for certain.”
“You do seem to blog about the Last Tuesday Society quite a lot, sir.”
“Perhaps so. Still, it’s all publicity, is it not?”
“Indeed.”
“I ask nothing in return for this.”
“Most magnanimous, sir.”
“Nothing, that is, except for first crack at the buffet.”
The buffet
“I resign, sir.”
Two entries in one day again! In this case, it’s because I came across a story of great interest and I thought it was blog-worthy.
You may recall my entry on St Pancras a little while ago. If not, here it is.
http://londonparticulars.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/st-pancras-more-than-just-a-pretty-facade/
A point I touched on briefly was the fact that in order for the station to be built, a certain amount of slum clearance was necessary, with literally thousands of residents of the area moved on with little or no compensation. Of course, that wasn’t unique to St Pancras. In the mid-nineteenth century, when the grand Railway Mania was at its height, it was pretty standard practice for anyone in the way of the railways to be swept aside regardless. After all, the people building the railway were Very Rich (or at least, hoped to become so).
Fortunately, in these enlightened days, that sort of thing is but a distant m – Oh. That’s not right. I’ve just been informed that Crossrail have been using similarly underhand tactics to drive people out of the way of their line. But surely that can’t be right. I wonder what the ever-reliable Evening Standard has to say on the subject?
Why, it appears that Crossrail officials have been trampling into people’s houses, refusing to show ID, bullying and harrassing those unwilling to sell and offering to buy their houses for considerably less than the land is actually worth. I mean, I’m no enthusiast for Soho, but Christ, what a bunch of dicks. I’m surprised they didn’t go the whole hog and bellow “I’ve won! I’ve won! The deed is done!” when the land was signed over, lightning flashing in the background. The whole thing was so shoddy that Boris Johnson himself was forced to don his cape and step in to tell Crossrail that they were a bunch of rotters and someone ought to show them up.
HERE IS A NOTE FOR YOU CROSSRAIL. It is no longer the 1840s. You cannot keep pulling that shit.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Crossrail has pissed people off. Music fans and homosexual party animals alike will no doubt recall the dearly-departed Astoria on Charing Cross Road, demolished to make way for this steel-and-concrete bastard.
I wonder what Crossrail has to say for themselves? Let’s look at their news page.
http://www.crossrailnews.co.uk/nav/newshome.php
Hmm. No mention. Funny that.
Filed under Bijou note-ettes, Buildings and architecture, Clubbing, Crime, Current events, Geography, History, London, Politics, Soho, Transport, West End
Here’s an odd little bit of info I came across while browsing the Net. It seems the classic “Noo Yawk” accent is fading, as is the case with so many accents and dialects in the mass media age. What I found particularly interesting, though, is that apparently the New York accent ultimately comes from South London. Dropping the R at the end of words like “furniture” or “doctor” is pretty normal over here. The R only seems to be retained, off the top of my head, in West Country accents.
In America, however, the R is a precious thing. The old-skool New York accent is quite unusual in that regard. It turns out that the reason it was adopted here and not elsewhere (for the most part) is due to the fact that New York (and various other East Coast cities) were settled by South Londoners at a time when the Cockney accent was starting to gain prominence in Britain.
So now you know. Yer actual Cockney and yer actual Brooklyn are practically cousins.
With nothing planned this Friday night (you know how it is – soiree here, West End premiere there – the only way not to offend someone is to turn them all down), I’ve been a-surfing YouTube. While there, I came across this video.
If you haven’t yet clicked on the link, it’s the video for the song ‘Ghost Town’ by the Specials. While I love the song, the video is I think relevant to this blog, largely because it’s a fascinating glimpse of the East End pre-redevelopment (although they also visit the City). I recognise quite a lot of the then-abandoned bits of 80s London – they’ve been refurbished and cleaned up, but they’re still there. All in all it’s a nice addition to the ‘London In Ruins’ subgenre.
You can fit a lot of 80s band members into a 50s car. See also 'Driving In My Car' by Madness.
Also, how sad is this? I recognise one of the tunnels they drive down. It’s under the London Bridge viaduct. I need to get out less.
Further viewing
- The Special AKA (literally The Specials by another name) singing ‘Bright Lights,’ a not entirely complimentary song about the city.
- ‘Lonely Crowd,’ in which the vocalist goes to a club in St John’s Wood and has a dreadful time.
MY PRECIOUSSSS
See that thing on the left? That sign from Camden Town Tube Station, High Barnet Branch? I own it. It is mine. I was at the Upminster Depot open day, a full report on which will follow in due course as soon as I’ve sorted out the twelve million or so photographs.
The sign was a bit of a bargain, and I must admit that part of my motivation for buying it was the hope that it would appreciate in value. Camden Town is a popular and fashionable tube station with the youth of today (suggested slogan: “Camden – it’s crap, but you can’t keep away”) and I figured that if I tried to sell it on even now I could probably get more than I paid for it. I also thought it would make a neat wall decoration.
Other uses for it:
1. Clutch it under one arm and run out of Camden Town Tube Station looking suspicious.
2. Hold it up to the window of a stationary train and run along the platform in an attempt to convince people that they’re too late to get off.
3. If a ninja, throw it to decapitate your enemies.
4. Use it as an essential part of a spell to summon up the spirit of Mother Damnable (see link below).
5. Use it to prove that you are more Camden than anyone.
6. Put it up at Mornington Crescent. See how many Goths you can catch before the police intervene.
I look forward to your results.
Further reading:
http://londonparticulars.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/sinister-camden/
Filed under Bijou note-ettes, Camden, London Underground, Transport
Now, Yr. Humble Chronicler is no stranger to the world of Art. Why, only yesterday, I was sketched by a guy sitting next to me on the Tube who thought I was engrossed in my book (I wasn’t; it was a particularly boring book). Anyway, it is therefore something of a surprise that I haven’t blogged about this yet. Indeed, I understand it’s only up for another fortnight. Whoops.
Basically, a bunch of London teenagers take on superhero identities for a display in Charing Cross and Embankment Underground stations. Am I the only one who’d quite like to see a full length comic about these guys? I’m particularly curious about the dude who throws crocodiles at people. Excellent stuff, beats the hell out of Wolverine: Origins.
See also:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/projectsandschemes/artmusicdesign/pfa/artists/david-blandy.asp
Filed under Arts, Bijou note-ettes, Current events, London, London Underground, Transport, West End
So anyway, it turns out that Captain Nemo didn’t actually die on Lincoln Island in Jules Verne’s Île mystérieuse. The truth, it seems, is far more complicated. Behold my Kentish Town discovery!
"I am not what you call a civilised man!"
Further reading:
http://londonparticulars.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/extraordinary/
Filed under 19th century, Bijou note-ettes, Lies, Literature, London, Photos, Randomness, Weird shops
