London – Page 3 – Hello Curns

The Day F1 Came To London

More pictures from the Formula One event in Regent Street, London

One thing is certain: the crowds arrived. There were thousands of people lining Lower Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street. People were on the roof, on the balcony, or hanging out of a window. People were climbing lamp posts and traffic lights. People perched on almost any structure that didn’t move and on top of many that were plainly unsafe. We waited until almost seven o’clock for the great roar of the F1 race cars to be heard. Mansell, Button, Montoya, Coulthard and Brundle – to name but a few. The noise, the smell: it was fantastic F1. To be honest, I eventually moved to the big screen on Piccadilly as they passed so quickly that you missed a great deal and I wasn’t at the front of a crowd. The atmosphere was pretty good-humoured – apart from some lunatics climbing on top of a newspaper seller’s wagon – and everybody seemed to enjoy it. After an hour, it was, more or less, finished, but the crowds seemed to hang around central London for a good while. Perhaps one day a race will really take place in London.

Please Don’t Shout On Late Trains

Jakob Nielsen reports that researchers from the University of York have performed a study to assess why it’s so annoying when other people have cellphone conversations in public.

Earlier in the week, my fifteen-minute train journey was delayed due to overrunning engineering works. Any regular traveller on the South West Trains suburban lines into London Waterloo station will be used to these delays after weekends or bank holidays. I know it’s so likely that I even plan for it and force myself out of bed and to the station a little earlier if I know there have been engineering works nearby.

As always, some people are caught off guard by this, or perhaps they use it as a cover for the fact that they are running late. It’s amazing how many mobile phone conversations announce that the caller will be late for the office/appointment/meeting due to how late the trains are, when, in fact, there is no more than a ten-minute delay (which, when using London’s transport infrastructure, you should be accounting for anyway).

Earlier this week, however, there was a well-spoken gentleman in my carriage who insisted on calling – what appeared to be – most of his mobile phone contact book to let them know just how late he was. He also said that Justin would have to take the meeting (if Justin ever reads this, the gentleman in question claimed to have confidence that you wouldn’t screw it up, which I thought sounded good for you). All very well, but I didn’t want to know it.

The conversation was irritating, and irritation is always enhanced when a train is late (even if you have planned for it because others haven’t, and civilised behaviour goes out the window). The conversation, however, was loud, but each one was brief and to the point and without any pointless small-talk. The gentleman was efficient in his conversations and factual. He was, however, still irritating.

So I started looking for items on irritation factors caused by mobile telephony, only to find that Jakob Nielsen has some research on ‘Why Mobile Phones are Annoying‘ which implies that, upon testing, conversations face-to-face at the same volume are less irritating than the equivalent mobile conversation. The research suggests,

Designing phones that encourage users to speak softly will reduce their impact on other people. For example, more sensitive microphones and improved quality on incoming audio will make most users less inclined to shout.
[source]

Let’s hope Nokia et al. are listening.

No other posts on this day.

South London Jazz

Finally, I found a basement jazz club that I want to go to.

Last night – to end a great weekend – we visited the 606 Jazz Club in South London. This is exactly the kind of place I have been looking for since I arrived in town in 1993 and, for some reason, none of the venues that I have previously tried have come close.

It’s an intimate basement Jazz Club, and last night Claire Teal and Anita Wardell performed. It was an excellent 3-hour-ish set of new Jazz standards, some new songs and some scat jazz (which, I believe, is Anita’s trademark). Both of the women’s voices were superb, and the backing trio fantastic. You sit right next to the stage area. All the musicians were good, but the dexterity exhibited by the drummer was incredible.

The club only has a dinner licence so you have to eat to be able to drink and the menu, if a little pricey, was certainly very good. They do crowd people in – there is very little room between tables – but it added to the atmosphere rather than being uncomfortable.

I shall be going again.

Borough Market: Southwark’s Great Food Home

Borough Market in Southwalk is well worth a visit.

So, this is the 12th Valentine’s Day I’ve spent with PY. We are spending much of this weekend with friends and exploring new parts of the city.

Last night we were in Balham at Dish Dash. We had previously visited the Goodge Street branch (PY had his 30th birthday party there), but had never been out this way. The evening was spent with plenty of little Persian dishes (Swordfish Kebabs & Spinach and Chick Pea Mazza being my favourite). If you are ever in the area, you must go. There were, however, a large number of other, tempting, restaurants in the area Peter Sellars once called ‘Gateway To The South’. It’s an area we must visit more often. Recommendations welcome.

Today we rose early (for a Saturday) to visit the tempting delights of Borough Market. If you have never been, this is a gourmet market to be found as you head eastwards. The market sells some top-quality fresh produce, and it’s a charity, so it should be preserved. It is also a wholesale market at other times of the day/week. There are all types of bread, vegetables, meat and fish sold by proper market traders who, from what I can tell, know their products very well indeed. The Spanish Chorizo stall had the longest queue I have ever seen for a takeaway food stall in London. It must have been superb. We bought ostrich steaks for dinner this evening, and they certainly look very tempting (and apparently almost fat-free).

Borough Market is in Southwark, which must be one of my favourite parts of London. The South Bank from Waterloo and the London Eye via the Tate, Millennium Bridge and The Globe was a deserted riverside area when I first came to London. There was, more or less, no life between the National Theatre and Tower Bridge. Nowadays, it’s one of the most bustling areas for both tourists and locals. I really think a Saturday walk down the south bank of the Thames is well worth it. This is the kind of place that makes all the frustrations of living in a big city evaporate. It restores my faith in London.

Tomorrow, we head for Highgate to visit some American friends. Certainly looking forward to Sunday Lunch.

Dawn Traders

At 5am, London was already busy: bus queues, street cleaners, a fruit stall and a man pasting up a billboard.

Yesterday, I rose at 4am and took a taxi to London’s Heathrow Airport. This is not an uncommon thing for me to have to do. However, I imagine that I must have been a little more awake than usual as I started to pay attention to a great deal more than normal as I was driven out to the airport.

At 5am London’s streets are far from deserted. In Shrewsbury, one of the places where I grew up, I am pretty certain it would have passed for a busy morning but for London it was quiet. People were walking all around the place. At 5am there were queues at bus stops that must have had ten or more people in some of them. There were many more twenty-four hour shops than I had imagined (why isn’t there one near me?) and plenty of road sweepers and street cleaners – people generally keeping the city going for the rest of us that usually awake later in the morning.

I worked a milk round when I was younger. I am used to people being up and around in the still hours before most people awake. This, however, was different. It was busy and, in places, bustling. It was not remarkable to see a few people in the streets, but it was very startling to see so many people around.

When you walk home late at night, and the buildings remain lit, you imagine that, just like you are about to do, they will soon be settled in a dark sleep. Yet, as we sped through West London, I was struck by the number of buildings that contained offices or shops with all their lights blazing. Many of these were shut but were fully lit as though some invisible nocturnal customers were going about their shopping. Offices were lit as though an army of nighttime workers were sat, invisibly, at terminals turning the wheels of trade. When you walk home late at night this seems normal yet, in the early hours of the morning before dawn, it seems eerie.

Most unusually there was a market stall selling, I think, fruit and vegetables. It was open and lit on one of the main roads heading westwards. I can not imagine there was sufficient trade, but the stall was stocked, well-lit and ready for the odd customer that would pass. Who is the strange stall-holder who works the dark hours sat by the street waiting for customers to buy his fruits? Shouldn’t he have been at New Covent Garden collecting his goods at that time, not sat on a cold A-road with no passing trade?

Then there was the man who pastes the new advertising billboards. At 5.15am, he was on top of his ladder with a bucket of sticky stuff, glueing a new poster for the morning commuters to see on their way into the City. I had always imagined these were changed in the mid-afternoon, not in the middle of the night. It must have been far too cold to be doing that job.

There is a whole world that I am not familiar with. It’s really quite strange to come face-to-face with a city you do not recognise.

Weather Project

I visited one of my favourite areas of London earlier today, the Thames’ South Bank, where I went to see Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project at The Tate Modern

people in front of the weathe rproject exhibition

I visited one of my favourite areas of London earlier today, the Thames’ South Bank, where I went to see Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project at The Tate Modern. There’s a half circle of the Sun made up of mono-frequency lamps – the kind which provide the orange glow to our streets at night. Running along the ceiling of the vast turbine hall is a mirror which gives the whole image the look of a whole circle, the sun. You can watch yourself in the mirror on the ceiling, and many people do, indeed, lie on the floor looking up at themselves and the other ant-sized people. The lamps really restrict the amount of colour that you can see, and that makes the whole atmosphere and experience quite eerie indeed. In fact, despite the orange glow, it’s very grey.

picture of the turbine hall sign at the tate modern

long shot of the weather project exhibition, tate modern, london

I am not a great fan of museums and galleries, but I really do like the Tate Modern and the Turbine Hall in particular. If you don’t know it, it’s a vast gallery space that once housed the turbines of the Bankside power station. It’s huge and always seems to house interesting works, which is what attracts me back on a regular basis to see them.

Piccadilly Circus, March 2003

I acquired a new mobile ‘phone earlier in the week and it has a tiny camera in it which I used to take a picture of Piccadilly Circus at night

I acquired a new mobile phone earlier in the week. I didn’t actually choose the model. I acquired a new mobile phone earlier in the week. I didn’t actually choose the model because I was sent it. It’s bigger and heavier than my previous mobile, and it doesn’t have a radio, which I really liked when I was walking to work. It does, however, have a calendar function, which I find quite useful, and it has one of those built-in cameras that people rave about.

It’s not the greatest camera in the world, but it is quite cool to have a camera that you carry with you all the time. For no real reason, on Tuesday night, I decided that I wanted to take a shot of Piccadilly Circus (I work just around the corner). I have just pulled the image off the phone. It’s not a great photo (in fact, it’s a pretty poor one), but I am really quite happy with it. There is something about the colour and the light that suggests the real buzz you get from walking across Piccadilly Circus at night. Now, let’s see how many more photos I post.

Obviously, I am not the only person in the world to have a camera in a phone, I am not the only person to get excited about it, and I am not the only one to blog it. Guess there’s very little unique about me!

A Quieter Life

I was having one of my ‘why do I stay here?’ days. Luckily, I was heading to Soho with friends that evening.

Thank goodness that tonight I am going out with a group of friends. They are some of my oldest friends in London (by that I mean I have known them longest and not that they are all ancient). I’ve just decided that I am quite relieved, as I am having one of my “why do I stay here” days.

I love London. There is no doubt that it is one of the most vibrant and wonderful cities around. I love the dirt, the pollution and the travel chaos. I love the way the British put up with congestion with some quiet mutterings. There would be riots in some counties.

I don’t use London as much as I should. I work, and I travel home to my little Zone 3 house. Sometimes I go out with friends and visit a much larger range of bars than I ever would in a smaller town. I see films before they hit the screens in the rest of the UK, and even get to see films and theatre that never make it outside the West End. Occasionally, I will visit a gallery or museum or wander the historic sites. I adore the view from The London Eye, think St Paul’s is a great place for quiet contemplation, the South Bank is a wonderful place to relax and believe the Thames Barrier is one of the finest structures around. Oxford Street, Covent Garden and surrounding areas have every shop you could ever dream of – and many you couldn’t (or wouldn’t). If I lived here for the rest of my life, I probably wouldn’t have time to see and do everything I would like to.

Yet today I am having a “get me away from here” day. Take me somewhere where the pace is slower, people are friendlier (but not as pushy), and I can see the sky, not commute an hour each way on an overcrowded train. I think it started last night when I watched one of those programmes about people who give it all up and set up home in France, Italy, or Spain. They seem to live off the land and suddenly develop gardening talents that would make Alan Titchmarsh proud. They rebuild old barns and turn them into holiday accommodation that pays for their entire existence. They spend all their days on the land with the one they love and are at peace. Wouldn’t it be idyllic?

I imagine I would be bored. It’s not really a life for me – yet. I would miss Theatreland and Soho, but today I feel I still want that stillness and peace, that de-stressing lifestyle. I know it’s a lie, but I want the dream. And that’s why I am glad I am off to the bars of Soho tonight. It’s time for my friends to give me a quick injection of reality.

LBC Back On Air

The original newtalk station, LBC, is back on the air on FM in London

This morning, London’s news and talk station, LBC, came back on air. Of course, LBC is not really new, nor has it really been away. The Chrysalis Radio Group have acquired the London speech licences from London News Radio and is continuing to use the LBC name (LBC being the original London commercial news station).

Sadly, despite the name’s heritage of almost thirty years, day one seemed a bit shambolic. The most noticeable and irritating part for me is the constant paper shuffling that goes on when the presenters are on air. I suspect that, back when the news talk version was on AM, this wasn’t very audible. Now, it’s irritating. Then there are presenters whispering to each other but still clearly there. It’s as if there is no off button on the microphones. This evening, there seems to be no off button on the computers that play the commercials, as poor Clive Bull seems to be suffering because the advertisements keep starting, and he seems blissfully unaware that they are about to play.

Still, I am pleased that the rolling news format has moved to AM. Not because it’s on AM but because it means most of my portable radios (which are FM-only) have the more interesting of the two talk stations. These early teething troubles will, hopefully, be rectified and we’ll have a decent commercial talk station for London again (although, IMHO, BBC London seems to have been doing a fine job). I just wonder who is going to listen to the rolling news on AM.

UPDATE (7 January): Pleased to see I am not the only person who has noticed the technical glitches at LBC. Despite these, I have been listening quite a lot over the past couple of days as it’s been fairly entertaining. I just think it’s pretty sad that these problems arise on re-launch day with all the fanfare that goes with it. The new owners have had the station for a while and should have ironed out all this on the old format by now.

Links: Robbie Vincent’s Comment | LBC Timeline | Reborn LBC hits airwaves

The Grand Old Duke

A backstage tour at The Duke of York’s Theatre is a fascinating look at the old London theatre.

It is often said that those of us who call London home do not benefit from the great advantages that the capital city brings. People have been heard to suggest that Londoners do not use London. Well, glancing through a copy of this week’s Time Out, I came across the backstage tour of The Duke of York’s Theatre on St. Martin’s Lane and decided to go. The tour wasn’t very expensive and lasted almost two hours and I reckon it must be one of the best value guided events around.

It is a fascinating tour of the old London theatre that was built when the area was underdeveloped and helped transform that side of Charing Cross Road into the entertainment area it is today. It’s the theatre that first staged Peter Pan, the theatre that first saw actors agree to the formation of UK Equity, and it has seen many greats play its stage since.

I can now say that I have appeared on the West End Stage, and standing on the stage looking into the auditorium, I was surprised at how close theatregoers would appear to the actors. I was also struck by how small the stage area really was and by how big the under-stage area is. Also intriguing to know that Capital Radio once owned it.

A lesson learned, that’s for sure. I will be spending more time each week with the what’s on listings and trying to take advantage of some of the things this city has to offer.

Everything Taboo

I thought Taboo was fantastic, so I wrote a review.

I went to see Boy George’s Taboo last Friday and have been contemplating the blog entry ever since. I have to say that I thought that it was fabulous and I want to see it again (I even ordered the soundtrack last night!). It’s a fictional account of a lot of real people, but most of the plot must be based on Boy George’s own life story, as I recognised many of the characters and plot lines from his book Take It Like A Man. Obviously, he is a key (though not the central) character. I would thoroughly recommend this to anybody visiting London, regardless of the way you feel about Boy George. It’s a strange time capsule of a musical, and his songs are great – although several of them are old (some of which are taken from the underrated album Cheapness and Beauty, which I regard as one of the best of all time). The story is tender, the performances top-rate, and the whole thing is laugh-out-loud funny (especially Julian Clary).Lastmiunte.com often has cut-price tickets a few days before a show. Go see it. Often.

I also posted a review to the gay boy musical fan group at Yahoo! This is what I wrote:

I thought Taboo was fantastic – and I wasn’t sure what to really expect. I think I had envisaged it as something akin to Closer To Heaven, but it wasn’t really like that at all. I loved the fact that The Venue is quite small and quite intimate, which made you feel closer to the stage (and the audience bits help) and, of course, it brought memories flooding back (although I was watching events in the early ’80s from the safety of the north).

I am a big fan of Boy George’s more recent albums – Cheapness and Beauty is one of my all-time favourites. When I heard some of the songs were being reworked for the show, I was worried. Luckily, few have been re-penned, and those that have been re-done are still as good as they are on the CD (although different). I was stunned by how much the mannerisms of the Boy George character seem to be like the Boy George we see on TV, etc. It was a remarkable performance. Duncan Bennett as Billy was superb (was he really in the band Point Break? I don’t remember him), as well as being some appealing eye candy. It was a thoroughly entertaining night out, and I would recommend it to anybody.

Julian Clary was superb and, of course, looked stunning in those Leigh costumes. I would be interested to see how other people play the part, as he put his own stamp on it without it seeming to be too Julian Clary.

I’ve ordered the CD – the cheapest I could find it was £10.99 at Play247– although it was on back order, I noticed tonight that they have posted it to me. I’m sure the CD doesn’t do the show justice (they rarely do), but I hope it will be brilliant anyway! Lastminute.com always seems to have discounts on top-price tickets. I bought the cheaper seats directly from the box office and, to be honest, I think my view was as good as anybody with the more expensive ones (the theatre isn’t really large enough for it to make a difference). However, Lastminute’s discount seats are even cheaper, and I shall certainly be going again.

[Links: BBC News – George breaks 80s Taboo|BBC News – Matt Lucas’s comic extremes|Guardian – We were so naughty|I Love the 80s]

Nike 10K

I want to pass comment on the fact that PY, my significant other/partner/general love of my life, ran the Nike 10K Run London event yesterday in a time which beat his run last year. I was nearly in tears when he crossed the line – isn’t that sad?

The event itself did not seem as well organised as last year. We waited at Wimbledon because there weren’t enough shuttle buses. The transportation problems caused a delay at the start and, I imagine, a good number of competitors missed their allotted start time. The atmosphere was not as good as last year either. In Kew Gardens, with half the number of competitors, last year’s race felt more intimate and fun. This year, Richmond Park felt spread out and didn’t seem to have as many things for non-runners to do amid the throng.

Tired

Another night of entertaining on Old Compton Street

Bet you’re thinking, not another entry about food. My office (more or less) took an American colleague out for dinner again last night and, again, on Old Compton Street. Pizza. Huge pizzas (I haven’t had such a big pizza in London for some time), bigger than any plates the restaurant had available. Many office-type things to speak of, but I will reserve judgement on the evening for another time (how mysterious).

So now I am dog-tired. I have been entertaining or being entertained all week. I have to arrange theatre trips for tonight and other things for the rest of the weekend. It’s very strange, as I haven’t felt this physically exhausted in months. I feel really drained, but I couldn’t sleep any longer than I did. My brain was awake, and I got to the point where lying in bed hurts more than the thought of getting up pains me. Maybe it’s an age thing.

South Bank. Friends from North.

On Wednesday night, we went on the London Eye, and then wandered down the South Bank. It is probably one of my favourite areas of London.

I could have spent much of this week writing about going out to eat and/or entertaining, but decided that would be too dull. On the other hand, on Wednesday night we (American and I) went on the London Eye (always a fantastic treat) and then wandered down the South Bank. It is probably one of my favourite areas of London.

Old County Hall. It’s a pleasure dome of treats, but the best bit is the aquarium. We didn’t go in this time, but I love the place and am writing this as a kind of note to myself: go back to the London Aquarium.
The London Eye. My thirtieth birthday was spent on The Eye in a hired capsule with a whole bunch of friends – all of whom had almost no notice but arrived for drinks, a ride and pizza. This time we were on The Eye as the light started to fade – which actually made it all the more magical. We even bought the tacky tourist snap that they take on the way down.
New Hungerford Bridges(s). I have spent years walking over the old, narrow bridge, avoiding the winter floods and the summer camera-wielding tourists. The new bridges look stunning. They are boulevard-wide and, in fact, very pleasant to walk across, and each bridge offers very different but fabulous views.
Royal Festival Hall and National Film Theatre. They may be concrete, and they are certainly not photogenic, but they are some of my favourite locations. Long may the concrete jungle live.
Oxo Tower. A great building with a great restaurant (even if I can never afford to eat there) and, if you don’t want to go on the wheel, the viewing gallery at the top (free and near the restaurant) provides a stunning view of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Tate Modern and Millennium Bridge. After all the fuss at the turn of the century, these are two worthy additions to the London landscape. The interior of the Tate Modern is fantastic (the sheer size of the entrance is great). And the Millennium Bridge is in just the right place and looks gorgeous when lit (although the last few times I haven’t seen the lights on).

On the way back from these sights (we didn’t do New City Hall or Tower Bridge, Hayes Galleria or Butler’s Wharf), we stopped for a pseudo-traditional pub meal of chips and beer. Even though I suspect the pub was full of tourists, it felt like the kind of place I went to regularly, so I guess it had an air of authenticity.

After all this on Wednesday, I was looking forward to last night. Last night was meant to be an evening off from being a tour guide (not that I mind, but the break would be good). I was having dinner with some friends (and some old friends who were coming down from Scotland). My friends in Worcester Park were preparing dinner, and it was to be (in fact, it was indeed) an evening of memories and fun. However, things did try to put a damper on the evening.

I was late. I was attending presentations with a client, and they ran over.
My friend Jo, who was cooking, had been taken ill and had been in and out of the hospital for two nights (nothing too serious, thankfully). So, she didn’t feel like cooking – her husband decided to, and the food was excellent.
We were all so tired (me from working, them from the illness/hospital adventures) that we called a halt to proceedings at 10.30pm.

It’s a shame when things don’t quite go according to plan, especially when you’ve been looking forward to them. I’d hoped to have a long catch-up with the folks from Scotland, but we ended up with the briefest of chats. Ah well, maybe next time …

Old Compton Street At Night

Late on a Tuesday night, Old Compton Street was relaxed, friendly and fun. Maybe I should be less judgemental about the place.

So, I have just told you how having an American in London with me has made me see London in a new light. Once again, I love it. Last night we went to dinner again (with some other people this time) on Old Compton Street. Sometimes, I have a problem with Old Compton Street, and I am not sure why. As a gay man, I should be able to celebrate the area for the visibility and safety that it brings to London’s gay community. My problem is that I find I am not a scene-loving gay man, and so I am generally made to feel alienated by the people there. I also feel slightly wary of taking straight friends to Old Compton Street in case they feel I am either trying to make some kind of point or that I am, somehow, testing their acceptance of me. All of the above is, of course, personal paranoia and my own insecurities, which a therapist, of some sort, would take lots of money off me to talk about. Instead, I blog it.

Anyway, back to the point. We were on Old Compton Street. It was late-ish (for me, not for Old Compton Street) and the place was alive. It being a Tuesday night I suspect that the worst aspects of the weekend drinking crowd were not to be seen which made it a pleasant, friendly place to be. It was a wonderful feeling to walk out of a restaurant into a heaving mass of happy people. It was cool, but not cold, and (as OCS Queens will) people were sitting at tables outside. Maybe I should be less judgemental about Old Compton Street. The mood was relaxed and fun; people were smiling and chatting and even the music drifting onto the street seemed appropriate and not excessive.

I seem to be painting a picture of a pack of hysterical, laughing people. Of course, it was not like that. It was just that the mood was great, people seemed relaxed and it made me feel positive about life when so much of this city has been making me feel depressed of late. Isn’t life sweet?