A Family Group

This group of statues in the Broadgate Centre is on the ordinary side by day, but by night they loom rather finely, I hope I've managed to capture some of that quality for you.

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Starbucks Snake Spotted in London!

In the name of Phriday Phun, I present the Starbucks Snake for your viewing pleasure.

The Starbucks Snake is a generally shy, nocturnal, animal but can also often be found in the vicinity of IT workers. Little is known about its nutrition requirements, although there is speculation that it is able to directly convert radiation from PC monitors into food. It's scaly skin resembles the cup protectors handed out at a coffee store, making it ideal to survive the rigours of office life. They mate freely in captivity, as can be seen, this grand specimen is accompanied by one of its offspring.

At a loose end?

Then here's an idea: visit an auction room. They often have interesting collections of art and other stuff, and they are free to view. This is glass on sale at Bonhams, in New Bond Street who have been doing it in London for over 200 years.

Pikes & Muskets

I was passing by Mansion House two nights ago when I came across the Company of Pikemen & Musketeers forming up to go inside. They are the personal bodyguard of the Lord Mayor of London, you can see them walking by the coach in the Lord Mayor's Parade. And talking of Pikes, there can only be one link.

Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation

That's the motto of the BBC, and this is the scene today with protesters outside the World Service HQ - somewhat calmer than earlier when they tried to occupy the building. The issue is that the BBC are refusing to air the Disasters Appeal Committee appeal for funding for Gaza.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, the Middle East is a mess. It does give me cause for wry amusement that, actually, the DEC are getting much more airtime and publicity this way than they would had the broadcast gone ahead.....

Are You Motivated?

Last Thursday lunchtime I went to a very damp and dismal London Eye. To watch Mr Motivator lead half an hour of aerobics in the pouring rain. Only in London, eh? The event was organised by those nice folk at the London Eye, who were giving away a pair of free tickets to anyone who turned up. As you cen see, quite a few did, including Peter Moore, the London Town Crier.

If you were there, you may want to see all the rest of the photos here.

The Burning Question

...is, was there ever a worse screen accent than Mel Gibson in Braveheart? It's Burns Night on the 25th, so I thought I'd show you the memorial to William Wallace, close to where he was executed and on the "must see" list of any visiting Scot.


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The Millenium Bridge

I've played with the colour a bit, and I can't decide whether the shake gets in the way (it is 1.3s exposure, hand-held, after all) but I still like this. It's a long term aim of mine to try to express the "Blade of Light" architectural hyperbole photographically. This is the closest I've come yet. Hope you like it.

To view the same way as I did, think of the blade diving into St Paul's, and the light-blood spilling out. Now, where did I put those pills?

This is how it's done.

I was walking past "Grafitti Alley" on the Southbank when I came across Shiz creating this piece. You can see the finished thing on his website, here. Lots more of his work there, including his car - he takes commissions.

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London's Elephants - No 26 in a series

It's been a while, but the elephants are on the move again. This stencil work is by OTP Collective, a bunch of artists and designers who get into tagging as well as the more interesting street art. Oh, and OTP stands for One Trick Pony.

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Scoot Along

Scooters and cites go together like, well, like cities and traffic jams. As a cyclist, I'm often forced to observe that there are quite a few young, impetuous, scooter drivers about but I have to say there are definitely one or two top rate blokes that ride scooters.

This is the Scooter Emporium,who focus on the Italian Classic end of the market and can be found in the Old Truman Brewery, off Brick Lane.

Keeping Things in Balance

Somewhere over the last 188 years, the Herbert Group must have decided that "Justice and Strength" was too pretentious a Trade Mark, which is a shame, really. They no longer occupy the building in Smithfield, and the lion lost the scales out of his paw sometime in WWII, but this is still an excellent example of how it always pays to look up.

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Mine's still a pint, thanks

London's pubs have gone through an immeasurable improvement since I last took a photograph. Then, I would have bought my drink and then moved outside. The Nightingale - great pub though it is - is rather small and before the smoking ban In July 2007, was close to unbearable inside from the smoke. Now, inside the pub is a great place to be; the outsides in summer are less than perfect but I'll choose this way every time. The relaxed atmosphere in this shot says what it's all about, for me.

Roamin' about

London dates back before the Romans, you still can't get away from them. But what have the Romans ever done for us?

Coming unstuck

The modern version of a London pea-souper - a man removing that universal carpet of chewing gum that people see have seen fit to discard. Why?? I think any individual caught discarding gum on the street should have their shoes re-soled with non-setting adhesive. Although it's quite plain, I rather like this ambiguous image.

Scrying the future: Hard times for retail

The Selfridge's building has many architectural gems that you may pass over in your rush inside. One of my favourite is this figure, one of a pair by the Oxford Street entrance. She seems to be staring into the future, maybe not the most comfortable place to be over the next year.

TH 2058 - Dominique Gonzales-Foerster

The current Tate Turbine Hall exhibit may not be as immediately engaging as some past ones, but it does improve on acquaintance.

TH.2058 looks 50 years into the future to a London of incessant rain and sculptures kept from growing like weeds. The installation itself lets you wander through, discovering as you go, you can read the full story here.

In addition, you can write a story and be part of it. You've got up to the 1st February. Some of the entries aren't bad.

Great Wall of Cheese

Just along from Taylor's of Old Bond Street in Jermyn Street, is Paxton & Whitfield, who mong the best cheese in London. The great thing about them is that, like British wine merchants, they have great products from around the world. Unlike wine, we really can make cheese in this country.

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A Close Shave

Taylor's of Old Bond Street is the quintessential London shop, walk in and you are transported back over a hundred years. Nigh on everything in the shop, you might have bought when Victoria was still on the throne. It is one of those great places for gifts for men, that little touch of luxury when shaving makes you feel good about the morning. I can recommend their brushes and their shaving cream, and of course, these days, you can buy all their stuff on the web site.

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A chip off the old block

This weekend was the first ever London Ice Sculpting Festival, and they couldn't have chosen a better day. At around -4C at 10 o'clock, there was no way it was going to melt. Not sure what the connection is for London and Ice Sculpture, but it was fun to watch the shapes appear out of the inside of a block of ice.

What a Mess

I rode up town to take photographs today (Saturday), but it was actually too cold for anything. But, I did pass by the preparations for a mass demo from Speakers Corner to the Israeli Embassy, to protest against the war in Gaza. That dreadful situation is a mess, surely not the biggest mess in the world. But, it's top of the media agenda right now. None in that corner of the world have covered themselves with glory, none are in the right. I think that at the moment, the Israelis are probably more in the wrong. But then, are they less so or more so than the US in Iraq? Less or more so than Janjaweed in Darfur? Less or more so than Mugabe in Zimbabwe? Kosovo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone?

A plague on all their houses.

Fight at the local takeaway

Well, I'm not going to win any photography prizes with this, no competition for a Birds Blog or a Nature blog, but I appear to be feeding the local starling population. Although they are always arguing, they get through large quantities of food. It is astonishing the variety of wildlife you can attract, even in London. I've started making up my own for them, mosey over here to read the whole story.

The Frost Fairs

Part 2 of frozen London rivers. The Thames frozen over must have been quite a sight. It used to happen comparatively frequently, the last major event was in 1814 - a full list is here and an account of Frost Fairs here. These slate panels commemorating the frost fairs can be found on the Southbank under Southwark bridge. Photographically uninspiring, but the concept fills me with wonder each time I see them.

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The Big Freeze

Cold and snow don't do London any favours. It's rarely cold enough for it to settle, when it does it gets churned to mucky slush in minutes and our transport infrastructure grinds to a halt. Oh yes, and the light is dreadful for photography. Cycling (carefully) into work I noticed this ordinary-ish scene, with a traffic cone on the frozen Regent's Canal, Canary Wharf in the background and thought to myself: "That's London". Second part of the story tomorrow.

The Bishopsgate Institute

Opened on New Year's Day 1895, the Bishopsgate Institute by Liverpool Street Station has provided an independent meeting place for people with shared interests to learn about a vast array of subjects. This photograph adorning the entrance hall shows a scene from a lecture at the institute in 1910 - the array of faces provides an interesting insight. At a guess, few of you will have walked through the doors, which is a shame as it is one of the few city buildings fairly much untouched by the 20th Century.

I'll be able to tell you more about it in a few weeks time as I've signed up to learn Chinese there.

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