London Daily Photo Does Sleaze!

I was considering which of my other Marylebone Lane (This week's The Way We See It location) photos to show, but then I came across this link - it seems that this club has Feline Waitresses - IT'S OFFICIAL! a club that ADMITS it serves cat's p1ss! (I also found these Sophisticats if you like your blues funky). Made me smile, anyway. Maybe I'm missing something, but I fail to see the attraction of these clubs. Well, that's not quite true. I do see the attraction - I fail to see the ... value? I don't know. Chaq'un a son gout, and London certainly has its fair share of goo.

Marylebone Lane is a fascinating street - it follows the course of one of London's now hidden rivers - The Tyburn - and there is still a reminder of it above ground somwhere along it. A London Daily Photo prize if you know what it is! (Answer arives the day after tomorrow)

Pan Pipes with attitude

It doesn't matter in which part of the world you are, the one thing that you know for certain is that there will be performing Andean (?) Pan Pipe musicians. It's quite clear that, however good they are (and most of htem seem to be) at their instruments they need a gimmick. Step forward the feathers and the little dances. In Stratford of all places. (If god was to give the world an enema, Stratford is one of the places he might well stick the tube)

I had to take a video - see them here and here.

Graffiti Sunday

Trier Daily Photo has been posting graffiti every Sunday for months, so today I will join him. I particularly like the earring in this one.

The Iron Men

These statues just nearby to Woolwich Arsenal remind me of Anthony Gormley, or Ted Hughes Iron Man.

Radio Days

If you want to find one of the best stockists of vintage clothing and memorabilia in London, come to Lower Marsh. You will find Radio Days, stocked floor to ceiling with those bits and pieces from the 20's through to the 70's that take you straight back to another era. I couldn't resist postingthis photo of some - happy ? - stockings.

The Best of Friends

In Bond Street, just outside Asprey, the most exclsive of exclusive jewelers, is this sculpture, Created by Lawrence Holofcener it depects Churchill and Roosevelt in conversation on a park bench. Called "The Allies" you can't help but join in the action. I'm grateful here to Chris from San Francisco for agreeing to be my model.

Link of the day: Name That Tube!" - a photoshopped-photo quiz with the answer being a London Tube Station.

Appearing Rooms

Anyone local to London will know that yesterday, my ride home was combined with a rather thorough shower. Which makes this this art exhibit all the more surprising. Actually it's been here since July, and finishes tomorrow, but still.....

This is Jeppe Hein's Appearing Rooms - the first in what is promised to be a series of art inspired fountains. The "walls" rise and fall and change seemingly at random. I like the way that adults are in coats, but the kids still want to get soaked.

The Photo Shoot

There I was, mooching around Southbank in my lunchtime looking for something new to photograph, when I came across this photoshoot. The girls were from Epsom University College and were working on a "Photography and Style" project. Does it sound to gushy to say their energy and enthusiasm brightened up my day? If any of them drop by here, do say hi!

Gargle Goil

Another week, another The Way We See It location. This time, Mount Street Gardens, another of the hidden London Parks, a fabulous oasis only yards from Oxford Street and Park Lane.It's where I took this shot, too. This charming gargoyle is in the doorway of the chapel.

(Later: It's been bothering me. I knew it wasn't a real gargoyle but I didn't know what to call it. Turns out (for the pedants among you) that it is part of the Archivolt. Now isn't your life richer? What, more?)

Look up!

Always look up, you never know what you might see. Unfortunately I don't know much about this picture, but I would say it is obvious the the building now occupied by the Bank once traded with the middle and far east - we are in that part of the City. I went into the bank and asked if they new the history of they building, but they didn't. What a shame.

I'm away for a couple of days so cannot respond.

Mini Cab anyone?

The London Minicab was an anomaly. Until recently, London was the only place in the UK where drivers did not have to be licensed (in contrast to the London Black Cab, which has the most stringent licensing). That has changed now, and none too soon. Use this if you want to check if a car is licensed. All Londoners use Mini Cabs from time to time, and there are some better ones, however a large proportion don't know their way about and drive like banshees. I would always recommend going in a "Black Cab" if you have the option.

A short reminiscence from my dim and distant past. Many years ago, I did mini cab driving for a short while for a very dodgy firm, based in the West End. Mini Cabs cannot pick people off the streets, they have to be booked through an office. To get round this on Saturday night, they slung a tray around someone's neck with a 2-way radio, a car battery round his shoulder and a flashing light on his head - hey presto! instant taxi office. Of course, this in no way reflects on the Daily Photo's very own cab driver ;-)

(I am away for a couple of days so will be unable to respond)

Waiting for a Train

Work took me to Liverpool, so what could I do but whip out my camera? I love the romance of train stations. No matter how spiritless the station (and lord knows, we do spiritless stations in the UK) there is always a sense of change, new beginnings - moving on. This is Euston Station; the other picture I thought of posting is here.

On the subject, do you remember Flash and the Pan Waiting for a Train?

Changing Moods Part II

Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light
Blindness, blindness and sight
- Joni Mitchell, Shadows & Light

This picture is taken only a minute later than yesterday's, everything and nothing has changed and this tug hauling its load of rubbish down the Thames sails through the last echoes of the light on the water.

To make up for the lack of excitement in this picture, here is the video to the Style Council's "My Ever Changing Moods" which deserves a prize for one of the oddest videos. What ARE those nymphs meant to be doing? I'll not forget the time twenty years ago, travelling to France on an overnight ferry - the ship was empty but for us and this video was playing on a big screen.

My ever changing moods

I know I've posted views on the Thames before, but I'd like to give you a sense of its ever changing moods - one of the reasons I love London so. As I was crossing the non-wobbly-bridge, this light illuminated the scene for seconds only - I had my camera ready and grabbed this. I'll show you a picture taken a minute later tomorrow.

Art Deco Heaven

Today, as a result of The Way We See It, I'm in Church Street. You can see my efforts to be creative over there. Here I can tell you that this is the place to come if you are into Art Deco, and are looking for the highest concentration of 20's antique shops in one place. Oh yes, there was another photo from there that I wanted to see the light of day.

On the Road Again

I'm going to venture outside of London today, because I and five others took it into our heads to cycle to Cambridge which is over 100Km away. Here we are at the highest point in Essex (from the left: Paul, Josh, Henrik, Dan & Matt) in the exquisitely named Toot Hill. We are well served for odd place names in this part of the country, really very close to London. We went through Matching Tye (unfortunately there is nowhere called Handkerchief), near to Theyon Bois (there is no Theydon Girls - BTW it's pronounced "Boys", not "Bwah"). We could have gone through Ugley and it's not far from Nasty. Aren't they fun - do you have any to add to the list? Here is the end of the road.

A disappointment

I went out for a curry in Brick Lane, which is "renowned" for its Indian Restaurants. I hadn't done this before and I would love to say that it was a pleasant experience. If you enjoy being dragged into restaurants as you walk past, annd getting mediocre food over salted then it might have been. Sorry, I didn't enjoy it and, unless someone has a particular recommendation, I won't be going back. There are a lot better places to eat locally. A desultory photo for a desultory experience.

Faded Glory

When St Pancras Church was built at the start of the 19th Century, it was the grandest to be built since St Pauls. On the edges of Bloomsbury, it must have been quite special. Now, it has turned into one of those anonymous corners that everyone passes by. If you find yourself anywhere near here, come and have a look at these caryatids and imagine what it must have been like to swing up to the church doors in your carriage.

No, No, No!

I was going to turn this into the start of yet another series - "London's Hidden Green Spaces" I may yet. You will never find this, unless you go looking for it. The Phoenix Garden is behind the Phoenix Theatre, boxed in on all sides, and was established as a community garden in the 80's, on a second world war bomb site.

STOP PRESS: I've just discovered I've made it into the top 50 most influential UK bloggers! Yay! Thanks folks. ( I rather like the cartoons, too)

Tate Modern Slides

Everyone is talking about the Tate Modern slides, because they are Art. Well, actually it's because they are fun, but isn't that the best kind of art?

So which photo to show you? The DNA View? The "What is it?" View? The Abstract View? I chose this one because I think it is art. The spotlights throw these fascinating shapes on the wall, and most people are too busy looking at the slides.