Rev Stan's other stuff

Art on the South Bank - diversity is important

The South Bank is about art and culture which is this:

 

AND this:

The graffiti is the back drop to the skate park which is threatened by redevelopment plans for the South Bank Centre. The skaters are part of the South Bank, the graffiti is part of the South Bank and to remove either would be detrimental to the area. It would miss the point.

Photo: Call this one escaping thistles

A corner of Larkhall Park opposite my flat has been left to grow out and the result is a beautiful meadow of wild flowers but I particularly like these thistles.

 

Stan goes to new heights - the City's towers up close

Every now and again in my day job I get to do something quite amazing and unique. This week was one such occasion as I got to go on a tour of one of the City's tower developments.

Now this is a building that is going to be 52-storeys when it's complete and it's definitely not complete, well it is nearly at full height but such 'fripperies' as glazing have only started being fitted on the lower levels.

Access to the upper floors (30-ish is as high as we went) is via an external hoist and then an internal hoist. We finished off the last few floors using a temporary staircase which is scarily close to the edge of the building.

On the upper floors there is just fresh air and a chest high metal barrier between you and a plunge. My hands are sweating just thinking about it. To say it was a monumental battle of mind over matter for someone who doesn't like heights is an understatement but I was determined not to miss such a fabulous opportunity. The views are incredible and there is no glass to hinder photography.

Sadly there will be no public viewing platform and I'm quite jealous of those people for whom it will be their work place when it's finished.

What I loved the most was being so close to the City's other iconic towers, you get to see detail on those buildings few others see.

Postman's footprints in the snow

London was dusted with the white stuff yesterday (more forecast today). It's become an annual thing in recent years or so it seems to me, I'm sure it never used to be thus in the capital.

Expect more snowy shots later but here are a couple I snapped, in my slippers, from the front door about an hour into the first flurries (it's cold ;0)

Urban cool: Leake Street, London

I like Leake Street's contradictory appearance. On the one hand it looks threatening and gritty. It runs underneath the railway lines behind Waterloo Station and you can hear the trains rumbling overhead. It's exactly the sort of street your mum told you never to walk down.

But when you do it is something quite different, a gallery of graffiti, a showcase of urban artistic talent. It has its own page on Wikipedia and is known as 'Banksy Tunnel' having hosted the artist's 'Cans Festival' five years ago.

It's a place where graffiti artists are encouraged and unlike the graffiti gallery underneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the nearby South Bank, you can get up close without fear of getting in the way of skateboarders.

One day, I'm going to go back with my big camera. One day.

Battersea Power Station big and small (one is Olympic)

The model was used in the London Olympics opening ceremony.

London at the weekend: Dancing in Trafalgar Square

Heard the music as I was walking through the Square on my way home and wandered over to see this group of people all synchro dancing.

They were people of all ages and sizes, all having a good time. It had been planned and rehearsed but to what end other than for fun and a bit of exercise I don't know.

Just another part of London's randomness I love.

London at the weekend: Protest #1

Protesters on the steps of St Martin's in the Field, London.

I googled who Tahla was and came across www.freetahla.org a site dedicated to Tahla Ahsan, a man with Aspergers who has been in prison for 12 years without trial in America. Another great example of the freedom, justice and democracy we westerners pride ourselves in.

Pics: The circus comes to Piccadilly Circus

London is getting very good at putting on free stuff.

Take today, Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus were closed to traffic and a series of stages were set up for a variety of circus acts - even high up between the pillars of one building a long rope dangled begging for a performer.

From professionals to newbies from schools and clubs: trapeze, juggling, dance, acrobatics, tightrope - almost too much going on at once you could just wander from stage to stage. And, among the crowds there was the odd character or two to spot as well as pot plants and park benches down the middle of the road on which to take a bit of a break.

Yesterday I caught one of the trapeze acts rehearsing and you can see those pics here.

Official website with lots of pics posted on social media

 

Life as a Londoner during the Olympics: Travel chaos? What travel chaos?

 

TFL were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. After months of warning of transport armageddon in London, the roads have proved quieter than normal - apart from Waterloo Bridge which has been nose to tail north bound since they changed the direction of traffic going through the Kingsway tunnel.

I don't think I've actually seen an Olympic vehicle in the ORN on my route to work since the games started although they have been very good about letting all traffic use them when it is quiet.

Noticed that it was quieter than normal in central London last weekend and I do feel sorry for all the businesses which were hoping to do some extra business during these tough economic times. Basically all but the non-Olympic tourists have been scared away, and all the Olympic tourists seem to be hanging out at the games venues rather than venturing into town.

And of course now there is a massive back peddling and lots of encouragement to get people into town so we could see some travel chaos yet (I'll be disappointed if there isn't any and I'm denied a whinge).

So what has it been like in London otherwise? Well around near work (Holborn) there have been lots more foreign tourists (and we normally get our fair share being so close to the British Museum), and more oddities to spot: a rather strange foreign film crew with presenter wearing a plastic crown and a comedy fake moustache for one. A few of the shops have adopted Olympics themed window displays but it isn't quite like the West End.

Holborn Tube is awash with official helpers and trying to cross the junction nearest the office is a pain because they've blocked off one side, presumably so as not to hinder the non-existent Olympic traffic. It just means that everyone tries to cross the road further up beyond the crossing and therefore risking their necks.

We aren't suppose to live stream the Olympics on our computers at work mainly for connection speeds but we've snuck it onto one screen and huddle around during key races. As the Team GB girls got the gold medal tally rolling and we started moving up the medal table, couldn't resist teasing an Australian colleague. Feeling very proud to be British.

In fact I've been surprised by exactly how much I've watched. It's amazing how quickly the evening goes when you think, 'I'll just watch this next event'. Have got quite teary watching the women rowers doing so well and then watching them get their medals.

The British press have been quite well behaved getting behind our athletes and celebrating our wins. Apart from the Daily Mail, of course, which has caused a storm by referring to British competitors not born here as 'plastic Brits'. It's actually more depressing that it sells enough copies to stay in business.

Anyway back to the fun of the Olympics, I have too many questions about the variety and style of the different sports outfits but most of them should stay in my head.

Life as a Londoner during the Olympics: Army, helicopters and rain

Wanted to have a wonder through Hyde Park today but then realised that I'd have to cross the cycling road race route at some point and that just seemed more trouble than it was worth. But then the start of a series of very sharp downpours cut short my wanderings anyway and had me scampering off to the cinema. Not before I'd felt the intimidating presence of a group of soldiers who were manning an official Olympic blockade - it wasn't quite a blockade but they got to say who went in and who didn't. 

This was at St James' Square where I was docking and coupled with a helicopter buzzing overhead and not many people being around it felt a little, well, spooky and disaster movie-esque.

Not for long as I headed onto Piccadilly where there were gaggles of foreign tourists and Olympic officials in their uniforms. Still don't think getting a different artist to paint each of the Olympic mascots into a different theme makes them look any less sinister and weird looking though. Can you name them?

Was amusing seeing how inventive the retailers are being with their Olympic themed window displays so as to avoid the wrath of the brand police - think gold, silver and bronze wellies is one of my favourites. Lots of Union Jack style displays.

Have spent rather more time than I imagined watching sports I know nothing about or usually have interest in - it's amazing how mesmerising the men's road race, sans sound, on the screen at Whole Foods can be over a spot of luncheon.

Dodging yet another down pour I jumped on a Boris bike home enjoying the fairly deserted official Olympic Route Network down Whitehall and Millbank - great to hear the roar of the crowd coming from the beach volleyball venue just the otherside of Horse Guards as I passed though. And that infernal helicopter.

 

Life as a Londoner during the Olympics: Police, enthusiastic guides and flags everywhere

After last night's triumphant, if bizarre at times, opening ceremony - even my hardened heart shed a tear when Team GB walked the stadium - the competition started properly today.

Despite slim pickings at the cinema the lure of town was too much, I wanted to soak up the morning after the night before glow. So I jumped on a Boris Bike expecting the roads to be clogged but was pleasantly surprised. Even more surprised to discover that cyclists can use the official Olympic lanes - the commute next week might not be so bad after all. 

The number of police around is quite disconcerting, it almost feels like a police state or it would if the atmosphere wasn't so jovial. Coppers have been drafted in from all over the country so I've taken to spotting as many different forces as possible. Today I saw a Grampian police van and one from Tayside. 

There are also official Olympic guides everywhere, so keen to help they almost pounce on you if you look like you think you might have a question. I'm seriously considering getting my make your own slogan T-Shirt out of the wardrobe and putting "I live here" on the front. 

Foreign accents are part of the London landscape but today they have been in much more abundance, particularly noticeable the number of families. I've also seen people draped in flags or with a flag painted on their face. Plenty of people wearing Union Jacks on clothing or very occasionally head to toe. My favourite was bowler hats with flag on top. I love a hat me.

Of course businesses are trying to capitalise as much as possible, from man in a teddy costume outside Gap to the flags adorning HMV but there weren't masses of shoppers, at least when I was wondering through. In fact my usual lunch time haunt of Whole Foods was much quieter than usual.

Here's what I snapped on the old iPhone:

 

 

Life as a Londoner during the Olympics: Lead up to the opening

Over the last few weeks there has been a growing sense of anticipation and yes, irritation, as the final preparations were made for the London 2012 Olympics. I'm British and it's in our genes to moan so I confess I haven't been that complimentary. The realisation that my commute, my trips to the theatre during the week and cinema at the weekend are going to be disrupted coupled with the fact that I tried three times to get tickets and failed are my excuse.

Right up to yesterday I couldn't really muster any enthusiasm but this morning when I saw a tweet from the National Theatre asking people to come and join them for the 8.12am 3-minute bell ringing, led by the bell that adorned the auditorium for Danny Boyle's Frankenstein last year, I relented. It was my chance to be part of the Olympics and probably the only chance I'll get now - other than inadvertently going to plays that are part of the cultural Olympiad.

And I'm glad I did. It was definitely a surreal experience standing with lots and lots of people all frantic ringing an assortment of bells while people queued up to ring the Frankenstein bell. We were counted down but no one told us when to stop and we'd been ringing away for good 7 minutes before we realised (it's more tiring than you'd think, I should have done some training). And while some people, myself included stopped many carried on and the Frankenstein bell was still being rung as I left 20 minutes later.

So that was me and the London 2012 Olympics, well as far as my involvement goes. Over the next couple of weeks I hope to bring you some pictures and anecdotes about what it is like in London for an ordinary Londoner when there are an extra 1 million people here from all over the world and some sporty types doing runny, jumpy, throwy things around and about.

 

 

2012 V&A project: Doors and adornments

At the beginning of the year I set myself some blog projects one of which was to explore different rooms at the V&A and record them on camera.

This is a curious and often over looked collection or a least it doesn't attract the numbers some of the other rooms do. It's loosely labelled ironwork but aside from some nice metal work there is also an impressive wooden staircase which is about 400 years old (if memory serves), some very old doors and lots of carved stone heads that presumably adorned the outside of buildings.

Here's a selection of what you can find together with some snaps I took of the shadows the windows were making on the marble staircase leading to the room.

 

Some belated pics of the Christmas fair in Hyde Park (Dec 2011)

Just catching up with a bag log of photo editing...and if it carries on snowing all night then I'll have plenty of time to do some more tomorrow.

Anyway, while I was off at Christmas, one crisp cold day I walked up to Hyde Park where there is a fun fair every year.

 

Winter sun in London

Walked into town today which I haven't done for a while owing to the convenience of the Boris bikes (and not leaving enough time). Wasn't exactly planned as someone was convinced that it was an hour later than it actually was*, ahem, so I only had my iPhone on me. It was a beautiful crisp, cold winter day...

I know you aren't supposed to take shots straight into the sun but I actually love the effect. The light always give the picture so much atmosphere and the colours can create a different time frame and sense of place.

You can see the rest on my Flickr account

* I woke up stupidly early so it felt later as I'd been up a long time. And that's the excuse I'm sticking to.

The 2012 stuff blog projects - a celebration of 20 years in London

I've been neglectful of this blog, I know. Used to regularly update but it's been weeks (nearly two months) since my last post. Gosh that sounds like I'm in confession.

Anyway, I'm not promising that my posting levels will go back up to previous levels, just that it will be a little more regular. My other two blogs Film and Theatre take up a big chunk of my time - I saw 186 plays/films in 2011, all of which I wrote about.

But I don't want Stuff to fall into a permanant decline and I need an outlet for, well, the other stuff. And I have some plans or projects. A couple of challenges I suppose I'm setting myself for the year. Nothing huge or life changing but something that will inspire and maybe exercise my creativity.

Project 1: V&A photography project

During my time off over Christmas and New Year I went to the V&A for the first time in ages. The first thing that struck me was what fun I could have there with my camera, had I brought it with me. There are so many beautiful objects, rooms and rooms of them most of which you can photograph. So I got thinking, why not explore the museum a section at a time and record it with my camera. 

I actually started today so the first fruits of the project should be appearing just as soon as I've edited the photos.

Project 2: Stan's 20 years in London 

This year, in September to be completely accurate, I'll have lived in London for 20 years. When I was growing up in a small market town in the East Midlands the thought of living and working in London terrified me but now I can't imagine living and working anywhere else. I love it. No where else feels like home and no where else feels as vibrant and full of history, art, culture, entertainment and possibility. It is also a beautiful city that never ceases to take my breath away or put a small smile on my face.

So in this project I want to celebrate London - not just the theatre and film offering I heavily indulge in - and the 20 years I've spent here (and hopefully the 20 more). I want to discover new bits of London, visit places and parts I've not been to before maybe do something I've not done before.

My aim is to tot up 20 new 'things' and record them here on this blog. Not sure how easy or difficult I'll find that but we'll see. I already have some ideas, there are a bunch of museums I've never visited for a start and I'm ashamed to say I've never visited Keats' house in Hampstead for example but if anyone has any suggestions, I'll endeavour to include them.

So here's to the the 2012 stuff projects and the enjoyment they will bring.

 

Season of mists...

Autumn has started mild and sunny here in London with only the briefest colder snaps to remind us winter is coming.

Walking across the park to work one morning there was a lovely layer of mist and the dogs were having fun on their early morning walk...

Photo's: London's South Bank Autumn 2011

We having a lovely sunny Autumn here in London. Here are some shots I took when I was down on the South Bank recently.

 

Views from Centrepoint, London

Had a breakfast meeting at the top of Centrepoint a few weeks back. I've wanted to go up Centrepoint for a long time as it's one of the few towers in the West End and so you can look back towards the City and Docklands. Fortunately it was a bright and clear early Autumn morning and the light was magical. (And of course I had my camera with me - the grainier shots were taken with my iPhone.)

 

 

Trafalgar Square before the tourists descend

 

2012 Olympics women's beach volleyball? Been there done that...

Thought I get in before the crowds. And it was a wise choice because the venue at the Horse Guards Parade is going to have a crowd capacity that is two thirds bigger than when I went last week for the test event.

And can I just say that if they don't have male dancers in hot pants between the games for the men's beach volleyball then that is just sexist in my book. Scantily clad girls dancing for the women's beach volleyball, scantily clad men for the men's beach volleyball is all I'm saying. (And no I'm not joking they do have such entertainment, see the photo below if you don't believe me.)

But first here are the ladies in action it was Mexico vs China...

 

 

Art and artists on the South Bank, London

Keeping calm and....

I call this one: Harry Potter and the London Eye

Why I love living in London or how to get yourself noticed

Because after a bit of shopping, then a lovely lunch and film with a friend you walk out into the sunshine on a June Saturday teatime to see hoards of people cycling naked toward Trafalgar Square and The Mall.

More people exercising there democratic right in this manor please - I bet there'd be less trouble. (And no I didn't catch what it was they were demonstrating about.

PS Found out what the naked cycling demo was all about

Even the stewards were in the buff and what a lovely view of the er...National Gallery

So what did you do at work today dear...

Postcard from my life: Weeks 15 & 16 or the sun and celebs

Been a bit neglectful hence the two in one to catch up but I'm using the bank holidays as an excuse.  Two consecutive four-day weekends coupled with lovely sunny weather and I've been out and about, rather a lot which usually means writing posts for other blogs, particularly as there has been a good dose of celeb influence to add to the excitement.

So how to sum up the past two weeks. Well there has been lots of sun - April has been the warmest and driest since records began apparently:

Good Friday sunshine in London

London had a distinct holiday feel to it today. No surprise because it's Good Friday but that combined with the unseasonably warm sunshine and the Royal Wedding being just a week away gave the city an extra air of festive spirit.

 

Heritage humour

London's newest blue plaque spotted in Golden Square, Soho, London

Postcard from my life: Week 14 or the Bro's big birthday

My brother moved back to London last year and it's great having him in town again. It means we meet up more often, usually on the spur of the moment.

It was his 40th yesterday (which means it's three weeks and five days until mine!) and so I sent him a text to see if he fancied lunch or coffee and cake or something and said 'both'. He likes his food.

And so we met up for what turned out to be an afternoon of eating in the sun, people watching, car watching (we were near the King's Road) and catching up. There was a brief sniff around the shops to see if we could find the sunglasses he wanted but that was about it.

Simple but lovely.

 

 

Postcard from my life: Week 11 or small pleasures

Saturday was one of those days when just the simplest things put a smile on my face. It was a beautiful blue-sky day with some of the year's first warmth in the sun's rays. I spent a chunk of the day roaming with my camera capturing more signs of spring and enjoying the entertainers that proliferate public spaces in London when the weather is good.

Particularly like the street dancers (more pics over on Flickr)

 

Sunset in Stockwell

Only during the winter and early spring do I get to see the amazing effect the late afternoon sun has on these tower blocks near where I live. Picture doesn't quite do it justice.

Postcard from my life: Week 8 or Spring is in the air

After seemingly endless gloom there were a couple of days this week that were mild and sunny and very Spring-like. The days are getting noticeably longer - if I leave the office on time there is still a bit of light in the sky by the time I get home which helps lift the spirits immensely.

Today started out bright and sunny and I got out with my camera for the first time. The brightness soon turn to heavy clouds and rain, some very damp washing on my return home the stark reminder that we aren't quite over winter yet. But I did get a few pics of the first signs of Spring before the weather turned:

 

Boxing Day walk

First blue sky in London for what seems like weeks so I wrapped up against this persistent cold spell, took a Boris bike down to Waterloo and then spent an hour or two strolling about with my camera with the eventual aim of walking all the way home.

Just beyond Lambeth Bridge I was struck by the colour of the sky. In the picture it has come out almost like a sunset or sunrise but the sun was in fact midway through its trajectory.

I purposefully shot towards the sun as I like the effect it can sometimes have in the lens. But the picture turned out to be much better than I imagined as I'd inadvertently positioned the sun right behind the lamp making it appear to be on and radiating light.

Complete fluke but then those often are the best shots.

Photo's from the Shard

Another fab opportunity cropped up at work this week. I got the chance to go inside the Shard. For those not from this neck of the woods, the Shard is a Renzo Piano-designed tower under construction next to London Bridge Station. When it's completed next year it will be the tallest commercial building in Europe.

The reason for the work trip is that the central core has been completed up to the 72nd storey making it the highest structure in the UK. I got to go up to the 24th floor (there will be 87 floors when it's finished).

Now 24 floors doesn't sound that high relative to 87 and there was the option to go up to the 31st floor but this entailed going in one of the cage lifts that the construction crew use and which are attached to the outside of the building. The outside of the building. My hands are starting to sweat just typing that so it won't surprise you when I say my fear of heights took over and I chickened out.

But the views from 24th on a beautifully crisp and clear day were still amazing and of course I had my camera. How many famous London landmarks can you spot?

 

 

 

All the fun of the fair

Leicester Square has a fun fair at regular times during the year and I've always wanted to try out taking shots with slow shutter speeds but never seem to have my tripod on me when I'm in the area after dark. Until last night.

I loved the different effects on the carousel as I slowed the shutter down more and more. Once I had the speed sussed I turned my attention to a different ride. Really pleased with my results as its a first attempt. The second ride looks like a catherine wheel.

Only had my mini tripod on me so I was restricted to taking shots from where I could lean on something. Next time I'll take the big tripod....

 

 

Pro BMX-er takes Boris-bike for a spin

Not sure whether the world outside the UK has heard about the new bike hire scheme in London introduced by Mayor Boris Johnson. If not, just a quick recap, we now have hundreds of hire bikes docked all over central London. You have to register to use them and get given a little key which undocks them. The first half an hours use is free.

Anyway, it was only a matter of time before someone tried this. Oh and the place where he is trying out the Boris bike is the bike/skate park on the South Bank which I have been know to photograph on occasions.

 

 

Staycation diary: day #1

A combination of replenishing holiday savings, never having had any more than a day or two off at home during the summer (or what passes for one here) and my deputy about to go off on maternity has led me to deciding on a week's staycation.
Not one for doing too much practical stuff around the home, I want to make the most of London visiting exhibitions and museums and of course going to the theatre and cinema. And as I'd normally keep a journal on holiday thought I'd keep up the tradition here.
So yesterday was technically my first working day off and I had some theatre tickets to buy. I've already got a ticket for a new play at the wonderful pub theatre the Finborough, for Tuesday (technically tonight now) but I got some theatre tokens for my birthday which I save for those specially selected expensive West End plays I really want to see, to help keep the cost down.
So first stop was the Old Vic in Waterloo to pick up something for their production of Noel Coward's Design for Living at the beginning of September (love a bit of Noel Coward).
Then as I was in that part of town I walked over to Tate Modern. Ok, so I'm going to confess, I have this thing which a friend has so appropriately labelled 'bladder leash' which basically means, owing to having a bladder the size of a walnut, I plan my routes according to where I know there are loos. I wasn't planning to actually go to the Tate Modern but I needed a comfort break and knew they could oblige.
And I'm glad I did head there because they have a great exhibition on at the moment called: Exposed - Voyeurism, Surveillance & the Camera which I decided to stop and see.
It explores photography in which the subjects are unsuspecting, a lot of great candid stuff of people just going about their own thing. There are also rooms devoted to the voyeuristic elements of photography with some moving pictures from wars including that famous one from Vietnam of the girl running crying naked away from a bomb.
It's well worth the £10 entry fee and really inspiring. In fact I came out and immediately started trying to take pictures of unsuspecting subjects:

 

So then I had a fuel stop and headed over the lovely Millenium Bridge:

Millennium Bridge taken from Tate Modern balcony

My intention was to visit St Paul's as it's been years since I went inside and I thought it would have some great photo opportunities. However, when I got there I discovered that you have to pay to go in and photography isn't allowed so decided to leave it for another time.
Using my brand new iPhone to check the easiest route, I sort of planned to head over to the Renoir cinema to catch a film but the Dickens Museum marked on the google map caught my eye. It's only five minutes walk from where I work and I discovered it on a lunch time stroll ages ago but have never visited. So I checked opening times and headed over.
It's a relatively small museum based in the house he lived in for two years when he was newly married. He wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby there and it's definitely worth a visit if you are a fan of his books or just interested in the man himself.
I particularly like the room about his many female friends. I get the impression that Dickens was a bit of a romantic despite having had his heart broken in his youth.

Dickens Museum, London

The final thing on my day's agenda was to see if I could get a ticket to see All My Sons which has been getting rave reviews. It's another theatre-token show and definitely one for popping to the box office in person to see if there are any decent single seats left. Really want to see it this week and as luck would have it there was seat available for the front row for tomorrow night.
It probably means I'll be sat virtually underneath the stage and have to scoot right down in my seat to save my neck but I'd much rather that than be on row M and have a fat head blocking my view and not be able to see the actors faces.
Naturally I'm very excited:

Pleased with my first day's staycation activities and feeling rather weary it was time to head home. By the time I got there I'd clocked up over 12km on my pedometer, no wonder I was tired.

Light dancing on the road

Light dancing on the road, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

I pass this building on my way to work every day and when the sun shines the road is bathed in this beautiful blue light. Wonder if it is what the architect intended?

Fountain in Trafalgar Square

Fountain in Trafalgar Square, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Despite the forecast it turned into a lovely day - luckily I had my camera with me. More messing around with shutter speed.

QotD: Work Locale

Do you work in an office, at home, in the field or somewhere else? Would you change where you work if you could? What would you miss?

I work in an office mostly, occasionally from home, sometimes on a train or in a coffee shop or a hotel room. Or sometimes in various other companies offices around the country when I'm out and about having meetings and sometimes in restaurants and bars when I'm at an event or hosting an event.

What would I change? Well I'm lucky enough to work in an office in central London and while Holborn is a good location it isn't Soho where our office used to be. So if I was going to be picky it would be back in Soho in a nice warehouse conversion office with exposed brick walls and big arched windows that you can open to get fresh air occasionally instead of having to rely on air conditioning all the time which is never the right temperature.

I could pop to Fresh and Wild (or Whole Foods as it's become) for lunch and spot celebs when I'm out for a stroll - you don't get celebs in Holborn but I have some pretty impressive spots from my days in Soho. I was about to write that the only thing Holborn has got that Soho hasn't is a Waitrose but John Lewis on Oxford Street has a food hall now and while not quite as good, it is a food hall nonetheless...

I'm rambling now. I'll shut up.

QotD: Those Were the Best Days of My Life...

What's the best summer you've ever had

Does Thailand last Christmas count? It was summer there, well actually it wasn't, it was winter but it was very hot. Otherwise it's difficult to answer because summer doesn't really exist as concept of consistently warm, sunny days here in England.

I think we had 10 really, really hot days on the trot here in London a few years ago but I was miserable because it was too hot to do anything and the flat never got cool enough to sleep and I actually wanted to go to work because the office has a bit of air conditioning.

Don't tend to go away or do anything particularly special in the summer because it's the school holidays so everything is more expensive. I just enjoy any sunny day as it comes along whatever time of year it is.

London in the morning sun

Late spring in London's parks

A breezy, late spring day with clouds skirting across a beautiful blue sky. Nature is in it's final throws of seasonal renewal and it is so beautiful.
These were taken in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens the latter of which I haven't really explored before:

Spring flowers

 

Duck (or it might be a goose I'm not very good at these things)

Tree in spring

Elfin Oak, Kensington Gardens

Some more pic on my Flickr page

 

My new favourite place to take photos in London

This is the Barbican in Central London. I've been meaning to head here on a sunny day to take pics for a while. Now I don't know why I left it so long, the possibilities are endless...

 

Where do you think this is?

A day at the beach

Yep that's right, it's here in London, central London. And if you don't believe me then take at look at this one of the same scene from a different angle:

A day at the beach, in London

I'm not the first

But I'm determined to get pictures of as many of the elephants in the London Elephant Parade as possible. There are about 250 dotted around the capital each painted by a different artist. I've got 35 so far...

It's to raise awareness about the danger the asian elephant population is in and naturally to raise money. I'll donate £10 to the charity when the first person correctly spots which picture has my silhouette in it!

 

Between the rain photography

April is normally the showery, unpredictable month, well more unpredictable than English weather normally is anyway. But this April has seen a long spell of dry sunny weather with unseasonably warm temperatures. Cue: May rain.

So it poured for most of yesterday forcing indoor play. Today dawned dry but threatening downpours. Cabin fever was setting in, so at the first merest hint of blue in the sky I donned sensible wet-weather shoes, dug out the brolley and winter coat (it's got quite cold over the last couple of days) and headed out with my camera to see what I could capture.

And as ever the South Bank didn't let me down...

Then I moved onto the Tate Modern, Millenium Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral. There were a couple of brief showers but the sun eventually came out properly.

Not bad considering how the day started out. As ever the rest of the pics are on Flickr

Monument

Monument, originally uploaded by Rev Stan.

Came down with another migraine on Sunday (boo hiss) but luckily I got this shot and a few others of The Monument before I was forced to head home.
I have been up to the top once and on another sunny day I will do so again.
Rest of pictures on Flickr as usual

Spring sunset over London

We've been enjoying unseasonably settled weather of late instead of the usual sharp April showers. But I'm not complaining because when I got the train from London Bridge to go to the theatre in Greenwich last Friday evening there was the most amazing sunset.
It was one of those sunsets where the sun is so perfectly round, golden and majestic it doesn't quite look real. I couldn't tear my eyes away from it and wanted it to stay there forever.
Sadly nature and a moving train were never going to let that happen.
Here is what I managed to snap through the train window although they don't really capture it very well. If you look closely you can make out the London Eye at Waterloo in the first one.