The World Cup starts today - here's hoping for a massively successful tournament for the host nation, South Africa, and let's hope the England team can overcome their somewhat fractious beginning and do us proud.
Am I dreaming that flag mania seems to increase with every World Cup? The colourful bunting definitely adds to the jollity of the Nation, even if one isn't a fan of the football. Some Clapham pubs are joining in the festivities - most impressively The Alexandria.
Which admittedly has the most impressive frontage to begin with.
Well done Alexandria!
Revolution on Clapham High Street has put a wall of flags behind their double story glass facade, which results in some interesting photographic effects.
Let's hope that mysterious throbbing neon zero in the centre of the USA flag is an omen for the match against England on Saturday.
And over in Clapham Old Town, even posh florists Birksen are getting in on the act.
The good old Prince of Wales goes for traditional bunting as well as a St George's flag.
. Well this year’s Eurovision wasn’t all bad - in fact, Good Luck alert! I won some wireless Sennheiser headphones in Acediscovery’sEurovision competition. To enter you had to guess the winning score (not the winner). Just as well I am better at predicting scores than guessing winners. My favourites Sweden failed to qualify.
They arrived this morning (the headphones, that is, not Sweden) and I plugged them in immediately. Totally enjoying the freedom of moving around the flat untethered by cables.
Last night’s Eurovision Final in Oslo was a great success and huge fun. I was thrilled that Germany won - a really encouraging result, showing the big four are still capable of winning if they have a good song (and also encouraging because it was a good song - we’re not being overwhelmed by shlock).
Here is my digest of best bits and tweets.
diamondgeezer Eurovision only takes up 0.09% of a year. It feels so much longer.
edwardclarkeWoo hoo! We're live in Oslo! #esc #eurovision
charltonbrooker Is it me or does the slight echo on Norton's voice make it sound like he's narrating from beyond the grave? #eurovision
efan78 Did Graham just say "Euro-Camp", is there any other type? #eurovision
guy_interruptd OH MY FUCKING GOD! MY ENTIRE TWITTER STREAM HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY FUCKING EUROVISION!
1Azerbaijan Safura Drip Drop
wolfstar_de Azerbaijan's entry is a cheapo Beyonce/Alicia Keys/Leona power-ballad clone in 3/4, except without the charisma. It's dull as ditchwater.
Tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest final will be interesting, I think. Somehow I doubt there will be a clear cut winner in the manner of last year; there are too many good songs in too many styles. All of the bookie’s favourites will divide the voters, I think, and the voters and juries will be all at odds too.
I think the one dead certainty is that neither the voters nor the juries will vote for the UK’s entry! Will we score nul points once again or will we get a pity vote from Ireland?
My friend Ethan says it tempts fate to publish your favourites but here goes. I don’t have a firm definite favourite but I would be very happy if the overall winner emerged from this group:
France Jessy Matador - Allez olla olé
Belgium Tom Dice - Me and My Guitar
Greece Giorgos Alkaios & Friends - OPA
Iceland Hera Björk - Je ne sais quoi
Albania Juliana Pasha - It’s All About You
Ireland Niamh Kavanagh - It’s For You
Germany Lena - Satellite
I hope I haven’t jinxed their chances! We shall see tonight.
Five countries qualify automatically for the finals: the Big Four consisting of France, Germany, Spain and the UK; and the host country and last year's winner, Norway. The reason is these are the countries that bear a disproportionate share of the costs of mounting the competition, and if they weren't in the finals they would have major problems with their home audiences.
However, because the Eurovision Contest is democratically decided by voting I think this arrangement disadvantages these five countries: firstly because they are automatic qualifiers they tend to miss out on most of the build-up buzz and speculation; and secondly because voters in the competing countries must resent this easy ride for songs they may feel are inferior (and sometimes are!)
So how do the big four (and Noway!) shape up this year? Here's what I think.
Germany
Lena has scored a huge hit in Germany with her song Satellite and is one of the favourites to win. I think it's definitely a strong contender, but the somewhat sophisticated song and performance may leave some European voters cold. It has grown on me, I quite like it now and wouldn't be sorry if it does win, but feel it unlikely.
Spain
Daniel Diges' song Algo Pequeñito has also grown on me a little but I don't think it's a winner. It's definitely better than the UK's, however.
France
I'm pretty hot on Jessy Matador's Allez Olla Olé - a fantastic stomping dance tune for the summer; makes me happy every time I hear it.
Norway
Didrik Solli-Tangen's My Heart Is Yours is the quintessential Eurovision package - a slow crescendo in structure, featuring a pretty melody and prettier singer. It could do well.
UK
Words cannot express the sadness. Poor Josh Dubovie - the BBC's sacrificial victim. I hope his career survives this disaster. This definitely does not sound good to me.
Bloody Hell! I didn’t see that coming! Anna Berghendahl’s This is my Life was my favourite to win the whole competition! Clearly it’s a mistake to overestimate the taste of the European public.
jonwillchambers: The last time Sweden were absent from a #Eurovision final? 1976.
jonwillchambers: How much are those fated Swedish #Eurovision glow-sticks worth on eBay? Hope they're recyclable.
edwardclarke@efan78 How can SWEDEN go out??! Abba must be spinning in their graves! #esc #eurovision
edwardclarke: Message to Sweden: I *do* know Abba is still alive. I was being *ironic*. I share your pain in falling out of Eurovision. #esc
Seriously, this does make me fear for the future creative direction of the competition. For Pete’s sake, Azerbaijan went through - I suppose it is one of the bookie’s favourites - a dreary dull song in my opinion. The Azerbaijanese have gone all out to win this year, hiring Beyonce’s All the Single Ladies choreographer. Pity they didn’t watch the recent Channel 4 programme on the best 100 pop videos of all time: they would have learnt that Beyonce’s dance routine was copied step-for-step, shimmy-for-shimmy from Gwen Verdon's Mexican Breakfast from The Ed Sullivan Show (1969). Here is Azerbaijan's Drip Drop, sung with joyless intensity by Safura:
While Sweden may have had the most musically sophisticated song of the evening, The Netherlands were very brave with a retro-tastic little diity by the creator of the Smurfs, sung by Sieneke. Again, creative daring divided the audience:
justgarance: Oh. No. We're up. #eurovision. Get your earplugs.
AngryBritain: The Netherlands: Your song roughly translates as 'There are some fucking excellent drugs available in Amsterdam' #eurovision
thoroughlygood: OK .. Look I'm really sorry about this .. but I actually quite like this. Is that bad ? #netherlands #eurovision #esc
edwardclarke: Me too! :-) RT @efan78: Yay! Shakin' Stevens' Dutch cousin! I like this one, it's very retro-#Eurovision
_irissa_: Dear other people in Europe. We’re sorry for sending Sieneke. We didn’t want to send her, but Papa Smurf made us. #songfestival #eurovision
Armenia Israel Denmark Azerbaijan Ukraine Romania Ireland Cyprus Georgia Turkey
For me, Ireland (Niamh Kavanagh: It's for you) is the clear best out of the above. Most surprisingly improved in performance was Georgia - Shine sung by Sofia Nizharadze was heartfelt and charming. Cyprus appears to be a stealth UK entry (sung by a boy from Wales - Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders: Life Looks Better in Spring) - it actually stands a better chance than our official entry!
thoroughlygood: PLEASE DON'T CALL NOW .. YOU'LL CAUSE A RIFT IN THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM. CHILDREN WILL DIE. #eurovision #esc
orbyn: These tweets almost make me wish I were watching Eurovision. Almost.
Clapham Omnibus will be providing a digest of the most outstanding moments of the Eurovision festival and Eurovision tweets too, as we head towards the big final this Saturday.
Oslo put on a great show last night for the first semi-final, and excitement levels ran high as the contestants took to the stage.
bbceurovision: WAKEY WAKEY! Guess what day it is? YES! Eurovision Semi-final #1 day! Excitement levels building!!!
bbceurovision: Breaking news: Eurovision stadium hit by freak tornado, merchandise tent blown down
Greece, Portugal, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia, Albania, Moldova, Belarus, Russia and Belgium were the lucky countries voted through to the finals last night. The last 10 finalists will be picked from Thursday’s second semi-final in Norway (in which the UK will be able to vote). The UK, Germany, France, Spain and Norway automatically qualify for the finals.
Tom Dice's Me and My Guitar is Belgium's first entrant to reach the final since 2004, a very lovely song and performance and surely one to put an outside bet on winning Eurovision 2010.
Malta, FYR Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Finland and Slovakia missed out on a spot in the final.
stigblog: FYROM is my favourite name for a country in the whole world. #Eurovision
Latvia (Aisha: What For? ) was the clear disaster of the night (the BBC announcer Paddy O’Connell compared her singing quite accurately to root canal work) - a case of the song being considerably better than the singer (perhaps she’s related to the Latvian TV bosses, one wonders?)
neonbubble: You can always compensate for a bad song with a great outfit. So... Latvia won't be going through then. #esc #eurovision
Dinzla: I had no idea Latvia was so flat.. #ESC Eurovision
krdr: They even f*ckd up her ala Britney Spears make-up. Latvia on #ESC
Otherwise, I’m sad Malta and Slovakia never made it - Malta’s act (Thea Garrett: My Dream) featured a spectacular glittery bird-man who emerged from the singer’s dress.
misterebby: Malta has wings coming out of her ass! #eurovision
Squibby_: Jesus, her sanitary towel's wings have a mind of their own. #eurovision
Squibby_: Is it a bird? Is it a geeza? No, it's superfaggot. #eurovision
efan78: Gah! That Bird man's even scarier close up! #Eurovision
I was previously dubious about Greece’s blatant attempt to sex up their (quite good) modern faux-folk ditty OPA, but have to admit they pulled it off and Giorgos Alkaios & (his new, sexier) Friends put in one of the most outstanding performances of the evening.
spyros: Opa Opa Opa!!! #eurovision on my 3rd pint of Murphy's. Everything sounds so much better now
MacPsych: Greece: why do I feel like I've just wandered into the Admiral Duncan? #eurovision
justgarance If Greece work "whoppa!" in at least two more times, they've got a fan. #eurovision
The most surprisingly improved performance of the evening was Portugal’s. The song (Há Dias Assim) is still a bit of stretch for me, but was given a superb production and heartfelt singing from the very lovely Filipa Azevedo.
toomuchroom: Ooh Portugal has a pair of lungs on her! #esc
Karmapriya: Miss Portugal is pretty like a princess & sings well. But another booooring song! #eurovision #esc
efan78: Dear Jim, please could you fix it for me to be a fake Mariah Carey? Love & Kisses Portugal xxx #Eurovision
I was thrilled that my favourite Albania (Juliana Pasha: It’s All About You) went through.
stigblog: Check out the violinist's hair!! Albanian fashion FTW! #Eurovision
But the undoubted hit of the night was Iceland’s Hera Björk and her soaring dance anthem Je Ne Sais Quoi : absolutely storming, and given a well-deserved standing ovation by the crowd.
Soeno: I wonder if the #ashcloud will affect Iceland's #eurovision chances.
AngryBritain: Iceland: Your song roughly translates as 'Mess with us and we'll fuck you with a Volcano' #eurovision
Soeno: Liking Iceland's diva at #eurovision... She's very... voluptuous. And she can SING. LOUD.
i_is_sam: Everyone who can vote for Iceland. Look at her rack! It's pure europop and her tits are fabulous! What more could you want?
AttitudeMag: We're not sure but Iceland might be going for the gay vote here. #eurovision
misterebby: Dana International's successor is this Icelandic entry. It's 100% awesome homo-dance-pop. Definitely should be top 5. #eurovision.
Squibby_: All the gays love a fat diva #eurovision
. Glorious sunshine across the capital all weekend! Woo hoo! Hotter than the Mediterranean, etc etc etc. I always love the festive crowds enjoying watching life go by on the Common; it makes the area round here feel like Clapham-by-Sea. Well, we have our ponds, I suppose.
Yes, I’m still shaking my head in wonderment at the developments here in the UK. I really love how our Government changes instantly - literally, the old PM leaves Downing Street just before the new one arrives - leaving very little time to pack! Great theatre.
It’s no secret that the new Government is not entirely to my liking but Cameron’s initial moves are certainly interesting - almost as if he’s been a closet Lib Dem all this time - and no doubt we are in for some interesting times ahead. As the world is still reeling in the developing financial crisis I hope the new government can hold it all together. Today’s news is that Angela Merkel has gone rogue in Europe; thank goodness at least Brown kept us out of the Euro! Otherwise that would have been another fine mess that Tony got us into.
Here are my collection of new government tweets, from last week:
Jason_Cobb This is without a doubt, the worst evening of my life #ukelection #nffc
EvilGayTwin just got back from swimming to find David Cameron is our new Prime Minister. I should of just drowned myself whilst I had the chance!
BishopWeston@SarahBrown10 Thank you - So Rupert Murdoch won the election after all? Really is #nickcleggsfault now - he's so gonna be Haggis in a tin
LeeBinding Anyone else see the Ood singing behind Brown?
campbellclaret New slogan for Lib-dem supporters "I DISAGREE WITH NICK" !!
krishgm "the press looked from Tory to Lib Dem and from Lib Dem to Tory......but already it was impossible to say which was which"
campbellclaret what a week - trending on twitter re Boulton explosion, most popular twitterer in UK - oui, moi - and new Eton-Westminster-St Pauls govt
beano_monty @campbellclaret Will John Prescott be interviewed by Sky? I need something to look forward to.
LukePollard Has Nick Clegg gone from kingmaker to tea maker? - love that question #bbcqt
indiaknight David Cameron says "big" too much. Should vary, eg "humongous," "jumbo," "mahoosive".
It’s fascinating how dated some of these tweets are already. David Cameron is making it clear he’s not going to take any nonsense from his right-wing MPs. Will he also stand up to Rupert Murdoch? Time will tell.
. From time to time I do like this blog to live up to it's name. Therefore, it behooves me to report on Mayor Boris Johnson's announcement of the new Routemaster bus.
This was perhaps the most notable of his election promises - the revival of London's beloved Routemaster with the hop-on hop-off rear platform. The new bus will have this platform, but it will also have doors which will close it, so we shall have to wait and see how hoppable it really turns out to be.
In the meantime, Boris and London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy are very proud of the new bus's green credentials:
"Entering service in 2012, the futuristic design will use the latest green technology, will be 15 per cent more fuel efficient than existing hybrid buses, 40 per cent more efficient than conventional diesel double decks and much quieter on the streets."
The new buses will be on the streets in 2012, hopefully in time for the London Olympics.
. Strictly speaking I wasn't supposed to take this pic so am keeping mum about where this is from ;-)
This is a portrait of the author of an 18th-century florilegium, or plant encyclopedia. He was German and the book was published in Amsterdam beginning around 1730 (it took 12 years to complete). It's in 8 volumes; each around 500 pages long and contains 1,000 etched and hand-coloured illustrations. Each illustration was waxed to preserve the colour (and presumably to prevent it rubbing off on the facing page).
Imagine the logistics of organising that in that time period. No phones, no email, no typewriters or computers - no reliable postal service even. If the print run was just 1,000 that would mean they had to have 1,000,000 illustrations hand-painted to a consistent quality and correctly interleaved in the books. The text refers to illustrations by numbers (and there is an index at the end of the last volume)
I was really charmed that he had his portrait done in his baroque frock coat and wig holding a flower - his life's work.
Britain’s recent election was historic in more than one sense - it was the first twitter election too. And of course we all know the most incisive political analysis happens on twitter :-)
So here is my digest of tweets of election night:
zefrog: It's National Lock A Tory in the Toilet At Work Day!
dontgetfooled Apparently 100K people just got text-spammed by the Tories. Guess Andy Coulson knows a thing or 2 about getting hold of private numbers...
edwardclarke Loads of names crossed off list already - voting must be pretty brisk in Vauxhall!
guy_interruptd RT @Craig_Brawn: Looking forward to the election results, its like Eurovision without the singing!
johannhari101 Now's a good time to text and call any friends/relatives who might have forgotten/not bothered to vote. Unless they're Tories, obviously
jonreed polls closing in 10 seconds. can't bear the suspense. #electionparty
edwardclarke@jonreed Yikes! BBC news saying LIb DEms on 59 seats in exit polls . . . rough night ahead!!
jackwallington It's about to start. It's exactly like the X Factor finale. The same length too, 12 hours.
edwardclarke@jackwallington But the winner gets to stay on top for 5 years!
edwardclarke Yay! BBC mutes Gove and we have the lovely Harperson instead!
edwardclarke Fight! Fight! Peter and Theresa going for it! Handbags at midnight!
edwardclarke Absolutely loving all the cock ups on the BBC broadcast - more please! And more Mandelson/Gorman punch ups!
technicalfault Absolutely outrageous to hear people have been turned away from polling stations after queueing!
zefrog RT @ianvisits @charlesarthur: That offer by Robert Mugabe to come and monitor our elections doesn't look so funny now, eh?
zefrog In France, elections always take place on Sundays. That way people have time to vote
adventuresofboz: JOAN COLLINS BEING AMAZING! WHERE IS THE VODKA!
edwardclarke@ncabani Hiding behind the sofa. Can't believe I laughed my head off when Cameron became Tory chief. Not laughing now
davidchild Looking forward to this party several hours into the free booze. Collins will get her tits out and Starkey will snog Schama.
edwardclarke RT @seemaface BEST COMMENT OF THE NIGHT - "The Queen is only activated in certain circumstances"- David Dimbleby #ukvote
jackwallington@edwardclarke It's all about activating the Queen!
Jason_Cobb Overall Tory majority prediction? Pondering early night and washing away sins in lido, or bugger it and get more bolly from wine cellar.
edwardclarke@@Jason_Cobb Hope the Bolly can last 4 years
ncabani Dimbelby: looks like Tories may be heading for a majority in parliament...
indiaknight: I feel extreme love for Scotland and Wales.
GuyAitchison The Scots are lucky, they can just declare independence if the Tories win. Could Kentish Town do the same? #ge2010
AdamBienkov RT @TimMontgomerie ConservativeHome no longer believes a Tory majority is possible
CulturalSnow RT @Timmy_Lee: People diss First Past the Post, but any system where you can give all three parties a kicking can't be all bad.
adamfishpoet Zac Goldsmith says he put less cash into his campaign than his rival. Mais oui, Zac, the truly rich rely on favours, don't they?
RedMummy Actually think that the Dimbleboy & Paxo should take a bow for conducting entire programme on professionally asking unanswerable questions.
CulturalSnow Why is Gove so obsessed with Mandelson? Luuurrrve? #ge2010
krishgm Brace yourselves for another election within a year? (Sighs)
edwardclarke To be honest I'm totally shocked at the Tories' anti-constitutional stance.
JonReed RT johannhari101: Gay vote for Cameron collapsed from 39% to 6%, according 2 @pinknews. It's the gays wot lost it for Cameron.
johannhari101: More than 50% voted against Cameron for parties to his left. In any other European country, that would be a landslide defeat for the right
RT @MODERN1ST: RT @jules_lewis Whoever came up with CON-DEM-NATION is a damn genius! #ge2010
"In the realm of practical politics, two things must happen - both of which are likely. There must be one more General Election to disillusion Labour optimists as to the measure of their political strength, standing by themselves. But equally on our side there must be a certain change.
The Liberal Party is divided between those who, if the choice be forced upon them, would vote Conservative, and those who, in the same circumstances, would vote Labour. Historically, and on grounds of past service, each section has an equal claim to call itself Liberal. Nevertheless, I think that it would be for the health of the party if all those who believe, with Mr. Winston Churchill and Sir Alfred Mond, that the coming political struggle is best described as Capitalism versus Socialism, and, thinking in these terms, mean to die in the last ditch for Capitalism, were to leave us.
The brains and character of the Conservative Party have always been recruited from the Liberals, and we must not grudge them the excellent material with which, in accordance with our historic mission, we are now preserving them from intellectual starvation. It is much better that the Conservative Party should be run by honest and intelligent ex-Liberals, who have grown too old and tough for us, than by Die-Hards. Possibly the Liberal Party cannot serve the State in any better way than by supplying Conservative Governments with Cabinets, and Labour Governments with ideas," - J.M. Keynes, in a speech given to the Manchester Reform Club in February 1926.
Nick Clegg’s superb performances in the leaders’ debates on tv gave the electorate a credible ‘change’ candidate, and I hope the Liberal Democrats do well enough to make reform of the UK governing system unstoppable.
Whatever happens, this is I think the most crucial election for ages - a real watershed for the United Kingdom. The collapse of the Western world’s banking system has demonstrated just how voodoo were the voodoo economics introduced by Thatcher and Reagan in the 1980s (and enthusiastically bought into and developed by New Labour).
There was always tension in Labour regards this and Gordon Brown’s response to the crisis showed that Labour’s uneasy relationship with the economic consensus allowed ultimately for a greater flexibility in approach to massive systemic problems. It is clear Brown and Alistair Darling have actually achieved some success here, and I have no doubt that their approach is the correct one as the crisis continues to develop.
By contrast, the Conservatives under David Cameron and George Osborne do not appear to have grasped that the financial crisis has fatally cracked open the whole Thatcherite ideology and show every sign of wanting to repeat the same very damaging policies of Thatcher’s first years in power. Again, I think Brown’s claim that the Conservatives would lead the country back into recession is all too credible.
Labour has come to the end of its term and it is very clear the country does not want Brown as leader. Whatever Labour’s successes in domestic policy, allowing our foreign policy to be set by the Americans has been a disaster, leading us into an illegal war in Iraq and a seemingly unending quagmire in Afghanistan. Both Blair and Brown have introduced, have tried to introduce or are planning to introduce draconian legislation that severely restricts our civil liberties. But I think despite promising to scrap ID cards the Conservatives are likely in time to match New Labour’s disgraceful authoritarian tendency.
The extent of MPs’ greed and corruption was made clear by the revelations in the Telegraph last year. No one came out well, and the worst offenders will be no more after this election. But even in opposition, the Conservatives scored some massive clangers with expenses for moat cleaning, duck houses, etc - with one chap blithely wittering on tv about how his house looked like Balmoral, completely unaware of how the tax-paying electorate viewed this. Other Tory multi-millionaire offspring of inherited wealth seem to think it is perfectly acceptable trying to stand for election to Parliament while maintaining non-dom (non tax-paying) status.
So, together with very many in the country I am hoping for a hung, or balanced, Parliament, which I hope will force the politicians to work together to address the serious issues we as a nation face. I also tend to think that a hung Parliament will arrest our slide into authoritarianism. And I’m not entirely convinced by the economic horror stories the banksters are advancing: rather, a hung Parliament will reinforce the current Labour policy while also bringing forward the necessary banking reforms that only the Lib Dems are proposing now. And even if true, I think the economic issues are not the most important things at stake anyway - our survival as a liberal democracy is.
So, I have decided to vote for our sitting MP Kate Hoey. I like the way despite holding a massive majority she has not taken my vote for granted and has campaigned vigorously. She’s been a great constituency MP, always answering all my letters. Her record in voting against the government on civil liberties issues (and the Iraq War) is utterly exemplary and very brave. Her expenses claims are completely transparent and honest. If we are heading for a hung Parliament, we need as many clear-thinking, independent and forthright individuals as we can get. I am therefore voting for Kate.
I popped over to Borough Market this afternoon to buy some Jerusalem artichokes for a soup I’m planning to make this weekend (I thought it unwise to rely on our local Sainsbury's or Tescos). I was very excited to spot a new chocolate cafe and shop just at the beginning of Stoney Street: Rabot Estate. Apparently, it is the Borough Market ‘farm shop’ of one of the oldest cocoa estates in St Lucia, dating to 1745. The founders of the Hotel Chocolat chain of shops (and website) bought the Estate a few years ago and have invested heavily in new cocao plants and upgrading equipment and systems. Rabot Estate is taking the lead in reviving the cocoa industry in St Lucia.
The shop is pretty eye-catching and completely open to the street. It’s decorated in lots of chocolate browns, with reclaimed woods, corrugated iron panels and simple stencil-style typography and manilla labels. However the pricing is anything but basic - £8 for a bag of chocolate anyone?
I decided to play to safe and bought myself a small bar of their ‘Dash of Milk’ range (mid-way between classic dark chocolate and milk chocolate) to try. The 35g bars come in at £2.75 (however if you buy three they come at £2.50 each).
At the till I succumbed to temptation and had a hot chocolate (a more reasonable £2.50 per cup). You can choose between a 70% cocoa or a 100% cocoa, which you can sweeten to personal taste. I went for the 70% option.
This turned out to be very frothy and light - not particularly thick in texture but with a wonderfully thick chocolate flavour which coated my mouth and lasted a while. I think this might just become a Borough Market tradition for me.
They also sell something called ‘chocolate tea’ which apparently was big in 18th-century London before hot chocolate caught on. I need to try that sometime. Also available are chocolate-themed savoury snacks. This place is a great addition to Borough market.
Rabot Estate 2 Stoney Street Borough Market London SE1 9AA
I raced around London last Saturday morning - had to get to Whole Foods in High Street Kensington to buy John Master's Organics Blood Orange and Vanilla body wash as an early birthday present for my friend Sue, who was visiting from Cape Town. I picked up wrapping paper and ribbon from Scribbler at High St Ken too - having very amusing interactions with their staff there - and then tubed to St Paul's where I gulped down a quick sandwich and wrapped the present next to the fountain, being very careful of pigeons, wind, and splashes from the fountain. The result isn't one of my best but nevermind. Then I toddled off to Tate Modern to meet Sue.
Quite surprisingly, the Quilts exhibition at the V&A is the first in the museum’s history. Nevertheless, the museum is clearly preparing for a blockbuster, with yards and yards (literally) of merchandising opportunities in the gift shop as you exit – the V&A has produced swatches of limited-edition fabric samples for inspired exhibition goers to get quilting with; books on how-to-quilt, as well as the exhibition catalogue. Of course, the bookshop also has loads of other quilting books to choose from.
My company got complimentary tickets from the V&A and my colleague Stu and I were gagging to go – strange really, two guys (one straight) instead of all the girls . . .
The V&A has clearly put a lot of work and thought into the show, and the results are stunning and amazingly inspirational. The show gives an overview of the historical context and development of quilting, plus very specific insights into the stories of individual pieces – quilting seems intrinsically to sew stories into the piece, as the quilts were made for specific people, to commemorate specific events, were made from material recycled from other projects which had their own stories – and were ultimately handed down through generations and thus embodied family history.
As we zoom headlong recklessly into a future with a fraction of the resources than we currently enjoy, it was great to see how people’s relationship with the material world was actually richer then than now – every scrap of fabric was prized; saved for reuse in a quilt; every scrap of paper too as the bedrock of the quilted patch (even if most of the stories of women using their husband’s love letters appear to be fabrications – most of the papers used were old tradesmen’s bills). This was recycling on the level of the individual household – ingenuity was used to rework one obsolete item into another, more useful one.
This aspect inspired me as much as the beautiful workmanship on display.
As a counterpoint to this, the V&A has commissioned new pieces from artists – there are quite wonderful pieces by Grayson Perry and Tracey Emin. Emin’s done a new bed; far more sumptuous than the infamous Tate one of the last decade. Perry’s piece was quite small but packed an emotional punch. It’s a pity the show didn’t have his new tapestries, but I assume they were simply too large to exhibit in the relatively intimate spaces of the V&A temporary exhibition rooms.
Quilts: 1700-2010 Victorian and Albert Museum 20 March - 4 July 2010
This Spring has seen a veritable renaissance in creativity at Hedgie towers, especially in the textile arts.
Many years ago on the bus to college my dear friend Ingrid taught me to knit. Ingrid was a free-form jumper knitter – she never followed a pattern and just seemingly randomly used different colours. The results were always amazing; true works of art.
So recklessly I threw myself into knitting jumpers – not a traditional start for the novice knitter. Of course unlike Ingrid I always followed a pattern religiously. The repetitive knitting experience soothed the stress of studying for exams. My first jumper ended up miles too big – tension issues – and I didn’t like the cut of the neck of the second.
Then I moved to the UK to complete my education and was seduced by a Kaffe Fassett exhibition at the V&A. I launched into his Persian Poppy pattern vest.
The colour work I took in my stride but Kaffe’s basic sweater patterns follow the divide-for-neck at armhole level formula that I hated in my second sweater. Altering a pattern to raise the neck was a bit daunting, Ingrid was a continent away, and work on the sweater was abandoned at this point. Some twenty years ago.
However, a rare attempt at spring cleaning recently revealed the wool stash and on a whim I just starting knitting a scarf – quite the easiest thing to do.
This led to me looking at the poppy vest again. I plotted every stitch on a graph sheet, and hopefully now have an altered neckline that will work. So the poppy vest is going to be finally completed! Woop!
Meanwhile, my freeform stripey scarf led to me trying a stripey hat to match – less successful, but still quite fun. I want to do stripey gloves now to finish the ensemble.
All this knitting activity was egged on marvellously by web 2.0: YouTube helped with knitting primer lessons and a twitter friend referred me to the Ravelry site – networking for knitters! It’s speeded my progress up amazingly.
But, that’s not all! My textile activities are expanding . . . but that’s another post . . . .
Wow! Thanks BBC for a perfect Easter Saturday afternoon. The long-awaited introduction of Matt Smith as the eleventh incarnation of Doctor Who was a triumph.
Steven Moffat had written some of the most memorable episodes of the previous series, so we were quite happy about him taking over the reins from the successful Russell T Davies. But some of us worried that Matt was ‘too young’ - and as an actor he was virtually completely unknown. So his challenge in taking over from David Tennant - voted recently “the best Doctor of all time” and the equally superb Christopher Ecclestone was steep. But it seems the BBC has scored a hat-trick with this casting. It’s no disrespect to Tennant to say that after this first episode I’m struggling to recall his performance.
Matt is a good actor but I think what sets him apart is his physicality - physically he’s just perfect for this role, perhaps the best of all time. Despite being so young he has an old-soul vibe going on - his elongated face, razor-sharp cheek bones and long, long fingers give him an authentically ancient alien look. His mannerisms work well too - a curious mixture of energy-driven new-born lamb and old school professor. His retro Doctor stylings by the beeb are just perfect for now too.
The introduction of the new companion (Amy Pond, feistily played by Karen Gillan) was wonderfully done too, very skillfully and economically incorporating her backstory into the fabric of the plot. This character always represents the viewer - and again, very cleverly in this episode managed to cater brilliantly to the entire Dr Who fan demographic as Amy is played young and adult.
With two major characters to introduce, the story was always going to be the secondary element but nevertheless the alien prisoner escapee yarn did its bit efficiently. Special effects were a bit ropey but the production dialled up the suspense nicely when needed - a relatively simple thing like an open door on a landing made the heart jump; as always the alien was at it’s most scary when in human form. The ending was a clever assisted deus-ex-machina; the Doctor and the alien’s jailers the Atraxi defeating Prisoner Zero through its own internal logic flaws.
Moffat has recently emerged from the Tintin project with Steven Spielberg, and I loved the Tintin reference with the coma patients in the hospital. A lovely homage.
