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Choose Your Own Station Name

Shepherd's Bush ~~Market~~ station

Shepherd's Bush station on the Hammersmith & City line will shortly be renamed Shepherd's Bush Market, thus finally ending the long-running fallacy that it is connected to its Central Line namesake. TfL are ready to fire the starter's gun on the name change: they've prepared new roundels at the station, yet curiously, they remain partly covered up with blue tape, allowing mischievous Londoners to choose what the station's new suffix should be. Got an idea? Leave a comment, and we'll present them to Tube bosses for consideration. If theyr'e not convinced, it might be a case of sneaking in after dark with a pot of Tippex.

Careless Cyclists Causing Park Strife

We don't wish to tar every pedal-pusher with the same garish shade of Lycra, but it can't escape the more observant pedestrian that a small minority of cyclists take an approach to road safety and basic manners that can be best described as "indifferent".

Having taken disregard for red lights and one-way streets to new heights, the problem has spread to the Royal parks, where wannabe Victoria Pendletons can be seen tearing it up with nary a thought for other users. One high-profile group has now taken called on cyclists to ride more carefully in order to avoid collisions with their poor pooches.

"Celebrity dog owners" (that's slebs who own dogs, not the Andrex puppy and his A-list pals) Jenny Seagrove, Felicity Kendal and Maureen Lipman are fronting the campaign. Seagrove has urged cyclists to "cycle with thoughtfulness", following the recent death of two dogs in Kensington Gardens who came off worse in a collision between mutt and machine.

Though London's parks have clearly delineated cycle lanes, problems ensue when cyclists sally forth into pedestrianised areas. A £250 fine can be levied for "dangerous cycling", which has been slapped on around 100 cyclists by the Met so far this year.

Wonder if they were riding "BM-Rex" bikes, eh readers? (Clear your desk, you're fired. Incidentally, Rebekah Wade called. Report to Wapping HQ tomorrow. Eds.)

Image from Mr November's Flickrstream via the Londonist pool

Cooler Tube Train Unveiled By Mayor

Boris Johnson this morning unveiled a mock-up of the new "S" stock trains being constructed for the Metropolitan, Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines. Boasting more spacious interiors and easier movement between carriages, the main bragging point is that the trains will feature air conditioning, a first for the Underground. Sweltering Victoria line commuters, don't get your hopes up - these shallow, cut-and-cover lines make a/c much easier, though TfL claims to be working on a scheme for deep-level tunnels.

In addition, "enhanced" audible and visual customer information, improved CCTV and two-way customer alarms are promised. The seats are covered by a moquette which will doubtless find it's way into the London Transport Museum's furniture collection before long.

The new trains will be rolled out on the Metropolitan line in 2010, with the Circle and H&C the following year and District by 2013. The mock-up carriage is on display for a week, starting Saturday 27th (not Sunday), and is located at Euston Square Gardens until October 2nd.

Faircake.co.uk: Cupcake Deliverance!

Cupcakes? Did somebody say cupcakes? Delivered to your door between the hours of 10am and 5pm? With prices starting from £1.90 per cupcake and a delivery charge of £9.50 for a minimum order of a dozen anywhere in central London (the map they link to on their website is the London Underground’s Zone 1)? That's what new wonder-business Faircake does. Nice.

What’s also nice is Faircake’s flavour variety. Londonist recently enjoyed a few of their gorgeous morsels and can report that the mango cupcake was delightfully fruity, the dark chocolate was just the right sort of decadent, the lavender was lovely and the lemon … oh the lemon (with a nice lemon curd centre!) … was tasty indeed. Of course, Faircake offers other flavours as well (and are already getting revved up for Christmas). The actually cake-y bit of Faircake’s lil babies was about as nice a cake-y bit as Londonist can remember tasting. The best cupcake in London? Hmmm … quite possibly yes.

And, oh yeah, we felt especially good when sampling Faircake’s baked goods. Faircake uses free range eggs, fairtrade chocolate and “butter, never margarine,” in their cupcakes. We couldn’t find evidence of any preservatives or additives (because they don’t use any). Such recipes may reduce the shelf life of Faircake’s product, but that’s all the more reason to devour them quickly.

Visit www.faircake.co.uk for more yummy details.

Photography courtesy of Faircake

STYLEist: Street Style outside LFW.

Fashionistas were out in force this past week for London Fashion Week. STYLEist manages to capture some street style off the catwalk.

Green & Black’s Chocolate Tastings on the London Eye

You know what’s better than an indulgent sampling of a range of organic chocolates? An indulgent sampling of a range of organic chocolates while checking out the panoramic view from the London Eye. Yep, from 6th October, London Eye will partner up with UK luxury organic chocolate makers, Green & Black’s, to offer folks a chance to eat some of Britain’s yummiest chocolates while enjoying one of London’s most commanding view … for a whole hour (with a maximum of 20 people)!

Sound like something Willy Wonka might have come up with (minus the pesky lessons in morality and the creepy oompa-loompas)? Well, to ground the experience with a bit of reality, chocolate tasting participants will be accompanied by a Green & Black’s trained expert, on hand to explain the chocolate’s journey from cocoa bean to chocolate bar. The ride will provide visitors with the opportunity to enjoy a variety of eight luxury chocolates including 70% and 85% dark chocolate, white chocolate made with fragrant Magagascan vanilla, milk chocolate made with Trinitario cocoa beans, dark chocolate with whole cherries and milk chocolate with whole roasted almonds. During the trips, Green & Black’s will also showcase a selection of limited edition and seasonal variations.

Lucky Londonist was on the scene last night for a sneak preview ‘choc-over London' and must admit that the fantastic views plus the tasty chocolate made for a giddy rest of the evening. Next time you want to play a round of hint-hint with your boss (or whoever does the events planning where you work) consider Green & Black’s Chocolate Tasting on the London Eye.

Visit the Chocolate Tasting page on London Eye’s website for more details.

Photography and video by Chris Osburn

Farewell, Bendy; We Hardly Knew Ye

One of Boris Johnson's manifesto pledges was to remove bendy buses from the streets of London and replace them with a next-generation Routemaster - a populist promise that played well in London's hinterlands, where the moneyed folk rarely ride public transportation.

While the second half of that pledge is hostage to the whims and ideas of folk who entered the design competition, the first half looks to be on track: a consultation is currently underway discussing whether to remove the articulated vehicles from three routes, with the 38 bus likely to become a double-decker, and the 521 and the 507 replaced by 12-metre single deckers.

The 38, which runs between Hackney and Victoria, was one of the last routes to go bendy, where it replaced a fondly loved Routemaster in a less-than celebrated debut in October 2005. Since then the new vehicles have been cheerfully fouling up the traffic at Piccadilly Circus, getting stuck on Rosebery Avenue, or sailing along Essex Road either packed solid or near empty (maybe it's us, but a semi-full bendy is as rare as a baby pigeon)

Critics of the proposed move point out that the route's exceptionally high frequency (only the 25 and 73 are used more) is aided by the bendy's three doors and higher passenger capacity. According to one slightly hysterical London Assembly member, the move would bring "misery" to passengers, with reduced hourly capacity and more carbon emissions as more buses are pressed into service. Such misery, of course, being in opposition to the enjoyable Friday-night free for all as riders pile onto the bus in droves and ones face is delicately douched in the sweat glands of a fellow passenger's armpit.

The consultation continues until October 3rd, while local folk can pitch their oar in via this online survey.

Image from steve_w's Flickrstream via the Londonist pool

Heston Blumenthal Gets his Scientific Drink on with Sherry!

Oh Sherry, there’s no reason to be all alone anymore! “Culinary alchemist” Heston Blumenthal (of Fat Duck fame), with scientist Professor Don Mottram of Reading University, has discovered a group of compounds known as diketopiperazines (try saying that drunk without offending someone) in Sherry. Apparently, these diketopiperazines are thought to accentuate the taste and flavour of “umami-rich” foods. In case you haven’t caught the blurps, umami is a newly discovered fifth tasting sense beyond sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

Huh? All ya need to know is that Sherry is yummy and goes well with a variety of meats, fish, cheese and more. According Mr Blumenthal, “Here we have scientific evidence to suggest what foodies across the globe have always known: that Sherry is a perfect wine to accompany food. And quite simply, Sherry gives these kinds of food an extra dimension of pleasure.” More about diketopiperazines et al at tenstartapas.com.

So what’s this gotta do with London? Well, Heston and pals unveiled their findings at Shoreditch House last night and kindly invited Londonist along to sample the findings. We think Blumenthal might be onto something with this new fangled science as we learned last night that Scotch eggs (with a layer of caramelized pork) go swimmingly with Pale Cream Sherry and that Eccles cake (with Stilton and Sherry butter of course) and Cream Sherry is a winning combo. And a simple salad of peach, rocket, Balsamic vinegar and almonds with a little Amontillado is about as good as it gets! We also learned that we really really (really!) need to make it out to Fat Duck some time for a bite (or maybe a Sherry tasting expedition to Jerez?). Shoreditch House is a pretty happening spot to drink too.

Photography by Chris Osburn. More shots from the event here.

American Embassy On The Move

Perhaps hoping that it'll take anti-war protesters (not to mention miscreat millionaires) a while to track them down, US Ambassador Robert Tuttle has announced the American Embassy will depart its Grosvenor Square office for pastures new. Not to Kensington Palace, as was the plan five years ago (a move the Royal Family reportedly nixed), nor to any of the suggestions that we made last year, nor even to the old Post Office that Google Maps proposed. They are in fact off to the less regal environs of Nine Elms, in Wandsworth.

Citing security and environmental concerns, the Ambassador said that it was also important for he and his staff to be located closer to the centre of government and parliament. The move will be a decision welcomed in the wealthy homes around Mayfair, who have long despaired about the security measures, particularly the post-9/11 security barrier which would result in their homes bearing the brunt of any terrorist attack.

If approved, the existing building, designed by Eero Saarinen (best known for the TWA Terminal and St. Louis' Gateway Arch), will be flogged. Yet quite who wants to live in a heavily fortified house with a 35-foot long Bald Eagle peering over the front porch is another matter entirely - we'll leave that conundrum to the Foxtons funboys and their branded Minis.

Image from JDinBawimer's Flickrstream under the Creative Commons Attribution license

Foster's Routemaster Design Unveiled

That's it folks, your opportunity to design a new bus for London is over. The competition closed awhile back, but if you didn't get round to it, never mind, for like the poor kid ever-bested by his Competitive Dad in The Fast Show, a professional's gone and jumped in to show us how it's done. Architecture firm Foster + Partners slipped in their sleek and futuristic, yet recognisable and pleasantly curvaceous double-decker offering at the last minute. Featuring an open rear platform, a side entrance for wheelchair users, and a wraparound front with a glass-covered ceiling, the bus is certain to be a favourite. The winner will be announced next month.

Bigot + Blog = Idiocy Exposed

There's something about a certain kind of bigoted individual that compels them to air their privately-held opinions, no matter how ridiculous or inflammatory. When a BNP London Assembly candidate made some daft remarks earlier this year, he was villified: presumably the same fate awaits Rev Peter Mullen, who has made some breathtakingly boneheaded comments about gay men on his website.

Mullen, the chaplain to the London Stock Exchange and a man required to offer spiritual salve to bankers, used his blog to state his belief that homosexuality is "clearly unnatural, a perversion and corruption of natural instincts and affections". Furthermore, he recommended on his blog that the sex lives of homosexual males be considered as dangerous as smoking, and given appropriate health warnings. The 66-year old wrote in one blog entry:

"Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH and their chins with FELLATIO KILLS."

In another entry, he called for the abolition of gay pride parades, and in another, composed a poem in which he bemoaned the blessing bestowed upon "puffs". All satire, assured the rector, who helpfully sunk his own argument by declaring weakly that he had "many dear friends of that persuasion". Pressed further, he fell back upon a hoary old strawman by declaring that his real target was the "militant preaching of homosexuality." If there's anyone who'd know about preaching, it's a man of the cloth like Mullen here.

Peter Tatchell has called for Mullen to be dismissed, and the Bishop of London has condemned his comments, since removed from the website. In a tightening job market, we fear for the Reverend's future employment prospects. Still, given the ability of gay Londoners to embrace any trend, no matter how ludicrous, we suggest Mullen can put his money where his mouth as and find a job modelling his slogans at a Compton street tattoo parlour, offering his own body as a canvas. He'll be a crowd favourite on Friday's at Heaven before you know it.

Image of Pride '08 from Tanya N's Flickrstream via the Londonist pool

Chocolate Week (13-19 October)

Wanna a reason to put a whole bunch of gold stars on your calendar for 13th-19th October 2008? Well, here’s a mega-reason: it’s Chocolate Week, the UK’s biggest chocolate event. Wahoo! And - get that yellow highlighter out - this year’s theme (Chocolate Week is in its fifth year) is British chocolate. That means yum-meisters like Paul A Young will be doing innovative stuff along the lines of collaborating with Almeida restaurant to create a chocolate themed menu. Other delicious happenings include a chocolate and whisky tasting held by the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society and The Academy of Chocolate hosting an exclusive dinner. For more events, visit the Chocolate Week website.

Photography courtesy of Space Monkey via the Londonist pool on Flickr

Win a Free Moscow Mule Cocktail Kit from Smirnoff Vodka

Here’s a chance to win a free Moscow Mule Cocktail Kit courtesy of Smirnoff, who wants to celebrate the Moscow Mule with Londonist readers. Much like the average Londonist reader, the Moscow Mule is particularly stylish and refreshing, comprised of vodka, ginger ale and a wedge of fresh lime.

Smirnoff’s cocktail kit contains a bottle of triple distilled Smirnoff vodka and two cans of Schweppes Canada Dry Ginger Ale plus a selection of stainless steel cocktail accessories including a shaker, spirit measure and strainer.

Five lucky readers will win one of these fantastic cocktail kits. For your chance to win, all you have to do is simply answer this question:

Which of the following would you need to make a Moscow Mule?

a) Apple Juice b) Ginger Ale c) Banana

Contest runs until the 6th of October at noon. Fill in your answer below:

Photography courtesy of Smirnoff

Keep reading for Terms & Conditions:Terms & Conditions

1. Open to all UK residents aged 18 or over only excluding the promoter's employees, their families, their agencies and anyone professionally connected with the promotion.
2. All entries must be received by Londonist. Only one entry per person will be accepted.
3. No purchase necessary. To enter, answer the questions.
4. No cash alternative is available
5. The winner will be selected at random and notified by Londonist via email.
6. For details of winners please email pete@splendidcomms.com. No other correspondence will be entered into concerning the result and the Promoter's decision is final.
7. The Promoter reserves the right to withdraw or amend the details of this prize draw in the event of any unforeseen circumstances beyond their reasonable control.
8. The Promoter reserves the right to terminate or temporarily suspend this promotion in the event of technical or other difficulties that might compromise its integrity.
9. The Promoter and their agents accept no responsibility for difficulties experienced in submitting an entry to this promotion.
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13. By entering this draw the participants are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions.

Preview: Ramadan Nights at the Barbican

With the end of Ramadan in sight (ensh’Allah), and eid just around the corner, the Barbican is getting with the mood by putting on a celebratory series of concerts under the loose label of Ramadan Nights. Which is really just a terrific excuse to get together some of the finest musicians from assorted Islamic countries and have themselves a bit of a jam.

If World Music is your bag, we do suggest that you grasp this rare opportunity to check out any or all of the following:

Thursday 25th September at 8.30pm: Reem Kelani, a Palestinian singer, kicks off the four day programme. She’s a highly respected and acclaimed jazz musician, who combines modern riffs with traditional Arabic sounds. This is perhaps the highest profile of the performers, but Londonist has to say that she doesn’t do it for us. Bit too dirge-like. Tickets £10/£15.

Friday 26th September at 8pm: Azerbaijan’s Alim Kasimov Ensemble playing with the sterling Kronos Quartet. This will be upbeat, toe-tapping, romantic, faraway stuff that will have you pining for the Caspian in no time. The main dude has a piercing voice with a range that seems to feature more octaves than Londonist thought possible. The event is supported by that nice Aga Khan who has set up a foundation to support Central Asian music. Tickets £15-£25.
Saturday 27th September at 3pm: Before the main evening concert why not grab a slice of FREE Anatolian folk music. Ozan Torpak will be playing on the Barbican’s Freestage. This is a good one for instrument geeks, as he’s got some weird equipment.
8pm: The Kamkars. Now this is the highlight for Londonist. This lot are brill – a sort of Kurdish Partridge family – but a whole lot more talented:

They are partnered on stage by haunting ney (that’s Persian reed flute to you) player Kudsi Erguner.
Tickets £15 - £25.
And then later that evening you’ve got Aida Nadeem who does sort of rappy, hip-hop Arabic chill-out poetry stuff. We like.

Monday 29th September from 7.30pm: Malian night. First up there is Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba. This maestro of his art plays a beguiling bluesy, folksy, happy sound, and he and his band are highly entertaining. They are supported by Tartit, a bewitching line-up of female Tuareg drummers and vocalists. This whole evening also gets a big thumbs-up from us.
Tickets £10-£22.

All tickets can be had by calling the Box Office on 0845 120 7550 or clicking here.

Regents Park Mosque image courtesy of Matt from London's flickr stream under the Creative Commons Licence.

Hooker Hotline

Bored and lonely gentlemen, put your phones down - it ain't what you think. Quite the opposite, actually.

Mark Clarke of Bedford Hill, a Tory parliamentary candidate, is waging what he describes as a one-man war against vice in his neighbourhood. Fed up with ladies of the night proffering their business round his 'ends, the 31-year old has vowed to disrupt their work so they can't practice the world's oldest profession. Taking email tips from the public, Mr. Clarke spends his evening chasing after prostitutes in his car and, (perhaps) shrieking "this town ain't big enough for the both of us!", running the pesky varmints outta the place.

A brave act, certainly - Mr. Clarke and his wife, the family member usually found alongside him, have been threatened by the prostitutes for their vigilantism - and just the kind of gung-ho crimebusting that the red-tops love. Give this man a medal! He'll mop up the mess that the Met can't, or won't, touch.

Sadly, the salacious gossip among us (you know who you are) reckons that this would be a perfect excuse to hide ones fondness for a certain sexual peccadillo. After all, it's become more mainstream over the years, in particular due to a certain footballer's proclivities. Not to suggest that the do-gooding Clarkes are up to this at all, but running up on copulating couples in the night with your high beams and proclaiming yourself a vice-buster might just about stand up in court.

Photo from beatdrifter's Flickrstream via the Londonist pool

Embers still smoking after Camden fire

February's dramatic fire in Canal Market, Camden, has affected trading this summer. According to the operators of the market, Camden Town Unlimited, tourists are staying away because they think the entire area was destroyed by flames last winter. Despite the fact that you can still barely see the pavement for goths and punks, the total number of visitors to the market has dropped off slightly this season. Need a dog collar, eyebrow piercing or vintage handbag? The market is up, running and raring to go.

London Open House: If You Only Do One Event This Year...

Two days until Open House Weekend, the premier event in London's architectural calendar. With bit noticeably chomped and anticipation status set to 'moist', we round up our highlights from previous years. Please, please, we want your suggestions in the comments. Diligent and dogged though we are in our exploration of the capital, there are over 600 places in the listings, and we know there must be plenty of what the guidebooks always call 'hidden gems' that we don't know about.

CENTRAL
Freemasons Hall, 60 Great Queen Street
AKA Spooks HQ.

Gibbs Building, 215 Euston Road
Swish headquarters of the Wellcome Trust, including what must be the UK's tallest indoor sculpture.

HQS Wellington, Embankment
Floating livery hall for the Guild of Master Mariners. Gold leaf and plush finery bobbing on the Thames: probably needs an expensive insurance policy.

Linnean Society, Burlington House
Caught between the 300th anniversary of Carl Linnaeus' birth (1707) and 200 years since Darwin breathed his first (1809), this is a relatively quiet year for the learned society that deals with biological taxonomy. See the stunning library and learn more about the key figures of botany and evolutionary science.

Royal Institution, Albemarle Steet
While we're talking science, head over to the big daddy of learned societies in Mayfair. The RI just reopened its doors after an extensive and expensive refit. Check out the plush new look, and superb dining facilities.

Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufatures and Commerce, John Adam Street
The RSA holds many open days and public events, but it should be visited for the variety of rooms on offer - from catacomb-like basement areas to the magnificently painted main hall.

St Anne's Tower, Soho
Been there, done that, got the chest infection. Climb the spire that health and safety forgot, before they ban this feat of death defiance.

Westminster Hall
Probably London's most historic building, after the Tower. This is an absolute must-see if you never have.

CITY
Bank of England Tour
Of all the buildings we've ever explored for Open House, this has more tales to tell than any other. Get there before opening time, as queues grow long.

City Marketing Suite
Easily overlooked, this 3-D model of the capital can be found on Basinghall Street right next to Guildhall. Splendid.

Guildhall
Relatively mainstream destination, but definitely worth a look if you've not been before, especially if you like heroic sculpture. As well as the main hall, check out the crypt, Roman amphitheatre and adjacent gallery. Queues are usually short.

Lloyd's of London
Now here the queues get excessive, but the inside-out insurance firm is a true must-see of Open House.

Old Turkish Baths, Bishopsgate Churchyard
Subterranean pizzeria in an ornate Victorian gem of a building. Look out for the photos of the owner pictured with various celebrities on the walls.EAST
Balfron Tower, Poplar.
Trellick Tower's lesser known sibling, by maligned architect Erno Goldfinger.

Institute of Cell & Molecular Science, Whitechapel
Gaze down on a laboratory for a giant orange pod. Utterly unique building and highly recommended.

One Bishops Square
Utterly bland Foster building offers impressive view of Spitalfields from sixth-floor roof terrace. Also, look out for the Charnel House in Bishops Square. And missing apostrophes.

Wilton's Music Hall
Epically unrestored Victorian knees-up venue that may just collapse around you while you're pretending to be Marie Lloyd.

WEST
Hoover Building, Western Avenue, Perivale
London's finest Art Deco building. Includes a Tesco, sadly.

Ismaili Centre, Cromwell Gardens (near V&A)
Learn about a religious community you've probably never heard of, while admiring the views from the stunning roof terrace.

Lindsey House, 100 Cheyne Walk
17th Century pile, notable for its stellar cast of former residents, including Whistler and Brunel (and Thomas More, sort of).

Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Preposterously magnificent Hindu temple crafted from marble and limestone. If you've never seen this, put it to the top of your list.

SOUTH
City Hall and More London
Glass, glass, but not much class. Still, the Mayor's testicle offers some of the best views in the capital from 'London's Living Room'.

Lambeth Palace
The Archbishop of Canterbury's London home is one of our city's A-list buildings, but is rarely listed as a place worth visiting. Particularly good if you like old trees.

Peckham Library
London's best example of what will sure come to be known as the 'misguided Tetris' school of architecture.

Severndroog Castle, Shooters Hill
Rare chance to ascend this dilapidated 18th Century folly near Blackheath.

William Booth College, Champion Park
Discover a lesser-known edifice from Giles Gilbert Scott, architect of Battersea and Bankside (Tate Modern) Power Stations.

All images by M@.

Art Review: Illumini @ St Pancras Church Crypt

Anything with the words "featuring Jedi Jugglers" fills us full of dread. Well, fills us with a mental image of middle class boys called Crispin or Nathan wearing combat trousers and flicking their dreadlocks around whilst earnestly juggling like soldiers going off to war in 1914. But this "illumination extravaganza", is in the crypt of St Pancras Church on Euston Road, which fact alone guaranteed our attendance at their public opening. Great pains were taken to point out that it wasn't a private view. This was attested to by the huge queue snaking around onto the Euston Road.

The actual work was a mixed bag. There was some stuff that we loved; the sculpture consisting of two large plug lamps coiling into a crypt like snakes charmed by a very proficient snake charmer, by Vincenzo Di Maria and the strange light bulb candles positioned to look like it was a colony of subterranean mushrooms by David Chalkley. Madi Boyd's work comprising shards of light intersecting with lines of metal was briliant. There was some stuff that was disappointingly derivative, for example a rip off of Emin ripping off Nauman... By rip off, we actually mean 're-interpretation of' obviously.

But kudos to the curator for bagging such an amazing location, one which quite simply works for light based artwork. Worth a visit if you are near the Euston Road. Oh, and the Jedi Jugglers turn out to be an actual troupe, who weren't that bad either.

By Oliver Gili

Illumini @ The Crypt, St Pancras Church, Euston Rd/ Duke's Rd, London, NW1 2BA, until 17th September. Open daily 11am-7pm. Free. For more information click here.

Image of Cybernetic Humanoids by Jane Webb.

STYLEist: Covent Garden

Capturing street style through the seasons.

Shades of autumn in Covent Garden.

By Natalie Ujuk

STYLEist: Gorillas in the Mist

After what started out to be a rather misty morning, 750 people donned in gorilla suits descended upon the streets of London for the annual Great Gorilla Run to raise money for the endangered mountain gorillas. The 7km charity run through London startled quite a few bewildered tourists and morning joggers despite the Londonist warnings. After spotting a gorilla sporting some very stylish "in season" gold lycra tights on the tube, STYLEist headed down to check out the latest in gorilla fashion. You have to agree, it beats London Fashion Week hands down.

For more information about the charity behind the Great Gorilla Run, see Gorilla Organisation website for more details.

Art Review: 'Spin: The Art of Cover Design'

Is the design of record covers a lost art? This is the question that the exhibition at the University of the Arts poses in technicolour, nostalgic tones, in its retrospective look at iconic cover art from the last four decades. Curated by industry veterans including Peter Saville, designer of LP art for Factory Records greats Joy Division and New Order, you can't help but wonder if the status of this concept is waning in an age where electronic downloads stand accused of rupturing a cohesive artistic process.

The exhibition includes album art from acts as diverse as Cream, the Clash, Groove Armada, James and The Gossip. Seen together, the social and historical context of the covers stand out - Adam Ant stands, retro and effeminate, tightly clad in black leather for B-side Babies; the original photograph used in The Streets' Original Pirate Material shows a wider view than the album cover of a sardine-like existence in a City Road high-rise, and the surrounding dense urban landscape that replicates it. Right up to the present, fluorescent neon light tubes clatter comfortably together on ShitDisco's nu-rave Kingdom of Fear, triggering an image of Hoxton kids in full day-glo glory.

The visual and the sonic connect not only in a cultural sense, but also in our collective memory. How many young people see the Chemical Brothers 1999 Surrender cover and associate what they see with a seething late 90s discourse: dance drugs in damp fields, New Labour and young British artists, all set to a throbbing, beat-driven soundtrack? Whatever your personal story, record covers mean something to us, as journalist Andrew Collins highlights: 'My seven-inches are as important and evocative as photographs from my youth'.

The exhibition itself is somewhat limited by the restriction of artists or designers who taught or studied at the university - where, for example, are the era-defining Oasis covers, the band lounging in Beatles-inspired psychedelia, or tossing grand pianos into swimming pools in a display of laddish decadence? Still, a visit to the gallery serves as a reminder of the connections between art and music, and what we lose when music formats cease to exist as tangible objects.

The exhibition at the University of Arts is open from 10am-6pm Monday-Friday and 11am-4pm on Saturdays at 65 Davies Street. It runs until October 3rd.

Image of Kestrel House, City Road, London, from The Streets' 'Original Pirate Material' cover courtesy of Digital Iarp's photostream under the Creative Commons Licence.

Review: Bon Iver @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Back in June, when the weather was good and the living was easy, we brought you a review of a gig played by a young man from Wisconsin who had taken the musical world by (snow)storm. Bon Iver (a.k.a. Justin Vernon) and the story of his minimal folk/country album need little introduction, and tonight he is back in London to try and recreate the profundity and upbeat beauty of his previous live performance.

Vernon starts with Flume, the quiet, assonance-ridden track one from his album, and such is the milk-and-honey mix of his voice that the audience falls silent. Soaring up to the rafters, his falsetto is all the more startling live, and the harmonising with the backing band is so rich that the singers seem to have reached some new undiscovered sonic territory. Bon Iver slows at key moments, like when he sings 'Harness your pain' in Wolves (Act I & 2); he pauses, everyone holds their breath, and you can register a drop in temperature, or at the very least a minor somersault around the region of the crowd's internal organs.

The latter song has everyone joining in as Vernon sings 'What might have been lost' like last time, but tonight it becomes a noisier affair, a thunderous army shouting, turning the sadness into something redemptive. With help from his band and members of support band the Bowerbirds, the ethereal sound of his record becomes something different, the addition of raucous drums in Creature Fear and the snare drum at various points bringing a driving rhythm to the music.

If it is trite to talk about love in a gig review you'll have to forgive us, because (the loss of) it is the lynchpin of the album and the centrepiece of tonight's performance. The cover of Sarah Siskind's Lovin's For Fools performed with the Bowerbirds standing round the microphone brings everything to a perfect close. However, the live performance is a happier affair than the record, the wrenching pleas of Skinny Love's 'Who will love you? Who will fight?' overshadowed by the crowd chorusing 'my my my', the ghostly feel of the album removed.

Because he so perfectly pitches beauty with accessibility, as true music often does, you worry about the co-opting of such gorgeousness into adverts for Nissan Micras and cheap soap operas. Vernon smiles and exits the stage, leaving everyone blinking at the end as the lights come on, stupified and moved and sad and uplifted, like after a riproaring argument or a run in the pouring rain. Take it, lap it up, before The O.C. does.

Image courtesy of Dimi15's photostream via the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.

Getting Wasted At Windsor Castle

The Queen Mother may be dead, but suspicions that her boozehound ways remain were given succour on Wednesday when twelve barrels of lager were delivered to Windsor Castle mere hours before the Croatia-England match kicked off.

Our royal family and the national game aren't natural bedfellows: the blue bloods tend to prefer classier sports like foxhunting, horsey dancing, and sneering at the masses, while Princes Hazza 'n Wills trot out a St George flag every few years and rah-rah over England's flailing football excursions in the World Cup. So the delivery of the equivalent of 2,000 pints of beer in advance of such a crucial game caused consternation among Castle footmen and flunkies. Was Prince Philip about to declare his love of the Three Lions with a boozy bender, or would the shipment prove as popular as a genetically modified pear at Prince Charles' picnic?

Fortunately, a more sober answer was forthcoming. The intended recipient was nearby namesake "The Windsor Castle", a pub located five miles away Maidenhead. The pub's landlord revealed that they often receive goods destined for the Royal residence - corgi cufflinks perhaps, or SS uniforms for ripping good fun at the next Colonials and Natives bash - yet this was the first time a shipment sent to the pub has been so mislaid. Had it been a case of gin, and had dear Queen Mum still stalked the corridors, it would've been snaffled quicker than a rat up a Royal drainpipe.

Image from LaMadrileña's Flickrstream via the Londonist pool

Leave No Bear Behind

Is it just us, or has anyone else noticed an upsurge in abandoned teddy bears just lately? We found this soggy ursine lurking on the Regents Canal towpath a couple of weeks back.

Then today, we encountered this equally maudlin fellow clutching the railings of Primrose Hill. No teddy bears' picnic for you, matey.

The cosy, marmalade-filled life of Paddington is a rose-tinted fiction. In truth, London is a tough place for bears and always has been. In Shakespeare's time, bear-baiting was a popular sport, especially in Southwark. The exploitation of live bears was only banned in the 1830s, but the teddyfolk are still mistreated. Take this forlorn servant bear of Great Russell Street. His masters keep him chained and, oh the humiliation, dressed as a beefeater to peddle tat to tourists. These bears are often kept in harsh conditions, and forced to sire innumerable cubs, which are then dressed in Union Flag shirts and sold on as merchandise. Evidence of this unethical practice can be seen in the photo.

But at least the poor bastard has a home. Vagrant teddys are becoming a familiar sight on London's streets, as the earlier photos testify. And new evidence suggests that the problem is now spreading to avian playthings.

Won't somebody give these poor creatures a home?

All photos by M@

Tourists. Bah.

When we're not tutting at them on escalators, being shoved in the face by their backpacks on the tube or sighing as they hog the pavement during lunch hour when we really need to rush to Marks and Spencer, we sometimes feel sorry for tourists. The tube is bewildering, tourist traps are dirty and expensive and us locals are all a bunch of unhelpful, miserable bastards: official.

Seems the lot of the London tourist was ever thus. A new translation of one Spanish visitor's letters home 400 years ago presents a veritable litany of whinges about London hospitality. Consider some of Luisa De Carvajal's observations:

Food: "looks good, but has no smell and almost no taste and is not very nourishing" - Aberdeen Angus Steak House - check
Rip offs: "Since they sell things in pieces and not by weight, you are obliged to buy more than you need" BOGOFs, Twofers - check
Yoot crime: The Spaniard complained that at least 25 thieves were hanged at the gallows in London every month "even though some are children of 10 or 11." Well we don't execute people anymore but we're yet to find an effective way to deal with youth crime, so - check
Thin walls: "At times they grind me down with the noise that comes through the wall where I sleep... All you hear is the sound of meat being roasted and others cooking, eating, playing and drinking." Luisa was staying at Barbican so we imagine she was staying at an inn (not a Premier Inn). We've not spent the night in a Barbican flat (if only) but when it comes to neighbour noise, who hasn't taken a broomstick to the ceiling at 3am or been kept awake by couple in the next room "playing" ahem - check
Binge drinking: "On Fridays it gets worse." - hic

On a more positive note and to put it in context, De Carvajal was a Catholic crusader in a hostile Jacobean England where she was converting folk and kept winding up in prison. The woman's main aim in life was to be a martyr so we could take heart that her griping was less to do with our sprawling, beloved beast of a city than her own miserable life.

Tourists, we love you. Please come back.

Image courtesy of markhillary via the Londonist Flickrpool.

Laser Tagging Tate Modern

If you were wandering round Bankside on Saturday night you might have been bemused to see words appearing on the facade of Tate Modern and wondering if someone spiked your drink. But there was nothing to fear as it was just MC Yan, who rocked China by being the first to use Chinese characters in his graffiti, bringing Laser tagging, the new, high-tech future of graffiti, to London.

Part of the Red Mansion Foundation's Down Town Production exhibition. Graffiti produced by MC Yan, a conceptual artist, graffiti artist and rapper.

Photography by Simon Rigglesworth.

Recessionist IV: In Lehman's Terms

For a minute there it appeared we were on the brink of apocalypse. Then it seemed OK. Then we were back to searching for clean underwear. And repeat. It's been a busy few days for London's financial markets, and it might not be over yet.

It seemed in August that the worst of the credit crunch was behind us and the problems ahead were more straightforward issues of the business cycle and housing market. Yes, Mr Darling was prattling on about the worst economic crisis in 60 years but no one remembers 1948 as being a particularly bad year for the economy, unless you lived in west Berlin, and so we assumed the stress was getting to him and went on our merry way. Obviously he was onto something, even if he got the year a bit off (twenty years off by some guesses )...

Tonight, for 4,500 of our city's fair citizens the word downturn doesn't quite cut it as they went home yesterday with a box of ill-gained office supplies and no job to return to. The good news is that Lehman's employees will get paid for the work they did this month (as little as it may be for some) but the collapse also leaves a pension scheme in deficit and no doubt a long queue at the receivers for everyone from the market traders who are out of pocket to the stationery company whose invoice has not been paid. All in all it's an almighty mess.

Canary Wharf Group now has a million square foot of empty offices that are going to be pretty hard to rent out in the current market (but don't panic - CW group is insured on the rent by none other than the very recently US majority owned AIG insurance group, so American taxpayers will be picking up the tab - cheers y'all). But there's nothing like an empty skyscraper to deter developers from putting up more.

It's also well established that the the ravenous property market in London is fed by the bucks these boys and girls bring home and a bonus shortage and big redundancies in the city will mix it up in the prime commuting territories for owners and landlords (argh!) and renters (hurray!) alike.

As much as they may deserve their place in the hall of fame of 'love to hate' targets, our dear bankers are a precious commodity. They suck in money from all over the world and dish it out again in our Michelin starred restaurants, award winning theatres, champagne bars, charity balls, Filofax shops and Saville Row tailors. There is bound to be something in this great city that you value that depends on our more numerate and less risk averse friends for financial sustenance.

When they sneeze, we all catch cold.

By JamesU

Image by Dean Nicholas

Liberating London's Libraries

There are less than hushed whispers in the library world. In fact, you can hear the chatter way back in the zoology section. Things be a-changing, you see. Libraries are getting sexed up. No longer are they the exclusive reserve of those who wish to browse, flirt, read and study in quiet.

And London’s houses of lending are leading the way. You will soon be able to get a latte with your Larkin in Hillingdon, where Starbucks have been invited to open branches. In fact, since a refit last year, Ruislip’s Manor Farm library has reported a 500% increase in visitor numbers and a 365% increase in book lending. In Camden they are contemplating offering Mario Kart alongside Mario Puzo, and have already begun moves to permit crisp munching and mobile nattering in the aisles. And in Whitechapel they are doing away with traditional nomenclature altogether – the word library has been replaced with ‘The Ideas Store’ (best imagined enunciated in a booming North Atlantic accent). In Peckham Library there is so much going on it is really quite hard to find the books.

Many traditionalists bemoan this dumbing down. Hey, Londonist loves the ambience of a proper library, where dust hangs in shafts of sunlight and you can hear the bloke opposite’s stomach rumble, and where the erudite aloofness of the librarian is perhaps iconic, if terrifying. At CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Librarian and Information Professionals) opinion seems to be split: whilst there is a lament at the slide in popularity of the classics, despair at the rise in management speak and a gnashing of teeth at the rate at which Gillian McKeith flies off the shelves, the need to move with the times and offer modern (yoof-friendly), comfortable facilities is recognised. Many libraries have already shut, and the rest are living on borrowers’ time.

Londonist says bring it on. Give us brownies with our Bulghakov, and let us text in betwixt the rise and the fall of Rome. Just keep a quiet room, where you can hear a Londonist badge drop, for those that really really do like the quiet. And please – no more ‘Idea Stores’.

Dusty books from Nic's events' flickr stream under the Creative Commons Licence.

Review: Drift 08 By Illuminate Productions

Drift 08 is awfully appealing as an idea, linking the concepts of drifting down a river with the currently fashionable notion of the drift in a psycho geographical sense meaning to wander the streets. Installation art is meant to either inform the viewer about its location or shock viewers into seeing it in a different way. In theory this should have been a treat, a conversation with the location not just an entertainment.

It’s not that the work is necessarily bad: Margaret Evangeline’s Saved from Drowning is lovely and clever. Neither are the ideas poor: Julien Berthier’s love-love is amusing. And not all of them fail to utilize the space given: Keith Bowler’s Ghost Bridge on the supports of the old Blackfriars Railway crossing interacts with the area but isn’t actually very good, because whichever way you view it, it’s just some green lasers across the river. The soundscape of seagulls on Millennium Bridge would have been a cute idea on a canal in Birmingham but, ahem, we have sea gulls in London many of whom were nesting on Elizabeth Russell’s Thames barge by Tower Bridge. At least her work bears some relationship to the river it’s on but we’ve already got barges on the river and like the cutesy and pointless feast of skulls this extra one doesn’t add anything to our understanding of the Thames or London.

This is the best city for art in the world, with the most artists per square foot on the planet, and yet this work could have been placed in any river in the UK. It’s just not good enough, the curators clearly don’t know what they are doing, have chosen and placed work badly and it won’t matter if the promised monsters under London Bridge never show because, let’s face it, there are no shortage of them about in this town... some of them doling out the art dollar with little discrimination.

By Chris Roberts

Image courtesy of helen.2006 from the Londonist Flickr photo pool.

Drift 08 at various locations along the Thames, until 19 October. For more information, go to the Illuminate website.

Wander Lonely Streets Part VI

Not content with celebrating our fourth birthday, October also sees the sixth in our popular series of guided walks.

When: Friday 24 October - walk leaves at 7pm.

What: Don't you want to go to Chelsea? Dogs on sticks, ghost bears, lavatory humour, satanic sports venues, secret agents, vampires, phantom Eskimos, wombats, ultra violence and suicidal sea captains. More bonkers tales than you can shake a stick (with or without a dog attached) at.
Walk lasts ninety minutes

Who: Folklorist Chris Roberts is back, and armed with more semi-coherent tales than a Chelsea Pensioner who's smoked too many weeds from Chelsea Physic Garden. Chris is a veteran tour guide, author of Cross-River Traffic, resurrector of the Penny Dreadful with his One Eye Grey, and all-round top bloke.

Where: Meet 7pm Outside the new Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's Parade Ground, Kings Road. (Map will be provided to attendees in advance.)

There are almost six reasons you should come, all copy and pasted from Part V, because we're ~~lazy~~ fond of recycling:

1. It's free! And contains only the smallest of catches (Chris uses the opportunity to try and flog copies of One Eye Grey. Bless him).
2. You'll meet other London obsessives, including some of the Londonist team. We're always looking for new writers - so come chat to us if you're interested.
3. You’ll be guided by the master brain behind the Evening Standard Random Headline Generator.
4. There's beer. (Though that’s not free.)
5. You get an exclusive Londonist badge (exclusive in that we're not aware of anyone else making Londonist badges).

If you'd like to join us, please could you email londonist - at - gmail - dot - com with expected number of attendees. Previous walks have been really, really popular, so we're going to cap the number this time.