June 26, 2009
If you’ve been anywhere near the South Bank around the Festival Hall recently, you will have seen the dozens of trees covered in polka dots. They’re part of the Walking in My Mind exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, a series of installations exploring the creative processes in the artist’s mind whilst they work. The work with the trees is called Ascension of the Polka Dots; it’s by Yayoi Kusama, who has had hallucinations since the age of six that she’s surrounded by dots. The whole exhibition is well worth checking out and runs until September 6th. - agirlcalledhenrietta

If you’ve been anywhere near the South Bank around the Festival Hall recently, you will have seen the dozens of trees covered in polka dots. They’re part of the Walking in My Mind exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, a series of installations exploring the creative processes in the artist’s mind whilst they work.

The work with the trees is called Ascension of the Polka Dots; it’s by Yayoi Kusama, who has had hallucinations since the age of six that she’s surrounded by dots. The whole exhibition is well worth checking out and runs until September 6th.

- agirlcalledhenrietta

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May 17, 2009
kapi: The last Saturday evening of the month is always a good time to have a meetup. Our meetups our legendary for their impressive turnouts. Join us from 7:30pm onwards on the 30th of May @  The Crown Tavern on Clerkenwell Green. Nearest tube is Farringdon. Reblog and spread the word.

kapi:

The last Saturday evening of the month is always a good time to have a meetup.

Our meetups our legendary for their impressive turnouts.

Join us from 7:30pm onwards on the 30th of May @  The Crown Tavern on Clerkenwell Green.

Nearest tube is Farringdon.

Reblog and spread the word.

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March 25, 2009
This kind of facade on a few buildings is all that is left of the legendary newspaper industry history of Fleet Street, one of the most famous streets in London. So many newspapers have had their offices on this street over the years that the name is still used to describe the journalism industry as a whole. Nowadays, there are only a handful of companies in the Fleet Street area that still have anything to do with journalism. All of the big national daily newspapers have moved away, as well as the printing presses and news agencies such as Reuters. The nationals are still in London, but they are no longer congregated in one area: The Daily Mail and Evening Standard are now in Kensington. The Times and The Sun moved to Wapping in the 1980s. The Financial Times is over the river in Southwark. The Guardian has just moved to King’s Cross from Farringdon. The Daily Telegraph is in Victoria. The Independent and The Daily Mirror are both at Canary Wharf. The Daily Express and Daily Star are the closest to Fleet Street nowadays, a mile or so away near Monument station. Fleet Street’s bars and restaurants were legendary for being hosts to liquid lunches for many in the business, with all manner of libellous and scurrilous gossip shared across the tables. That era seems to have died a death, replaced by what Nick Davies (in his book Flat Earth News) calls “churnalism”, with journalists tethered to their desks, re-writing press releases and researching using only Wikipedia. gooneruk

This kind of facade on a few buildings is all that is left of the legendary newspaper industry history of Fleet Street, one of the most famous streets in London. So many newspapers have had their offices on this street over the years that the name is still used to describe the journalism industry as a whole.

Nowadays, there are only a handful of companies in the Fleet Street area that still have anything to do with journalism. All of the big national daily newspapers have moved away, as well as the printing presses and news agencies such as Reuters.

The nationals are still in London, but they are no longer congregated in one area:

  • The Daily Mail and Evening Standard are now in Kensington.

  • The Times and The Sun moved to Wapping in the 1980s.

  • The Financial Times is over the river in Southwark.

  • The Guardian has just moved to King’s Cross from Farringdon.

  • The Daily Telegraph is in Victoria.

  • The Independent and The Daily Mirror are both at Canary Wharf.

  • The Daily Express and Daily Star are the closest to Fleet Street nowadays, a mile or so away near Monument station.

Fleet Street’s bars and restaurants were legendary for being hosts to liquid lunches for many in the business, with all manner of libellous and scurrilous gossip shared across the tables. That era seems to have died a death, replaced by what Nick Davies (in his book Flat Earth News) calls “churnalism”, with journalists tethered to their desks, re-writing press releases and researching using only Wikipedia.

gooneruk

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March 19, 2009
Myself and hannahcooper are planning a London Tumblr meetup on Thursday 16th April in “trendy Clerkenwell” (she said to add that)… So, if you’re in London, reblog this (spread the word) so we can get an idea of who you are, numbers etc. The stickers are almost ours people, let’s make this happen! dubliner

Myself and hannahcooper are planning a London Tumblr meetup on Thursday 16th April in “trendy Clerkenwell” (she said to add that)…

So, if you’re in London, reblog this (spread the word) so we can get an idea of who you are, numbers etc.

The stickers are almost ours people, let’s make this happen!

dubliner

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March 4, 2009
The cafe in Foyles on the Charing Cross Road is one of my favourite places for a cup of coffee. And indeed a bun. — marginalgloss

The cafe in Foyles on the Charing Cross Road is one of my favourite places for a cup of coffee. And indeed a bun.

— marginalgloss

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March 2, 2009
Peckham Butchers, Rye Lane SE15 Via londonshopfronts

Peckham Butchers, Rye Lane SE15

Via londonshopfronts

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February 26, 2009

Dearest Londoners

I am making a trip into central on Tuesday and I have a few hours spare before I have to do what I came to do in the first place, and I want to try something a bit different than what I usually do. Does anyone reccomend any of the following :

  • Nice places to eat which are a bit tucked out of the way
  • Art Exhibitions which aren’t in the major galleries
  • Any places of interest which you particularly like

Thank you!

T x

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Blackfriars Tube station is closing on Monday for at least two years as part of the reconstruction of the whole Blackfriars rail and Tube complex. This week, I noticed that they have already started to prepare for the closure by removing a lot of the poster holders on the platforms and stairwells. This has exposed a lot of older posters that were just affixed to the walls rather than their successors which had their own cases. The one that caught my eye was an advert for Lethal Weapon 4, which arrived in British cinemas in 1998, according to the IMDB. This date seems to match other posters newly uncovered: there was an exhibition of Native American culture at the Barbican Gallery that autumn, a new season of the English National Ballet over winter 1998/1999, and various other exhibitions too. I also liked a few of the non-arts adverts, including one for Abbey National, and a gloriously ancient-looking ad for a ‘Desktop Publishing Centre’. It’s amazing how much advertising has changed in a decade. Finally, it was a touch haunting to see the outline of a recently removed poster holder, which is the photo above. Similarly, it’s a shame to see the shops on the platform closed up already. If you want to see a ghost station, Sunday is the last day on which Blackfriars Tube will be open. (via gooneruk’s Flickr)

Blackfriars Tube station is closing on Monday for at least two years as part of the reconstruction of the whole Blackfriars rail and Tube complex.

This week, I noticed that they have already started to prepare for the closure by removing a lot of the poster holders on the platforms and stairwells. This has exposed a lot of older posters that were just affixed to the walls rather than their successors which had their own cases.

The one that caught my eye was an advert for Lethal Weapon 4, which arrived in British cinemas in 1998, according to the IMDB.

This date seems to match other posters newly uncovered: there was an exhibition of Native American culture at the Barbican Gallery that autumn, a new season of the English National Ballet over winter 1998/1999, and various other exhibitions too.

I also liked a few of the non-arts adverts, including one for Abbey National, and a gloriously ancient-looking ad for a ‘Desktop Publishing Centre’. It’s amazing how much advertising has changed in a decade.

Finally, it was a touch haunting to see the outline of a recently removed poster holder, which is the photo above. Similarly, it’s a shame to see the shops on the platform closed up already.

If you want to see a ghost station, Sunday is the last day on which Blackfriars Tube will be open.

(via gooneruk’s Flickr)

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February 25, 2009

Konditor & Cook: the cake shop everyone should know about

K&C

I first encountered the magic that is Konditor & Cook during my first year at law school. My class had gone for post-tutorial drinks and suddenly, out of the mists of Cornwall Road, appeared a purple-hued vision, with sweet treats galore lined up in the windows. We entered, we ogled, we bought and we enjoyed some of the best cakes in London. 

And what cakes they do have, everything from chocolate cake to gingerbread (proper gingerbread, in all its cakey loveliness) to my personal favourite, their divine lemon drizzle cake: a perfect pick-me-up when I’ve spent all day with my nose in statute books. They do sandwiches at lunch time and breakfast goodies in the morning, and everything comes in beautifully patterned paper bags. 

With branches at London Bridge, the Gherkin, Chancery Lane, the Curzon Soho on Shaftesbury Avenue and on the South Bank, it may be Lent, but get some more cake in your life!

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February 19, 2009

Welcome to londoners.tumblr.com!

I figure there’s enough of us on here nowadays to put together our own little group Tumblr. If I haven’t yet invited you, drop me a line: robatgoonerukdotcom

I’ve no idea how this is going to develop. I figure it’d be a decent place for little insider info snippets about London (bar/restaurant/etc recommendations, and so on), as well as a place to co-ordinate meetups.

Here’s to the greatest city in the world!

Rob / gooneruk

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