Tag: London
“Movies will make you famous; Television will make you rich; But theatre will make you good.”
― Terrence Mann
It’s going to be a good weekend, kittens, I can feel it. Apart from anything else, we’re going to see Edward II, by Christopher Marlowe tomorrow evening. I’ve got projects and applications still to get through, though, so here are you links and be good!
‘Cause the afterlife ain’t no place to be if you don’t got swag.
Really interesting! Sort of a US version of the genetics map I saw at Science Uncovered a couple of weeks ago.
Beautiful photos but awfully sad.
Oh yes, someday this will be me.
Speaking of the afterlife, we’ve somewhat cute-d it up, but lest we forget Halloween has a creepy, ghostly, barriers between the world coming down sort of history that should be respected. This new trend of cute (or heaven help us, sexy) costumes is a fairly new thing… (h/t Jessica)
I’ll just leave this thing from Bill Watterson right here.
I know I’m not even in the country or anything, but I hate “Black Friday” with a vengeance, so you can only imagine my thoughts on Black Thursday – previously known as the single American holiday dedicated to gratitude and celebrating what we already have.
How weirdly fabulous is this ring?!
Looking for a superbly lovely Instagram feed? Let me make you known (if you aren’t already) to Stone Fox Bride, their non-traditional “[censored] weddings” attitude, and their never ending supply of out of the box engagement and wedding rings. Magpies rejoice!
Tumblr find of the week, the name sums it up.
Good grief, this unexpected mayor has been through a lot!
I’ll take this house, please.
“Love doesn’t think like that. All right, it’s blind as a bat–‘
‘Bats have radar. Yours doesn’t seem to be working.”
― Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea
It’s been a long couple of weeks, more on that later this weekend, but tonight Jeff and I are getting dressed up and going out! We’ve got tickets to Die Fledermaus and I can’t wait. But until then I’ve got a couple of projects and a cover letter to perfect. (How exactly does one make a major organization fall madly in love with one via note?) I may even try to cram in a museum or two over the weekend as well and hopefully a Skype date with the clan.
This may be one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.
Celebrating today as the International Day of the Girl Child. In some places girls are aborted before they are born, in others they are abandoned after birth, in others they are married off at horrifically young ages, in others they are beaten and neglected, in others they have no rights to their own bodies as individuals, and in others they are actively targeted and hunted for trying to go to school. Even in highly developed countries girls are at higher levels of risk for sexual crime, gender based violence, high drop out rates, and more limited work opportunities than their male counterparts. Speaking up for girls matters.
Does what it says on the tin. US Government Shutdown inspired pickup lines.
Punctuation is very important. I don’t get too riled up personally (professionally is another matter), but I know there are minions out there who go absolutely mental over an incorrect apostrophe.
Great find from Jessica! Black and white vs. color photos are interesting to me. For some reason, even though I know better, the B&W sometimes has a quality that makes the events and people they portray seem so much more long ago than they actually are, as if they are a bit removed from reality and more in the way of fiction. The clothes may look different and the technology is new, but the people and the world is largely the same. And really the people portrayed here didn’t really live that long ago. Many children of Civil War soldiers were alive in the 1950s, the decade my own parents were born. But somehow color makes them seem more present and real sometimes. That picture of Mark Twain, for example, could have been taken yesterday in the garden.
Need a freelance editor? I know a girl…
In the spirit of Halloween, I’m not sure what the scariest book I’ve ever read was textually speaking, but I remember reading Dracula as a teenager and having to turn the book face down on the other side of my room from my bed, close my eyes, turn out the lights and hop into bed in one bound (because monsters, duh) all because the cover of the book freaked me out so badly. It portrayed no suave debonair vampire, but showed a withered face and body with particularly long fingers and horrible staring eyes. What can I say, I have a very active pre-bed-time imagination.
“It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it.”
― Roger Ebert
At least once a week we pick an area and go exploring. Which is how we stumble across things like the Covent Garden branch of the London Film Museum.
It’s a relatively small museum that has only been open for a couple of years, but it contains a lot really good stuff, including early cinema equipment, some of the earliest films ever made, really fabulous exhibits on the history on the technology development of film. From painted glass sides you could hold before a lantern in the Regency, to digital recording innovations, it encapsulates the history pretty well! One of my favorite bits was the examples and drawings of the camera equipment that wilderness photographers had to cart around by pack animal to document the American West as it opened up. Trains of donkeys were often needed to transport one photographer’s gear and the glass slides that captured the images were large panes that required a level of care that was hard to get in a city let alone on a nearly vertical slope somewhere in largely uncharted wilderness
The other half of the museum is devoted to an exhibition of British in general and London specific contributions to film. The exhibitions are a mix of the different eras, themes, and social commentary of films made in or about Britain. As an additional treat, they have a really excellent collection of costumes and set pieces from iconic British television shows and films. The Coronation Chair from Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett, Laurence Olivier’s uniform jacket from The Battle of Britain…and then this which nearly made me shriek:
Bow down , peasants, Cecil Beaton’s work as worn by Audrey Hepburn & Co. is present, including That Dress.
…Okay, it’s a copy, but they are made and put up close – not even under glass – so you can see the construction and design work that went into them. I don’t have a lot of super girly childhood moments to reflect on, but here’s one: as a kid I would watch, rewind (remember VHS, kids?) and rewatch the Ascot scene over and over again because of the beautiful costumes. I’d try to focus on a different one each time because (apart from the hilarious intention faux pas of the two ladies in the same hat) each gown was unique and stunning. I still have my favorites.
It’s such a new museum, and a satellite to another location on the South Bank as well, that I fear it’s not getting the love it deserves. It’s small and definitely still finding its way in some ways, but fun and charming and well worth a look in for history, pop culture, and film buffs. It’s totally free and open daily. I also recommend the cafe, located in the below ground and historic area of the museum – though if that doesn’t float your boat, our favorite gelatto joint is just around the corner.
“The Thames is liquid history.”
– John Burns
Sunday was gorgeous. It was also a bit emotionally fraught, as weekends have a habit of being, with Monday looming. So Jeff grabbed the camera and went for a wander on our patch, south of the river in Bermondsey and Rotherithe. I took him to an urban farm I’d previously visited for an assignment before we took in the Thames.
The park by our flat.
It would have been rude to pry this knocker from the door and run off with it, but I was tempted. Jeff made, “Stop it, you’re being creepy,” sounds of protests as I snapped shots of this unsuspecting front door, but I was not going to be thwarted. We also befriended a rather sweet kitty who took a break from pigeon stalking for some pets.
I love the docks and wharfs. So do the seagulls.
#stillnotsickoftheview
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”
― Salvador Dalí
What a week. Jeff’s under the weather again, I managed to cut both my thumbs slicing vegetables for dinner last night, and I made a stupid clerical error yesterday that really just makes me want to bury my head in the sand. I hate making easily avoidable mistakes, whether they’re typos or social gaffes, because I try so hard to avoid them. Even small things like that make me feel like a fraud masquerading as a competent being, it’s the negative flipside of some Type A tendencies. I am always grateful when my mistakes are pointed out, and I try to be instantaneous about taking responsibility, correcting and apologizing for them…but I still spend about a week beating myself up anyway.
In happier news, it’s Friday, I’ve got work to do, and I’m going to try and get to at least one exhibit this weekend so while my nights might be full of tossing and turning over typos, at least I’ll be getting some culture during the days. It’s also nice and blustery outside, which believe it or not I love, so excuse me while I throw open the blinds and knuckle down to finish a project or two. Tell me what you’re doing this weekend, kittens!
Had a rough week along with me? I’ve got just the thing, it’s perfectly corking! (This one’s for you, Savvy)
For the jeweled corn alone I could love this post.
Paris fashion week this week, I can’t even imagine how exhausted the editors must be. But in that continuing mindset…
These composites of what the “average” women looks like from different areas of the world is quite interesting.
Tumblr find of the week. Since Kelsey’s adventures have me dreaming of Prague…
Midi rings are the latest trend to flit through my fancy. I think this one is delicate and lovely.
The New York speakeasy is alive and well! Until it was shut down…
I’m sorry but I find the history and development of tablet devices a bit funny to watch unfold. First we created a computer without a keyboard because it was more convenient than having one.. but only a couple of years later we invented a detachable keyboard that could plug into our tablets because that was more convenient than not having one. While admittedly charming, I find this latest development downright silly. Consumers, figure out what you want!
Apparently I am a very middling sort of wife – it was all downhill after the red nail polish!
Um, I’d like to direct a Carnegie Hall orchestra, thank you very much. The Marriage of Figaro!
In lieu of another tumblr find, my friend Scott sent me this meme this, which I pass on to you.
“Oh, Jeeves,’ I said; ‘about that check suit.’
Yes, sir?’
Is it really a frost?’
A trifle too bizarre, sir, in my opinion.’
But lots of fellows have asked me who my tailor is.’
Doubtless in order to avoid him, sir.’
He’s supposed to be one of the best men in London.’
I am saying nothing against his moral character, sir.”
― P.G. Wodehouse
Are you ready to be introduced to one of the gems of London? Walk with me, minions, I have things to show you!
Welcome to 282 Portobello Road, a vintage shop specializing in British heritage clothing, especially tweed and leather. Though on the same road as the famous market, it is open every business day, and I really believe that every classic clothing enthusiast should look in if they ever get the chance. The clothing sold there spans the 20th century, with a particularly emphasis on the country gentleman. Last Saturday Jeff and I hit up the market for some grocery shopping and, as always to see what treasure we could find (more on that another day, because we found some great stuff!). When I mentioned this shop, he immediately wanted to have a look. A proper tweed jacket has been on his To Buy list for a while – and let me tell you there is absolutely no other place to go!
Vintage Barbours and Burberry trenches, beaver top hats, and furs take up whole walls in the place, and beautifully worn leather boots march all over the floors. The smell is amazing, woody and wooly at the same time, and you’re permitted if not actively encouraged to touch and handle the wares. Jeff found exactly what he was looking for, and at a fabulous price!
The owner, Claudia, is an absolute delight to talk to! She’s one of those people who is so unabashedly enthusiastic about what they do and love that you can’t help being infected by it. She chats with everyone who steps in as if they are old friends, knows your size just by looking at you, and encourages you to try on anything that catches your eye. The Saturday I took Jeff she was talking to patrons about how she had been invited to Paris Fashion week, so when I went to pick up his jacket I asked her how it had been. She immediately gave me a whole run down of the couture shows she went to, the fashionista watching she did, and the Bohemians she and her friend bonded with in Monmarte. She even whipped out her phone to show me the beautiful 1930’s gown she wore (part of her private collection and not for sale).
All of her tweeds are heritage, made entirely in Britain (many in Scotland) and dyed with natural dyes instead of chemicals. She can even tell you where many of the cloths came from originally since almost every single one of the old tweed factories is now long out of business. They even offer tailoring at no additional charge – Jeff needed the sleeves lengthened.
I know exactly where I’m going to get my own ladies’ tweed jacket (on my own To Buy list), and my next pair of boots. One of best aspects of quality vintage clothing is how well some of it holds up. I peered through riding boots that are decades old but look and feel more solid and better than half of what I could find new at a store for the same price. In addition to outerwear, which is clearly one of the main themes of the shop, Claudia stocks some incredible, fun period pieces as well.
So, when you’re next in town and looking to add a bit of traditional British gentility to your wardrobe, I’ll take you to meet Claudia before we go to tea in our new tweeds.
“True friends are like diamonds – bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style.”
― Nicole Richie
A few days ago I got an email out of the blue from Kelsey, one of the good friends I made while on study abroad in the UK five years ago. She and her boyfriend were taking two weeks to wander through Europe, they were going to have a long layover in London and could we meet up for lunch or something?
Well, it turns out that the boyfriend (a truly lovely guy named Cody, who I was really happy to finally meet after hearing so much about him) had switched some flights around secretly to surprise her and they were going to have two days in London instead. Because…he was going to propose, the sly dog!
When we met up for dinner on Sunday night at Dishoom (an excellent Indian place between Leicester Square and Covent Garden tube stations, by the way), she was sporting a gorgeous ring and a glowing smile. We were, by geographic default, the first friends to get the news, and we couldn’t be happier for them!
After dinner we wandered up and down the Thames and taking in the city by night, remembering a lot of really good adventures together. If only Abby and Amy could have been there, it would have been downright perfect.
PS – Kelsey and Cody are hitting up Milan, Munich, Prague, and Paris over the next couple of weeks, so if you want to follow along and live vicariously through them, her instagram is well worth a look in!
“I wonder if we are seeing a return to the object in the science-based museum. Since any visitor can go to a film like Jurassic Park and see dinosaurs reawakened more graphically than any museum could emulate, maybe a museum should be the place to have an encounter with the bony truth. Maybe some children have overdosed on simulations on their computers at home and just want to see something solid–a fact of life.”
― Richard Fortey, Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life Of The Natural History Museum
The weeks are passing so quickly these days that it’s a little breathtaking, we glance up and it’s the last day of September already.
On Friday I went to the Bermondsey Antique Market, partly to find a wedding present for a freelancing client who has become a good friend, and partly because I was finally over that cold and needed to just get out of the house for a walk. Luckily I emerged victorious and with a croissant in hand. Breakfast of champions. The Bermondsey market is tiny compared to it’s more famous cousin Portobello Road, it all fits into one square, but the quality of goods is very comparable (and frankly some of the prices are loads better). The antique silver is excellent and some of the jewelry blew me away. There are also excellent niche stalls with pieces from the Far East, vintage clothing, and a fun group who collects and sell mid-century furniture. Friends should prepare themselves to receive Bermondsey Market’s offerings for a myriad of birthdays and holidays.
That night I went to the Natural Science Museum for their annual Science Uncovered event and had a blast! The building was filled with stands and kiosks where researchers from the museum brought out their favorite samples and specimens from behind glass to talk about and present to visitors close up. In addition universities and institutes from all over the UK and European Union had stalls and presentations on the work they were doing, the whole point of the event is making scientists available for plebes like me to march up and demand that things be explained.
Some of the most memorable people I talked to included a researcher who mapped genetic concentrations of people within the UK and Northern Ireland. For example, apparently the Romans didn’t do much genetic mixing during their stay in Britain, they’ve left virtually no trace. In Wales and Cornwall on the other hand we see some of the highest concentrations, meaning that people from that area tended to stay in that area instead of move around, even after industrialization. There was also a way to check where your family names have been concentrated highest for the last two centuries. Suffice it to say my ancestors on both sides appear to have been genetically slutty and highly mobile, while Jeff comes from a a more rarefied group who stayed concentrated in the south of England like dignified people. This mapping also shows where the family names are concentrated outside of the UK, Virginia and Idaho for Jeff. Australia and Arkansas for me – ozarks and convicts! If ever I wanted proof my blood is trouble, I’ve got it!
I also spent a good 45 minutes chatting with a researcher who works on kidney disease and found it absolutely fascinating, believe it or not. Turns out that cleaning the blood (while vital to our survival) is only about 5% of what they do, other major tasks include signaling bone marrow to produce new blood cells and cooperating on insulin management. Upon request she took me through the process of dialysis and then explained why it was such a bad treatment in so many ways. I learned ton and it was fun to get one on one knowledge from a person who was unabashedly enthusiastic about their research.
After that I sort of snuck myself into a tour on human evolution and species development which was a lot of fun (fun fact, the tiny percentage of Neanderthal genetic code most people of European descent have swimming around in their chromosomes comes not from the period when Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals were sharing the same areas in Europe, but from several thousand years before when we first met up in the Middle East as we were starting to migrate out of Africa. Apparently after a bit of hanging out together we largely went our separate ways). And then I wandered down the side corridors for the “science on a soapbox” stations, where scientists and researches literally stood on boxes and took questions from onlookers. I heard fascinating mini-lectures on whether the monetization of conservation efforts has been for good or ill, whether a mission to Mars is even a good idea, a humorous take on popular views of science and scientists, and why the Dodo has been physically misrepresented for centuries.
It was great fun. It was also kind of hilarious to see how loud and enthusiastic everyone was in a space that’s typically more solemn and quiet. I suspect the plethora of open bars had something to do with it. But if you’re a learning enthusiast and ever in town, it’s a great late night event. There is plenty there for kids as well as adults, the restaurants and cafes are open, and the spirit of inquiry and exploration is actively encouraged. Best of all, it’s free.
Dippy (face of the museum and prized Diplodocus) says hi!
“A guitarist or a drummer can get a cold and still play; I get a cold and sound like a wet mitten trying to sing you a love song. Charming.”
― Tori Amos
Jeff and I both caught colds this week and so things have been fairly quiet around headquarters. But several packets of Riccola and an ungodly amount of tissues later, we’re on the mend. We had to raid Boots for supplies at one point, looking slightly like death warmed over, but good came out of it. I’m now the proud owner of a Boots points card, surely the next thing to citizenship for going native.
Tonight we’re hoping to invade the Natural History Museum for their annual Science Uncovered festival (because we are unrepentant nerds, and because I have a natural delight in being able to get into areas that are usually off limits – legally of course!). Other than that I’ve dedicated the weekend to finishing a largeish project for a client and dragging Jeff to Portobello Road with me at some point. The guy’s been working hard on his home study assignments, I’ve been plugging away at freelancing, and with a cold on top of it we haven’t left the house in a couple of days now. Unacceptable!
Interesting report. Jeff and I had relatively cheap cable for a year or so when we were first married, but when our contract ran out and the price was going to go up we just unsubscribed. And we’ve never looked back.
Kids, this alone could be your links post!
NY and LDN fashion weeks are behind us, let’s celebrate with something fashion-y, yes? (Also, American minions. Since we tend to be about 6 months behind what I see in London: muted pinks, skirt suits [in the Dior New Look vein], sheer detailing, and large graphic floral prints. As Miranda Priestly would say, “Groundbreaking.”)
Knowing my love of emeralds, Jeff sent me this. Woof!
There is to be another Poirot novel! At first I cocked my head to the side and narrowed my eyes a bit in suspicion, but as I’m no purist (and as apparently Agatha Cristie’s grandchild has approved it) I withhold judgement. Although I KNOW Jessica (the artist previously known as Venice) will have opinions on the subject, she is a devotee of “ze little grey cells.”
Fun fact! In the Edwardian era (Downton Abbey returned on Sunday here in the UK, by the bye, sorrynotsorry for the saturation) there was a brief rage for high society women getting tattoos. Lady Randolph Churchill, nee Jennie Jerome, a famous American socialite and beauty and Winston’s Churchill’s mother, is said to have had at least one. A snake curling around her wrist, no less. She also had an affair with a king, take from that what you will.
Really good tips! I’m alternating between my mobile and digital camera constantly trying to figure out how to take photos. I was not born under a photographing planet…
Hm, perhaps a revival of this curiosity might cut down on street harassers?
SOON.
I find these medieval illustrations of snails in combat to be oddly charming.
Moving. (h/t Jessica)
Small Dog Syndrome 