I don’t need many reasons to be cheerful on a Friday, and the opportunity of two Ian Brown tickets from one of Mandy’s colleagues at work put an extra big grin on my face. As is always the way with these things we met loads of great people and had a wicked night, in fact,… Continue reading We’re all right really
Category: London
Advertising is consuming our lives
Advertising is consuming our lives. When the ad breaks come on the TV, I scramble for the mute button on the remote control before the assault on my ears starts. A sure sign, along with receding hair, that middle age is finally upon me. The barrage is as relentless in the magazines we read. Okay,… Continue reading Advertising is consuming our lives
Arab Strap, 100 Club. London
I listened to Philiphobia for a year or so when it came out about 10 years ago. Aidan Moffat’s morose interpretation of an explicitly drunken existence sat perfectly with everything I thought I aspired to at the time. Any comparison between the music of Arab Strap and my own life was, and still is, utterly… Continue reading Arab Strap, 100 Club. London
Grab a coffee 2 go
The trainee gamekeeper on the 8:52 had in her hand what has become the scourge of London in the 21st century. The takeaway coffee cup. ‘Grab a coffee 2 go’ is the latest fast food American craze to arrive at our shores, and it is commuter types driven by sheer boredom to faddism, that are… Continue reading Grab a coffee 2 go
Undercover gamekeeper
The person opposite on this morning’s 8:52 service to Victoria is wearing one of those tweed jackets favoured by gamekeepers and the country set. I see quite a lot of commuters wearing or carrying things to work that point to a life outside of their chosen vocation. First impressions might give that commuters are bred… Continue reading Undercover gamekeeper
The Breeders, Blackheath Halls
Blackheath Halls has the familiar feeling of the suburban village hall – cheap biscuits and mellow birds at the coffee morning, Cub Scouts on a Wednesday evening, the PTA do on a Saturday with the covers band that no longer plays Gary Glitter. Okay, it’s a little more upmarket than those familiar and safe smells… Continue reading The Breeders, Blackheath Halls
Sheep man on the Underground
On the way home from work last night there was a Scandinavian couple at Victoria, I helped her up the stairs with the pushchair and an Underground bloke helped him with the luggage. Helping tourists at Victoria is something that I do on a daily basis and a pattern has emerged. The Japanese, always polite… Continue reading Sheep man on the Underground
Blazers, medals and maroon berets
At 6:30 pm two men at London’s Victoria station were wearing blazers, medals and maroon berets. The Parachute Regiment, WW2. They had been manning their little stand collecting money since before 9:30 when I passed them on they way to work. Behind them are photos of men at war, smiling, exhausted and bloody. They are… Continue reading Blazers, medals and maroon berets
Rabbit and Guinea Pig
So there I am, sat on the train on the way home from work reading and basically minding my own business. A bloke sits down opposite wearing a short sleeved shirt with epaulettes, like an off duty copper although he’s not because of the grey sports socks similar to mine. He’s playing with an international… Continue reading Rabbit and Guinea Pig
Push pigs at Ikea
I was utterly amazed on waking to the news this morning that people had spent hours queuing outside the new Ikea in Edmonton for the opening at midnight, not only that, but six of them where actually taken to hospital with heat exhaustion and crush injuries! Are people really willing to subject themselves to this… Continue reading Push pigs at Ikea