Simon & Garfunkel sang in The Sound of Silence that “the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls.” I don’t know much about all that, but I happened upon this poem chalked onto the boarded up window of a condemned building on Camden High Street this afternoon. The grammar certainly leaves a…
Tag: Article
A Rural Idyll in Steady Decline
The people of that plainly built farming town led simple lives and were proud of the hardship and forfeiture rural existence assumed of them. They knew their place in that world and – as is customary in such isolated surroundings – they conducted themselves with the same sheltered constancy as so many of their forebears had done for generations before.
A state of perpetual change
A few weeks ago I posted about a piece of street art that had popped up in Stucley Place (AKA “Shit Alley”) in Camden. Well, that piece has already been replaced with this very interesting work. The artist responsible is a young man from Hong Kong who goes by the name of Roes. I actually…
Scoping out the West
The search for our first place continues, and on a fine August Saturday afternoon it took Herself and I to Chiswick in West London. We had arranged to view a neat little one bedroom flat above a restaurant on the High Road and we’re excited about a change of scenery. We set on the idea of getting…
The Long Way Down
With unrealistic demands, a laughable budget, and an impossible deadline, we were humoured, had our details taken, and then swiftly shown the door from least 10 different offices. If anywhere was available, they told us, it was taken just before we walked in – of course. Not to worry, I said to Herself, if it comes to the worst then we can always spend a few weeks sleeping on the Embankment like a pair of down and outs. At least we’re having nice weather at the moment. I can start collecting cardboard boxes just in case. I like to think of these kinds of ideas as being romantic, she prefers to call them stupid.
Even More Street Art in Camden Town
Opinion may differ as to whether this kind of work should be considered Art, but if you ever happen to spend some time down the grim backstreets of North London, then I am sure will agree that the place could do with a bit of colour.
Happy Sunday from London
We shared a can of beer after work and went for a walk in the cool evening air, Wednesday last. Herself lives near the old London Docks, so we threw some shapes down through Wapping by way of Shadwell. This here is Shadwell Basin. It’s a beautiful little spot. I’m sure you will agree. The water was…
A Long Walk Through The City
Soon we found ourselves in Bloomsbury where around every corner you half expect to find T.S Eliot or Virginia Woolf stood in discussion with one of their literary acquaintances from that little bourgeois social circle of theirs. When Americans see London in their movies, says my old man, this is the London they are seeing.
A Chance Meeting in Camden
On the walk to work the other morning, I caught a young lad doing a bit of spray-painting on a wall near the office. “That’s looking grand,” I remarked, “I’ll have to take a photograph when it’s finished.” “Thanks,” he said, ” It’s looking a lot better than it did yesterday. I went a bit…
A Weekend in Greece
If you ever happen to find yourself spending some of your very important and hard-earned vacation time in Thessaloniki, the capital of Greek Macedonia and the country’s second largest city by population, there are a number of details to which you will become privy about Greek culture that will forever change how you perceive this Southern European Republic and…
A Greek Easter in London
The Greek Orthodox Church celebrate their Easter a week after the rest of us Roman Catholic types. They call it Pascha and see it as the most important holiday of the year – more important even than Christmas. Herself is as Greek as they come, so last Saturday night, she took us to St. Sophia’s…
New Art at Work
They’ve put some new artwork up around my building and I’m not sure if I like the stuff or hate it. I’ll leave some of it here and let you decide for yourselves. Tell me what you think.
Market Day in the East End (Street Art Gallery)
We woke up late and after a breakfast of eggs and coffee we made our way to Brick Lane to see what we could find. It was a Sunday morning and the East End was alive with the rattle and chaos of the weekend markets. If you’re not partial to being pushed and shoved by…
Some Notes on the Razor Clam
What is razor clamming? Catching razor clams is a rewarding pastime and it is a wonder that so few people living in coastal regions take part in the practice. Not only would a fair portion of those folk be ill equipped in telling you where to find a razor clam, a great many wouldn’t even know what one is in…
As If I Wasn’t Busy Enough, Now I Have Multiple Sclerosis
“Only fools and rakes fall ill, my boy. You know me: I am busy from morning till night and abstemious, so of course I am well.” Nicholas Bolkonski in Tolstoy’s War and Peace With the appointment confirmation letter neatly folded into the breast pocket of my winter coat, I arrive ten minutes early at the…