Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 421

'Cantankerous'? – Moi?

A recent online article by a guy called Daniel Brown (not that Dan Brown I hope) just ran a very clear-eyed overview of my career, which isn't the sort of thing you want to read over your coffee when you're slumped in your dressing gown and just coming to terms with a difficult day, but [...]

We Do Love To Be Beside The Seaside

The British coastal resort is a unique (and often uniquely revolting) institution. Not for us the glamour of the Riviera or even the Costa Del Sol – British holiday venues can often be more Costa Del Arsehole, with their revolting rock shops, unamusing amusements and festering chip stalls.

When the now-sadly-deranged Morrissey wrote 'Every Day [...]

The Centre Of London

'Here we are,' calls a character in the opening pages of John Wyndham's 'Day Of The Triffids', 'Piccadilly Circus, hub of the universe!' What do you think is the centre of London? Eros? St. Paul's? Leicester Square (God help us). In theory it should be somewhere East because London slowly moved West over the centuries.

But [...]

Put 100 Architects In A Room…

…Which is what they basically did for this – and offer them a big prize for redesigning the exterior of King's Cross Station. The station's decades-old but oddly makeshift green canopy housing junk food shops and junk book shop WH Smith is to be torn down and replaced with – well, here's the winning entry [...]

Back To Rehab For The Final Time

It's very sad that Amy Winehouse is dead, and I hope the family don't blame themselves, as I'm sure they tried everything they could to get her back on track. It's particularly sad because she was a one-off talent, not somebody famous's daughter.

Usually we have to put up with Talent Trickledown, the system by which [...]

Global Deco

A couple of photos to show how unified the art deco movement was, one from London's Gray's Inn Rd, the other from a small coastal town in Turkey. The Russian influence in Turkish design informs their art deco movement to a wonderful extent, turning up these pleasant surprises away from the shore.

The Ginger Pig Sings!

How perfect – the song I hate and the press I hate, combined!

Great British Idiots

From TV show 'The Weakest Link' –

Anne Robinson: 'The road known as Watling Street was built by which ancient civilisation?'
Contestant: 'Apes.'

Honesty In Advertising

Brick Lane, where else?

How To Put Children Off Ice Cream

Make them buy them from the shop I found in Turkey.