Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 440

Somebody Call A Doctor!

HATTIE JACQUES: 'There are plenty of odd jobs you could do around the house.'
TONY HANCOCK: "It's Sunday. A day of rest. I'm not mending you bed again.'
In celebration of doing nothing today here's the lovely Craig Ferguson explaining Dr Who.

wRiTtEn oN tHe iPaD 2

We have an iPad 2 in the house now, and as I'm knocked out with a man-flu and staying in bed, I foolishly thought I'd write up the blog on it.

A virtually impossible task, as it turns out. It's not a computer, more like writing something on your phone, complete with the double-keyboard layout that [...]

Entrepreneurism 101

If you've been to Thailand, you'll know that the entrepreneurial zeal of its people is positively enthralling. Even so, this video is astonishingly Blade Runner-like.

Funny. And Probably True.

Follow the link below for an amusing sketch on Hollywood thinking, but bear in mind that it's probably painfully accurate…

When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

Does Town Planning Work?

Today you can watch the sprawling Heygate estate in Walworth, south-east London come down. Banging up a huge number of working class families in something that looked like Brixton Jail was never going to work. The estate became a centre for social problems, and is just part of a huge deprived area that was heavily [...]

London's Hidden Spaces

If you're asking yourself where this is, here's a clue – it's in Soho, but you never normally see it.

The House of St Barnabas has been in Soho Square since 1846, and is a refuge for homeless women. The building is noted for its stunning Georgian plasterwork. The historic rooms have their original features [...]

Synchronised Reading

I have the very bad habit of walking and reading – I do it as I pass through the tube tunnels and along the river. I was finishing a novel about Sir Francis Drake as I walked around this corner and for a moment thought the damned thing had leapt off the page, forgetting I [...]

Clockwatching

Christian Marclay's astonishing tour-de-force 'The Clock' is part of the latest British Art Show 'In The Days Of The Comet', at the Hayward Gallery, and certainly its centerpiece, although the naked guy watching the burning bench was a freaky second (he goes to lunch between 1:00pm and 2:00pm). I hope it finds a permanent place [...]

Blend In Or Stand Out?

This is Keystone Crescent in King's Cross, a picturesque urban street that occasionally turns up in films. We tend to think of such terraces as unaltered by time, but of course they're completely transformed from their original look. Even so, the old gas lamps remain, and these streets are becoming rarer.

So would you do what [...]

Weird Double Bills 4

Here's a bizarre night in for you – 'Dream Home' and 'Boystown'.

The latter is a Spanish black comedy about a run-down area of Madrid that undergoes yuppiefication as Chueca's smart A-Gay crowd start moving in and doing up properties. One rough diamond looking after his mother refuses to move, however, especially when he realises [...]