Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 491

The Streets Of Sherlock Holmes

In Baker Street the other day, I wondered if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would still recognise the location of his books. The roads have changed so dramatically in the past couple of decades that they bear no resemblance to the Baker St of his consulting detective's reign.

But If you head a little further out of [...:]

How Hollywood Fell Into The Toilet

The Fast And The Furious 5, Transformers 3, The Ring 3D, Resident Evil 4, Da Vinci Code 3, Ghost Rider 2, Big Momma's House 3, Twilight 4, Scream 4, Final Destination 5, Spiderman 3 (Reboot!), Meet The Fockers 3, Pirates Of The Caribbean 4, Saw 72…

If it's not a franchise, it won't get studio release. [...:]

Stamps Are Now Smarter Than Me

The Royal Mail has launched the world's first "intelligent" stamp, the first to work with image recognition technology.

The stamp, part of the Royal Mail's latest Great British Railways edition, will launch online content via an iPhone or Android smartphone. Users place the camera over the stamp, which then launches the online content. The Royal [...:]

Tired Of London…

London Street Markets

The above photo shows Petticoat Lane in Victorian times. I've always liked London's street markets, which, despite the sinister shenanigans of property raptors, manage to survive simply because people love them. Chapel Street and Waterloo Lower Marsh have become reinvigorated, but now Borough Markey, apparently the largest food market in the world (a fact I [...:]

Travellers' Rest

The next time you're passing through London's St Pancras Station and have half an hour before your next train, you can get you fix of nature very easily by walking outside and turning left.

Incredibly, these photographs are taken just a few hundred metres from the insanity of central London's traffic. Shielded by trees, the [...:]

Creepy Crawlies Down Below!

Two events coming up which may pique your interest if you're in the London area.

First, I'll be at the wonderful London Metropolitan Archive for their Gothic Night on October 29th, reading creepy stories from dank dark places. (Click on image to enlarge)

Then on Tuesday November 16th I'll be at Foyles for the launch of the [...:]

Green Carnation Prize Longlist Results

I'm thrilled and amazed to be represented twice on the Green Carnation Prize longlist! I'm in great company, and just pleased to be represented, as there are some great authors and novels here. Whatever happens, the main thing is to get more books to public attention. Follow what happens on the Green Carnation website here.

The Fate Of Bryant & May

It's crunch time. The Bryant & May series has been hanging in the balance for some months now. The problem is simple; although the books do nicely they're not blockbusters, and in credit-crunch times everyone is looking for Big Books. Bryant & May are 'genre', because mystery is genre, while crime is mainstream. I [...:]

With Bells On

A Clockwork Morris – 5000 Morris Dancers from francesco caradonna on Vimeo.

If you're allergic to hopping people with bells and pig bladders, you might want to stay away from the South Bank this weekend, when 5,000 Morris dancers descend on the banks of the Thames for some tinkly-tinkly-whack-the-stick fun. What's happened is that, presumably [...:]