Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 495

Re:View – 'Into The Woods'

After A Midsummer Night's Dream this is probably the perfect show to stage in bucolic surroundings, and although this Regents Park Open Air Theatre production has minor faults – a couple of unsteady voices, occasional sound problems and the odd burst of heavy rain (unavoidable) – this new version of Stephen Sondheim's musical triumphs by [...:]

Re:View – 'Hierro'

NO SPOILERS
Water imagery abounds in 'Hierro', director Gabe Ibanez's Spanish language thriller which bears passing resemblance to 'The Orphanage'. It begins with a genuinely startling car crash in which a mother loses her child, and then picks up with Maria and her son Diego travelling to one of the volcanic Spanish islands on the ferry, [...:]

Signing Off 2

Walking through town today I saw this wall in Bloomsbury and remembered to snap it. What a great way to advertise a chemist's shop! I think it says something about curing madness underneath the top layer of writing, too. Guess it'll be painted white soon.

The Office Bicycle

I'm a bit mystified by the Mayor's determination to make us all get on bicycles. Both Boris and Ken are cycling fans, but I don't know anyone who has ever used one to get to their office in London. This rack in Soho doesn't seem to be going down too well. I watched two trucks [...:]

Ping Pong Madness

One hundred table tennis tables seem to have suddenly appeared in central London. These dudes took time out to hammer each other at ping pong as I was walking through Brunswick Square. Are they advertising something?

Who decides this stuff? The elephants last month, I could see the point of them, but ping pong? I [...:]

Still Out There, Still Crazy

I was wondering whatever happened to the Crazy Rainbow Water Lady (I gave her a mention in my recent YA book, 'Hellion: Curse Of Snakes'). Here she is again, talking total rubbish. Somebody took the day off to go shopping when they had science lessons!

Knightsbridge Becomes Even More Horrible

Ah, Knightsbridge. For those of us with long memories, the home of the Spaghetti House Siege (go on, Google it), tap-dancing tramps, Middle Eastern gentlemen, and the increasingly awful Harrods, a once-tasteful English department store that turned into a retail version of Spearmint Rhino.

Well, we've just had the opening of the world's biggest Apple store [...:]

Signing Off

An old tobacconist's sign in Finsbury Park which says the shop sells 'segars' has been painted over, and London loses another piece of its past. This was pointed out by the ever-reliable Jane's London site. There are still Victorian signs scattered all over London if you know where to look (although not as many [...:]

The Next Logical Step

BP Oil Spill From Above

You may not know that Google Earth has its own blog, filled with interesting imagery. Here's the spill from above the Earth. You can find other good stuff here.