Category: this is london
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閱詩要配烈酒 –
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In October last year, we went to see Stephen Sondheim’s 1994 musical Passion (based on Tarchett’s epistolary novel Fosca, written in 1869) at the Donmar Warehouse (as part of the Sondheim at 80 season).1 I am surprised how this production still lingers on…
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In the final paragraph of his London: The Biography (2001), Peter Ackroyd answers: [W]hen it is asked how London can be a triumphant city when it has so many poor, and so many homeless, it can only be suggested that…
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In a chapter about London’s sexy life (Chapter 41 “You sexy thing”), Peter Ackroyd relates some of Boswell’s sexual encounters. Boswell’s diary of street life in 1762 provides an account of sexual favours currently on offer. On the evening of…
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Peter Ackroyd in London: The Biography (2001) answers (see below). What is Hong Kong’s colour, I wonder? Red is London’s colour. The cabs of the early nineteenth century were red. The pillar boxes are red. The telephone boxes were, until…
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In his latest book 50 Literature Ideas You Really Need to Know, John Sutherland says this about Hamlet: “Every age interprets the play’s enigmas differently, sometimes wildly so (is Hamlet mad, enquired Oscar Wilde; or merely the critics of Hamlet?).…
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“Wish You Were Here? Postcards from the Future” is an exhibition of fourteen digitally-transformed photomontages of recognisable London landmarks by Robert Graves and Didier Madoc-Jones showing at the Museum of London. These images depict the possible impact of climate change…
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Last December, we went to see Alan Bennett’s new play, The Habit of Art, which is about an imaginary meeting between W.H. Auden and Benjamin Britten (this is in a way similar to Adam Fould’s novel The Quickening Maze, which…
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On Tuesday, we went to see Alan Ayckbourn‘s Season’s Greetings at the National Theatre. Jeff lined up early in the morning to take advantage of the NT’s day ticket policy.1 They hold back a number of tickets to sell on the day,…
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“Champaign and cinnamon candle”. Photo courtesy of E & S On Christmas Eve, two friends visited us and we spent a joyous afternoon and evening together, eating, drinking, chatting and playing games. Happy times. The picture above was taken by them. May all our…
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Learn more here.–
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– “Truth is in my heart, and in my breast there is neither craft nor guile. — The Egyptian Book of the Dead. –Today we went to the British Museum to see the Journey through the afterlife: ancient Egyptian Book of the…
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Picture courtesy of JP. WRITTEN IN SNOW –by t We extinguished two glasses of port,drained the lamp,transfigured from dressed to undressed. Both…
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On 2nd December, 2009, I posted these Banksy images on my previous blog: Responses: [Click image to enlarge] Recently, I watched Exit Through the Gift Shop. It’s a reasonably enjoyable film, and one of the highlights, for me, is this counterfeited tenner: –
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Aaron Johnson is handsome (and young!). We watched Sam Taylor-Wood’s Nowhere Boy, a film about the young John Lennon, played rather convincingly, I must say, by Aaron Johnson. However, he is certainly not as good as Kristin Scott Thomas, who…
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Love & Other Drugs – Last night we went to watch Love & Other Drugs in Covent Garden. Thank you, E, for the generosity! On the film: Anne, you are no Kate Winslet or Penelope Cruz (with reference to her own…
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The historian sent me this picture and I love it, for obvious reasons.
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This post was originally written on 5th July, 2009. – Yesterday we spent an evening in Islington. It was a beautiful day and we sat by Regent’s Canal and had a drink from the Narrow Boat Pub (Beer in a…
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This morning, my friend sent me this picture, a close-up of a phone booth by the river. – –
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Last Saturday after a day in the city, we went to the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park to see an exhibition by the Paris-based French-Algerian artist Philippe Parreno (b. 1964). The exhibition has been getting a lot of attention for its…
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Scene 1 A restaurant. Leeds. J: Can we see the wine list, please? Waitress: Yes, you may. Scene 2 A second-hand bookstore. Central London. Shopkeeper (to me): How may I help you, honey? J: She’s with me. Shopkeeper: Oh I…
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SEE MORE PICTURES HERE. When it comes to collecting, I have nothing on Robert Opie. Opie is an avid collector of consumer products and packaging which are on display at The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in Notting Hill.…
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Thursday 9 December, 2010. 10:30am.
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Yesterday, my friend sent me this picture, taken from a moving bus. – –
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