Where is everyone?

Where is everyone? Where is the chaos on London’s much maligned public transport system? The journey into work was better than a normal Monday morning yet we are told there is an extra one million commuters using public transport because of the Olympics. With no pandemonium on the tube what are we supposed to complain about?

'London wins early "gold" for slick rush hour' (click here) - . This piece contains a great picture of sinister looking American fan on his way to the Olympic park.

Thomas Heatherwick, the designer behind the Olympic cauldron

He also designed this bridge (click here)

London Olympics 2012: The look of the games

London Olympics 2012: The look of the games (click here) - Designboom

 

 The Olympic Park in glorious sunshine as seen from the Al Jazeera TV studio. (Thanks Niki)

 

The best of the Opening Ceremony - London 2012 Olympics

The best of the Opening Ceremony - London 2012 Olympics

Queen and Bond unite for London 2012 Olympics video

Britain's future heroes light Olympic cauldron

World's Press Heaps Praise On The Olympic Opening Ceremony

Olympic Torch in London

The Olympic Torch finally arrives in London. These pictures were taken in Rosebery Avenue, Islington first thing this morning. The feel good factor was amazing. 

Still waiting for the torch to arrive

But first the sponsors

and more sponsors...........

Still waiting............

Finally in sight

All the way from Olympia in Greece

And it's gone

A London Bus

"Structural Integrity" Logan Hicks - The Outsiders Gallery, London

These photographs were taken at the excellent Logan Hicks private view.  I covertly used the appalling camera on my Blackberry as I never know if it's the right thing to do, especially if the artist is in the room.  

Logan Hicks produces multi-layered, photorealistic paintings of grand buildings and forgotten alleyways The show, “Structual Integrity”, is currently on at the Outsiders Gallery, Greek Street in Soho and is well worth seeing. The best stuff is in the basement.

 

London Olympics 2012

I am suddenly a convert to the Olympic spirit. My previous posts have been slightly negative, a view influenced by elusive boxing tickets. My conversion has been triggered by the New York Times. They claimed the American team’s journey from Heathrow Airport to the Olympic village was a ‘fiasco’.  OK the coach driver was Scottish and had never driven in London. OK it took four hours. But by ignoring the Olympic lanes and getting lost Team USA were able to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and other wonderful places in the world’s greatest city. Some of these young athletes may never have been out of the Lone Star state but can now claim to have been lost in London with groundsman Willie at the wheel.

This is not a ‘fiasco’. This journey will only be repeated when the team get lost on the way back to the airport once the games are over.  On finally arriving at the Olympic village Team USA javelin thrower Craig Kinsley posted on Facebook "England, London, Olympic Village, heaven."

No sooner have the athletes arrived than they are flying their national flags from their balconies in a display of jingoism that for two weeks, every four years, is totally acceptable. Let the games begin and can anyone get their hands on a pair of boxing tickets.

Tate Modern's Tanks

 
                   
                   
                   
               

Olympic rings

A set of Olympic rings have arrived in London and hang from the walkway above Tower Bridge. This has coincided with a new and unexpected Olympic irritant that has been inflicted on London. It is neither connected to my inability to get the boxing tickets that I am so desperate to buy, nor to the Olympic road lanes for the ‘Olympic family'. But it is transport related.

Our Mayor, Boris Johnson, has recorded various messages to be played at London stations advising us to be good citizens during the games and to be patient. The fact that you are late for work or may miss that all important job interview is to be counterbalanced against the excellent PR opportunity the Olympics have provided Boris. My hope is that the sound of Boris’s voice combined with the trauma of using public transport will have a subliminal effect on Londoners a form of “guilty by association”.

He even had the audacity to be at the opening of London’s new cable car. When asked why a £25million project is now estimated by TFL to cost £60million (making it the worlds most expensive cable system ever built and one that London does not need) he just ruffled his hair, fumbled through a list of irrelevant excuses and did the usual ‘play the fool to catch the wise’ routine. The expectation is that Londoners will regard him as a lovable rascal. Well the routine is becoming as irritating as the advice being broadcast at our stations.

This is a man that has never been known to miss the opportunity to have his dishevelled persona appear in the press or on TV.

At the Olympics, transport chiefs must trust the wisdom of crowds - Guardian 20th July 2012

London tips from a Londoner: Have a Games plan - Los Angelers Times 8 July 2012

 

Michael Craig-Martin - Educating Damien

Michael Craig-Martin talking about Damien Hurst, the 'YBA' and Goldsmiths college in New Cross, South London.

Skateboard graveyard

Hungerford Bridge provides the perfect resting place for one of London’s long established subcultures. Skateboarders use one of the piers on Hungerford Bridge to discard their broken skateboards after trashing the decks at the improvised skating area under the South bank Centre

The South Bank has been a haven for skateboarders since the 1970's

View Larger MapDriving Directions

The Shard's inaugural laser show

The Shard's inaugural laser show - Guardian 6th July 2012

The South Bank

The South Bank. Art, life and Darth Vader. The Peoples Palace.

 A giant Baobab tree, 15 meters tall and made from stacks of fabric rings, at the Southbank Centre. The fabric represents different communities and so each ring tells its own story.

‘Everything is Beautiful When You Don’t Look Down’ is a large sculpture made from recycled materials by kids in the Borough of Lambeth.

The ‘London Earth Creature’ has also been made by children. These kids are from Hounslow Infant and Nursery School, which is on the flight path of Heathrow airport. Could be why they chose an enclosed space as a playscape.

‘Perspectives’ is designed by artists Trey Watkins and Cameron Brown. The large children’s blocks look random but when seen from certain angles line up to revel a secret message.

Darth Vader a.k.a. Dark Lord of the Sith, Supreme Commander and a real Jedi Knight. Strange but I always thought he would be much larger in real life.

Strange sightings in London

The masked Fab Four, back in town as a Space Invader blasts off from a London back street.