Ken's open letter to Boris ends with a cracking gag
Ken’s open letter to Boris ends with a cracking gag. This at the end of a letter which calls Mayor Johnson “complacent”, says he “reacted badly to pressure”, refers to Lynton Crosby’s “nasty dog whistle politics”, to the behaviour of Tory AMs as “nastiness”, and says that the Conservatives have “turned to the dark side”.
It’s all good fun and some of it hits home. But clean? This election is already as dirty as hell, and all the better for it.
Ken Livingstone – Letter to Boris Johnson
Snipe – An open letter to the writers of open letters
26 Jan 2012
Intertextual news: official cars good for some, bad for others
Yesterday Lib Dem AM Dee Doocey asked Mayor Johnson to justify the chauffeur driven cars used to ferry about top ranking Met Police officers. He struggled. She estimates perks for the cop top brass, including but not limited to the cars, reach £1million a year.
Also making waves this week – Tower Hamlets speaker Mizan Chaudhury ran up a £9,000 taxi bill after he had his official car taken away by Mayor Luftur Rahman. He said without his car he had no choice but to get a taxi to events, and people laughed at him as result.
So, does this mean there should be official cars, or there shouldn’t be official cars? Or should everyone just Skype each other?
The news is confusing sometimes.
News from Dee Doocey – Met’s extravagant perks for senior officers must now go
Evening Standard – Council’s speaker runs up £9,000 taxi bill after being stripped of his official car
26 Jan 2012
Cliffs Notes do Shakespeare videos now. They call Romeo "a total emo." Children everywhere doomed
Above is the trailer. Watch the Romeo and Juliet video here
Good, isn’t it? If Shakespeare was alive today, I reckon he’d be writing semi-parodic YouTube videos for Cliffs Notes. It’s his natural milieu.
H/t @daintyballerina
26 Jan 2012
Chicken chases Boris Johnson at City Hall
Today’s video does what it says on the tin. It’s the work of Boris Johns-hen who says the Mayor ‘has chickened out of debating his opponents and defending his policies.’ This may make Johns-hen the only person out there who says the Mayor is a quiet wallflower.
26 Jan 2012
London agenda for Thursday 26 January
1. Visit the first club night of the fabulous London Fields Radio [Le Cool]
2. Listen to at least one person with hope, namely Simon Deane-Johns, who answers why bailouts fail and people power will succeed [Run Riot]
3. Hear Jazz Morley , Lauren Housley, and Robert Bowers in West London at AAA [Don’t Panic]
4. Go loco at the first London Comedy Film Festival [Time Out]
5. See a discussion on Fortean London and support paranormal places in north, west and south London at The Bell pub [Ian Visits]
6. Take a Meridian Duck Tour [Tired of London]
26 Jan 2012
Forget SOPA, it's ACTA that people in the UK need to worry about
Call it the Americanisation of fear. Last week the Internets went black, or tweeted themselves silly over two proposed laws in the US Congress that would empower the US Justice Department to remove websites from search engines and to force ISPs to create ‘black holes’ of unsites, all without a trial involved. As scary as that sounds – we don’t live in the US.
No, the last grasp of a dying business model for certain media industries that affects the UK is ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which is being worked on at the EU level. Watch this cute video to see how it works. Michael Geist is a good resources to keep up to date.
25 Jan 2012
Alain de Botton wants to build a temple for atheists in the City of London
First up, some deduction from me – Alain de Botton has a book out, and this is good publicity for it. The temple will never be built.
But it’s interesting publicity stunt, so let’s go with it. Here’s some reporting from Dezeen:
“De Botton has begun working on the first Temple for Atheists. Designed by Tom Greenall Architects, this will be a huge black tower nestled among the office buildings in the City of London. Measuring 46 meters in all, the tower represents the age of the earth, with each centimetre equating to 1 million years and with, at the tower’s base, a tiny band of gold a mere millimetre thick standing for mankind’s time on earth.”
Nice concept.
Would it convince the atheists among you to “worship” there rather than the glistening spires of nearby Westfield East?
Is a temple to atheism, or humanism, or science, a useful idea given that reason, scepticism and the rejection of the monolithic certainties which temples represent form the basis of such systems of thought? Does the adoption of religious architectural language diminish or strenghten the power of atheistic ideas? Has de Botton even thought about planning permission?
Questions to ponder here, my friends. Which makes it a publicity stunt worth having.
Dezeen – Alain de Botton plans temples for atheists
Picture – Tom Greenhall Architects
25 Jan 2012
Sweetest Treasure (Napoleon IIIrd NXVI mix) by Zebra and Snake
Napoleon IIIrd has taken the epic pop of Tapio and Matti’s original and imbibed it with a certain thump. The Finnish duo, otherwise known as Zebra and Snake, release their debut EP, also named Sweetest Treasure, February 27th. Debut album Healing Music hits the shops in the spring. Catch them at the Bull and Gate February 22nd, the Queen of Hoxton on the 23rd and The Nest on the 24th.
Zebra and Snake – Sweetest Treasure (Napoleon IIIrd NXVI mix) by snipelondon
25 Jan 2012
London agenda for Wednesday 25 January
1. Listen to Craig FInn combine great songwriting with genius storytelling at Rough Trade East [Le Cool]
2. Tell the Evening Standard your idea for London. [Run Riot]
3. See the darker side of Greenwich Hospital (1696 – 1869) [Ian Visits]
4. Walk around the Tarn, Mottingham [Tired of London]
25 Jan 2012
Stealing other cities' ideas: #1 the Portland toilet
London is one big sewer. Its public toilets are but sticking plasters against gushing torrents of public piss. They’re horrid, in a bad way.
The public toilets in Portland, Oregon, are horrid in a good way. They are deliberately designed to be unwelcoming, unbreakable, and unpleasant. As a result they are a roaring success. People go in, do their business, and get out.
The Atlantic Cities has a good report.
“The toilet’s durability can be chalked up to its defense-first design. “I think one thing we have ahead of other toilet designs is that we’ve learned people like to do nefarious things” to public lavatories, says [city official Anna] DiBenedetto. So the Portland Loo includes a variety of bells and whistles meant to keep in check the most degenerate of bathroom users”
They retail at $100,000 each. Or approximately one 900th of a Thames cable car.
Atlantic Cities – Why Portland’s Public Toilets Succeeded Where Others Failed
24 Jan 2012
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
- Summer Camp: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days
- Diary of the shy Londoner
- Could red kites be London's next big nature success story?
- An interview with Desiree Akhavan
- A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
- Margaret Thatcher statue rejected by public
- Random Interview: Eileen Conn, co-ordinator of Peckham Vision
- Nice map of London's fruit trees shows you where to pick free food
- London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
© 2009-2026 Snipe London.