Ken Livingstone behaves like maverick just as his maverick book comes out
Ken Livingtone continues his book tour/mayoral campaign roadshow by giving Hammersmith and Fulham councillors some hell for their housing policy. His book is called You Can’t Say That so maybe this is all just a big stunt marketing ploy. What? Cynical, moi?
Source: Fulham Chronicle
07 Nov 2011
U R 1 (Friendly Ghost Remix) by TEETH
Though this reworking could hardly be described as ‘softly romantic’ (as it is in the press release), Brooklyn’s Friendly Ghost have certainly taken the abrasive edge off the third single from TEETH’s recent debut Whatever. For those pining for the East London trio’s trademark bite, patience is rewarded two and a half minutes in. U R 1 is released November 23rd on Moshi Moshi.
TEETH – U R 1 (Friendly Ghost Remix) by snipelondon
MP Free is Snipe’s daily dose of new music. Email your suggestions to tom.jenkins@snipelondon.com or look at the archive.
07 Nov 2011
The Olympics will ruin everthing
Remember when the Royal Wedding was going to completely fix the economy but then it completely screwed the economy? Well it looks like the Olympics are going to completely screw the economy, which probably means they’re going to completely screw the economy.
Olympic scaremongering source: Londonlovesbusiness
07 Nov 2011
Squat scare stories obscure a much grimmer truth
This particular squat is vast. The entrance courtyard, blackened by fire and roofless, has strewn around it paraphernalia that presents a squalid pastiche of deprivation in 21st century Britain. There is a scattering of syringes, small blackened bottles requisitioned for the smoking of crack, the desiccated body of a rat, numerous television sets (the innards of a set can be sold as scrap metal for around £10) and literally hundreds of empty super-strength cider and lager cans.
Jeremy Swain, chief-exec of the Thames Reach charity, has a must-read post on the realities of squatting.
By contrast The Standard speaks to a doctor whose home was squatted, and who supports a new law criminalising squatting which is currently being debated in Parliament. Just because he’s rich doesn’t mean he should have to put up with squatters in his home. But Swain empahises that his story is the exception not the rule:
Our reality is that many squatted buildings are death-traps and we routinely witness living conditions that go beyond wretched…The focus must be on enforcing effective and humane squat closures involving outreach teams, environmental health and the police.
Hard to argue with him.
07 Nov 2011
Survey reveals Londoners to be more unhappy than rest of UK. You miserable gits.
“The exact question posed to repondents was: ‘Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are.’”
The results are clear. If you want to be happy, move away from this godforsaken hellhole, this Gomorrah on the Thames. Flee from the rats and the traffic and the smog, from the hipsters and the thieves, and the endless surveys telling you how unhappy you are. Get out, get out, before it’s too late.
Lots more data from the survey, via the GLA, here.
Chart: Taking Part Survey
07 Nov 2011
Famous for being famous: Boris Johnson may be the best-known politician in Britain but running on his record could hurt his re-election
He’s the first celebrity politician of the modern age. Known not only by his first name but by his very silhouette, Boris Johnson understands the power and significance of celebrity better than any other political figure in Britain today.
Whether he’s knocking bouffants with Barbara Windsor, or straddling a “Boris bike” with Arnold Schwarzenegger, it is always Boris who manages to steal the star role.
And like other modern celebrities, Boris understands that fame no longer requires the famous to actually do anything. For the modern celebrity, fame itself is both the means and the ends.
07 Nov 2011
London agenda for Monday 7 November
1. Watch the birth of British New Wave cinema with 1961’s A Taste of Honey [Le Cool]
2. Celebrate the Day of the Dead at the Book Club during We Don’t Speak Mexican [Run Riot]
3. Listen to psychedelic/garage/beach-pop from California at Young Prisms [Don’t Panic]
4. Laugh at Rob Brydon as he plugs his book [Time Out]
5. Reach the The Limits of Investigative Journalism with former Guardian editor Peter Preston [Ian Visits]
London Agenda is Snipe’s daily compilation of what to do in London as suggested by everyone else. Send additions to listings@snipelondon.com
07 Nov 2011
Get a free banger from Fireworks Night
We’ve a free track by London folk-noir illumni Fireworks Night for you today, culled from their brilliant third album “One WInter, One Spring”, out on Monday via Organ Grinder Records. They celebrate the release with a party on Nov 17th, with Snipe favourites Bleeding Heart Narrative and Bastardgeist – don’t miss it.
04 Nov 2011
'Murmuration' : Warning, this is nature related
Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.
Following on from Wednesday’s bird immigration special, check out this short from Sophie Windsor Clive and Liberty Smith. Whilst canoeing down the river Shannon in Ireland they stumbled across an awe-inspiring sight, a murmuration of Starlings. Read more about this incredible phenomena here. Murmuration has now gone viral, with over two million views and counting.
04 Nov 2011
See this tonight: Zebra and Snake @ Club NME, KOKO
Zebra and Snake, aka Finnish friends Tapio and Matti, are in the early stages of an already meteoric rise. From word-of-mouth club shows all around Europe they graduated to the big stage quickly, catching the eye of OMD at a small gig in Notting Hill and being invited along to open for them on a German arena tour. Thing is, they look like they were born on the big stage, so this Club NME headline slot will suit them just fine. Watch them belt out their grand, gothic stadium pop in the palatial space of Camden’s KOKO for an early preview of a band that could be headlining festival stages in the not-to-distant future if the wind catches their sails.
04 Nov 2011
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- Could red kites be London's next big nature success story?
- 9 poems about London: one for each of your moods
- Only 16 commuters touch in to Emirates Air Line, figures reveal
- London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
- Number of people using Thames cable car plunges
- Punk brewery just as sexist and homophobic as the industry they rail against
- Summer Camp: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days
- Nice map of London's fruit trees shows you where to pick free food
- The five spookiest abandoned London hospitals
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
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