London agenda for Monday 13 June
1. Listen to some humour from Nazi Germany [Le Cool]
2. Then listen to some more comedy from the founder of “Axis of Evil” at Cadogen Hall [Run Riot]
3. Look at one of the world’s greatest Surrealist painters and this collection, Miró at Tate Modern- [Flavorpill]
4. Sit back and contemplate When London Was Capital of America. Then plot its return. [Ian Visits]
5. Find the site of the Texas Legation [Tired of London]
6. See Alicia Keys says [Time Out]
13 Jun 2011
Is it time to reclaim the swastika?
I only ask because The British Museum is full of them. You can see them adorning this ancient Greek vase, which I snapped myself. Here they are decorating an Anglo Saxon urn from Norfolk, dating from the 6th century AD. Here is one on a Roman serving dish found in Gaul. Here are some on Arabic metalwork from what we now call Iraq. Here is a Flickr group collecting more examples and attempting the impossible: to reclaim this image from it’s 20th century associations. I think we’re some time away from having that sort of perspective, there are still people living who suffered under the Nazis. But it’s good to remember that images don’t have only one meaning. And that to some extent we can choose what meaning we want things to have.
10 Jun 2011
Victorian baby farming - just as disturbing as it sounds
On this day in 1896, Amelia Dyer – having been tried and found guilty at the Old Bailey – was hanged at Newgate prison for murder. Her victim was a baby called Doris Marmon. But baby Doris was one of possibly hundreds of babies murdered by Dyer in her role as a “baby farmer”.”
So begins a gruesomely fascinating post over at the London Historians’ blog.
10 Jun 2011
London agenda for Friday 10 June
1. Find a classic edition of a novel at the Novotel Book Fair [Le Cool]
2. Bare some teeth at Fangtasia, in the world of True Blood [Run Riot]
3. Say Boo! at the ICA at Template for Terror: The Revival of the Gothic [Flavorpill]
4. Hear some Old Time and Olde Tyme music at the Spitalfields Music Festival [Time Out]
5. Discover the art and science of time travel. We really should have published this event tomorrow. [Ian Visits]
6. Visit the Tryon Gallery [Tired of London]
7. TOMORROW Ride around London starkers [Time Out]
10 Jun 2011
Mathematics by Bronze Medallists (Dogtanion Remix)
Mathematics from Bronze Medallists on Vimeo.
East London four-piece Bronze Medallists make wistful electro about girls and stuff. New single Mathematics (see above) sounds like a great lost Kings of Convenience song, a reticently optimistic musing on the complexities of love and the desire for a magic formula to help guide you through the relationship minefield. Or something. London producer/artist Dogtanion has remixed the track and given it a distinctly darker edge – it now sounds like the lovesick ponderings of a Melancholy robot. Bronze Medallists play The Old Blue Last, June 20th. Mathematics is out now on Tape Club Records.
Bronze Medallists – Mathematics (Dogtanion Remix) by snipelondon
09 Jun 2011
How London Politics works (Part 2)
Anyone writing about London politics needs to realise that some comments are simply “beyond the pale” whilst other apparently identical comments are not.
A good recent example of this is Ken Livingstone’s labelling of one of Boris’s aides as “the Ratko Mladic of local government”.
Shocking stuff I’m sure you’ll agree. As Conservative London Assembly Member James Cleverly said yesterday
Comparing Edward Lister to the instigators of such vicious crimes is both personally offensive and degrades the suffering of the victims of ethnic violence in the Balkans. While politicians are rightly expected to have thick skins there are some comments that are beyond the pale and should have no place in London politics.
Quite so. Ken Livingstone comparing a British politician to a Yugoslavian war criminal was absolutely not okay and has no place in London Politics.
Of course when Boris Johnson compared another British politician to a Yugoslavian war criminal that was perfectly okay and had plenty of place in London politics.
As did his comments comparing the British Prime Minister to Muammar al-Gaddafi.
And his comments comparing Ken Livingstone to Kim Jong-il.
And his comments comparing university admission officers to Pol Pot.
So in case you’re still confused let me repeat it for future reference:
Boris comparing anybody to a totalitarian leader or war criminal is okay but Ken comparing anybody to a totalitarian leader or war criminal is not okay.
For further guidance read How London Politics works (part 1)
09 Jun 2011
London in 1988: Yuppies, junkies, and acid house on the DLR
“Walking around the streets of this rapidly changing neighborhood I came across stickers of smiley faces, lots of them. They were everywhere, spreading like a virus. I soon discovered their source and meaning: The stickers represented a new stage in the movement of house music—acid house.”
A Zimbabwean-born American resident paints an interesting picture of London in the late Thatcher/early rave years. He didn’t much like it.
09 Jun 2011
09 Jun 2011
London's MPs get set to fight each other for their jobs
London’s MPs could find themselves fighting amongst each other for seats at the next election, according to predictions by researchers at Liverpool University.
With the coalition aiming to cut the number of MPs to 600 for the next election, London is likely to lose five of its seats – meaning some will have to scramble to save their jobs.
The analysis, produced by Kevin Larkin and Lewis Baston of Democratic Audit, suggests wholesale changes to many of London’s seats – leaving neighbouring MPs fighting against each other to be selected for the new constituencies.
Labour’s Meg Hillier is one MP whose seat is at risk, with most of her Hackney South & Shoreditch seat absorbed into a new Shoreditch & Finsbury constituency.
In Walthamstow, Stella Creasy would see her constituency divided into two, while Glenda Jackson ’s Hampstead & Kilburn seat would also be split up.
South of the river, Nick Raynsford ’s Greenwich and Woolwich seat would be split into very different-looking Greenwich & Deptford and Woolwich constituencies, while former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell ’s Dulwich & West Norwood is also for the chop.
Kate Hoey ’s Vauxhall constituency also gets divided up, with much of the borough of Lambeth forming a new Brixton seat.
Some MPs can relax, though, if these predictions are right. Labour stalwart Harriet Harman ’s Camberwell & Peckham seat stays safe, as does the Twickenham base of Lib Dem cabinet minister Vince Cable. Fellow Lib Dem Simon Hughes ’s Bermondsey and Southwark seat also remains untouched. They will only have the people’s verdict to worry about come the next election.
The full list of predictions can be found on the Democratic Audit website.
09 Jun 2011
Scammers in Wembley trying to flog bag of onions as laptop
I’ve tried rewriting this headline from The Harrow Times, and it’s not possible. Read the story here.
09 Jun 2011
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- 9 poems about London: one for each of your moods
- Margaret Thatcher statue rejected by public
- Hope and despair in Woolwich town centre
- Silencing the Brick Lane curry touts could be fatal for the city's self-esteem
- The five best places in London to have an epiphany
- Peter Bayley has worked for 50 years as a cinema projectionist in East Finchley
- A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
- London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
- Punk brewery just as sexist and homophobic as the industry they rail against
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
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