The End Times: Murder City
The End Times: Murder City
1. All Of London’s Murders…Mapped [Londonist]
2. Russell Brand: In-Depth Interview Before He Was Famous [Sabotage Times]
3. Weekly round-up of national critics’ restaurant reviews [iStarvin]
13 Sept 2010
Save the arts - a great new animation by David Shrigley
Over a hundred leading artists including David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Anthony Caro, Howard Hodgkin, Anish Kapoor, Richard Hamilton, Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin have joined the campaign to make the case against the proposed 25% cuts in government funding of the arts.
The campaign is launched today with the release of a new video animation by artist David Shrigley highlighting the effect of the funding cuts and a new work by Jeremy Deller with Scott King. Each week the work of a different artist, created in response to the campaign, will be released. Mark Wallinger will present the next project.
13 Sept 2010
New venue alert: The Nest in Dalston
The long and twisty story of the venue last known as Bardens Boudoir continues anew.
The people behind the Old Queen’s Head in Islington will be reopening it as The Nest on 14 October.
We have completely refurbished the venue, moved the stage to the rear of the room, dug a foot out of the floor. It will be 300 – 350 capacity and have an amazing PA. It is on the old site of Bardens Boudoir. It will look and sound brilliant.
13 Sept 2010
Wild Beasts
Leeds-based Mercury Prize nominees Wild Beasts have released a stream of their forthcoming remix EP, ahead of Thursday’s Campfire Trails show at London Troxy. Lucky us.
13 Sept 2010
JLS to reduce teen-age pregnancy by placing their photos on condom packets
JLS have partnered with a manufacturer to release a series of condoms* with their faces plastered on the boxes, in the boy band’s fight against safe sex.
Teenagers ready to attempt sexual congress merely glance at the wholesome and non-threatening faces on their rubber to transfer their enthusiasm to having a nice cup of tea. Or just give the kids a JLS CD. That should douse any burgeoning passions.
You don’t have to say yes to every promo, boys: JLS have the late-X Factor as they launch Just Love Safe condom range [Daily Mail]
- Snipe has not the faintest idea where or how one would procure these condoms.
13 Sept 2010
Question of the day: how is Greenwich pronounced?
Today’s question in Question Time
SNIPE contributor Darryl Chamberlain has pointed out on his blog that locals have always pronounced Greenwich ‘grin-idge’ and that ‘gren-itch’ is an Americanisation that is relatively new. What is the correct pronunciation?
13 Sept 2010
Messrs Comedy. They got the mess part right
“Comedy is a funny thing.” As a small child I once vowed never to write a review opening with that line. An eight year-old child aboard his father’s yacht, attempting to sail around the world blindfolded, I was a precocious kid, and when I made that blood oath, mashing sliced palms with the on-board pet chimpanzee trained to shake hands whenever required, I truly meant it. Now a grown man, creaking and bearded, blind and forced to be guided by that monkey’s grandchild, a surly, ingrateful creature that refuses to even take my hand but leads me by a slim chain around my neck, I understand that comedy is not always a funny thing. Sometimes, like an overstretched set-up with no punchline in sight, it just gets tiresome.
Sometimes comedy comes in fits and bursts. Like sailing an ocean of an evening, bumping unexpectedly into jokes like small, hilarious islands. Messrs Comedy, which has just wrapped up at Hens and Chickens Theatre, has many such islands, but large gaps of dead water between them. I just let the monkey take the wheel.
Written by no less than eight writers, only one of whom appears on the stage- actor/co-producer James Britton- one of whom sent his by email from California, there is little connection between the sketches except that the women performing in each are called upon to do little more than react. Even the one skit written by a woman has two women simply sat there staring at the one giving the monologue. The programme lists no director, so presumably the actors directed themselves. Which can be fine, but now we have a show distancing its writing, performing, directing and the performers are not allotted material equally, so the watery gaps between palm-treed chuckles widen and the monkey is getting bored and abusive.
The actors all seem like very funny people, doing their best to wring laughs out of the material given them. The writers all have optioned film scripts and eleven golden comedy awards each above the fireplace, but perhaps they should try performing their own material before expecting others to go out there and wring on their behalf. The Hypnotist by Nick Green had actor/co-producer Hugh O’Shea playing a hypnotist telling the audience to go to sleep. That was the joke. It almost put people to sleep. This is not a joke. Why would you do that to a performer?
Britton is the only one straddling both disciplines, and almost a third of the show was written by him. He doesn’t always score, but he has a higher rate of success, because he’s connected to what he’s doing. Whether this is actually two troupes waiting to happen, or a large team still needing to gel, there are possibilities here. At the moment we have a show during which no less than six members of the audience got up and left midway. It’s a long swim back to shore.
13 Sept 2010
Uh oh. Former basketball star John Amaechi says he was barred from Manchester club for being 'big and black'
Former NBA and England basketball star John Amaechi went to Crunch Nightclub on Saturday night, presumably to enjoy their philosophy of ‘making a good night out cheap and cheerful.’
Instead, he says, he was turned away by the bouncer because I was ‘big and black and could be trouble’
But it gets better, Matt Taylor of Crunch Bar posted on Amaeci’s Facebook page this absolute and complete defense “Hmmm… Unlikely as crunch’s doormen are all black.”
Amaechi’s response: “Matt Taylor above is apparently the owner of Crunch – and apparently the kind of idiot who thinks the bouncers being minorities means they can’t be bigots…. I have been told that Matt has instructed his managers not to respond to the emails sent from my office asking for an explanation and an apology.
He thinks this will all ‘blow over.’
Matt, that’s your second mistake of the weekend.”
Matt, he’s probably right.
13 Sept 2010
Snipe's London Agenda for Monday
Snipe’s London Agenda for Monday
1. Eat at Otarian, a new style vegetarian restaurant [Le Cool]
2. Laugh at the Pope’s pro-AIDS policies at Relief-O-Matic [Spoonfed]
3. Launch the second issue of “Thinking Woman’s Magazine” Fat Quarter [Run Riot]
13 Sept 2010
Daily MPfree: Trouble Books
Wife-husband duo Trouble Books make music so beautiful, warm and good-natured that you don’t just want them to be a band, but also form a political party and be voted leaders of the world. Their music feels like a breath of fresh air from some half-imagined arcadian paradise, in a similar way to, say, Joanna Newsom or Brightblack Morning Light. They are playing a rare London show at The Betsy Trotwood on Tuesday. I’d strongly suggest impulse-buying some tickets right now.
There are more details on Facebook, of course.
12 Sept 2010
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- The five best places in London to have an epiphany
- Number of people using Thames cable car plunges
- The best church names in London, and where they come from
- An interview with Desiree Akhavan
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
- Hope and despair in Woolwich town centre
- Peter Bayley has worked for 50 years as a cinema projectionist in East Finchley
- A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
- Margaret Thatcher statue rejected by public
- Silencing the Brick Lane curry touts could be fatal for the city's self-esteem
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