Jonathan Franzen reads at Serpentine, glasses stolen off face, ransom note delivered, and helicopter scrambled
That Bond Street jewellery robbery had nothing on this. Jonathan Franzer was minding his own business at a Serpentine Gallery party for the launch the of his new novel Freedom last night when someone came up to him and—yoink—pulled off his glasses, dropped a ransom note for £100,000 and jumped into the water. A man has been arrested. Franzen is described by onlookers as “extremely disgruntled.”
Jonathan Franzen: thief steals author’s glasses and demands ransom at book launch party
05 Oct 2010
The End Times: Time Out New York editor coming home, London marathon teardown, Velvet tea party
The End Times: Time Out New York editor coming home, London marathon teardown, Velvet tea party
1. Methodical, step-by-step tear-down of the marathon route [Diamond Geezer]
2. Time Out New York editor-in-chief Michael Freidson is leaving the magazine for a job in London [NY Observer]
3. Does it matter if the Velvet Underground’s Moe Tucker is a Tea Partier? [Laura Snapes, NME]
4. The Spectator’s love letter to Rough Trade East? [Spectator]
5. A video tour of the cabbies green box [Guardian]
05 Oct 2010
BBC research finds that 19% of Britain’s population is uncomfortable watching scenes of emotional intimacy between same-sex couples
BBC research finds that 19% of Britain’s population is uncomfortable watching scenes of emotional intimacy between same-sex couples. “Well, screw them” says ‘Petit Fours’ in East London lesbian site the Most Cake
The BBC’s LGB research – what is it good for? [The Most Cake]
05 Oct 2010
Squatters occupy police station, police call their lawyers
Squatters in Waltham forest have taken over the Leytonstone Police station, which has been closed and put up for sale by the Met.
“Waltham Forest Police have confirmed it has started a legal bid to evict the squatters, but a spokesman admitted it is not known how long the process will take,” says the Waltham Forest Guardian
A neighbour tells tells the paper, ““We don’t need all that round here. It’s bad enough with the drugs and the violence in Leytonstone.” No wonder the bill packed up and left.
05 Oct 2010
Cory Doctorow: people who claim to protect artists from pirates are the true scam artists
You know who peddles false hope to naive would-be artists? People who go around implying that but for all those internet pirates, there’d be full creative employment for all of us. That the reason artists earn so little is because our audiences can’t be trusted, that once we get this pesky internet thing solved, there’ll be jam tomorrow for everyone. If you want to damn someone for selling a bill of goods to creative people, go after the DRM vendors with their ridiculous claims about copy-proof files; go after the labels who say that wholesale lawsuits against fans on behalf of artists (where labels get to pocket the winnings) are good business; go after the studios who are suing to make it impossible for anyone to put independent video on the internet without a giant corporate legal budget. — Cory Doctorow
05 Oct 2010
London agenda for Tuesday 5 October
London agenda for Tuesday 5 October
1. Put on hip boots for The Day the Waters Came [Spoonfed]
2. Sell one’s soul to get tickets to the Old Vic’s rendition of Faust [Le Cool]
3. Be Of Montreal at Koko [Le Cool]
4. Make do and mend at Flashier & Trashier [Run Riot]
5. View the films of Takahiko Iimura [Run Riot]
05 Oct 2010
Dalston's Arcola Theatre forced out by luxury flats
Dalston’s Arcola Theatre is moving because the landlord wants to convert the building to high-end flats. Artistic director Mehmet Ergen told the Stage “We were trying to negotiate to stay at the Arcola Street premises, but the landlords are moving very fast with wanting to put flats on top, so they gave us our notice and we need to leave by this Christmas. We’re creating a new space, we’re not just using it as it is. We’re taking the floor out to make a much higher ceiling and a much-improved main space. It will be a big step up for the Arcola.”
Arcola plans to move up the street to the Hackney council-owned Colourworks building. But it won’t be cheap – the theatre needs £150,000 for the move.
04 Oct 2010
London agenda for Monday 4 October
London agenda for Monday 4 October
1. Abandon whimsical storytelling approach and see some proper gags with Alun Cochrane [Spoonfed]
2. It’s Meatball Mondays at the Gallery Mess [Le Cool]
3. Watch Cory Doctorow interview William Gibson at Cadogen Hall [Run Riot]
04 Oct 2010
Semantics or semetics in the Guardian
The Awl found points out a classic Guardian correction
A piece of correspondence on the letters page expressed the view that an attempt by Jewish activists on a sailing boat to break the sea blockade around Gaza this week had been important in “reasserting the Jewish tradition of standing up for the victims of injustice” (30 September, page 35). But due to an editing error, when a version of this sentence was rendered as the letter’s headline a key element, the reference to victims, was missed out, so the heading read: Reasserting the Jewish tradition of defending injustice.
03 Oct 2010
London agenda for Thursday 30 September
London agenda for Thursday 30 September
1. Show up on time and in regular attire for the Streetstyle Book Launch [Le Cool]
2. Wander through the apocolypse to Scorched [Le Cool]
3. Discover When the 60s Didn’t Swing [Run Riot]
4. Crown London’s Top Tranny [Run Riot] Note: try to crown the right one.
5. Take tea at Soho’s Secret Tea Room above the Coach & Horses [Tired of London]
30 Sep 2010
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- Summer Camp: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days
- Margaret Thatcher statue rejected by public
- The five spookiest abandoned London hospitals
- 9 poems about London: one for each of your moods
- Silencing the Brick Lane curry touts could be fatal for the city's self-esteem
- Number of people using Thames cable car plunges
- The best church names in London, and where they come from
- London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
- A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
- Diary of the shy Londoner
© 2009-2025 Snipe London.