Friday

Happy Friday!

Finally the weekend has arrived, and we're having a nice little heat wave to boot.  I plan on sipping some Pimms in my parents garden after rummaging about in the charity shops that populate the high street.  They're not quite as dazzlingly cheap and full of the weird and wonderful as their counterparts on the Isle of Wight but they still always have something I want.  Usually things my brother calls 'granny' and I call fabulous...but then anything a bit weird, out of fashion and potentially useful always has a place in my home.

Until then drinks outside in the unseasonably warm weather lay ahead.

I think this paving slab that's been put in in the pavement outside my work sums it up beautifully...

May the force be with you

Is this, or is this not the coolest thing in the world….well, in London last night anyhow.

The BT Tower was turned into a giant lightsaber for the evening to celebrate George Lucas rinsing yet more money from the ruination of my childhood…I mean, releasing some new version of Star Wars on blue ray.

Having spent last weekend re-watching the original versions of the Star Wars trilogy (I refuse to recognise the god-awful ‘prequels’) I can attest to them still being Awe.Some. and well worth watching, although perhaps not with me as I have developed the irritating habit of quoting the film just before the character says the line, with extreme overacting.  I know, I know…irritating and awful.

May the force be with you.

Current interior decorating obession

Last year, just before Christmas I finally finished refurbishing my flat...well, my Dad and the nice builders did the majority of the work but I was living there through it, which felt like I was doing the slog.  Now, shamefully, it is getting to a year landmark and I am still yet to attach a single picture to the (perfectly painted) walls.  It's just so very difficult to decide what I want.

This was once my kitchen.

A drastic improvement I'm sure you'll agree!

My Dad working hard while I make the tea.

I go through phases with my flat, every few months I'll re-arrange all the furniture and then sit back and consider if it's in the 'right' places and if it is 'better' than where it was before.  I still have a futon I don't need but can't bear to part with as it might be useful...not sure how but you never know.  I need a wardrobe for my bedroom as the current cupboard I have only works space wise if half my clothes are in the wash at any given time.  And the ugly-ass armchair my Nan gave me, the result of a miscommunication about which chair she was donating, and sofas inherited from my Grandparents are a bit of a blight on the lounge.

Ugly sofa...now dyed blue and minus it's covers but the chintz shines through.

So, not nearly there really but I want to get things I really love, with character and a distinct style, rather than a job lot of blank canvases from Ikea...although some days the temptation is strong.  My current obsession is with finding a home for all my books.  My dad built some shelves in an alcove but they only hold about half my library (slight delusions of grandeur...) so I got some very cool invisible shelves that need to go up and then I saw Bookshelf Porn, basically a book storage obsessive's nirvana.  Amazing...I feel inspired to actually do something!

Thames Festival Sunday stroll

Despite wanting to do nothing except sleep yesterday I eventually hauled myself away from the sofa and up to Southbank, where Sam rewarded me with brekkie at Giraffe (spoilt? Moi?).  Burritos may not be traditional but at 2pm it seemed fitting…

The Thames Festival was in full swing so we sat on a giant faux-grass sofa outside the national Theatre and watched a man called Gareth do some juggling, audience abusing and general entertainment.  It was actually pretty good and it was lovely to see so many people from different walks of life out enjoying the sunshine wandering about and generally being in a good mood.

After meeting up with some friends we wandered about see statues and art-y bits, such as this sign, which says 'we wanted to be the sky' and catching a mad Korean area, with K-Pop stands (karaoke to you and I) and a slightly confusing stage play going on, involving a lot of screeching.  In my sleep walking state it was a little surreal.

There was to be a parade later in the day and when we ducked down the backstreets to avoid shuffling along in the crowds we saw them all prepping for it, getting the costumes and puppets sorted out.

These clogs are surely the ultimate in uncomfortable foot wear – the poor guy was being literally strapped into them.  He didn’t seem to mind though and did a quick jig to test them out when they were secured.

We wandered off home and saw this cool building where co-ordinated offices of post-it note users had created cool space invaders.

I also really like that around London Bridge/ Southwark there are so many signs on the streets such as these handy man hole covers…although if I were workmen tasked with looking at theses I don’t think I’d be able to resist returning them to the holes the wrong way round ‘by accident’.

3 things…

…I was surprised to see this week.

The good – These two awesomely dressed men nattering away whilst standing outside Liverpool Street station waiting for a bus, completely nonchalant to the stares and admiring glances they were getting.

The bad – Marks and Spencer stocking racks of Christmas Pies already.  It’s only September.  This is just as bad, but in a different way, to the powers that be deciding to switch on the heating in Sam’s block of flats – instant sauna, yuck.

The what?! – This is some sort of limited edition trading card released when Star Wards first came out.  They took a still from the film in which apparently, the arm brace on C3PO’s costume fell off.  However, it looks like…erm…  Wrong.

Weekend antics

Another weekend, another wander about.  After spending all day re-arranging my lounge furniture for the millionth time…a habit I’ve inherited from my Mum…I went out for a lovely dinner with friends in Battersea, aka the wilds of south London Town, and a few drinks.  Well, more than a few actually but anywho.

Sunday we went to the King Robbo fundraiser at Cargo, which was rubbish.  I’m all for helping with a charitable donation (£5 minimum on the door) but the graffiti art and artists doing pieces were sadly absent, the music was ear-bleedingly loud for a Sunday lunchtime and it had been raining outside and was too wet to sit anywhere.  So far so annoying.  Then I got into a stand off with the bar staff. 

Me: Two cans of coke please.

Barman: That’ll be £6.

Me: Are you joking? (I honestly thought he was taking the mick as I was clearly hungover.)

Barman: No, £6.

Me: Seriously? For two cans of coke?

Barman: *looks a bit awkward*

Me: Well I’m not paying that. *walk off*

I was somewhat cheered to hear a lady later on having the same exchange but it really was a rip-off so we left after about an hour and mooched towards Brick Lane and sat on the pavement for a bit before Sam and I decided my sofa might be more comfy and we did have Star Wars to watch and curry to order…

This cheered me up though, good at hoola hooping, bad at backwards window spelling…

Silver brick spotted!  One of many apparently out to promote Shoreditch Unbound, a new book thing.  Very exclusive, dah-ling.

And then this morning on my way to work the nice people* at Santander had arranged for a giant F1 car made of giant lego to be assembled in the square.

*Yes, I know they’re evil, useless bastards but some of them must be alright.  Right?

Bank Holiday Weekend Trip aka Samfest 2011

So...August Bank Holiday, which means a trip to the Isle of Wight with a gang of people, camp fires, fish'n'chips and beer, fun and outdoor-sy-ness to celebrate Sam getting another year older.  It's also a bit of a marker as I met Sam for the first time last year on this trip, having been talked into it by our mutual friend Mary.  How much changes in a year!

Now, I am not the most outdoor activity type person, even if I have recent taken up swimming at the heated London Fields lido, but even so it was a lovely weekend.  This year we decided against camping (brrrr...cold) and instead stayed in the house, which made it very luxurious.

We set up the camp fire and emergency shelter (otherwise known as the tent) then headed to the beach where the majority of us had a few beers and enjoyed the sea-air and a couple of mad people swam.  I mean, bobble hat weather is not the same as beachwear weather, even if you are wearing a wetsuit and the sun comes out.  Hot beverages aided recovery though.

The evening was spent around the campfire, eating off the BBQ, toasting marshmallows and generally watching the menfolk burn stuff until it was at times a towering inferno.  Sam took some beautiful pictures with his posh camera and a long exposure.

Kudos to the attendees who bought glow sticks.  Much fun was had writing words (not repeatable most of them on a nice blog like this one) and getting shots like this one, which is amazing.  Watching your friends flap about with glow sticks before chucking them at the camera holder does not look particularly impressive until you see the effects on screen.

After one successful BBQ it was felt that the seaside setting demanded that we eat fish'n'chips.  I think the local shop was a bit overwhelmed when all 12 of us marched in, effectively quadrupling their clientèle. We opted to eat by the sea, watching the beautiful sunset, then lit our way home with mobile phone torches past cows, fields and tiny old lanes.  Pretty much the least London evening you can have...except for the fact that none of us took torches.

An array of games were played - cricket, rounders, poker, pool, pucket - trampolines and garden swings were fully utilised and gardens were lazed in.  I like this picture as it looks as if Sam's levitating.

On the last day the sun shone and the temperature rose so we hopped on bicycles and headed for another beach and ate ice creams before bidding adieu to the weekend getaway and hello to London Town once again.