Happy Halloween from ontoLondon!

Happy Halloween from London!
Photograph by Tiki Chris © 2006
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Weekly Photo (26 October 2006)

Pink and Creepy
Photograph by Tiki Chris © 2006
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Virtually free Guy Fawkes and Anne Boleyn

Tower of London takes visitors on a mobile adventure
Off with his head! HP provides the technology to free a virtual Guy Fawkes.
Lisa Kelly, Computing
vnunet.com
ADVERTISEMENT
24 Oct 2006

The Tower of London is launching a location-aware adventure game in which visitors help virtual prisoners such as Guy Fawkes and Anne Boleyn to escape from its custody.

Click here to read the full advertisement.

Weekly Photo (19 October 2006)

Scary Halloween Lady
Photograph by Laurel Parker © 2006
Check out more of Laurel's brilliant work at film production company Mobley Street.

Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Check out the new black cab for London

New London black cab unveiled
A re-styled and more environmentally friendly version of London's iconic black cab has been unveiled.
BBC News
Last Updated: Wednesday, 18 October 2006, 15:45 GMT 16:45 UK

Called TX4, the new cabs will sport a mesh grille on its front-end and its interiors have been upgraded to make the ride more comfortable.



Click here to read the complete article.

Arm + leg = movie ticket in London?

London 'costliest' for film-goers
Cinema-goers in London pay up to three times more for movie tickets than film-buffs in other European capital cities, new research has revealed.
BBC News
Last Updated: Tuesday, 17 October 2006, 21:31 GMT 22:31 UK

The survey, carried out by London Assembly's Liberal Democrats, found an adult ticket at Leicester Square can cost £12.45 more than in Europe.

Click here to read the complete article.

Velázquez at the National Gallery

National Gallery
Trafalgar Square

18 Oct 2006 - 21 Jan 2007

Opening times:
10am - 6pm daily(last admissions 5.15pm)
10am - 9pm Wed & Sat (last admissions 8.15pm)
10am - 6pm Sat 23 Dec (last admissions 5.15pm)

Gallery closed:
24, 25, 26 Dec & 1 Jan

Location:
Getty Entrance

Tickets:
A timed entry system will be in operation.
Advance booking is highly recommended.

For the first time in Britain, a major exhibition will trace the career of one of the very greatest painters - Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660).

Click here for more information at the National Gallery's website.

Weekly Photo (12 October 2006)

Portobello Road
Photograph by Tiki Chris © 2006
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Cool Britania: ice sculpture has eco-message for Blair

Ice sculpture of Blair unveiled
A 4ft ice sculpture of Prime Minister Tony Blair's head has been unveiled by environmental activists.
BBC NEWS
Last Updated: Wednesday, 11 October 2006, 12:44 GMT 13:44 UK

The bust, located in Trafalgar Square, contains a book by campaign group Stop Climate Chaos ...
[whose] director Ashok Sinha said: "The ice sculpture symbolises the fact that time is running out for Tony Blair to take action."

Click here to read the complete article.

Disney does Sir Elton John

Did anybody else chuckle when they saw this pic on page 7 of thelondonpaper yesterday? Hilarious.

Clerkenwell Film and Video Festival: all about London

In its fourth year, the Clerkenwell Film and Video Festival will present "an event inspired exclusively by our amazing capital - London."

Friday 20 October 2006

Venue:
Crypt on the Green
St James Church
Clerkenwell Green
London EC1

Patrons:
Film Director Ken Russell
Actor David Thewlis
Video Artist Keith Piper

Click here for more details.

Max Brooks to host Barbican zombie fest

Max Brooks' Festival of the (Living) Dead!
14-18 November 2006 at the Barbican Centre

"A gore-tastic film season of flesh tearing, gut-wrenching zombie horrors," hand picked by author of the Zombie Survival Guide Max Brooks and featuring Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Dead Meat, Wild Zero, and Versus. Yes!

Click here for more details.

Weekly Photo (5 October 2006)

Strong Selling Point

Photograph by Emiana © 2006
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

London as told by Yuki

Yuki, a twenty year old anthropology student and freelance artist, has just moved to London from Japan. She likes “techno music, sappy chick flicks, shopping for clothes, taking candid portraits of people, eating good food,” and she also likes to post refreshingly honest and quirky bits about her experiences in London at her blog, Kissui.net.

Here’s a bit about couples from her blog:

They hold hands all the time. Men put their hands on/down their partners’ asses walking down the street. They have dry sex in the parks. They French kiss on train platforms. They hold each other like no tomorrow on escalators. I wonder if any of these have to do with the divorce rates being so high. One thing I noticed about iterracial couples is that while in Japan, most of what you can spot are white men - Asian women couples, right here there are actually black men - white women couples. From Othello and everything, I’d have thought that this combination would be rare to exist. I was completely wrong, the world is bigger than that! There are lots of gay couples and it just makes me smile to see boys walking holding hands.

If you’re interested in getting another take on London, I recommend checking out Yuki’s blog.

Special thanks to ontoLondon reader Beth for pointing me in the direction of this blog.

International Tattoo Convention

The Second Annual London International Tattoo Convention happens this weekend at the Old Truman Brewery at Brick Lane.

Click here for more details.

Coming soon to exotic Mayfair: Mahiki

UPDATED 5 December 2006: Mahiki now open!