Hope for a Chugger-Free London!

I really don't like the litany of street canvassers clogging up London's already crowded pavements. And, I know from a (very) brief stint as a "chugger" in my early twenties that, despite the fact that most of the folks out on the streets have big hearts and good intentions, there's a lot of bullshit involved. Anyway, here's a reassuring report from the BBC about a new Intelligent Giving study confirming that chuggers are indeed an "inefficient way of giving and they give charities a bad name and they harass people and put them out - and we think that's behaviour that charities shouldn't be indulging in."

Call for street canvasser boycott
Charity street fundraisers should be avoided by people looking to make donations, a watchdog has warned.
BBC News
Page last updated at 20:35 GMT, Monday, 24 November 2008

We reached a pretty solid conclusion: never give to street fundraisers," the report concluded.
"Instead, find out which charity you really like, and give via its website."

Read the complete article at the BBC News website.

(P)review: BBC Good Food Show

(P)review: BBC Good Food Show
Chris Osburn, Food & Drink Editor
Londonist
November 14, 2008



Anyway, if you like large conventions and don’t feel that you’re up on current food and cooking trends, the Good Food Show might be just the thing. Otherwise, if you really want to indulge in a foodie weekend, you’re better off simply heading over to Borough Market or your local farmers market.

Read the complet BBC Good Food Show post at Londonist.

Boris Johnson is Mayor of London

Elections 2008
Boris Johnson has won the race to become the next mayor of London - ending Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign at City Hall.
BBC News
Page last updated at 08:27 GMT, Saturday, 3 May 2008 09:27 UK

The Conservative candidate won with 1,168,738 first and second preference votes, compared with Mr Livingstone's 1,028,966 on a record turnout of 45%.

Click here for complete article.

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Boris Wins!
By M@
Londonist
May 2, 2008

So, as a buoyant BJ sucks the glass testicle from Ken's lap, will London find itself in a sticky mess, or stand proud for a new era?

Click here for complete post.

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Johnson snatches Tories' biggest prize
guardian.co.uk, UK - 9 hours ago
Boris Johnson last night notched up the Tories' greatest electoral success since John Major's surprise victory in the 1992 general election when he unseated ...
Johnson snatches Tories' biggest prize Guardian Unlimited
Johnson's speech in full guardian.co.uk
It's the Standard wot won it: newspaper backed Boris throughout ... guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk - guardian.co.ukall 1,727 news articles »

Freshly Packed Suitcase Full of Misery at T5

Fresh baggage woes at Terminal 5
Hopes of Heathrow's Terminal 5 operating its first full schedule of flights have been scuppered by a new glitch with the baggage system.
BBC News
Page last updated at 13:19 GMT, Saturday, 5 April 2008 14:19 UK

Airport operator BAA's computer system which sorts bags before they are loaded onto flights malfunctioned and manual sorting had to be carried out.

Click here for complete article.

Graffiti Coming to Tate Modern

I suppose it was only a matter of time. Is this the beginning of the end, a new beginning or the end full stop?

Street art to adorn Tate's walls
A series of giant graffiti-style murals are to be painted on the walls of London's Tate Modern gallery for its summer season.
BBC News
Page last updated at 08:50 GMT, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 09:50 UK

The artworks will be displayed for three months from 23 May ... A Tate spokesman said a protective coating would be placed on the wall to avoid damage when they are removed.

Click here for complete article.

Harman Compares South London to "Meat Factory"

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman seems to have taken a cue from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on surviving in London's urban jungle.

Harman defends wearing stab vest
Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has defended her decision to wear a stab proof jacket during a police walkabout in her south London constituency.
BBC News
Page last updated at 13:59 GMT, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 14:59 UK
















She said it was like wearing a white hairnet when visiting a meat factory.

Click here for complete article.

T5 Nightmare Continues

What did go wrong at Terminal 5?
Seventy flights have been cancelled in the last two days as teething problems at Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5 caused chaos. But what actually went wrong?
BBC News
Page last updated at 18:43 GMT, Friday, 28 March 2008

The problems appear to be due to a combination of factors.

Click here for complete article.

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BA promising Terminal 5 fix soon
The Press Association - 1 hour ago
BA has moved to reassure air passengers contemplating a third day of travel chaos at Heathrow's Terminal Five (T5) by revealing that just 37 flights would ...

British Airways boss Willie Walsh refuses to quit after Heathrow chaos
Mirror.co.uk, UK - 1 hour ago
Arch-rivals Virgin Atlantic stuck the boot in, saying BA had been given a wonderful gift with T5 "but they couldn't unwrap it properly". ...

Disruption at T5 enters third day
BBC News, UK - 2 hours ago
Cancelled flights, a temporary suspension in luggage check-in and baggage delays blighted the opening day of T5 on Thursday, leaving many passengers ...

Day 2 At T5 .. And It's Business As Usual
Glasgow Daily Record, UK - 3 hours ago
Scheduled flights from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen were axed as T5 saw a second day of long queues, cancellations and baggage delays. ...

SEEING RED IN STYLE
Mirror.co.uk, UK - 3 hours ago
In fact the staff at T5 were faultless - impossibly patient, relentlessly cheerful and endearingly helpful. All in all, it was a very British day out - 18 ...

COMPO TO COST DEAR
Mirror.co.uk, UK - 3 hours ago
The T5 debacle will cost BA millions - but it may try to get some of the cash back from the British Airports Authority, which technically runs the building. ...

ERRORS PILED UP ALL DAY
Mirror.co.uk, UK - 3 hours ago
When they finally got into T5, a programming error meant staff could not log into the baggage handling computer. Passengers arrived to find check-ins ...

Tube Strike: Here We (Don't) Go Again

Three day Tube strike announced
A 72-hour strike on the London Underground is planned by rail unions in a row over safety.
BBC News
Last Updated: Friday, 28 March 2008, 12:18 GMT

A strike from 1830 GMT on 6 April to 9 April is planned by the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA).

Click here for complete article.

T5: Big and British = Cock Up?

Baggage halted at new £4.3bn T5
Flights from Heathrow's new £4.3bn Terminal 5 are departing with hand baggage only after luggage check-in was suspended due to technical problems.
BBC News
Last Updated: Thursday, 27 March 2008, 19:43 GMT

British Airways, which has sole use of T5, announced check-in of all hold luggage was suspended until Friday. The airline has already cancelled 34 flights because of baggage system problems and passengers have had to wait up to four hours for luggage.

Click here for complete article.

T5 Opens - No Fingerprints

Heathrow's T5 open to passengers
Heathrow's new Terminal 5 has opened to the public as British Airways begins operating from the building.
BBC News
Last Updated: Thursday, 27 March 2008, 07:59 GMT

A BA flight from Hong Kong was the first to arrive at the £4.3bn facility. The first departure was at 0620 GMT, when a service left for Paris.

Click here for complete article.

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'Hassle Heathrow' new terminal opens
CNN International - 44 minutes ago
With 60 aircraft stands actually attached to two new buildings, "T5" can handle dozens of planes at the same time -- including the new Airbus A380 ...

Terminal 5 opens its doors
Guardian, UK - 7 minutes ago
Travellers on the first arrival at T5, flight BA026 from Hong Kong, reported no major problems with baggage or long queues at immigration - two of the ...

Heathrow's T5 Adds Passengers, Fails to Stop Delays (Update1)
Bloomberg - 1 minute ago``T5 was actually designed in the early 1990s and so is already out of date,'' Steve Ridgway, Virgin's chief executive officer, said in an e-mailed response ...

BAA axes T5 fingerprinting plan
Guardian, UK - 4 hours ago
Airport operator BAA will not be taking fingerprints of passengers using Heathrow's £4.3 billion Terminal 5 (T5) following doubts over the legality of such ...

Flash mob demo expected as T5 opens The Press Association
Heathrow T5 opens amid tight security Reuters UK
Protests planned as T5 opens for business ITN
TeleText - MSNBCall 321 news articles »

London 2012 Won't Go Down with the Ship

London 2012 to shelve ship idea
Plans to promote the 2012 Olympics using a ship sailing around the world advertising Britain's "cultural riches" have been ditched, the BBC has learned.
James Pearce BBC Sports News Correspondent
BBC News
Last Updated: Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 17:21 GMT

London's bid book claimed the ship would: "... carry a cargo emblematic of the UK's cultural riches.

Click here for complete article.

Camden Market Update

Probe begins at market fire site
The Press Association - Feb 12, 2008
Investigators are hoping to get access to part of London's Camden Market which has been ravaged by fire. The London Fire Brigade's investigation team began ...

Cash help for Camden Market traders
The Press Association - Feb 12, 2008
An emergency financial package will be offered to stallholders in a bid to get Camden Market "back up and running" after Saturday's devastating fire, ...

Cash plan to aid fire-hit market
BBC News, UK - Feb 12, 2008
"That is why I am announcing this recovery package and my commitment to work with [other agencies] and the Camden Market Traders to design the most ...

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From the Camden Council Website

The area affected is the relatively small area known as Canal Street market
Download: Map of the affected areas (PDF 118KB)

The police cordon restricts pedestrian access in the area bounded by:
Chalk Farm Road at the Camden Lock Bridge,
Chalk Farm Road at junction with Hawley Street (north of the incident)
Castlehaven Road by the community centre.
Download: Map of the affected areas (PDF 118KB)

Camden Market Fire

Crews tackle London market fire
BBC News, UK - 37 minutes ago
A number of people are reportedly trapped in a serious blaze at London's famous Camden Market, according to the London Fire Brigade. ...
Major fire consumes famous market The Press Association
Camden Market goes up in flames ITN
all 12 news articles »

Major fire consumes famous market
The Press Association - 33 minutes ago
Firefighters are tackling a blaze at London's famous Camden Market. A spokesman for London Fire Brigade confirmed it was a "major fire" and said eight fire ...

Breaking News: Camden Market on Fire
58 minutes ago by M@
A major fire has broken out in Camden Town. Part of the Canal Market caught fire around 7pm. As dense black smoke bellowed out from beneath shutters at least four fire engines and a surveillance helicopter rushed to the scene. ...
Londonist - http://londonist.com/

Fears for lives as major fire breaks out in Camden
Times Online, UK - 33 minutes ago
More than 100 firefighters are this evening tackling a major fire at Camden Market in London. The fire was still spreading at about 8.30pm and London Fire ...

Major fire consumes famous market
Metro, UK - 58 minutes ago
A spokesman for London Fire Brigade confirmed it was a "major fire" and said eight fire engines were in attendance following a 999 call. ...Children ‘should be banned from TV’ Metro
all 7 news articles »

Bonhams Urban Art Auction News (Banksy/Graffiti)

Kate Moss Banksy print fetches £96k
Times Online, UK - Feb 6, 2008
The auction signalled another step towards the mainstream for the genre, with 75 pieces of "urban art" in the catalogue. Spray-paint and stencils featured ...Banksy's Chimpanzee Picture Sells for 228000 Pounds (Update1) Bloomberg First auction of 'street art' kicks off in London all 11 news articles »

Urban art enters mainstream
Financial Times, UK - Feb 6, 2008
But now urban art, as practised by its young champions Banksy and Adam Neate, has officially entered the artistic mainstream, with its own auction at ...

Art bucks recession fear
Guardian Unlimited, UK - Feb 6, 2008
Over at Bonhams auction house last night the world's first sale of urban art saw a Banksy screenprint of Kate Moss, a pastiche of Andy Warhol's portrait of ...

First auction of 'street art' kicks off in London
AFP - Feb 6, 2008
Bonhams is planning more auctions of urban art in the future, he added. Last month, a wall painted on by Banksy, depicting a classical-looking artist in ...How Banksy made graffiti popular with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Times Online all 6 news articles »

'I made £20k in three minutes'
BBC News, UK - Feb 6, 2008
We sold it at Bonhams in the world's first urban art auction because we need the money to pay off a debt. We're both practical about it because we've got no ...

Banksy's portrait of Kate Moss sells for US$191000
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria - Feb 6, 2008
«By definition (urban art) is an ephemeral art form, often disappearing as fast as it appears,» Gareth Williams, senior picture specialist at Bonhams. ...

Those neglected and iconic old red phone boxes

Although this article is set in Oxford, I think it rings true for London as well.

Who uses phone boxes?
Payphone use has halved in three years, says BT, mainly due to mobile phones. So who still uses them?
By Tom Geoghegan
BBC News Magazine, Oxford
Last Updated: Wednesday, 6 February 2008, 06:26 GMT

Much like the Routemaster bus, the red phone box is associated with an age of innocence, despite the vandalism, the prostitutes' calling cards and the urinating that blighted it.

Click here for complete article.


Photography by Chris Osburn © 2007

People Don't Walk in Hackney after Dark?

Smith admits London street fear
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has admitted she would not feel safe walking around London after dark.
BBC News
Last Updated: Sunday, 20 January 2008, 11:59 GMT

In the interview with the Sunday Times, Ms Smith was asked why she would not feel safe on Hackney's streets at night. She replied: "Well, I just don't think that's a thing that people do, is it, really?"

Click here for complete article.


Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008

Big Bucks for Banksy Wall

Banksy wall could fetch £200,000
A businessman is hoping to make over £200,000 by selling a wall which was painted on by graffiti artist Banksy.
BBC News
Last Updated: Monday, 14 January 2008, 13:05 GMT










The graffiti, on the side of a media production firm's base on west London's Portobello Road, shows a painter finishing off the word "Banksy".

Click here for complete article.

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£208,100 eBay bid for Banksy wall
Online bidding for a wall painted on by graffiti artist Banksy has closed with a final bid of £208,100.
BBC News
Last Updated: Monday, 14 January 2008, 20:49 GMT

Bobby Read, art expert at specialist insurer Hiscox, said: "Banksy is a maverick as well as a hugely talented artist. It's an intoxicating combination for buyers as this price shows.

Click here for complete article.

Olympics 2012 Security: Let's Get it Right!

Peer warns over Olympics security
The safety of the 2012 Olympics could be jeopardised if the government fails to make clear how transport security will be funded, a peer has said.
BBC News
Last Updated: Monday, 7 January 2008, 17:28 GMT

He said: "Eighty per cent of people attending the London 2012 games will do so by using the rail network and that will require a capacity to move and ensure the security of a peak of 240,000 people an hour using rail services to and from the Olympic park."

Click here for complete article.

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Image courtesy of mysistersabarista' s photostream on Flickr.

East London Braced for Olympic Cock-up?

Is time running out for Olympic legacy?
In areas of east London destined to benefit from the legacy of the 2012 Olympic games there are concerns that time is running out for the regeneration plans to be finalised if they are to yield the hoped-for benefits.
By June Woolerton
BBC News
Last Updated: Sunday, 18 November 2007, 00:13 GMT

"The people of east London have learned not to get their hopes up too high because sometimes big projects deliver, sometimes they don't and we're hoping that the Olympics doesn't fail because if it does fail it will be failing the people of east London."

Click here for complete article.

Photography courtesy of ninebelow's photostream on Flickr.

East London Fire

Major fire at Olympic Games site
A huge blaze has broken out in east London close to where the main stadium for the London Olympics will be built.
BBC News
Last Updated: Monday, 12 November 2007, 13:58 GMT

The London Fire Brigade were called at 1206 GMT on Monday to reports of a fire at a disused warehouse in Waterden Road, Hackney Wick, near Stratford.

Click here for complete article.

Photography courtesy of garretkeogh's photostream on Flickr.