Dave

...He says I left things a little cryptic in the last post so I'll let you in on the not-so-secret....
We're in love!

On Monday night it snowed for the first time in London this year, unusually for the season. When I was walking to the station yesterday morning, there was a blanket of white in Finsbury Park.

True Blue

I did manage to complete my mission... though slightly distracted I must say! Thanks to Miss Pen Pen I managed to catch a stunning art installation by Roger Hiorns called Seizure.
Here's an excerpt of the Artangel booklet:

British artist Roger Hiorns uses unusual materials to effect surprising transformations on found objects and urban situations. Fire emerges from storm drains, perfume permeates metal surfaces, and copper sulphate crystals colonise industrial objects.

Over recent years Hiorns has engineered crystal activity on a range of objects emblematic of rational structures of human knowledge and industrial power. Removed from their original function, car engines and architect's models of cathedrals take on new lives of their own, as strange totems encrusted by a brilliant crystal growth.

SEIZURE, Hiorn's first major sculptural project within an urban site, marks a radical shift in scale and context in his work. The artist encourages the growth of an unexpected crystal form within a low-rise late-modernist development near the Elephant & Castle in south London.

Awaiting demolition, the concrete cloisters play host to a surprising chemical reclamation as the crystals begin to take over the interior of one of the flats.

The building itself is easy to miss, but there's a subtle queue of people waiting to be fitted with a pair of gumboots, which adds to the novelty of the experience. It does take a while so bring someone to chat to! Gloves are optional and you are allowed to touch the crystals. Entering the unit is like entering an ice cave or an alien landscape of pure blue crystals and moonscape floors. I was awed by the pure blue colour and the uniformity and strange beauty of the crystals in mass effect, like a strange growth or cut geode invading the city.

The address is:151-189 Harper Road, London SE1 6AE, closest tube : Elephant and Castle. Extended until 30 November 2008.

...Photo credits to my exemplary co-pilot Dave... also the source of said distraction. (-:

Miss Pen Pen

Lovely Miss Pen Pen of Cottage Industry in Melbourne has given me a fabulous mission... I'm so excited! Thank you Pen! This reminds me of the experiments we used to do with super-saturated copper sulphate crystals in third form science, such a pretty colour. Pen has the cooliest shop, it's on Gertrude Street.

Borough Market

Spot Bridget Jones's flat! Here is Borough Market, near London Bridge.




Lovely and unusual produce. My favourites were the Romanesco Cauliflowers and Puffball Mushrooms.

After all of this, I guess you might be at risk of getting one of these...

Tagged by a Wee Birdy

Clever Londonista Wee Birdy was sweet enough to tag me for this new meme! I've been led to a few new interesting places in London by her, many thanks.

1. Four places I go to over and over:
- The V&A
- Sunday UpMarket, Brick Lane
- Cass Art London, Islington
- The 'quirky bowerbird' (I don't know if it officially has a name!) stall in Camden Passage

2. Four people who email me regularly: (ok, I'll cheat a little for privacy- these are people I see online regularly!)
- Meet Me At Mikes
- Muntedkowhai
- RoseMask
-Angsanarts

3. Four places I would rather be right now: (London, where I am! But if I weren't here...)

- Stockholm, exploring another city

- Enjoying Spring at home in Christchurch, New Zealand

- Visiting Versailles or the Loire Valley

-Favourite hidey-hole of Akaroa, New Zealand

4. Four of my favourite places to eat:
- The Tart Stall, Sunday Upmarket
- Laduree, on Les Champs-Elysees, Paris (I'm going to stop by their London Branch in Harrods tomorrow)
- Italy's gelato shops and pizzerias
- Chinatown

5. Four people I'm tagging:
- Muntedkowhai
- miss pen pen
- Meet Me at Mikes
- Tiny Happy

6. Four TV shows I watch over and over:

-The Green Wing
- Grey's Anatomy
- Sex and the City
- Men in Trees

I just found out one of my colleagues at work was an extra/dancer in the new Pride and Prejudice movie featuring Keira Knightley, so I'm going to re-watch it and see if I can spot her! I am off to Borough Markets tomorrow with Jamie and Kate, then onwards to my first expedition to Harrods...

Hello Josh Hartnett!

I've just been to see Rain Man at the Apollo Theatre with Kate. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night. We had work drinks at the pub down the road for Stuart's last week, then we left to find our way to the theatre. My first live run-in with a Hollywood prince. (-: The play was awesome and at the end Kate and I braved the cold (so tired and un-glamorous as you can see in my pic, but excited!) to stand outside the Apollo stage door and we were rewarded... we both have his autograph and Kate managed to get some great snaps on my camera. Thank you and well done, Kate. Yes, Josh is a good actor on stage, and yes he is very handsome in real life!

Autumn Picnic in Holland Park

Great idea, Kate! We met at Holland Park Station and walked through the woodlands. Kate and Em were hopeful about seeing some peacocks and I thought there were rabbits in this park but we only saw squirrels and some koi carp in the Kyoto Gardens. It was such a beautiful day though, and we managed to soak up and appreciate some rays. We had a super girlie feast laid out with strawberries and champagne, smoked salmon, hummus, eggplant dip, fresh bread from Borough Market, camembert, tomato, baby spinach and Ryvita, scotch eggs and later on some TimTams brought over from Australia.

Made You Look

The weather report was brilliant, so I ventured out to the city today....Notting Hill was glowing.


There were some interesting things to look at around the Tube Station. The new Bingo Wings edition of the Virgin Active ads. And a cameo of Queen Victoria at Victoria Tube Station. I finally made it to Marylebone Lane to see VV Roleaux the haberdashery store and The Button Queen. VV's was lovely, the kind of shop that makes you want to be a fashion designer (or at least have a sewing machine, just so you had an excuse to buy lots of ribbon!). I found out about this neat place through Wee Birdy.The Button Queen was a bit disappointing though, nothing there to tempt me today, although there was a large assortment of military buttons. The Button Lady in Hampstead Heath looks like it will be more interesting.



I met up with Joel and Clare at Sloane Square to check out the new exhibition of Chinese contemporary artists at the Saatchi Gallery. The work there was a mixture, with pieces that looked like they had come from the set of a horror movie (life sized mutated models hanging off the rafters, giant naked people), disturbing pieces -resin life-sized self-portrait sculpture licking the floor, waxwork like figures sat on powered wheelchairs circling the gallery floor, a plucked life-sized fallen angel that looked like it had chicken wings, paintings and shock factor sculptures like the 'giant poo'.

Famous buildings made up of dog-chews.


The black and white pictures are made of burnt incense sticks. Joel and the giant poo - there are tiny model soldiers within the piece.


David, but not as you know him...



I must say the exhibition wasn't to my taste and quite a bit of it was disturbing and/or political, but it was interesting to go to something different and explore another part of the city.

It's looking splendid in Autumn, I'll be off to a picnic with friends tomorrow if the weather stays like this. Hope so. xxx