Website of the week

First there was Frozen Grand Central.

Then there was Dancing in Liverpool Street.

Now the Belgians are it as well...



Does anyone just go to a station to catch a train anymore??

New in Town(er)

The Towner Gallery in Eastbourne was a lovely little art gallery. Set in an old house in a park in Eastbourne old town it was a bit off the beaten track but contained a marvellous blend of Sussex inspired art and wonderful abstract and contemporary pieces. Its move into contemporary art was largely due to the period when its curator was William Gear, a well respected abstract artist linked with the CoBrA artistic group.

For the past couple of years it has been closed as it prepared to move to a spanking new Rick Mather Architects designed building. The new gallery - next to the Eastbourne theatres and just off the seafront - not only offers stunning views across the Downs from its cafe; it is stunning itself.

The opening exhibitions are a suitably eclectic mix. There is a 'people's choice' selection which shows the breadth and quality of the Towner collection and includes works by William Gear, Eric Ravilious, Julian Opie, Roni Horn and Wolfgang Tilmanns. The top gallery contains Nowhere Man by Ivan Navarro - the Olympic sports pictographs from the 1972 Munich games are redone using fluorescent tubes and their stark simplicity and beauty works surprisingly well.

The ground floor has some works by local schoolchildren that have been inspired by works from the collection. The other contemporary display is, frankly, dreadful and shows everything wrong with modern art - but that is a minor blip.

Overall the place is a joy - exactly the sort of excellent gallery many cities would be proud of - never mind a small south coast resort. Although it's had some coverage in the national media - including the Observer and Wallpaper - it would have had hugely more if this gallery was in London.

Definitely worth a visit - it is an absolute gem.

Going up the Downs

Have escaped London to the South Downs and the south coast for a couple of days and am using Eastbourne as a base - which is a bit strange.

At Easter 15 years ago I first came to Eastbourne as my grandparents were looking to move there and we looked at various flats. Eventually they moved down and I've got know Eastbourne quite well over the years. I've a soft spot for the place - it's not particularly glamorous or exciting and it has perhaps a bit of faded glory. However, compared to other UK coastal towns it's doing OK - its seafront has a lot of lovely architecture that, due to good use of planning law, hasn't been ruined by tacky shopfronts. Above all it has the coast on one side and the glorious South Downs on the other.

I'm staying at a new 'funky' hotel - it's the type of place that has sofas in the bar with throw rugs and scatter cushions with 'Peace' and 'Love' stitched on them. It's OK - a bit different and a welcome addition to the other older style hotels that cater for the pensioner coach party tourist crowd. I would say the demographic here is a lot younger than most Eastbourne hotels - and it's a 1 minute walk from the theatres and the wonderful new Towner gallery. But...

Like many of these newly redone hotels they tend to have thought about style and forgotten that hotels also need to function as such. Yes the key fob is cute (see photo) and a wet room is very trendy - but there is no shaver point and a wet room simply means that the whole of the bathroom floor gets wet after a shower. Other little things are annoyances - the room has a flatscreen TV, but it's fixed to wall and can't be swivelled meaning that you can't easily watch it in bed - which is surely one of the small luxuries of a hotel stay! Breakfast is lovely, a continental style buffet rather than a cooked breakfast, which is plentiful and great - pity the breakfast room is nowhere near big enough for a hotel of this size. All of these are minor - overall the hotel is fine and a welcome change from others. But that makes the little annoyances worse - with just a little more thought the place could be wonderful.

Mind you - the trendy decor and scatter cushions look great now, but in 2 years will look dated and in need of overhaul. I mean cushions with 'Peace' and 'Love' in the hotel bar!?! Really...

Something smells fishy...

Below is a photo from yesterday's Guardian - I couldn't find a weblink so I've scanned it, hence it's quality.

The person circled is the officer alleged to have pushed Ian Tomlinson. Looking at the whole photo various questions need to be asked;

• several officers are wearing balaclavas, why? It wasn't cold on the day and they are already wearing full riot gear helmets so why the need for the balaclavas? If protesters wear them - or masks or hoodies - they are asked why - the same applies to the police,
• the officer circled doesn't seem to be wearing his identification number on his shoulders, why? Without these how do we even know he a police officer?
• the various incidents took place outside the Bank of England and Royal Exchange. This is in the heart of the City of London where there are numerous CCTV cameras - both public and private. Either the CCTV cameras will easily and quickly establish the chain of events, or this will prove that the headlong rush in to CCTV cameras is a waste of money and false investment as they will either be looking in the wrong direction, been deleted, or not be of sufficient quality,
• since February is has been an offence to film or photograph a police officer in a manner that might be of use in terrorism. Thankfully public order law was used re these demonstrations but given the wide use of terrorism law - most notoriously used to seize the money in Icelandic banks and when I last looked Iceland wasn't a hot bed of terrorism - will such filming be allowed in the future? Without an American trader happening to film this incident we may never have known about it.

We are repeatedly told when new laws are introduced that "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." This also applies to police - more so as in the UK there is the tradition of policing with the consent of the people.

Overall, something smells fishy - and in the words of Blackadder "I'm not just talking about the contents of Baldrick's apple crumble."

This story "has legs" - watch this space - more is going to come out...

Dress down Wednesday

One of those strange diary quirks meant that I had a meeting first thing this morning in the City of London.

The train was standing room only as normal but the Waterloo and City line, though busy, wasn't rammed. About halfway rumbling along the drain I looked around and it dawned on me - not a single person, male or female, was in a suit. The order of the day seemed to be casual trousers, smart jeans, fleece top or North Face jacket. It was the same at Bank station - though busy I spotted only one commuter suited and booted.

Walking to my meeting I passed the Bank of England (crush barriers ready) and the RBS offices - noticing that unlike many store and bank fronts it wasn't boarded up. The only people sporting shirt and ties seemed to be the various doormen and security guards who were very fastidiously checking people's passes before letting them in the buildings. Leaving the meeting at 10.30am I head to Liverpool St station - it's really quiet and I get the tube no problem.

I've always liked the contrasts of the Square Mile - Monday through Friday it's all hustle and bustle, and at weekends very quiet, empty and peaceful. Today was different still - it was fascinating to see how the whole atmosphere of the place changed for the better, on the tube and as people walked to work, simply because virtually everyone had 'dressed down'.

Defining Constructivism

All a bit last minute but I head off to the Rodchenko/Popova show at Tate Modern. Although I'd seen the review on The Culture Show, I wasn't really sure what to expect - modern abstract art, constructivism in graphic design and posters, good old fashioned Soviet propaganda?

What a fantastic exhibition. Geometric abstract art in vivid colours, a room of intricate sculpture (not really my thing) and wonderful posters covering everything from Communist Party promotion to Battleship Potemkin to the cover for a magazine entitled 'Syphilis' - I kid you not and I'm guessing not a big seller.

Perhaps not having any preconceived ideas going in to the exhibition I had an open mind and was more receptive to this type of art. It doesn't really matter - it is a wonderful exhibition.

It may not be your 'thing' - but go to it if you get the chance, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Sporadic Blogging

It's safe to say that my blogging in 2009 has been a bit 'light'. The last few weeks have been busy - things at work and other commitments have meant a pretty full on schedule - not quite the correct work/life balance...

Been pondering about it the past couple of weeks and am determined to try and correct the 'imbalance' - a lot seems to boil down to me being better at saying 'no' and learning that sitting around doing nothing can occasionally be 'a good thing'.

One of the results may be a return to more regular blogging.

Hey, every silver lining has a cloud... you have been warned...

Website of the week

'Progressive' isn't really a political term much in use in the UK - it's more a US term to describe the left-right split in politics.

But how progressive are you??? Take the quiz here.

It has a US bias - you can easily tell by the questions framed around the 'hot' issues in US politics such as abortion and gun control - but the results are interesting nonetheless.

My score - well let's just say I'm not an average American... ;-)

Website of the Week

Sometimes you just have to dance - whether you'd want to be caught on the Jumbotron at a Boston Celtics game is another matter...

I've Loved You So Long

Not a lot happens in this film. Juliette is released from prison after serving 15 years. She moves in with sister who makes her part of the family and gradually Juliette's bitterness, and the doubts of her sister's family, are overcome. It is a story of acceptance and a woman rebuilding her life with the support of her loving, if initially estranged, family.

Perhaps the fact that this is a French film helps - I can't but wonder if I would be as accepting of such a slow building film if it was set in, say, Yorkshire. There is also the 'novelty' of seeing Kristen Scott Thomas give a magnificent performance in French - although she has been based in France for several years she will perhaps, in many people's eyes, be best remembered as the wonderfully bitchy, and very upper class and English, Fiona in Four Weddings and Funeral. However, you have to doubt whether she would be offered such a role in a British or US film dealing with such a topic.

Whatever doubts you may have about seeing a subtitled film telling the story of a woman being released from prison, put them aside. Kristen Scott Thomas gives an outstanding performance supported by an excellent cast in a film that tells a simple story beautifully.

Website of the week

One way of dealing with telemarketeers.

Milk

Milk tells the story of Harvey Milk the first openly gay person elected to public office in America - he was later assassinated, along with the Mayor of San Francisco, by another City Supervisor.

The film captures the atmosphere of the times well, mixing in some news footage in with the drama, and combines how Harvey Milk motivated various disparate communities in order to get elected along with the personal lives of those involved. However, this is probably the film's weakness.

It can't decide whether to follow the political story - which shows the huge victimisation and bigotry that existed in the States at the time (and there are some parallels with the recent California Proposition 8) - or the personal stories of those involved. Either would make a great drama, but by trying to combine both the film is perhaps weaker than it could have been. I would have loved to delve more into the political story, the personal stories of the characters interested me less. The film also barely touches on why City Supervisor Dan White felt he had to kill Harvey Milk and the City Mayor.

Sean Penn is excellent in the lead role, and Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin are both good. However, the person who saw it with me said it was 'disengaging' and that is the exact word to use when describing this film. There is a riveting and relevant story to be told here - unfortunately this film fails to make the most of the opportunity given.

London in the snow

Often London is a great place to live - today showed that sometimes it's like living in the dark ages. Overnight approx 6 inches of snow feel on London. It wasn't a great surprise - it had been forecast since Thursday and the snow started to fall late yesterday afternoon. Yet despite this the transport system today was the worst I've ever seen it London since I moved down here over a decade.

None of the roads appeared to have been gritted. The local authorities are saying they did grit them - but on the evidence I saw today (and believe me I walked a great many miles in SW and central London) gritting looked to be minimal/non-existent. This meant no buses in London - not a single one! Six million journeys a day are made on London buses - how was that going to happen today? The really annoying thing was the main roads and bus routes were not too bad - the ones I walked along were certainly passable and on the whole pretty clear. Of course the irony is that had the buses actually been running the routes would have cleared even faster.

Quite how the tubes ground to a halt is a little strange. The Circle line - which is actually underground for its entire route - was suspended all day; as was much of the network regardless of whether it was under or overground.

As for the trains... Trains in London even on a good day can be pretty dire - today was carnage. No Southern, South Eastern or First Capital Connect services. South West trains was entirely random - I hiked a couple of miles to another station and managed to make my way into work but coming home was dreadful - not a scrap of information at Waterloo and the website described a 'skeleton' service that was, at best, largely aspirational and on the whole fictional. To top it all when I did get a train it got stuck behind one that had broken down!

I know 'adverse' weather will be difficult - but this weather was well predicted and not that 'adverse'. What really annoys me in this 'information age' was the simple lack of information. South West Trains, Network Rail and Waterloo station in particular should be thoroughly ashamed.

London is supposed to be a world city, the capital of a well developed nation, the next Olympic city. Today it proved to be 'third' world - and at times not even that.

On the plus side, with all the snow, today it did look absolutely stunning.

Website of the week

As much as I like the new T Mobile advert currently on TV in the UK at the moment - see below - I really can't help thinking they perhaps got 'inspiration' from the similar thing in New York Grand Central Station last year - also below.

T Mobile advertisment


Frozen Grand Central

Indeed, back in April 2008 I commented that I'd love to do something like it at Waterloo or St Pancras - if only I'd said Liverpool Street would I have got a percentage??

Have to say I still prefer the NYC version...

The Wrestler

Randy 'The Ram' Robinson is a wrestler who in the 80s was at the height of fame with bouts in Madison Square Gardens. Now times are a little harder and he is doing small bouts in small halls in small town America. Living in a trailer park his closet friend outside the ring seems to be a local stripper.

The bouts he's now in are far from glamorous and involve items such as barb wire, ladders and staplers. They are taking their physical toil and after one bout he has a heart attack - but he has also been offered one final large pay day with a 80s style match against 'The Ayatollah'. Can he rebuild his life outside the ring, or risk his health with one final fight?

Wonderfully shot this movie really captures the atmosphere of a ageing athlete now down on their luck. It highlights the camaraderie backstage in the world of small town wrestling, and the brutality that can occur in the ring. Ultimately it is about someone looking at their own mortality and wondering 'is that it?'

Mickey Rourke is simply excellent as The Ram - vulnerable yet reluctant to give up the only life he knows. Marisa Tomei is warm and thoughtful in a 'tart with a heart' style role as the ageing stripper who is also having to accept that ageing is impacting her 'career' - it's a role that should have been bigger, but Tomei does well with the limited screen time she's given.

Personally I felt disappointed with the ending, which felt like a cop out. However, this is Rourke's movie and, unlike The Reader, you care about his character and what happens to him - he should be a certainty for the Oscar in the best he's been in his entire career.

The Reader

Set in post war Germany The Reader is a film about Hanna Schmitz, a woman who seems to have no friends and possesses a secret, and Michael Berg, a young man/boy with whom she has an affair. The story follows their lives from the post war years through to the 60s and up to the 90s.

Directed by Stephen Daldry (probably most famous for Billy Elliot) with a screenplay by David Hare and starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes, this is the first of the 'big Oscar hopeful' movies to hit the UK in 2009. It has already been nominated for 4 Golden Globe awards.

It's pity that it is such a dull film. Coming in at just over 2 hours it does little to holder the viewer for huge chunks of it, and seems to contain at least 2 false endings if not more. The main problem is that neither of the lead characters is remotely sympathetic and you, or at least I, didn't really care what happened to them. Hanna has a secret, well two actually, and she keeps one of them even as the first, her war past, means that she is sent to prison for longer than her war crimes should dictate. If you've read the book, or even the review in the Independent which contained this plot 'twist', then you know what the 'other secret' is. Ask yourself this question - if you were in her position wouldn't you just have admitted your 'shame' rather than face a lengthy jail sentence? Would you rather be known as x than as a 'Nazi whore'? Unfortunately it's on the acceptance of her rather ludicrous decision that the whole film falls apart.

There are some good parts to the film. Kate Winslet is excellent, especially later in the film as her character ages, and the section set in the 60s around the war trials contained some thought provoking and interesting moments. But unfortunately these do not make up for a dull plot with leads you just don't care about - indeed sometimes they seem to vie for who is the most unpleasant. Ralph Fiennes reprises his 'cold and emotionally distant' acting that was last seen in The Duchess.

It's disappointing and I left the cinema wondering why this was made as pretty much a 'British' film when, having seen what German cinema has done with their history in Downfall and The Lives of Others, left in local hands it could have been so much more.

Hello to 2009

So how was your Christmas and New Year? How was 2008? Looking forward to 2009? How many more pointless questions will he ask?

The image is from one of the Christmas cards I sent to some friends - slightly tongue in cheek to build up my grumpy old man persona. The ironic thing was that the 'Bah Humbug' card was actually the most expensive type I sent!

I hope that Christmas and New Year was good for you - a time of joy, peace and celebration. How will 2009 pan out?

For me 2008 was a peculiar year. Many good things and one-off highlights that I doubt I'll repeat - trips to Buckingham Palace, 11 Downing Street and the British Grand Prix - and others I hope to repeat, though perhaps not soon - trip to the US and seeing the NFL game at Wembley. I felt happy and settled living in the part of London I do, and can happily see me staying here for some time - the first time I've felt that since moving to London in 1996. The career continued to flourish with a new role. So overall, a good year?

Well... I don't know. It must be because it had so many highlights, and yet... I end the year feeling somewhat restless. I can't pinpoint exactly what or why I feel this, I just do. It's nothing 'major' - there is no crisis, no really deep worries, no life changing thoughts. I'm not about to have a midlife crisis, buy a convertible and starting dating a "model/actress/whatever" - although that does sound fun! There is just a sort of restless unease sitting there - nothing more, nothing less.

I'm looking forward to 2009, and I hope you are too. May it be a year of what we'd like it to be - it's a new year, let's all grasp it.

I'll be back

Apologies for the unbelievable lack of blogging for the past couple of months. I'd originally hoped to do daily updates on my US holiday - but was having too much fun cramming various things in and generally being very touristy. Since coming back, the last two months have just been very busy with various things.

Anyway, I'll update and backpost the thoughts I had when on holiday and a couple of other things. Hopefully some sort of 'normal service' will resume quickly...

New York - day 2

Day 2 and I decide to something very touristy - a 3 hour boat trip around the island of Manhattan. I love the way a city can look so different from the water - London takes on a different feel on a commuter boat and Liverpool is a truly beautiful city when viewed from the Mersey.

The trip is fascinating with the guide doing a commentary which combines history with humour, interesting fact with wonderful trivia. He handles very well what could have been an awkward moment as he talks about the World Trade Center; dignified but not going in to mawkishness nor unthinking patriotism.

At one point he comments that he majored in speech and theatre at college before moving to film school and NYC (to be honest the most surprising thing he said during the entire commentary was "my wife and I"...) and whilst his career may not gone how he intended, he is in effect giving a 3 hour one man show several times a week. A highly recommended way to spend a morning in NYC.

After lunch I head to the Museum of Modern Art - no doubt the first of many galleries I'll enjoy on this trip. What a lovely building and a fascinating collection. Modern art may not be for eveyone - but I like it and this is a beautiful haven of art just off the bustle of 5th Avenue.

This weekend is the start of the NFL season and with the New York Giants being the current Superbowl champions the honour of the opening game falls to them. To celebrate there is a free NFL Kickoff concert being held at Columbus Circle - quite why there so we have to watch it from a blocked off road when Central Park is next door and would make more sense I've no idea. Anyway, closing the road in the rush hour adds to the midtown traffic chaos and I wander over to take a look. All I will say is that it's a slighty strange line up - Natasha Bedingfield (I've come all this way to see a Brit artist....), Usher, and Keith Urban (probably best known in the UK for being married to Nicole Kidman) - and I leave pretty promptly.

I head back to the hotel but stop off at Top of the Rock and go to the observation deck. What a contrast to yesterday's Empire State Building. I'm there at a similar time but there are no queues and it's cheaper. It is better organised with more viewing space - on several levels - at the top and, of course, you get wonderful and breathtaking views of the skyline. Its location means you get see across Central Park as well as the beautiful Empire State Building and my undoubted tip so far - if you visit New York forget the Empire State Building, head straight to the Top of the Rock.

New York - day 1

So I made it - and they let me in the country! For a few years I've been wanting to do a trip to the USA and combine visiting New York City and Washington DC. Finally, this year I actually got around to doing something about it.

A few initial observations;

• Terminal 5 at Heathrow is nearly excellent. Check in and security were swiftly dealt with and there are numerous shops and restaurants. But it does seem to be a shopping centre which happens to offer flights, rather than a decent airport putting the passenger first. All that money spent, and still had to queue for the inadequate number of toilets!
• I really hope that the immigration officer's name on their badge is more an acquired name than their birth name - to be a woman called 'Mutt' would seem a tad cruel. And I'm not making that up - that really was her name on her badge
• JFK airport seems to have achieved the impossible and is actually more confusing and ugly than Heathrow
• they clearly don't have speed cameras in the USA. My transfer from the airport was by minivan. Having been driven around JFK airport and seeing it from all angles as the vehicle was filled, we headed off at breakneck speed. Speed limit = 50; we were going at 70 and once touched 80 as we undertook, tailgated and went right across all the lanes on the way to Manhattan, all whilst the driver seemed to be shuffling the paperwork to work out which hotel to stop at first! Good fun - but glad I arrived in one piece!
  

First impression - New York really is Gotham!

My hotel is right in midtown and just off 5th Avenue - room is smallish, but it's all location, location, location! I'm going to be such a tourist on this trip and I walk down to the Empire State Building. It's a beautiful building to look at, and the view from the top - well the 86th floor, to get to the 102nd is another $15 - is amazing, and slightly scary. However, the interior of the building the tourists see is tired and there is a long line to join to pay - though not as long as it could have been judging by the layout of the waiting area. Also, all the staff are dressed in ESB suits styled to allude to the 30s - but none of them seem to fit anyone. I've never seen such a large number of ill-fitting suits in one place. Makes you wonder whether is some deliberate and bizarre branding idea...

Anyway, the view is amazing and a good, though tiring start, to my stay.