beatnic - just wondering

The following from my Dad made me chuckle, especially the inscription:

As we were approaching Tate Modern from Southwark Street a couple of weeks ago we came across a curious statue in Sumner Street.

The larger than life-size grey figure wears clothes that flutter in the wind and is mounted on a plinth bearing no name but a very hard to read Latin inscription which reads: “Quid quid latine dictum sit, altum videtur”.

Intrigued I did some researching on the internet.

The statue turns out to be animatronic. It reacts to and imitates the people around it and will create its own poses if left alone.

The inscription, as Latin scholars will already have worked out, means “Anything said in Latin sounds profound”.

Further information about the statue here

To mark last week’s change of London’s Eurostar terminus from Waterloo to St Pancras here’s a photo I snapped from the bus a couple of weeks ago.

This parade of shops and restaurants is immediately opposite King’s Cross and St Pancras stations.

Sandwiched between Orlando’s Cafe and Eddie’s Fish Bar is Euro Tandoori.

As they say in Goodness Gracious Me, “Let’s go for an English!”

09:00 - 16:00

7 DAYS A WEEK

Congratulations to The Bishop, winner of Best Bar in East Dulwich 2007 as voted for by members of the East Dulwich Forum.

The results are here.

And the reaction here.

Peckham Rye Park cafe opened for business yesterday and according to these East Dulwich Forum regulars, so far so good.

I have it on good authority that the café will open on Monday 12th November.

Hooray! I met the people who’ll be running it today, they were kind enough to show me round. It looks fantastic.

The very best of luck to them :-)

Interesting to see the arrival this week of The West Dulwich Forum - “Talk about property, restaurants, pubs, shops, services, transport, planning, it’s up to you…”

It has a striking resemblance to the East Dulwich Forum.

I wonder if they are they by any chance related?

Another feed for my RSS reader…

This via our discussion forum at work:

June 26-27 Tuesday & Wednesday 7am - 7pm

Your chance to see what the HGV driver sees, or doesn’t see. Turn up anytime

Two large lorries will be set up all day Tuesday and Wednesday in Trafalgar Square. This is your chance to get up close and stay safe. Sit in the driver’s cab, see what you look like in the driver’s mirror. Walk / cycle around the lorry, discover where you can be seen and where you cannot. Talk to the police and some drivers, explain what it’s like cycling near a lorry.

One objective is to educate cyclists by getting to understand lorries. The other objective is to educate lorry drivers and trainers. You can take part in video filming of your moves and reactions, tell them what you think and feel. These videos will be used to help train lorry drivers in London. The aim is to reduce the number of collisions and deaths. If a lorry hits a cyclist – it’s the cyclist who hurts.

This show is put on by the Commercial Vehicle Education Unit of the Met Police. They are working to make freight transport safer.

=

Please pass this information on to other cyclists . . . . .

Charlie Lloyd

Cycling Development Officer

London Cycling Campaign

If you’ll pardon the pun.

I’ve just been sent this info about an event taking place in July. I’ve added in the link showing where the venue is on Google maps.

Title: Gas Organ exhibition
Venue: The Sassoon Gallery
Location: Blenheim Grove, Peckham Rye, London SE15
Date: 16th - 18th July
Time: Midday - 9pm
Cost: Free

On three sultry nights in July, the sepulchral vault of Peckham’s underground venue The Sassoon Gallery will reverberate to the eerily melancholic strains of the infamous Gas Organ.

The Brain-child of founding collaborators Lou Smith and Rufus Burdett, the Gas Organ is a fabulous musical instrument, able to play itself, or be controlled or played remotely.

Constructed from freely available plumbing, electrical and laboratory components, the Gas Organ is a fusion of Art, Science and Engineering, beautiful in its clinical appearance and mesmerising in its auditory effect. Witnesses of the event have their credulity challenged as they view the ephemeral chaotic turbulence of a flame producing such incredible range and depth of sound; how can a science lab experiment evoke such an emotional response as this? I am watching this, but I don’t believe it.

Weblink: www.experiment1.co.uk

I will definitely be checking it out.

I saw that David Cameron fellow riding his bike to work down Constitution Hill this morning on my cycle commute to White City. He appeared to have a bit of an entourage and wasn’t wearing a cycle helmet. When I mentioned this to a friend at work he suggested he didn’t need a cycle helmet with all that protection around him.

Meanwhile, it’s good to see something being done by the Evening Standard to help London’s cyclists… (of course, this doesn’t have to be limited to London)

Evening Standard’s 12-point charter

1. A real cycle network across London
2. Better cycle lanes with proper segregation
3. Enforcement of special advanced stop lines for cyclists
4. HGVs to be fitted with special cyclist safety mirrors
5. Compulsory cyclist awareness training for all bus drivers and new HGV drivers
6. Make safe the Thames bridges: some of the most dangerous places for cyclists
7. Cycle-friendly streets: fewer one-way systems which funnel cyclists into the middle of traffic
8. More cycle parking across London
9. A police crackdown on bike theft
10. Campaign to urge the selfemployed to claim a 20p a mile cycling allowance against tax
11. Better cycle-bus-rail coordination: adequate parking at all railway stations
12. Cycle training for all schoolchildren and any adult who wants it

On Tuesday morning at precisely 8 o’clock I crashed in to the back of a moped on my bicycle. And it hurt.

The moped had just overtaken me and then braked sharply in front of me to turn left at the junction of the Old Kent Road - in the direction of Elephant & Castle - and Surrey Square.

Now if you’re a cyclist you get used to this kind of hazard and normally you have time to cycle round the obstruction. Of course if they thought for a moment they’d realise how utterly stupid and selfish their manoeuvre actually is.

Unfortunately in this instance, my path around the moped was blocked by a light green Renault Kangoo which was moving pretty quickly from the congested right lane to the left lane which was pretty clear in front… apart from me and the moped.

The Renault driver would have had full view of me and the moped and would have been able to anticipate our movements, but didn’t.

So in a split second my reflexes took over. I didn’t overtake as this would have meant colliding with the Renault. Instead I braked as much as I could and crashed in to the back of the moped. There was a loud cracking sound. In fact it sounded more like a car crash. The moped and driver shunted forward. I went over the handle bars and landed on the bit of tarmac now vacated by the moped.

No broken bones, but my hands and right knee were consdierably bloodied from the impact with the Old Kent Road, pieces of which I removed later that morning. Apparently it’s called “road burn” - delightful! Plus mild shock and some muscular aches and pains in neck, back and arms.

So who caused this accident? In the immediate aftermath my anger was directed towards the Renault driver. But since replaying the incident in my head dozens of times, I can’t help feeling that even though I ended up crashing in to the back of him, the moped driver held some responsibility.

The other thing that has struck me, as well as leaving me feeling upset and angry, is that no-one, NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON, stopped to see if I was alright!

That includes the Renault and the moped drivers.

Isn’t it just as illegal to leave the scene of an accident with a bicycle as it is with a car.

That’s right, everyone just carried on as if nothing had happened. Well most of them slowed down a little to gawp.

There’s no wikipedia entry yet for “Bystander apathy” - I guess everyone’s just waiting for someone else to do it.

When I asked on two separate occasions for some passing traffic wardens to call the police, they said that unless I had a registration number from the car or moped there was no point.

So to add insult to injury I really was made to feel like a second-class citizen because I was on a bicycle and not destroying the environment with my carbon-burning car.

As many people have pointed out since, it could have been a lot worse.

I guess I can only hope the other drivers involved have it on their conscience enough to avoid causing this kind of accident in the future.

I’ve had some kind messages from friends and family and I will be back on my bike very soon.

David Lucas and Louise Ferguson are blogging the IBF Live conference at the Barbican Centre in London today and tomorrow.

If you have an intranet check out what folk like Luke Tredinnick, James Robertson and Toby Ward are saying about where the world of intranets is at and where it’s heading…

Oh and here’s a picture I took on my phone on the way in today:

The Herne Tavern in East Dulwich has just been ‘palmerstoned’ - good food if a bit pricey.

The garden has been landscaped in to teletubbyland.

Actually it looks pretty stunning.

And it’s 100% child-friendly - the play area’s still there.

You wait for ages and then two come along at once!

Via my bloglines subscription to a Technorati search for “East Dulwich” I’ve juts found a couple of new blogs.

se22man (”living it up in SE22, east dulwich stylee, centre of the universe”)

and

east dulwich life (which led me also to camberwellonline which is full of conversation)

My friend Francis Rodino and his band are playing at the Half Moon in Putney at 8pm on August 18th.

Entry: £5 / £4 with flyer (or if you follow this link)

You can hear some of his songs at www.myspace.com/francisrodino

I think he’s really got something.

The creator of the A-Z road maps is to be honoured with the unveiling of a Southwark Council Blue Plaque.

Phyllis Pearsall walked 3,000 miles to create the atlas of London, which first went on sale in 1936.

She had the idea when she became lost while trying to find the homes of people she had been asked to paint.

The plaque will be unveiled on Wednesday at 3 Court Lane Gardens, East Dulwich, south-east London, where the artist was born in 1906.

[Source: BBC News]

She lived here and walked a very, very long way.

Via Londonist

Ban illegal timber. Greenpeace.

Courtesy of, and arty credit to, my mate Paul.

I’ve just restarted BMF fitness training in Hyde Park, which I can thoroughly recommend to anyone who likes being shouted at at 7am.

After my first session in over three years this morning I was preparing to cycle the rest of the way in to work when I thought I’d better have a banana to keep the energy levels going.

As I was sorting this out I could see a familiar face coming towards me, also on a bike.

I raised a hand and a smile and shouted “Hi, how’s it going?”

The cyclist coming towards me echoed my “Hi, how’s it going?” with a friendly smile.

Only as he got a little closer did I realise it wasn’t someone I know but Tory leader David Cameron… complete with an England flag flying from the back of his bicycle!

The Sultan’s Elephant is a spectacle you’ve only imagined… Created by theatrical magicians Royal de Luxe, it tells the story of a sultan from far-off lands and his magical, time-travelling mechanical elephant. Forty feet high and 42 tonnes in weight, this beautiful creature will capture the hearts and minds of everyone who sees it.

The Sultan’s Elephant is played out over four days in the streets, squares and public spaces of central London. Whether you dip into it for three hours or follow its progress for three days, this breathtaking show will live in your memory forever.

Will you find it?

[Thanks Sam M]

Good luck to everyone doing the London Marathon on Sunday.

It’s been years since I ran a marathon (I did 3 Londons and the Vienna - very different atmosphere and architecture!) - but last night I was moved to tears by the inspirational stories told in the BBC’s run-up to the marathon programme. Steve Cram and Sally Gunnel are given 6 months to coach 13 “unfit” people to run the London Marathon (I’ll post up a link if I can find it). Update it’s called Run for Glory

It reminded me of the amazing array of emotions you go through as you prepare for the event, along the course, the finish, and afterwards hobbling around trying to find the “P” tree! Magic.

I saw this sign yesterday on the gate in to Peckham Rye Park opposite the Herne Tavern.

A meeting which happened last Wednesday included discussion of a café tender for Peckham Rye Park.

According to this Southwark Council document:

RECOMMENDATION(S)

1. That the £60,000 allocated within the Environment and Leisure capital strategy 2004/07 for the construction of a new café for Peckham Rye Park be approved for release.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

2. Peckham Rye Park is one of the Borough’s four major parks and has undergone a complete restoration following the award of a £2.5 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This work will be completed in July 2005.

3. As part of the grant giving process, the Heritage Lottery Fund considered the funding of a new café for the site, but this option was rejected by the HLF Trustees.

4. The need for a café on the site has been identified and is a key performance indicator for the delivery of the best Value Review of Parks (2001). The construction of a café is supported by the Friends of Peckham Rye Park and the wider community.

5. At the Executive Committee meeting of February 2005, Members agreed to allocate a further £60,000 to this project as part of the Environment and Leisure Capital Strategy 2005-08. This sum was in addition to the budget of £300,000 that had been approved by Members in February 2004.

KEY ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION

6. Peckham Rye Park is a Grade II listed landscape. However, the site of the proposed café is within Peckham Rye common, outside of the area of the listing. Full consultation will be carried out with English Heritage in respect of the proposed site and design and its possible impact on the listed park.

Care will be taken when developing the scheme to ensure its successful integration into an important landscape. The design of the building will be informed by a sustainable approach in order to minimise its environmental impact and maximise its effectiveness within the public realm.

7. Full planning permission for the development will be required and Peckham Rye is designated MOL in the Borough’s UDP. Officers will propose that this development is ancillary to the use of the open space and thus permitted within the context of this designation.

8. The construction of this facility will enhance the recreational activities that the park currently offers. Thus the proposed development will support the following corporate priorities.

• Making the Borough Cleaner and Greener

Effect of proposed changes on those affected

9. An Equalities Impact assessment pre-assessment has been carried out and it has been determined that a full EIA is not required in respect of this report. See Appendix B.

Resource implications

10. The cost of construction of the building will be contained within the allowed capital budget. Upon completion, the café facility will be tendered and leased to a private sector operator under a service level agreement. The on-going revenue costs of the building will be met by the café leaseholder.

11. The project will be procured in accordance with the Council’s Contract Standing Orders and with regard to the Council’s Procurement Guidelines process, with a minimum of 5 external competitive tenders being obtained.

Consultation

12. A full consultation process is underway in respect of the development of the design for the building. This includes the following:

• Friends of Peckham Rye Park
• Peckham Society
• Members of the Council
• The Community Council
• The Garden History Society (representing English Heritage)
• Comment of Borough Solicitor and Secretary

Release of the money will allow the progressing of the capital works proposed by this report and thus assist with delivery of the Council’s objectives in the manner set out in the report. The report indicates the intention to comply with the Council’s Contract Standing Orders and to have regard to the Council’s Procurement Guidelines. There are no other legal implications.

This from the Southwark Council website:

Celebrate the restoration of Party in Peckham Rye Park

Don’t miss out on your chance to see how the restoration has transformed the park and enjoy a fun filled family day out. There’ll be bouncy castles, street theatre and great music!

The event will take place on March 11 between 12pm and 5pm.

Here’s a map.

Newt Arrester was where my journey started.

After a minor delay at Hawthorn-Hero-Ill, I wound up down Bowel Mind way.

For a while Queer Spank was where I got off, though some call it Ink Blur and others (estate agents mainly) Lava Media. That was after Blather Month.

I work between Trek Beakers and Otter Bends, but you could also use Strange Perk.

[All thanks to the London Underground anagram map, via Synesthesia].

There I was staring at the Independent on the District Line this lunchtime when I heard this slightly high-pitched voice coming from a seat nearby.

“Can I have a sip of your cappuccino?” said the voice.

“No, you might burn yourself” said a man’s voice.

I looked round to see small brown bear wearing a red hat who was now asking another man next to him for a sip of his water!

Some fellow tube passengers didn’t know where to look. Some moved slowly away, others hid behind their books or pretended to read the adverts again.

Bearsac today on the London Underground

Turns out this wasn’t just any bear. This was Bearsac who has his very own website at bearsac.com where you visit his house and check out his photo album.

He’s travelled extensively and also seems to have spent quite a lot of time hanging around Borehamwood as he’s been photographed with virtually the entire cast of Eastenders. Not to mention quite a few members of the Arsenal squad including Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.

If you’re a Numanoid there’s a treat in store (click on the picture hanging on the wall in the house).

And if you’re feeling a little peckish there are a few recipes to try out in the kitchen.

Bearsac is not politically affiliated (I did ask). And just to double-check I asked whether he was backing Cameron or Davis but he just gave me a “do I really look that stupid?” look.

Random tube journey.

Ambient serendipity.

Indoor Climbing

Indoor climbing has been including [sic] in the proposals because it is an endurance sport, which is very complementary with cycling and with plenty of crossover between the two. There is currently no indoor climbing centre of regional status in South London. Such a facility is profit making and will attract around 30-50,000 visits per year. The proposal has strong backing from the British Mountaineering Council. Other such centres in the west and east of London have been carefully researched to identify the requirements and operational issues of this sport.

Part of the proposed £6 million regeneration plans for the Herne Hill Velodrome.

I’m not sure what the current status of it all is though. According to this page the proposals have been given “outline planning consent,” but it’s hard to tell when the site was last updated (it looks like 2004 from the page footer, but sometimes footer info can get left behind!).

If it is going ahead I’m particularly excited having just been re-introduced to climbing for the first time in 22 years - at the Westway Sports Centre. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy it, I just had no idea quite how much, big big thanks to Al Siddons!