Wednesday 20th August  17:35 pm Good Afternoon

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Nelson's Column August Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium 30th August 2005 Carnival falls in love with Latin Flavours August Bank Holiday and Notting Hill Carnival have been and gone once again. Just like every year a gang of friends and I wandered the streets of West London, danced by this sound system and that, wolfed down platefuls of jerk chicken and sunk interminable pints of Red Stripe. Yes, Carnival was its usual Caribbean self but this year I smelt a whiff of something new. And, no, it wasn’t the curried goat. That infectious Latin flavour, which has been inexorably creeping into Carnival over the last few years, just got piquant. I stepped off the bus and headed north from Notting Hill Gate. The streets were only littered with a smattering of revellers. The first real crowd I came across was grouped around a demonstration of the Brazilian non-contact martial art, Capoeira. Everyone who walked past stopped to watch the mesmeric, measured, lingering twists, kicks and flips accompanied by chanting and traditional music twanged out on what looked like a dilapidated bow (actually called a Berimbau). That was just the start; as I moved from stage to stage amongst all the typical sounds of Carnival there was a distinctive beat which stuck out, and not just on a few isolated sound systems; it was all over the place. It seems Reggaeton is finally catching on. You couldn’t move for the dirty, gyrating sounds of the latest Latin craze. Well, I say ‘latest’ but it’s been going on for years on the other side of the Atlantic. The fluid mixture of dancehall beats and Latin melodies grew up on the streets of Puerto Rico influenced by Jamaican dancehall (perhaps its closest relative), many types of Latin American music and the American Hip Hop scene. We shouldn’t be too surprised though, the Latin influence in London has been quietly but steadily expanding. A decade ago there was next to no Latin influence in the city at all. Now, not only are more immigrants arriving every year – have a wander around Elephant and Castle these days, you can’t move for Colombians, 75,000 at the last count – but what was once very much a minority is now breaking firmly into the mainstream. Look at all the people sporting T-shirts with ‘Cuba’, ‘Brazil’ or ‘Argentina’ emblazoned across the front, hear the flip flop of the ubiquitous Havaianas all summer long or listen to the tunes floating out of the clubs. Back at Notting Hill it struck me that London’s Caribbean Carnival has previously paid little heed to the Latin component of the region. Perhaps it’s because their culture has more in common with South America proper and this is backed up by the fact that Latin-Caribbean and South American music have infiltrated the event together organically. But there’s plenty more to look forward to. So far we’ve little more than scratched the surface of a colossal, diverse, musically plentiful region. Salsa and merengue reached these shores years ago but it was for your mother’s dance classes. Bring on the bootyshakin Reggaeton, the Afro-Hispano-indigenous medley of Cumbia, the rhythmical Samba, the laid back Rancheras, the accordions of Vallenato or the lilting sounds of Cuban Son. Forget the pop crooning of Ricky Martin and Juanes, and the novelty hits like the bothersome Macarena. Reggaeton heavy weight, Daddee Yankee, charted at number five with his anthem Gasolina sung entirely in Spanish. Could this be the sign of things to come? Stroke of Genius Britain’s masterpieces have been whittled down to just ten in a quest to find our country’s greatest artwork. Radio 4’s Today programme have shortlisted a spectacular sprinkling of talent. The paintings span more than five centuries of European art and include works by British, Italian, Dutch, Belgian and French artists. While pieces by Hogarth, Manet, Hockney and Turner are in the running, Sunflowers by Van Gogh and The Hay Wain by Constable are the major players. One of these prominent painters will be propelled into first place by public vote. Presented in association with the National Gallery, this particular survey is the first of its kind but follows in the wake of the BBC’s ‘Big Read’, when the public were called upon to select their favourite book. Happy Snapper Over 33,000 British smiles beamed out across the hallowed halls of the Royal College of Art over Bank Holiday weekend. Setting a new Guinness World Record, the exhibition clinched the title for the world’s largest photo display. With 33,401 images of gleeful grins, the show beats the previous record of 32,169, held by Unilever for another exhibition on smiles in Sri Lanka. Smiley Britons across the country submitted photo’s of themselves, friends and family all bearing their pearly whites. Ken Livingstone, Martin Johnson and Brian Conley are just a few of a raft of celebrities who also merrily smirked for the camera. Not such a stiff upper lip after all chaps! Don’t Feed the Humans London Zoo unveiled its inimitable exhibition over Bank Holiday Weekend. Amid the rocky crags of Bear Mountain, eight scantily clad homo-sapiens skulked about. The “Human Zoo” is intended to highlight the primitive nature of human beings as they blissfully horse around, scrutinised by hundreds of bank holiday zoo trippers. The lucky eight were selected from dozens of applicants, all hopeful to have a fun-packed weekend frolicking on the mountain. Criticised as a cheap Big Brother type ploy on the zoo’s part, visitors still found themselves mesmerised by those in captivity. You can’t help but wonder was it a scientific experiment or simply a chance to get a bunch of fit blondes clad in nothing but fig leaves? You decide. July 2008 24th July Sandwiched Out 17th July The Show Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady's on Page 3 June 2008 26th June Love All at Wimbledon 16th June Miller Puts the Heat on Tennant May 2008 27th May Booze Banned on Buses 20th May Same Again? April 2008 23rd April By George 11th April Back to the 80s March 2008 28th March How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea? 20th March Flight Fantastic February 2008 20th February Dark, Satanic Turnmills 6th February A Diamond in the Drink January 2008 21st January People Wanted for Plinth 14th January Boo! Hiss! December 2007 28th December Tate That - A Hirst for Art 20th December Christmas Shopping November 2007 27th November Mind the Gap 26th November London On A Tray October 2007 26th October Leaving the Station 14th October The Sky's the Limit September 2007 26th September The Play Within A Play 19th September Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks 12th September Saying Tanks for the Mammaries August 2007 24th August Heathrow under Siege 17th August Gormless 10th August Losing Face July 2007 24th July Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer? 13th July Red Ken versus Blonde Boris June 2007 22nd June Last Orders at the Fag Machine 11th June London the Musical May 2007 21st May What Lurks Beneath 10th May The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of April 2007 27th April London’s Walk on the Wild Side 20th April Stand Behind the Yellow Line 13th April Like Water for Chocolate March 2007 23rd March So, Another Magazine 16th March Avoiding iContact February 2007 23rd February Sex and Art... 16th February C-Charge Protest Fails to Bring Down Government 9th February Live Earth London January 2007 26th January A Vote for Shilpa is a Vote for Britain 18th January Carriage on up the West End December 2006 29th December Food for Thought 22nd December A Poisonous Marketing Campaign 15th December In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds November 2006 17th November Big Department Stores Leave Santa Out in the Cold 10th November Failing to Save the World October 2006 27th October Frozen Prawns and Melting Icecaps 20th October Predatory Pelicans and Happy Woodland Folk 13th October Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street September 2006 16th September Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back 9th September Of Poles and Twiglets August 2006 25th August Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable 11th August London Friendly 4th August Archway To Organic Heaven July 2006 21st July London - Celebrity Frat House 7th July Out of the Galleries into the Streets June 2006 23rd June Mayors, Nightmares and Marias 16th June Downright Rude in Paris and London 9th June Enter the Inferno May 2006 26th May Curvaceous Border 12th May Vegging Out April 2006 21st April The Camden Crawl 17th April Down the Pan 13th April I Want to Break Free 9th April Big Brother seems to have been left in a bar somewhere 7th April Don't Box Me In March 2006 24th March Political Correctness Reaches New Heights February 2006 24th February A Stadium's Tale: Cup Final Goes West 17th February Modern Musicals are Rubbish 10th February The City-Side Alliance January 2006 20th January February Sales 20th January Moby Sick 13th January Glass Half Full 3rd January Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers December 2005 22nd December January Bites 16th December A Remarkable Year November 2005 25th November And a Partridge in a JCB 11th November Driving Miss Sadie 4th November Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin October 2005 28th October Trick or Treat? 21st October We Don't Mind a Little Delay... 14th October Final Resting Place for Young British Artists September 2005 16th September Just a small urn for me, please barman 9th September DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! 2nd September The Free Tenor August 2005 30th August Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium 20th August Getting Behind the Iron Farce 10th August Mystery Play is No Sell Out July 2005 29th July Moving On From 7/7 22nd July Get loaded in the park 15th July Victoire!! June 2005 24th June New Balls, Please