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July
Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer? 24th July 2007
We wouldn't want to make a splash...
I hate that bit in ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ when Carrie (Andie MacDowell) is hearing how Charles (Hugh Grant) is head over heels in love with her and it’s absolutely lashing down with rain and she says ‘Is it raining..? I hadn’t noticed”. Pur-leease! I know love is blind and all that but this is too much – there are streams of water coursing down her cheeks, her hair is plastered to her head and she’d look like a drowned rat if it wasn’t for the really rather good L’Oreal makeup. I guess declaring your undying love in a torrential downpour is meant to be utterly romantic but I digress – I was reminded of this scene in reference to our good ol’ British summer. If London could utter a collective sound bite on the weather, I’m sure it would be “Is it raining..? I hadn’t noticed”.

I remember mumbling mild surprise when the rain got truly apocalyptic outside my window at work and, even by British standards, there have been more conversations that usual about the weather but I think it’s our stiff upper lips that really prevent us from being too downhearted. I can almost hear the cries of “just a bit of rain” from households across the country. When things got even worse and the Thames burst its banks, this elicited strangely knowing nods from Londoners along with a few headshakes over the Metro on the Tube. Press photographs show people staunchly carrying their heaving suitcases while wading through knee-high water – what else can they do but one gets the impression that when they reach dry land someone will just whack the kettle on for a pot of tea, that sure-fire remedy to any crisis in England!

Even when our British reserve fails us and we do concede that things are pretty bad, soon another side takes over- resignation. I think this is because we don’t expect anything more from our emerald green isle than flooding in July. When it happens we are almost pleased to have been proved right – “it always rains during Wimbledon”, “well, this is England” and “I knew having a picnic wasn’t a good idea”.

Admittedly prices are soaring with a last minute dash to the sun but imagine the scene. On a ski trip a few years back – one of those package deals, all-inclusive right down to the vinegary wine (before I discovered luxury chalets) - a Mr Brittas-type and his wife (think Hyacinth Bucket) turned up in Val Thorens with bags full of beach towels, Bermuda shorts and John Grisham novels to read by the pool. They thought they’d booked a summer holiday. Their realisation and utter horror just kept on growing as they were taken higher and higher into the snow-capped mountains of the French Alps. Number one, who on earth thinks Val Thorens is in Spain? And two, imagine their crushing disappointment at thinking they were going to a resort near Benalmadena and ending up with a cup of vin chaud by a log fire…

I tell this story because it goes someway to illustrate what happens to us every time we go on holiday in England expecting the sun to shine, except unlike Mr Brittas and Hyacinth we do it knowingly. We know it’s going to rain, we know we’re going to regret packing vest tops instead of fleeces and we know it’s going to take us 24 hours to get to Cornwall in the floods (this actually happened) but us Brits will carry on regardless. Don’t let anyone tell us we can’t have our camping holiday even if it does mean getting washed away with our tent in a river of mud. We will have fun, we will endure the weather and we certainly won’t give up and check in to a B&B. We’re not going to let “a little bit of rain” spoil our long weekend to the Lake District, trip to the seaside or much-loved holiday under canvas in Somerset, which, incidentally, is where I’m going next week…
Countdown to Christmas!
The weather of late may make it feel like it’s the middle of winter but August is too soon for Christmas shopping even by Santa’s standards. This hasn’t stopped Selfridges from ushering in the festive spirit and throwing open the doors of its Christmas shop for those who want to get a (four-month) head start. Shockingly, the store has chosen opulence (or expense) as this year’s theme…

The Streets are Paved with Gold
The treasure hunt for a fake bar of gold is over with Australian Michael Barry in possession of the £1,000 piece of art. Artist Paul Insect created 99 gold-plated brass bars for an exhibition at the Lazarides Gallery in Soho and hid one more somewhere in the city with clues to uncover the bounty on his website. All very ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ except X didn’t mark the spot and Mr Barry probably used an A to Z to find Cambridge Heath Road in Bethnal Green.
Harry works his Magic
There really has been too much excitement for one week for Potter fans – queuing up at midnight to get the final book and heading to see Harry’s adventures in his fifth year at Hogwarts played out on the big screen. If latest box office figures are anything to go by the film is not doing too badly. With a record opening of £16.4 million (and still rising) it looks set to be an all-time hit for British films – with a little financial help from the Americans…
October 2009
26th October
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26th October
Frieze Still Pleases
September 2009
26th September
A River Runs Through It
23rd September
Blogging is Best
August 2009
26th August
When Saturday comes
22nd August
Bring on the Bikes
July 2009
27th July
Against the Clock
20th July
View for a thrill
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
18th February
New Photography Laws
12th February
Glitz and the Pitts
January 2009
27th January
Setting the Standard
21st January
Too Much for Posh Nosh?
December 2008
23rd December
January is on the Horizon
20th December
Merry Christmas
November 2008
26th November
All The World's A Stage
20th November
Surviving the Crunch
October 2008
24th October
Boris v Jingjing
17th October
Soaps in Pole Position
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
23rd April
By George
11th April
Back to the 80s
March 2008
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
August 2007
24th August
Heathrow under Siege
17th August
Gormless
10th August
Losing Face
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
23rd March
So, Another Magazine
16th March
Avoiding iContact
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
26th May
Curvaceous Border
12th May
Vegging Out
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
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
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
29th July
Moving On From 7/7
22nd July
Get loaded in the park
15th July
Victoire!!
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
30th December
Party Pooper
23rd December
The Second Battle of Trafalgar
16th December
Sadie's Year
November 2004
28th November
Ripper-Watch
21st November
Kinky Boots
14th November
Smoked out
October 2004
22nd October
Yuppie Meal
15th October
Fines of Fury
8th October
No Twist in the Turner
September 2004
17th September
Battleships, bloodsports and Batman
10th September
Clique Week
3rd September
Return of the Bard
August 2004
July 2004
 
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