| April 29th 2011 |
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Royal Wedding!
Went into town today to catch the Royal Wedding. Great day. Fantastic atmosphere!
I arrived in Whitehall at 7.30 am. It was very quiet on the way in. Got the tube from South Kensington. Not many people around, two empty buses passed me, tube was quiet. Westminster tube station was pretty quiet too. Was a bit suprised when I hit Whitehall to see the number of people who had got there before me. Not mobbed but every front row space was taken. On the previous day I had only seen one group of people camping out, so expected it to be quieter. Still managed to get a pretty good spot. Was between the Cenotaph and Downing street. I was on a wall at the top of some steps. At the time of writing it's a bit late and I really can't be arsed writing much! The pictures pretty much tell the story. Being at the same spot for five hours was interesting. Got to know quite a bit about the people next to me! That was part of the atmosphere, everyone excited, enjoying themself, having a laugh. When it was all over I shook the hands of the guys I had been talking to. All good stuff. In the picture of Kate and William, you will see that she has her head bowed and William is saluting. This is because they are passing the Cenotaph which is a memorial to all those killed in the Second World War. Biggest hoot of the day was before any procession arrived but a good crowd had gathered and were cheering anything that moved. A group of about half a dozen street sweepers were walking along the route doing a final tidy before the procession. They were getting a huge cheer, applause and whistling. They were initially a bit embarrassed but then began to have some fun, waving back. It was one of those cases where the more people cheered, the more others joined in and it resulted in one of the biggest cheers of the day! Real hoot. Then a couple of guys followed behind them, carrying clipboards. They looked liked supervisors of some sort. Being the Council they were probably writing feedback on the sweeping and how close it came to target and what future improvements could be made. The cheering subsided as they passed. When the final procession had passed, I went over to Buckingham Palace and saw them on the balcony, albeit from a distance. I didn't watch from the Mall. As you can see from the picture, with half a million people there the view wasn't great. I went through St James's Park and came out at the side of the palace, still a bit away but I could make them out on the balcony and noticed them kissing...twice! It helped that Prince William was wearing a bright red tunic and the Queen was wearing yellow...easier to spot! There was a fly-past of a Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber. Amazing sight. Followed by modern Tornado and Typhoon jets. Fab and groovy day. Posted in categories Events People Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=92 |
| April 28th 2011 |
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Royal wedding Eve!
Took a walk into town today to catch the Royal Wedding vibe...wedding is tomorrow.
Fantastic atmosphere about the place! Went to Buckingham Palace then walked the route of the wedding to Westminster Abbey. Absolutely crawling with media and tourists. Everyone taking pictures, myself included. Was surprised at how few people were camping out to save a good space for the day itself. I figured the whole route would be deep with people camping out. Absolutely not. A group of people at Buckingham Palace and a group of people at Westminster Abbey. That was it. There was one party on Whitehall, from Wales. Spoke to them, good laugh...banter etc. I drove the route later in my old Range Rover with some bunting on her...getting in the mood! There were more campers down the Mall but still acres of available space for anyone wishing to claim a spot. I'm going in to see the wedding tomorrow. Despite the abundance of space today, I think I should get myself in early tomorrow! Posted in categories Events Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=91 |
| April 18th 2011 |
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London Marathon 2011
Went into town yesterday to catch some of the 2011 Marathon. Noticed it is now sponsored by Virgin. Seems Flora had been doing it for years. I wonder if Mr Branson made them an offer they couldn't refuse or if Flora simply didn't want to continue sponsoring it.
It was a lovely day, must have been about 20 degrees. I watched it near the end, at Birdcage Walk near Buckingham Palace. It's good to cheer and applaud the runners as they are about to finish. Also noticed preparations for the Royal Wedding, with a media gallery being fabricated directly across from Westminster Abbey. Posted in categories Weather Events Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=90 |
| April 9th 2011 |
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HMV Musical Performance
Was in HMV (yesterday) in their flagship Oxford Street store. Saw a performance from the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which was a hoot.
It's one thing to see such a thing in a show but to see it on a shopping trip creates a fab atmosphere with strangers having a chuckle and everyone getting out their phones to take pictures. Some girls beside me were doing an impromptu dance and having a great time...what it's all about, and fun! Related Links Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Posted in categories People Events Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=89 |
| April 6th 2011 |
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Phew...What a Scorcher! - for Spring!
Glorious sunny day today for early April. Forecast said 21 or 22 degrees.
Took a stroll around Kensington Gardens. Fantastic! Not hugely busy being mid-week but busy enough with everyone enjoying the sunshine! There was even a queue for the ice cream stand! I was wearing just shorts and a tee shirt. Saw a number of people sunbathing. Took off my shirt and took in some rays too! Posted in categories Places Weather Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=88 |
| April 2nd 2011 |
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London Riviera
Took this picture a couple of weeks ago at Chelsea Embankment, overlooking the river Thames to Battersea Park on a lovely spring day! I love it here, just look at the picture...minutes from the centre of town!Posted in categories Places Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=87 |
| March 29th 2011 |
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Death of Ian Tomlinson - Inquest
The inquest into the death of Ian Tomlinson begins this week, two years after he was killed by a policeman.
I put up a campaign website (JusticeForIan.com, linked below) demanding justice for Mr Tomlinson. On the site I was demanding that PC Simon Harwood be charged with manslaughter but I had a think about it and now demand the he is charged with murder or manslaughter. I wondered what the charge would be if it was the other way around...if Mr Tomlinson had attacked a policeman from behind, hitting him with a big stick and throwing him to the ground, killing him. Tricky one, isn't it? After much thought I concluded that Mr Tomlinson would probably have been charged with murder. Just recently during the student demonstrations in London, a student was charged with attempted murder for dropping a fire extinguisher near a policeman. I think if that merits attempted murder, then Harwood's attack on Mr Tomlinson is certainly murder. Interesting...if you drop a fire extinguisher near a policeman, within hours you are arrested and soon after charged with attempted murder. If you are a policeman and kill a man by attacking him from behind...two years pass and you are not charged with a single offence. Good old Britain!!!! Related Links Ian Tomlinson Family Campaign Website Posted in categories Events Politics People Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=86 |
| March 25th 2011 |
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The Best Ever Busker in London Town!!
Saw the best busking act I have ever seen in london Town. On Carnaby Street, in the warm spring sunshine, it was a guy operating a puppet, which on the face of it doesn't sound too exciting, but check out the video...it's a complete scream!!
The "baby" is a puppet, and he's dancing to the heavy dance beat! The bloke operating it is in the fake speaker cabinet. He had a good crowd around him and was greatly amusing the onlookers, virtually all of whom were taking pictures. I think the fact we were enjoying our first warm spell of the year and it was a Friday afternoon, certainly helped the atmosphere! Posted in categories People Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=85 |
| March 25th 2011 |
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Beautiful Aston Martin
Spied this beautiful Aston Martin Superleggera in Lowndes Square, Knightsbridge. Gleaming in the warm spring sunshine!Posted in categories Cars Places Weather Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=84 |
| February 25th 2011 |
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Libya Demo
Saw a demonstration opposite the Libyan embassy on Knightsbridge. There have been a number of demonstrations recently with the uprisings in the Middle East.
They all have the same connection..."democracy" for the people in the face of autocrats/dictators. I put "democracy" in quotes. According to the guy on the loud-hailer at the demo today, democracy is a western creation and that is not what they were calling for but they were calling for freedom for the Muslim people of Libya. This is something that struck me about the demo, it wasn't about Libya, barely saw a Libyan flag, it was about Islam. The speaker did say that it wasn't about nationalism, it was about Islam. I don't know if this is typical of the people currently opposing Gaddafi in Libya. I suspect it might be. They were calling for Sharia law in Libya, chanting "Sharia for Libya"...the women were chanting it too, which I thought was interesting. The western media doesn't paint a pretty picture of Sharia law particularly with regard to women's rights. The women today were enthusiastically calling for "Sharia for Libya" and seemed to be very happy to do so, which as a western fed by the western media, struck me as interesting. Posted in categories Politics Post URL https://londontownblog.com/posts.php?post=83 |
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