Minxology

My new baby blog

2011-08-29T15:01:00.000+01:00

So the news is that I'm currently four months pregnant, and have set up a new blog to write all about everything that happens along the journey from now on (it'll be updated more times that this one was!) It's called a baby on board (www.ababyonboard.com). Do drop by and tell me what you think! Gill x

Spring is on the way...

2011-02-26T20:56:00.001Z

Posted via email from random thoughts/ things I like

Crystal Palace one of the greatest little-known neighbourhoods - Lonely Planet

2010-10-04T19:49:00.001+01:00

5. Crystal Palace, London, England

Navigate here by the Eiffel-like radio mast: this lofty southeast spot is worth finding. The namesake palace burned down in 1936 but its legacy park still hosts a maze, a stage and the world’s first dinosaur models, controversial in the 1850s and now good to picnic near. Outside the park the area is more contemporary, with gloriously cosy cafes, a world of restaurants and some independent oddments including a jungly reptile shop and sell-everything vintage market. But best is the view: stand atop Westow Hill and the whole city spreads out below. Go by train from Victoria or London Bridge directly to Crystal Palace Station; or join the Green Chain crew and walk from the Thames.

via lonelyplanet.com

If there was ever any doubt as to how great the 'Palace is (our new home for the past few months, when house prices predictably pushed us out of our previous, more central location) then it's just been tipped by the Lonely Planet as one of the greatest little-known neighbourhoods in the world. I love it here - for the snug pubs and restaurants, the random, quirky retro furniture shops, the bookshop on Twitter, and for the amazing view of most of London just outside our window. Also - where else do you get to live near dinosaurs?

Photos: the view from our bedroom window, pork pies at The Mansion, dinosaurs in the park, and Crystal Palace Antiques

Posted via email from random thoughts/ things I like

Cher Guevara

2010-07-18T17:15:00.001+01:00

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from random thoughts/ things I like

Oxford Circus ghost tube photos

2010-04-24T12:49:00.001+01:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Yesterday morning I took a wrong turn on the tube, and when I finally found my way all the people had vanished. It wad a fairy eerie moment considering it was 8.30, a time when Oxford Circus is normally so full it's difficult to breathe...

Posted via web from random thoughts/ things I like

Love Pie

2009-12-28T19:49:00.001Z

It's the last night of Christmas with my parents in Shropshire...off up to Sheffield tomorrow for Christmas #2!

Posted via web from random thoughts/ things I like

PPQ's designer beer glasses

2009-11-30T20:13:00.003Z

As part of the work we’re doing with my client BitterSweet Partnership (set up by Molson Coors to ignite women’s love for beer and dispel some of the common myths surrounding it) we’ve collaborated with PPQ’s Amy Molyneaux to design a new range of beer glasses.

BitterSweet’s research showed that 31% of women thought beer glassware is ‘ugly and manly’ – so Amy has designed four new glasses to serve beer in to bring a bit more style into the drinking experience. You can view the designs at www.bittersweetpartnership.com/glassware

We’re encouraging people to go to the site to vote for their favourite most popular shape and pattern will be put into production on a trial basis in 2010. As a thank you, everyone who votes will be given the chance to win their own glass and win ASOS vouchers to spend on PPQ clothing. I can’t enter though!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from gill's posterous

Avoiding potential wedding headaches

2009-08-16T21:23:00.002+01:00

Yesterday we picked our wedding rings up from Hatton Garden - hence the photo. They've now been hidden away, as the groom-to-be is more than aware that I'd wear mine around the house, given the chance (the very reason my wedding dress is in the care of my parents).

So there’s six weeks left to go! People keep asking me if I’m stressed or nervous, and have to say I’m not…yet.

However, I’ve just seen the results of a new survey which was conducted by the makers of migraine treatment Imigran Recovery http://www.imigranrecovery.co.uk around common wedding stresses and fears among brides to be.

They found nearly half of brides feared illness, including migraine, insomnia, acne or cold sores had the most chance of ruining their wedding day, ahead of family arguments, their partner not turning up, and stumbling over their vows.

Having suffered from all of those illnesses at some point, I’d have to agree. I’m very lucky that I’m not a frequent migraine sufferer, unlike 15% of adults in the UK, two thirds of which are women. Some tips for frequent sufferers around managing migraine in the run up to your wedding day include:

• Reduce the risk of an attack by trying to stick to your regular sleeping pattern. This will help you relax and recharge your batteries ahead of the big day.
• Control high stress levels by taking time to discover what is worrying you and try to change your behaviour to reduce it.

I’m also very lucky as my parents have been helping out a lot with the wedding, which is taking lots of stress off. Fingers crossed the only thing I’ll have to worry about on the day is not crying through the whole ceremony!

If the shoe fits...

2009-07-12T23:22:00.004+01:00

Here's my recent Bridalwave post about my fabulous wedding shoes:

Once my dress was all sorted, my thoughts turned to what I was most excited about: wedding shoes. I knew I wanted ones I could wear again, so that ruled out anything remotely bridal or made of satin.

So, the following Saturday I hot-footed it down to Selfridges shoe department to go shopping! First port of call was Gina, where I found the most amazing pair of sparkly shoes ever, which I instantly fell in love with and didn't want to take off. Thinking I couldn't find a pair I liked more than those, I then looked at Jimmy Choo, and found the less sparkly, but no less amazing classic gold slingbacks.

I was struck with indecision as they were both my dream shoes. How would I chose? In the end, after taking advice from three shop assistants, a random couple and both my parents, I opted for the gold slingbacks as they will look better with my dress. If you can afford them, the Gina shoes would look amazing with a really simple wedding dress. However, as my dad pointed out, I'd always wanted to wear Jimmy Choos when I got married.

So my wedding shoes are now nestled in tissue paper in their lovely pink bag, which has taken up temporary residence on top of our wardrobe until September. I must admit I'm finding it very hard to leave them there, and have tried them on and walked around our flat a few times...to break them in, honestly!

Posted via email from gill's posterous

Where I was today...

2009-07-12T21:36:00.002+01:00

(Almost) Finding a Wedding Dress

2009-05-17T18:49:00.001+01:00

From Bridalwave, part two to follow shortly...

When the venue was booked, thoughts began to turn to THE DRESS. Initially, I was more excited about the shoes, and I never thought I'd be too bothered about what I wore as long as it was simple and nice. But when it came down to it, of course...I was wrong!

I spent a lovely Saturday with my Mum and Gran trying on dresses in wedding shops in Shropshire. I'd been told by every married friend that the dress you pick is always the one you're least expecting to like, so we had great fun trying on everything from big frilly frothy numbers to sleek satin ones.

We worked out pretty quickly what would suit me - as I'm not very tall, nothing with a big skirt! However, I didn't really love any of them, and my very emotional mum remained dry-eyed all day. As she cried more than I did when I rang to tell her I was engaged, this wasn't a good sign!

Back in London, I decided to bite the bullet and go and try on the very expensive but very lovely wedding dresses from the designer I'd had my eye on for ages.

However, when I phoned the only London stockist to book in an appointment I was told in no uncertain terms that their next weekend appointment was in three months time - if I was lucky. And as they take a minimum of six months to make the dress, I'd be "pushing it" to have one for September.

Planning a wedding in such a short timeframe had seemed easy up until that point. I began to despair - would I ever find the right dress?

An Inviting Question

2009-05-17T18:42:00.004+01:00

My post on invites from Bridalwave (P.S - if you have any suggestions about this or anything else, let me know!)

I have to admit that invites are one of several areas in which I seem to be missing the bridal gene. Apparently the average bride spends £700 on wedding stationery, which seems like an awful lot to me - surely that's £700 that could be better spend on Champagne or shoes?

I'm all for sending out nice thank-you cards, but stories I've read about brides who obsessively match the colour of their hand-made invites to their dresses both confuse and scare me in equal measures...

So Alex and I decided to computerise our invites and email rather than post them (and my mum would then make a couple for non-computer literate Grandparents). We figured it was slightly more environmentally friendly, cheaper, and also far less effort, leaving us to spend more of our energy on grappling with the guest list.

However, that's as far as we've got! Has anyone done this before, or is there a company you'd recommend? We'd love to know, as the clock is ticking!

Picking a Venue, Setting the Date

2009-05-17T18:31:00.003+01:00

Here's my second post for Bridalwave, on picking the venue:

Since we got engaged, I'd heard horror stories about wedding venues, which apparently get booked up years in advance. The people telling me these stories were the ones who were most shocked when I told them we were planning on getting married in September - "as in THIS September?!"

So we knew we had to start thinking about the venue pretty fast.

We decided on having our wedding in Shropshire, which is where I grew up and where my parents still live. This was mainly because I wanted us to be married in my childhood church, and it seemed easier than having two sets of relatives descend en-masse to London (especially as Alex and I live in a one bedroom flat, so space is at a premium!)

We enlisted the help of our Shropshire-based wedding planners - my Mum and Dad - to scout out all the local venues, and we went down one weekend in late February to view their top three.

In the end we decided on Madeley Court in Telford, which is a restored 16th century country house and hotel, with a really lovely mill building which is where our reception will be held. We picked it because it's practical - easy to get to, lots of rooms for visiting guests to stay in - but mostly because we both just instantly loved it.

Conveniently there was also a free Saturday at the end of September...and so we set the date.

It's a Bridal wave...

2009-05-17T18:15:00.004+01:00

So I'm getting married...think I mentioned that before, right? ;-)

Anyway, I'm also blogging about my wedding planning on Bridalwave, the Shiny Media wedding blog. In the run-up to September, I'll be writing all about dresses, cakes, venues, shoes, rings...and so on.

Here's my first post: Gill''s Wedding Countdown Begins

I'll always remember the breakfast my boyfriend Alex made me on the morning of Saturday, February 14th this year. The food itself was lovely, but the most memorable thing was that shortly afterwards he proposed, I said yes, and he became my husband-to-be.

Even now I still can't stop looking at the amazing ring he picked for me! Being engaged is exciting and very, very lovely. I spent most of my early twenties unconsciously attempting to be as much like Bridget Jones as possible, and until Alex and I got together about two years ago I'd never really thought much about getting married; yet a few months into our relationship it was difficult to think of anything but.

However, I was never destined to be a typical bride-to-be. I've not had my perfect day planned since I was five, I shudder at the thought of anything approaching even a hint of a meringue dress, and I think the idea of putting so much time and effort into perfecting a single day is a bit extreme - let alone expensive! I'm most looking forward to us making a commitment to each other in front of our friends and family, and starting the rest of our lives together as a married couple... and obviously, attempting to look lovely at the same time :-)

So once I'd stopped crying, we'd phoned everyone we knew and updated our Facebook statuses, we started thinking about when we were going to get married. Apparently the typical wedding takes 18 months to 2 years to plan. We knew we didn't want to want to wait anywhere near that long, so decided on September of this year. And as for the rest - it can't be that hard to organise...right?

Worlds first speed job interview - Big Yellow Self Storage Star Search

2009-05-14T21:53:00.005+01:00

Love the sound of this - Big Yellow Self Storage (as in, the storage places that are huge and yellow – I’m always really fascinated by the idea of what secret things are hidden away inside) are currently running a campaign to offer rising social media stars the chance to win a one month internship with the company. The winner gets to work with the online comms team – and it’s a paid-for opp.

However, the best bit is the application process, which is via 12 seconds TV (the video microblogging site). The right candidate should be able to sell themselves via an virtual online interview that lasts no longer than 12 seconds. hence the world’s first ‘speed-video job interview’. You can even film yourself on your mobile and upload it to the site - perfect for lazy students who don’t want to get off the sofa and miss the second repeat of Neighbours.

I really like the way Big Yellow has applied an innovative social media approach to something as boring and traditional as a job interview. The idea of picking someone in 12 seconds is great – it reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Blink’ – about intuitively making instant decisions. And it’s surely got to be a relief for anyone that’s sat through hours of questioning when going for a job.

What’s also really nice and in the social media spirit of sharing is that they will showcase all the video entries - not just the winner - in the hope that other quality entrants will attract the attention of other recruiters. Students, what are you waiting for?

Go to: http://12seconds.tv/campaign/bigyellowselfstorage

Unleashing women’s love for beer with BitterSweet

2009-03-26T12:50:00.003Z

Two of my favourite things are beer and blogging, so it’s brilliant to be working on social media PR with my new work client the BitterSweet Partnership – a business which has been set up by Coors Brewers to address and remove the gender imbalance that exists around beer consumption and targeting.

As part of the ‘Love Beer?’ survey, 2,000 women were asked their thoughts about beer, and the results showed there are very real barriers and myths that exist around women and beer, including the following:

• A third of women in the UK enjoy drinking beer, but feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to order it outside of music or sporting events.
• 42% of those polled think the industry should change its advertising first and foremost if it’s to make beer more appealing to women
• It’s not a taste issue, as only a quarter (26%) said the taste should be altered.

The Bittersweet Partnership has been set up to understand what women really want when it comes to beer – everything from advertising, education about the true calorific content, through to the glass it is drunk from. This information will be used to develop new initiatives to improve the drinking experience and change the way Coors brands engage with women in the future.

It was launched at an event last week at the Bedford and Strand pub which was organised by The Red Consultancy, and we went along with Cate from BitchBuzz - you can read her report of the event and her thoughts about BitterSweet here.

You can also see the BitterSweet Partnership website at www.bittersweetpartnership.com

February...

2009-03-15T14:16:00.005Z

So the best thing that happened in February - more exciting than snow, more snow, pancakes, or most things in my life so far - was Valentine’s Day, when my lovely boyfriend Alex made me breakfast (eggs benedict) and then asked me to marry him.

He proposed by giving me an ‘I heart Balham’ mug with the beautiful ring he picked out all by himself inside. Needless to say, I cried and cried, and said yes :-).

Being engaged is fabulous, and I can’t wait to get married (I’m getting married! End of September – about six months…). Here’s Alex’s slightly sci-fi take on it here.

Pancakes...

2009-02-24T18:25:00.003Z

So it’s Shrove Tuesday...why not plan a pancake party?

This is making me hungry....

Sort your life with Yell.com

2009-02-07T13:44:00.004Z

Here's something I wrote for work, over at the Shiny Red blog...

We’re working with client Yell.com on new blog ‘Sort your life’, which offers advice from different experts on how to sort out areas of your life – from body, to home, to wardrobe.

Our first blogger is the fabulous personal fitness trainer Julie Seymour, who’s written advice on health, exercise, nutrition and ways to beat those pesky winter blues.

For example, did you know that:
• Sit-ups WONT give you a flat tummy
• Dehydration can lead to xerostomia or enophthalmos
• Exercise can significantly improve your sex life?

Julie has also written a handy office workout post, so there’s no excuse not to get exercising – even at work.

We’ll shortly be introducing our next expert who’ll be talking about ways to sort your home, so make sure you watch this space.

More snow in london!

2009-02-02T08:05:00.001Z

Snow in london

2009-02-01T20:27:00.001Z

Google is broken!

2009-01-31T15:03:00.004Z

Every search term you Google comes up with a safety warning of 'this site may harm your computer.' Even if you Google...Google :-)

Sharing the bathroom with a Dalek

2009-01-31T14:06:00.003Z

Just have to say the despite buying this for Alex as a joke-y present this Christmas, it freaks me out slightly every time I see it. As a child the Daleks terrified me - despite fascinating me at the same time (I also had a similar love/hate relationship with the ‘for sale’ sign outside my parents house in Cleethorpes – must have been a very odd child).

Anyway, the aforementioned owner of the Dalek - and Dr Who fan - has just stated his own blog, Randomglish, where he’ll be blogging about “PR, Sheffield Wednesday, Jack Bauer, 99p shops in Balham - who knows?” Check it out here

Shhh….SecretTweet

2009-01-11T22:56:00.005Z

Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve just seen something interesting. SecretTweet is an anonymous secret posting service using Twitter (the clue’s in the name). You submit your deepest, darkest secret to the website and it’s then posted anonymously.

Obviously there’s the cathartic lure of getting something off your chest without revealing your identity. Recent secret tweets include

‘I’m 27 and still a virgin’ and ‘Its incredible how shallow & vain most people are who twit. I'm embarrassed to be one of them’

Online secret sharing is not a new concept – there's PostSecret and Group Hug – it just uses Twitter as another forum for venting. However, it remains strangely compelling to read other people’s secrets. But would I ever post anything? That would be telling...

New Year Re-solutions

2009-01-04T20:37:00.002Z

I’m not a massive fan of New Year’s resolutions, especially because January is cold and miserable enough already, without setting yourself up for failure. However, I do have a couple of aims I’d like to achieve as follows:

1) Update my blog more! After December’s blogging drought where I accidentally wrote a grand total of a big fat zero blog posts, oops, I resolve to not let anything like no inspiration, or having a broken mobile handset (STILL not resolved) get in my way

2) Take more photos and post more on Flikr. One of my birthday presents was a fabulous new camera which is tiny enough to carry around most of the time, so no excuses

3) Run another 10k, but quicker than I did last year

So, we’ll see how I get on throughout the year shall we?

PS, the photo is of the London Eye midnight fireworks on New Year’s Eve, which were brilliant. Happy New Year!

Breaking news: London invaded by marshmallow men

2008-11-24T23:36:00.004Z

I think the Christmas decorating fairy paid a visit to Carnaby street a week or so ago, but I’ve been on holiday and today was the first time I've walked down there in a while.

It was worth the wait. This year’s decorations are thirteen giant inflatable snowmen suspended above the street, along with huge snowflakes. Not sure if this was the desired effect, but they look like something from Dr Who – really sinister and freaky, in an excellent way. It’s like a festive Ghostbusters come to life.

Someone once told...

2008-11-24T22:15:00.003Z

My younger brother! Check him out on the SOTM site here, or go to OneWorld365 to see his work, volunteer and travel website network.

RIP Sony Ericsson K850i, I barely knew you

2008-11-05T22:37:00.006Z

I had a new phone just under six months ago, the afromentioned K850i. We got along very well – the great camera made up for its weird little buttons. And the fact it would turn itself off a couple of times a week for absolutely no reason. And the rubbish battery life.

So I was quite distressed when I woke up some weeks ago in the middle of the night to find it flashing and turning itself on and off, like a phone possessed.

02 were very kind in promising to send me a new handset so I wasn’t too concerned. Needless to say, it’s over a month later and I’m STILL waiting for my new handset.

Fingers crossed 02 sort it out soon (02! Sort it out!) Using the old handset I cast aside for the shiny new model is frustrating but bearable. But I have to say it’s fairly shocking design if a phone won’t even last six months before going into total mobile meltdown.

Someone once told...

2008-11-03T21:33:00.001Z

...me

Someone once told me…

2008-10-28T21:34:00.002Z

‘Someone Once Told Me’ is an internet photography project I’ve mentioned in a previous post…and as I said before, go and take a look for a proper explanation.

The theory behind it is that we’re all shaped by the things that people tell us. The idea of the website is to share these things, in a photo. There’s a different photo each day, and sometimes a backstory to add an explanation.

Last night me and my brother were photographed for the site with our ‘someone once told me’s (action shot above) which was lots of fun, so we should be on there soon.

Coincidentally, Mario, the man behind it all, also wrote the BBC article on the Cactus Kid I posted about earlier…small world!

Three for three...for three

2008-10-25T15:04:00.005+01:00

I’ve been tagged by Giles (who just got married, congrats!) in a ‘three for three’ meme, which was originally started here by Jed.

This consists of three top three lists, which you then have to pass on to three other people. This is fun because it’s the first meme I’ve been tagged in, and also it’s pretty random and fun anyway (which Minxology is all about). So, mine is as follows:

Top three non-work websites

Someone Once Told Me – can’t be described in a sentence and it's a photography website, so go and look at it. I LOVE this site, am going to be appearing on it soon, and will be blogging about it shortly
Holy Moly – Popbitch but better
Forever Amber – we have near-identical hairdresser pain – maybe it’s a ginger thing? - and also this and this post are possibly the funniest things I’ve ever read

PS – I’ve not included Twitter or Facebook, because I’d probably class them as work website, and using them is like breathing now, i.e. automatic.

Top three karaoke songs

Total Eclipse of the heart, Bonnie Tyler
You’ve got the love, Candi Statton
Two More Years, Bloc Party

Top three weekend cocktails

Belini - champagne and peach juice, yum
Anything with champagne in it really, or prosecco or cava - and I'm a big fan of all three by themselves
Ginger monkey - this was made (and named) for me by a nice bartender in a private members club in Soho. I’ve got no idea what it contained apart from fruit, champagne, and fresh ginger. It was unbelievably tasty.

So there you go!

I now tag Sandrine, Nick and Rax

Don't worry

2008-10-21T18:47:00.003+01:00

Spotted on a detour to green park - oxford circus was shut due to crazy commuter overcrowding. As I took this photo, an old man walking past muttered 'I dont!' in my ear.

Boo! It's Obama vs McCain

2008-10-13T22:43:00.004+01:00

As someone who never celebrated Halloween as a child (my parents weren't keen – well, if you think about it, it is pretty sinister) it always surprises me when people make any kind of a deal out it.

However, what surprised me even more was this fabulously random politically themed Halloween greetings card, sent by Nick when he visited the US this month. Inside it says 'as if Halloween wasn't scary enough' - !

Also this month, The Economist and MSN are running online polls to find out how the rest of the world would vote in the US elections. The Economist poll shows that in the UK alone, Obama is winning by a landslide 87%. I've got no idea what the real outcome will be, but results like this kind of suggest McCain should have a lot more to be scared about than trick or treaters and his face on a greetings card.

Nike pop-up store in Shoreditch

2008-10-11T11:31:00.001+01:00

This is some cool art on the wall of the nike pop-up store in east london. Random things like this are why i love being around this part of the world.

'Cactus Kid' dies of thirst

2008-10-08T11:38:00.003+01:00

According to a report on the BBC today, the Oasis ‘Cactus Kid’ adverts have been ordered off screen by the Advertising Standards Agency. They found that the implication of underage sex and teenage pregnancy meant they were unsuitable for broadcast.

I have to say, I’ve seen those adverts, and the implication of underage sex and teenage pregnancy completely passed me by. Apart from being vaguely annoying, the ads always struck me as being as sexy as – well, a cactus.

What actually got me reaching for my remote was the suggestion that a sugary drink could be used as a permanent replacement for ‘for people who don’t like water.’ What about your TEETH people? The ASA - and probably dentists throughout the land - agreed, concluding that this was ‘irresponsible and could discourage good dietary practice.’

The ad received only 32 complaints, which is hardly a landslide of outrage. But I really think you’ve got to question exactly what those 32 people had been drinking to make them complain about an inoffensive advert like this. Or maybe they were light-headed due to dehydration?

Bag it up

2008-10-05T17:22:00.007+01:00

There’s been a lot of coverage in the press recently about supermarkets getting rid of plastic bags, but I’ve yet to see much evidence of this. They remain as prominent as ever on tills, and I’ve never once been charged to buy one. Could this all this talk just be (gasp!) corporate greenwash?

However, while standing in the till queue at Sainsbury’s the other day, I read about a new text service they’re operating. If you SMS a number with the time and date you go shopping each week, the system will message you a reminder to take an old bag with you, in a bid to stop you having to waste a new one.

As food shopping in my house is random and sporadic, it won’t be that handy for me (unless the system becomes psychic). However, for people that are regular shoppers, it struck me as a handy and environmentally-friendly use of technology. Read more about it here.

He's Got The Look

2008-09-29T20:22:00.005+01:00

I'm working in Shoreditch at the moment. It's a brilliant but confusing part of the world. Even Diet Coke cans here are different. Half covered in a variety of shiny patterns, this at first made me think they were perhaps Coke Lite – the poor man's Diet Coke – in disguise.

I'm sure the patterned Diet Coke can epidemic is the same all over London, but this is the first place I've seen it. The cans are branded with the tagline 'choose the look you love', which is aptly appropriate for the thing I really love about working around here: people's outfits.

Highlights this lunchtime include gold lame leggings (the shiny American Apparel ones) with a skirt, and my personal fave: a shirt, jacket, boots and tiny denim hotpants. And these were both on men…

Levi's denim butterfly in east london

2008-09-25T17:56:00.001+01:00

Human towers

2008-09-21T23:36:00.004+01:00

As seen earlier in Barcelona. It's a Catalan tradition, real people, standing on top of each other.

So many questions: but who came up with this idea in the first place??

It looked amazing...but glad i was the one standing at the bottom with the cameraphone.

Random tube poster #1

2008-09-18T18:35:00.003+01:00

What the Winston Churchill is this advertising? It's an mysterious poster tease.

London through a lens, through a lens

2008-09-12T18:57:00.001+01:00

The Getty Images gallery is currently running a photography exhibition – Time Out’s ‘London through a lens.’

It’s an eclectic collection of black and white images spanning the past 100 years in the city, from a time before everyone had a camera phone. The exhibition offers a portrait of the variety and diversity of life in London – from an photo of huntsmen and their hounds at an eerily empty early 1900’s Oxford Circus (virtually unrecognisable with only one car, a handful of people, and no H&M), to children rushing to a sweet shop following the end of food rations in post-war, 1950’s Acton, to an image of the violence and hostility of the poll tax riots in Leicester Square in 1990.

You can see some of the images on the BBC London website here. The gallery is on Eastcastle Street near Oxford Circus: no huntsmen were spotted there today, however.

Anti-Green is in Vogue

2008-09-11T18:41:00.005+01:00

The October issue of Vogue comes with a giant poster to advertise Marks and Spencer’s new range of autumn clothes. It is huge - about eight times A4 size. In between the photos of Lily Cole strutting about the countryside in tweed and cardigans, it also talks about M&S’s Plan A, which is its five year environmental plan to tackle ‘challenges facing our planet’ including raising awareness of eco issues and reducing carbon emissions.

So…a paper poster to talk about how ‘green’ the company is.

How can this have possibly seemed like a good idea?

It goes on to boast about all the planet-friendly things M&S has done so far including planting 20,000 tress to offset carbon emissions. But how many trees had to be cut down to create thousands of copies of this poster, which hardly anyone will read before throwing away? And how much carbon was wasted in producing it and transporting it? Shocking.

It's the end of the word as we know it...?

2008-09-08T18:02:00.010+01:00

So the world may or may not be ending on Wednesday, depending on if you’re a glass half-full or half-empty sort of person.

This is the day that CERN, the nuclear research organisation, will switch on its Large Hadron Collider, which could either be the start of an amazing science experience to discover the origins of life, or the end of the Earth as we’re all sucked into a big black hole. As a former English Lit student who works in PR, I’ll leave it to someone qualified in physics to explain the ‘science bit’ better here.

In recent years the Nostradamus prophesises and the Bible Code have also predicted the end of the world, both of which turned out to be inaccurate and served no other purpose than creating a minor media flutter and selling some books - luckily for humankind.

Whatever the scientific theory behind the CERN experiment, it seems like there is a doom-prophesy scare like this every couple of years, as if someone decides we’re too comfortable being happy to be alive and need shaking up a bit. But for the CERN scientists, if it all does go wrong, at least there will be no-one around to remove their funding.

In other news, Andy Murray is through to the final of the US Tennis Open and will play Federer this evening. Murray recently signed up to Twitter, and microblogged last night after beating Nadal that he was ‘glad to get the job done’. Fingers crossed for him tonight – and according to some people, fingers crossed for the rest of us too, who may either have the rest of our lives or only until Wednesday to reflect on the outcome of his match. As a glass half-full person, I’m gunning for the former.

Say hello to the 'Twiller'

2008-09-04T12:16:00.004+01:00

New York Times author microblogs thriller book via Twitter, the ‘Twiller’. One-off social experiment, or death of the novel as we know it…..?

The world is your Oyster card

2008-09-03T13:12:00.004+01:00

As someone who grew up in the country, I love living in London. I’m a big fan of all the advantages that this brings (like living right next to shops, restaurants, or a Hot Bikram Yoga Studio). I’m even like things other Londoners detest – like public transport – as to me it’s an easy way to get home after a night out, when growing up the only choice was to ring my mum to come pick me up.

One thing that does drive me crazy about London and public transport is slow people - my pet hate is people standing in front of the tube ticket gate slowly rifling through bags for misplaced Oyster cards, when there’s a queue of people behind them.

However, this could be thing of the past according to an article on The Guardian Online yesterday about the successful completion of a trial by 02 and TFL to turn mobile phones into Oyster-equipped ‘mobile e-wallets’. 500 testers spent six months using a specially modified phone handset, to make tube journeys and as a bank card to pay for small items under £10. It’s by no means a new idea – similar types of schemes have been implemented successfully over the past few years in other countries such as Japan.

The mobile technology behind the UK trial is near field communications – which can also be applied for other uses such as mobile gig ticketing, or to create electronic house keys out of your phone (so you really could ring your keys if you lose them).

As it’s likely that mobile travel cards will be rolled out to all users in the next few years, I’m not sure what the security implications for having this type of information on your phone are - especially in light of the recent Oyster card bug and outage. And considering how long it takes to replace a handset, how do you get to work if you lose your phone?

In theory though, the TFL/02 trial sounds like a positive and convenient use of technology, and I like the sound of something that requires me to carry less stuff around in my bag. Plus, anything that could help to speed up slow people on the tube can only be a good thing.

The Human Race

2008-09-02T15:18:00.011+01:00

I took part in the Nike Human Race on Sunday – the annual Nike 10k run, but this year with a twist. People in 26 different cities ran on the same day, with the aim of competing to find the winning city with the quickest average race finishing time.

The London race started on rainy Sunday evening in Wembley Stadium, with all 20,000 participants in red t-shirts (which matched the seats, and co-incidentally my hair). There were four waves of runners – yay wave 3! – and a random but fun pre-run concert with Pendulum and Moby.

A couple of techy things I really liked about the race:
* Each runner was given a chip which measured times at start, finish and various points throughout the course. This information was constantly fed back to big screens around Wembley to show London’s overall position versus the other competing countries. London finished fifth overall, ahead of France and Australia
* Receiving a congratulatory text immediately after the race with my time and average speed per kilometre - I finished in 1.07.01
* Being able to log in to the website to see my pace across the course, position overall (135668th – go me!) and via city (11320th in London)

I’m not the world’s biggest fan of exercise (apart from Wii Fit, which I LOVE, because it tricks you into thinking exercise is fun – and where else can you run round a park with ‘celebrities’?) but despite the pouring rain, hilly track, and the ‘scenic route’ round the back of Tesco car park, I really enjoyed it. Although judging from my muscle-ache, it might take me a whole year to recover in time for the next one…

The official post-race Facebook group is here, with personal photos and video clips participants have uploaded.

On holiday...

2008-08-28T16:00:00.003+01:00

Here's me and nick on holiday in our own city. Ok, so basically we're in the pub, but it is a pub neither of us have been in before, which is a rest in itself we think. Cheers!

Ben nevis

2008-08-22T14:56:00.003+01:00

...is not where i am right now, but it's where nick is. Or was, untill he realised prada shoes were less than ideal for climbing up a mountain. I, on the other hand, am at the bus stop, waiting for a bus to shoreditch. As illustrated by the photo.

View from the afternoon

2008-08-19T16:02:00.007+01:00

Photos are here

The weather in balham today

2008-08-14T17:20:00.004+01:00

About an hour ago there was torrential rain...now this!

The writing on the wall

2008-08-10T18:18:00.003+01:00

Favella chic, in shoreditch, is where we ended up on friday night. It was pretty cool (apart from being too packed, and massive bar queues) but i was loving the decor...in the toilets.

Ironic, considering the weather today

2008-08-09T16:51:00.001+01:00

I took this photo on the one day this summer when it wasn't raining...look, people are wearing hot weather clothes and everything.

Shhh...PR Week wispas

2008-08-07T18:08:00.004+01:00

I'm in PR Week today, talking about the Cadbury's Wispa campaign. Full version (including the final line they missed off) below:

Children of the 80s rejoiced this week at the permanent return of Cadbury's Wispas thanks to an "independent" fan campaign on a number of social networks. This shows how brands can and should harness public support by tapping into nostalgia and helping to generate "talkability" via digital media.
Chinese Wispas in cyberspace questioning the extent of the involvement or otherwise of the brand (and their agency) could be deemed churlish. But as a rule, when using social media, brands should be transparent to avoid backlash by cynical consumers. However, credit where credit's due – the sheer numbers involved with the campaign as it progressed reflects genuine engagement with the product.
PR-wise, it might smell fishy...but it sure tastes sweet!

Here's what we did this summer

2008-08-05T22:16:00.002+01:00