Scratch

Here you will find older scratches, musings and other detritus that once were located on the front pages, but have now faded.

Filed away here to collect dust and cobwwwebs in perpetuity, links may break, facts may change and data may corrupt.

On occasion I may come down here to tidy, but for the most, I prefer to leave the past where it lies.

Monthly Archives

01/05/2008 - 31/05/2008 01/04/2008 - 30/04/2008 01/03/2008 - 31/03/2008 01/02/2008 - 29/02/2008 01/01/2008 - 31/01/2008 01/12/2007 - 31/12/2007 01/11/2007 - 30/11/2007 01/09/2007 - 30/09/2007 01/08/2007 - 31/08/2007 01/07/2007 - 31/07/2007 01/06/2007 - 30/06/2007 01/05/2007 - 31/05/2007 01/04/2007 - 30/04/2007 01/03/2007 - 31/03/2007 01/02/2007 - 28/02/2007 01/01/2007 - 31/01/2007 01/12/2006 - 31/12/2006 01/11/2006 - 30/11/2006 01/10/2006 - 31/10/2006 01/09/2006 - 30/09/2006 01/08/2006 - 31/08/2006 01/07/2006 - 31/07/2006 01/06/2006 - 30/06/2006 01/05/2006 - 31/05/2006 01/04/2006 - 30/04/2006 01/03/2006 - 31/03/2006 01/02/2006 - 28/02/2006 01/01/2006 - 31/01/2006 01/12/2005 - 31/12/2005 01/11/2005 - 30/11/2005 01/10/2005 - 31/10/2005 01/09/2005 - 30/09/2005 01/08/2005 - 31/08/2005 01/07/2005 - 31/07/2005 01/06/2005 - 30/06/2005 01/05/2005 - 31/05/2005 01/04/2005 - 30/04/2005 01/03/2005 - 31/03/2005 01/02/2005 - 28/02/2005 01/01/2005 - 31/01/2005 01/12/2004 - 31/12/2004 01/11/2004 - 30/11/2004 01/10/2004 - 31/10/2004 01/09/2004 - 30/09/2004 01/08/2004 - 31/08/2004 01/07/2004 - 31/07/2004 01/06/2004 - 30/06/2004 01/05/2004 - 31/05/2004 01/04/2004 - 30/04/2004 01/03/2004 - 31/03/2004 01/02/2004 - 29/02/2004

 

GTA IV Influences Violence. And Queuing

After reading the BBC News article entitled 'Stab attack at Grand Theft Queue' I was left with a curious thought. If a man is passionate enough about his gaming and obviously British enough to queue up in an orderly fashion for several hours to buy a game at midnight, I cannot understand what could possibly make him voluntarily leave his place to stab someone seemingly at random. Even bearing in mind that the Police might not turn up and arrest him before the shop still opens, he is still going to have to rejoin at the back of the queue or face a unending barrage of hushed 'tsk-ing' muttered in his general direction until he leaves like a social pariah.

The British public may turn a blind eye to a stabbing less than a few yards from them, but pushing back into a queue you have clearly left is just not happening, not without serious social consequences. Perhaps slap someone with a glove and make arrangements for a later date, but leave a queue?

Seriously though, the Johnny Cash song 'Don't Take Your Guns To Town' seems pretty apt. With respect to the game, I suspect there would be less uproar if it had been for release of a new My Little Pony. I can see the news headline now, Man beaten with saddle recovers in hospital...

Edit 30 Apr 2007 13:47:According to The Register however

A hooded male stabbed another man in the head and neck yesterday as they both queued to buy copies of Grand Theft Auto IV from a Croydon Gamestation store... it’s thought that the two men were just rude to one another.

Perhaps more notable is

The victim managed to survive the ordeal - and stumbled home to grab a knife for a revenge attack. However, he collapsed in the street on his way back to the store.

British queuing jokes aside, perhaps its just me but I cannot imagine what words could've been said, let alone what the guy thought he would achieve by heading for revenge rather than medical attention.

Perhaps its the people who play the game that are to blame rather than the game itself. If you can't differentiate between pixels and real life...

Warhol vs Banksy

The Hospital on Endell St is currently hosting the Warhol vs Banksy Exhibit, and will continue to do so until the first of Sept. The exhibition is houses over 40 mixed media works by the two artists, and hangs Warhol's classic drawings and paintings side by side with Banksy's graffiti art.

Well worth a look, as it is interesting to see how Banksy has adapeted Warhol's style and ideas and bringing it up to date. Although given My Warhol's passing, I felt Banksy's impromptu art outside the show was nice touch.

London

From Garth Ennis' new release Chronicles of Wormwood:

I left London when I was twenty. Not that I have anything against the place, but you can only take so many days when the sky matches the sidewalk before you start to think the people do too.

Dear God I'm Getting Old. But Its Worth It.

So, it was the Uni friends xmas do on Saturday and it is now Monday eve and I'm still feeling it.

Fun was very much had. The combination of good ale, lovely food (courtesy of The Riverside), fun interactive art at the Tate Modern, followed by more drinking and dancing (not me I might hasten to add) was a sure fire winner.

Roll on the next covenient excuse, er for alcohol fueled fun.

Darn Power

So, at 1205 this afternoon I got the first SMS (of many) from a piece of equipment saying there had been a mains failure. Approximately 10 minutes later that room was effectively dead. Some 10 minutes after that another four hundred or so servers died, and about five minutes later, the remaining 400 became uncontactable, presumably due to network links dying. Fingers crossed the generators have kicked in, but unless a thousand odd gallons of diesel materialise iin the tank in the next six hours, it becomes a mute point.

Up until the point where the UPS' finally gave out I was happily polling devices, checking electrical voltages, temperature, air flow, uptime, all across thirty/forty different locations. When everything runs out of UPS cover however, I am and might as well be in the dark.

Neither BBC News or News 24 list anything, but given the The Tube was reporting major problems and their live update has now fallen over, I am quite confident this isn't that small an incident anymore.

I suspect its gonna be a long night.

**Update 23/06/2006 16:20: It appears that the power problems stem from an EDF installation in St John's Wood which is effecting pretty much everything from Baker Street to Kings Cross, and as far south as Googe Street. As of about 45mins ago, EDF reckoned the power would be on by 16:00... Looking at the Tube's Realtime News it would seem that its all still down. Strangely, if you read the scrolling ticker at the top of the page, so is the live travel news which coincidentally is the page your looking at...

Tube Fun

Having waited on the Victoria line platform @ Warren Street for 15 minutes before it was announced that everything was going tits up due to 'smoldering', we trudged back up the faulty escalators and then down to the Northern Line, the masses of people seething like a Metropolis-esque seething mass of, erm, people.

Having squeezed onto a cosy and ever so slightly humid Northern Line tube and emergenced unscathed (except for the sweat patches on my knees - don't ask), we stood at Tottenham Court Road. And Waited. Then waited some more. Whilst waiting this chap arrived, looked at the next train indicator, and turned to say to no-one in particular

"3 minutes. 3 F'in minutes. I can't wait three minutes"

before disappearing into the crowd. I'd like to know if he could emerge topside hail a cab, and make it to his destination quicker...

On a lighter note, Oxford Circus was closed, Lancaster Gate is still closed so it made the remaining journey comparably bearable. Well as bearable as sweating out you eyeballs is.

It Never Rains But It Pours..

Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

Quietness

Things have been a busy at work of late, but as I'm getting on with it and keeping my head down I seem to be being left alone which is good. The downside of which however is that I can now go days without talking to people if I try, a consequence of which is that I have started turning up to work bearded and lazily atired. I suspect I could even start not getting out of bed whilst not being shaved and no-one would notice.

Over the weekend, I mainly did reading and tried to do some php scripting for the new site, which should be ready by next weekend (and not soon enough if you ask me). We finally watched Aeon Flux, which with the exception of Charlize Theron in leather and a couple of effects/sequences, I couldn't see many redeeming factors or something I hadn't seen in other films. I wasn't suprised given the reviews, but some hope was held. How misplaced.

Last night however, I did manage to have a rather excellant time courtesy of the Guardian Unlimited (via Londonist), who as part of their show 'V for Vendetta - 7 to 17 March - Images from the cult graphic novel by artist David Lloyd' had David present a talk about the ideas behind and the journey towards completing the series. If that wasn't enough, tonight there is the Special Preview: V for Vendetta at the ICA with David and Paul Gravett.

Cult comicy goodness.

Ho Hum

As some sort of irony I was sitting reading the news that the RMT are set to strike over New Years Eve and what should come on iTunes, but the Amateur Transplant's song, London Underground.

London Panoramas

Ever since the Google Maps API was released, I have been waiting for people to start integrating these in novel ways (even I had some ideas), and whilst idly surfing earlier, I had the fortune to find the London Panoramas Google Map. Returning to the TLD I discovered literally hundreds of such implementations each containing a map and a varying degree of information.

Out of these varied and interesting ones include:

• Burton Junior Football League - Ground directions etc
• Peter's Bat Map - Peter is Aged 8 and this is a school project
• Pakistan/Islamabad Earthquake injured
• I have no idea
• Sam's World - Self Explanatory
• NYC Private Schools
• Irish Pubs in Denver; and lastly and more worringly for both the content and speed of implementation
• Sex Offenders in Oklahoma City - Complete with names addresses and photos

I've been thinking of late how to implement a map/graphical representation of photos into the site, and perhaps a travel map and I think something like this is the way forward.

Bad Things (4)

Travelling to work this morning, it was hard not to notice the sombre state of the passengers on the tube. Images and stories in papers of commuters whose daily journey must have started as everyone elses but ended so differently, captivated peoples attention.

I sat and tried to articulate some thoughts last night when I got home, but found I couldn't. Words just either didn't come out right, and even when it made sense they couldn't do the underlying sentiments, thoughts and feelings, justice.

I guess all you can say is that your thoughts and sympathies are with those who have been injured and those that have lost friends and loved ones, and all you can do is remain vigilent. Stay safe people, and take care of you and those your love.

Bad Things (3)

Sitting here, I am struck by how quiet everything now is. Like the scene from the beginning of 28 Days Later, the streets are empty, cars, people, gone. Its very surreal. The occasional siren cuts through the silence, but a police clampdown on travel means very little activity round this way.

In the background the radio reports are continuing, but with no new news, its primarily speculation and the repeated limited facts.

Whats more surreal is that I was listening to a live feed from Woburn Place, and in the background I can hear the sirens start up, and almost simultaneously I can hear them out the office window.

Bad Things (2)

Ah. No, I was wrong. The relative loudness will be due to the major incident at the end of the road, that has rapidly been cordoned off.

Bad Things

Even with a couple of miles between Aldgate and where I currently am, I can hear the constant drone of numerous Ambulances, Fire Engines and helicopters. It doesn't sound good.

Not good at all.

KITT Cars

KITT is still talking.

Hot Town Summer In The City...

Back of my neck getting dirt and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city
All around people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk hotter than a match head

Loving Spoonful lyrics coutesy of Lyrics-online.net.

The Skyline Be A Changing

Being of a disposition where I am uncomfortable with standing too quickly, let alone working in a multi-storey office block, I find Skyscraper news strangely, and perhaps masochistically, alluring.

Even as I sit and type this, the thought of standing 485.00 ft above the ground is enough to make my knees resemble the physical properties of jelly and my palms start sweating in fear.

Yet I can't prise my eyes away. Its a vicious circle of curiosity.

Smooth. No Really.

It has been five years since Alan Milburn announced the construction of a £442m 'super' hospital, consolidating 4 existing hospitals into one.

Over the weekend, the new UCLH building opened its doors.

Whilst its an impressive building and all, and I am sure it will raise standards of healthcare, I have made two observations. First, would it have been such an inconvenience to incorporate an exit to Euston Square on the hospital side of the A501, the Euston Road. Secondly, whilst A&E for Ambulances is to the rear of the building at ground level the pedestrian entrance is from, yes you guessed it, the A501. Which is also a red route, so no stopping

Oh, and its up some steps (the entrance to the ramp is from the far end of the building due to the slope).

Check out the pics below. Note both the lady in white and lady in blue who are both on crutches.

Tube-y Goodness

The more I travel on the Tube, the more I marvel at it. For some reason I can't explain, the tube has a certain 'je ne sais quoi' almost romatic edge that overland trains just don't have. Admittedly it can have its off days where you are stuck in a dark humid tunnel for hours on end whilst late for a meeting, its seriously off days, but for the most it works ok. And it beats driving. For a system that has suffered chronic under investment over the years and can still shift approximately 3 million people per day across its 253 miles of tracks, with each train travelling the equivalent distance of London to Sydney seven times a year, I'm happy with the odd ten minute delay here or there. Just means I get more time to read my book. These are just some of the facts of many that you may not know about the beast beneath your feet.

Perhaps its the hustle and bustle of the tube, rather than the static sit, avert your eyes and read your paper and wait of the overlands. True, during rush hour, you're best to just sit and read, afterall there are certain unofficial rules of etiquette in addition to those published by London Underground themselves, but there is usually something of interest happening. Whether it be parties, knitting meets, pub crawls or just a brief glimpse of some of the disused stations, there is usually something to entertain you. Quite a lot of london bloggers use the tube as a point of reference, some in more detail than others.

Part of the alure I guess is that this entire labyrinthian world lies, in some places at least, literally feet below the ground, and for the most part you'd never know it. And I guess that this is the reason for this post. Well, maps specifically. We all know that Harry Beck created the original back in 1933, but since then there have been numerous changes. Obviously bar the information that can be found on the TFL Tube page, a comprehensive list of maps and wotnots can be found at Massey.net. Some of my choice bits however are:

• TFL's Real Time Map
• TFL's Proposed 2016 Map
• Simon Clarke's Geographical Map
• Rob Gardner's Satellite adaptation of the above
• TFL's flash Map
• Misc Tube Humour
• Its quicker to Walk - Tubes <500m apart
• Again with the Walking.
• Way Out Map.For the newbie and invaluable guide to saving minutes.

Hope you find these of use and/or of interest.

Power

Courtesy of the BBC:

Tube network hit by power surge
Commuters faced huge delays after a power surge shut several Tube stations in central London.

They weren't the only ones who noticed. Praise be for little flashing javascript.

Drunken Apsirations

Whilst travelling on the tube, I had the joy of sitting opposite a rather interesting character. Normally, as he was sitting there, shouting at anything and everything around him, I would have expected to see a can of Tennents Super or perhaps a bottle of White Lightning in his hand. But no, this chap had a 1 litre bottle of Baileys. Not that it refined his language any, but hey, its a start.

Brenda's Visit

Brenda is popping by later this week to open the new Wellcome Trust building on Euston Road and the three years worth of building, from demolition to completion, are finally coming to close. Actually what was more annoying than the dirt, noise, and vibrations, was the builders taking all the seats en masse when I went for coffee, but I digress.

All that remains is for Camden to finish relaying the roads, having already done the pavement, so that everything looks swanky and clean for her visit. Personally, I would have left a bit more time than one day to lay a road and let it set, but thats just me. Needless to say that our Estates dept started panicing this morning, so we had all the contractors here this morning, cleaning the light well (like Brenda is going to climb over a fence look at our A/C plant out of choice) and general facade of the building.

If only someone had done the joined up thinking and removed the obsolete pay and display ticket thing, or the old street lights, rather than paving round them. Or even finish Euston Square Station, although perhaps they will blame TFL, or just go round the other way. Given the effort gone to cleaning up the area, planting trees (which again I would have done before laying the pavement) locking up the smack heads, it actually looks really quite nice.

I can only hope she makes mutterings about walking along Acton High Street...

A205 South Circular

Do not be confused. This is possibly the worlds worst road. Avoid it like the plague. Whilst the A406 North Circular is a generally free flowing, three lane affair, the South Circular is like driving through a string of town centres on a Saturday afternoon. Oh no, wait. Thats exactly what it is. 2 hr 37 according to the AA my arse.... Five and a half hours it took me to get from one end of it to the other and back again. Given I spent 11 hours driving and clocked up aropund 450 miles, removing that part leaves me with 5.5 hours and 350 miles which is slightly more respectable.

Don't use it. Ever. On pain of death or broken knees from over use of the clutch.

Passenger Incident

On my way home last night, I entered Warren Street and was immediately faced with a wave of people leaving the station. I looked at the notice board and it essentially said that the Victoria line was shut due to a passenger incident at Finsbury Park. Figuring I couldn't get to my destination any quicker by other means, I walked down the escalator and got onto a rather empty southbound train where I found a nice eat to wait it out.

Over the tannoy system I could hear apologies due to a passenger being taken ill at Finsbury Park. I have always assumed that this is subtly different than an incident. LU always seem to make the differentiation and choose their words carefully. Perhaps the incident has caused them to be taken ill but I always assumed that an incident led to an illness of a very fatal and permanent nature. But I digress.

As people headed off the train a young foreign couple got on and stood in the doorway oblivious, or perhaps like me, not minding the wait. Outside people from further up the front of the train were leaving in droves and I watched them passing the windows.

Rather unexpectedly, especially for the couple, the doors sounded in preparation for closing. Like a flock of birds, angry birds with sharp umbrellas and briefcases mind, the crowd of commuters turned as one and dived for the doorway. I am not entirely sure if the couple knew what hit them. Judging by the acceleration away from the open doors, and the subsequent abrupt deceleration into the opposite closeddoors using only their confused faces, I can only assume not.

I wonder whether had they stayed down, it would be an incident or whether they had just been taken ill.

London Calling

Was out an about after work earlier, and I had forgotten how much I like London in the winter evenings. With it being dark by 5 now, all the lights are on, buildings are illuminated, the air is crisp, and there is a certain vibrancy I can't explain. Gone is the oppressive heat and humidy of summer and everything seems new and tingly.

Or perhaps its just me.

Commuting

Commuting. Everyone does it yet few people like it. I however, am reasonably ambivalent to it. As I travel by Tube (upper or lowercase 'T'?) I do not have the responsibility of driving, but at the sacrifice of control.

This is a trade off I am happy with.

I no longer need to renew road-tax or to fill up with petrol. Similarly, I avoid sitting in a traffic jam on a hot and humid day, watching my money drip out the exhaust filling the air with fumes whilst cyclists do their best to dive through the gaps in traffic taking my chrome with them. Conversely, I need to queue up to get a season ticket, albeit once a year. I get to sit in hot humid carriages packed tighter than a can of sardines with no knowledge as to my destiny, but a more than ample knowledge of some stranger's underarm/shopping/small child.

I have no ability to control whether I will get to my destination on time, or even at all (admittedly you don't in a car, but at last resort you can get out and run, which is slightly more difficult stuck in a sealed and electrified tin can beneath the ground). If its really not working then I can't get in, and whilst my boss may be annoyed, if I can't I can't and he knows that. Whilst my job is important to me, I'm not a Doctor, so no-one will die. I'll just have to work harder/later another day. With a car there is little excuse. Finally, whilst I can go anywhere anytime with a car, I don't need to shell out extra cash if my tube breaks down to a mechanic I suspect of not only stiffing me but also the tax man.

I think it is all down to perspective. Given its size and scale, and taking into account chronic under investment over the years, I do think the underground is a rather good invention, and IMHO, it certainly beats camel trains. Moreso for the fact I couldn't store my camel properly as I don't have a garden, nor am I willing to pay for a parking space at work... but I digress.

I am of the mind that people pick whichever public transport system suits them, whether it be for financial reasons, time or just ease. I pick the Tube for a combination of thre hree, and for 95% of the time I can't complain. Given people who get the tube do so because they personally either prefer the tube or find it easier and don't want the hassle of walking/busing/car-sharing/driving, it seems a shame to go to all that effort to reduce your commute and then have someone else spoil the hard work done by others. (Ok. if you really hate commuting move closer to work. If you can afford it don't move and give up your job. If you can't afford it pick the lesser of all the evils and stop whining.)

I think I think the trick to surviving is not to worry about the journey, thats why they pay the driver. If its empty, simply sit/stand back, find a happy place, read, snooze, listen to music or just wait it out. If its busy and heaving, then stand still, and wait it out. Although not the most comfortable, it won't lat forever. Usually I find for not more than 20 minutes per "hold". There is light at the end of the tunnel - admittedly its White City, but hey its a start. I also know that if its really bad, I can always get above ground and get a cab (I realise this isn't feasible for some, but thats part of your commute. I live where I do mainly because it was cheap, but also because if I need to get a cab I can and it won't break the bank.)

On days like today with both weather and signalling problems its a bit more difficult, so I tend to cheat slightly and move my happy place from the newspaper and heres how: Close your eyes, tip your head back and imagine you are on a beach in the south of France. The heat, humidity and sweat are all similar. The light from the flourescent tube will substitute for the sun whilst the insane screaming of the foreign exchange students...well I think you get the idea.

I'm not saying its a ride in the park, well not unless your the Queen, sometimes its easier said than done. Even this evening it wasn't enough to stop me wanting to wrap the guitar round the little idiots head. Nor was it enough to stop me getting annoyed at being stuck just outside Shepard's Bush for 30 mins. And sure I had my non-productive, didn't make me feel better rant on the way home, but at the end of the day I was home. Albeit a bit warmer and a bit later, there was nothing really that bad about it - I got home safe, in one piece and managed to read several chapters of my book. Its like having a personal chaffeur that almost drops to your door, the difference being your sharing him/her with hundreds of others in a slightly battered stretched limo.

For the 5% of the time when something "annoying" happens, or someone steps on my foot, hits me with a briefcase or just stands in the way, or on the occassion I get delayed by 30 minutes, its not enough to make me want to start getting a bus. Or a car. Or a camel for that matter. Well maybe a camel.

Just my 2c worth.

Busy

So begins another busy week. Tonight and Thursday are filled with social drinking. Tuesday is a charity do to mark the DVD release of Cold Mountain with a Q&A from Anthony Minghella afterwards. Wednesday is the Reduced Shakespeare Co performing the Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) (rather than America, Bible or Books). Friday is work BBQ, and the week is completed on Saturday by shopping for shoes for an upcoming wedding.

Its all good fun really.

Warren St LU Station

Something strange is going on at Warren St.

Yesterday they switched the Victoria line escalators at Warren Street so that the people attempting to exit the station walked from the platform to the right hand side, only to be greated by a wave of people coming down.

Then this morning the station was crawling with with armed police, Customs and Immigration officials.

Seems a bit ott to check Oyster cards...

Tube Strike

Well it appears that the tube and rail strike is a goer for 1830 next Tuesday until 1830 the following Wednesday. That means a dwindling service from the Tusday Lunchtime and a normal start on Thursday as drivers fail to start shifts either in anticipation of the strike or just after it.

With millions, perhaps billions of pounds "lost" by the City everytime this happens, it is Joe Employee who suffers as regardless what the Unions say, its them that this effects. Employers pay you to be there, and are not really concerned how you get there, be it bus, rail, tube, taxi or walking, or the cost of doing so. If I have to get a cab or walk, my employer will not compensate me in either time or money.

Oh well.

Sky Tonight

As I write this, the rain is bouncing off the windows and the sky to the west is thick with clouds. The sun is setting, turning the sky a thick orange. Office blocks and flats are silhouetted against the horizon. It looks like a seen from Mars.

Well, a heavily industrialised Mars. Without the rain. And a motorway through the middle.

White City Derailment (2)

Admittedly I didn't overly enjoy the doubling of my journey hope last night, but am very relieved to see the service up and running in time for this morning.

A Metronet spokesman said: "We don't know if our recent work and the derailment are connected and we are looking into the work we've been doing."

Already the shiftyness has started.

White City Derailment

As you do when your sitting waiting to leave, I continually refresh the news to see whats happening, especially when one of the articles concerns my journey home. Whilst I was doing this, I noticed that the original quote of the 6th carriage and 20 miles an hour, has now changed to the 7th carriage and 15 miles an hour.

On a side note, part of the BBC article includes the text:

It said the White City train derailed at a set of points undergoing routine maintenance where a 20 mile-an-hour speed restriction was in place.

Presumably it would be safer not to perform maintenance during operational hours? Or perhaps as I think they mean, to keep having to stop works to enable the line to keep running. Perhaps they could do works contemporaneously with the other outages that happened and are happening on the central line these past few weekends. Or even have done some when the entire line was broken because of Chancery Lane. Or maybe not.

I get the sneaky suspicion that heads will roll after this, because surely after 4 derailments (2 x Central , 1 x Northern and 1 x Picadilly) in just over 16 months, people should be realising that crashing trains aren't good for a) the rail network; b) the companies running them; c) the shareholders; d) peoples morale; and perhaps most importantly e) peoples health.

Sadly in this day and age, I feel that c) is given the largest priority much to the detriment of e).

Fingers Crossed

When browsing the Tube website and you see:

The Central Line has no service between North Acton Station and Marble Arch Station in both directions.

This will affect journeys from 12:33 on 11/05/04 until further notice. This is due to defective trains.

you cross your fingers and hope its just a temporary glitch. What you don't want to see across the news ticker when you look for more info are the words:

London Underground train derails near White City station. No injuries. More soon.

Defective train TFL say, presumably only in the fact its not designed to run on gravel or grass. Am glad no ones hurt, the trains do go quite slowly down that stretch. Saying that it is only two tracks for the most so I guess its mostly to do with luck and timing more than speed in this case.

The real bonus is of course, we can now look forward to more fun and games. Had almost forgotten what the several months of inconvenience caused by Chancery was like. In the meantime whilst others get on with pointing accusingly at each other, I'll be crossing my fingers...

Kate Beckinsale

Given Kate's dazzling performance at the London premier of Van Helsing, its probably an opportunity to revive this comment courtesy of the Daily Show in 2003.

She was asked whether her four-year-old daughter had discovered sarcasm. She had: "The other day she said she wanted to grow up to be a movie star in Hollywood," Beckinsale recalled, "and some nice person said, 'You mean like Mommy?' and she said, 'No - I said I want to be a movie star..."

It's Stopped Raining!

...it's now hailing.

UCLH

Walking to work today and it appears some of the scaffolding around the new UCLH building is coming down, so it looks like it might be on schedule for 2005. Similarly, the new Wellcome Trust building is starting to be unwrapped, and with some work on Euston Sq Station to go, it should also be done in the next year. If you look here, you can see the UCLH in the top right corner just obscuring the Wellcome Trust building.

All we have to do now is wait for the roads to be redone and the area will be quite pretty. Well, pretty if you like tall green and white glass buildings.

Still Raining

In todays paper edition of Metro:

"Rain brings soggy end to holidays
SHOPPING centres and DIY stores were the big winners yesterday as heavy rain brought the bank holiday weekend to a miserable close. Nearly a third of an inch of rain fell at Marham, Norfolk, while London and the South-East suffered heavy downpours. Wales and the North had some sunny intervals between the showers. Experts predict the first part of May will continue to be unsettled, with more showers and heavy rain across the country."

Like a drowned cat I was...

Holy Filming (2)

Further to my earlier post, London Tonight had a segment concerning filming in the UK, the biggest films of which are currently Harry Potter 4 and the new Batman film. Needless to say I was wrong in my earlier guess. They were in fact filming Batman in the Rockerfeller nurses home as I walked by and not Silent Witness. Arse.

Bank Holiday

...and its still raining.

Holy Filming

It would appear that the Batman filming was closer to home than I first expected. Just down the road from where I work operon took some photos of vehicles made up for the new Batman movie. First, a