Yahnyinlondon

This is what I got after my boyfriend’s birthday dinner at...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:19:56 +0000

This is what I got after my boyfriend’s birthday dinner at Hawksmoor last night. Am a very happy camper today!

What the Guardian is banned from telling you..

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:45:00 +0100

What the Guardian is banned from telling you..:

I was quite interested when I read this article on The Guardian this morning. The Third State have managed to track down what it was about…

61 N: Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation to protect (a) whistleblowers and (b) press freedom following the injunctions obtained in the High Court by (i) Barclays and Freshfields solicitors on 19 March 2009 on the publication of internal Barclays reports documenting alleged tax avoidance schemes and (ii) Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura.

Wikileaks have tracked down the Minton report, commissioned by Trafigura as well.

Royal Mail threatens legal action on improving our country

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:10:00 +0100

I don’t think I could have put it better than what is already said below. Join the group and sign the petition if you haven’t already.

from rewire-state:

Do we live in a society that brings the might of the judicial system crashing down on those who use their talents to provide free public services in their own time, often filling market failures far better than the Government? It’s a question that is (finally) beginning to be asked in the media, parliament, and if all else fails, the courts.

Unfortunately it has taken two of the finest of these individuals to endure threatening legal action that threatens their livelihoods to bring this matter to the limelight. For years, however, entrepreneurial creators of the web have been posed with this dilemna with every good idea they’ve had. Some have continued with the hope of a shield of obscurity, others with the mantra “ask forgiveness, not permission”, others have caved in, not wanting to risk what Harry and Richard are going through now.

It is an issue that poses complicated, interesting and extensive questions for economists, lawyers and politicians. But these tangents shouldn’t distract from the fact that it is undeniably wrong to destroy a free services that significantly improves job hunting whilst we’re in a recession, helps local people engage in the development of their local area, assist elderly people pick up their pensions or one of the many ideas that haven’t been thought up in the few years of the internet’s existence.

I urge you to support Ernest Marples’ defence of their service that has the potential to help every person in this country and move Britain into the digital age.

More than 1 billion Q&A posted on Yahoo! Answers

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:32:12 +0100

More than 1 billion Q&A posted on Yahoo! Answers:

It’s a huge figure and I’m especially proud to be part of the team that makes it happen :)

Disclaimer: The opinions on this blog are my own and are no way representative of those of Yahoo!

Tetsuya's Restaurant, Sydney

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:47:00 +0100

As part of our whirlwind trip to Sydney. Brad took me to Tetsuya’s Restaurant in Sydney. It’s widely thought to be one of Australia’s top restaurants and it certainly lived up to its name.

The menu

We started with a chilled Tamanohikari Sake, from Junmai-Ginjo in Kyoto, Japan.

Cepe & Chestnut Mushroom Soup with Shaved Mushroom

Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga

Leek & Crab Custard

Marinated Crystal Bay Prawns with Soy Caramel, served with the first of four white wines, a 2008 Lethbridge Menage Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, from Geelong in Victoria, Australia.

Tetsuya’s Signature Dish, confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Apple, Daikon & Wasabi with a seasonal green salad (not pictured). It was served with the second of four white wines, a 2008 Delatite Dead Man’s Hill Gewurtztraminer, from Upper Goulburn in Victoria, Australia.

Terrine of Queensland Spanner Crab with Avocado. It was served with the third of four white wines, a 2008 Ten Minutes by Tractor Pinot Gris, from Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia.

Grilled Fillet of Barramundi with Braised Baby Fennel. It was served with the final of four white wines, a 2007 Pierro Chardonnay for Tetsuya’s, from Margaret River in Western Australia.

Moving onto the meat courses, a Breast of Duck with Beetroot Treviso & Black Pepperberry. Served with the first of two red wines, a 2008 Felton Road Pinot Noir for Tetsuya’s, from Central Otago, New Zealand.

Seared Fillet of Veal with Wasabi Butter. Served with the second of two red wines, a 2005 Collector Marked Tree Shiraz, from the Canberra District in New South Wales, Australia.

A quick palette cleanser of Cannellini Beans with Marscapone.

The first of two desserts, a Pear Sorbet with Orange Jelly & Custard Apple, with Chai Bavarois. Served with a 2007 Heggies Botrytis Riesling, from Eden Valley in South Australia.

The second dessert, Strawberry Shortcake with Vanilla Bean Ice-cream. Also served with the 2007 Heggies Botrytis Riesling, from Eden Valley in South Australia.

The final dessert, a Chocolate Chiboust with Lemon Curd and Coffee Marshmallow. Served with a Seppeltsfield Selma Mellita, from the Barossa Valley in South Australia.

The meal finished with tea and coffee, and three different types of Petit Fours. Yum!

The total bill was around AU$680 including service charge. Expensive but the food and matching wines were wonderful. Ideal for a special occasion.

The Albion Cafe, Shoreditch, London

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:08:29 +0100

I’d been keen to try out Terence Conran’s new venture in East London for quite some time, ever since I’d read a rather complimentary review in the Guardian. Conran has transformed the whole building to a ground floor cafe and posh grocers, basement restaurant, hotel and roof-top terrace.

We’d had an early morning visit to Tate Britain one Sunday (to avoid the crowds) and a lazy lunch beckoned. After promising Brad some beer, the Albion was agreed upon as a suitable destination. Who knew that this little, rather out of the way spot, just off Shoreditch High Street would be quite so busy? The cafe was rather full. We enquired briefly as to whether we could just take a free seat if we could find one and were taken to a table for two. We weren’t sure if we skipped a waiting queue but surely the wait staff would have picked that up, and if not, too bad!

The menu was full of British classics and prices were refreshingly affordable. After far too much deliberation, I went for a plate of crackling with apple sauce, a chicken sandwich and a heritage tomato salad. Brad opted for fish and chips with a side of mushy peas, washed down with the required beer. Not being a massive fan of lunchtime drinking, I opted for a lemonade.

When our food was delivered, we realized we may have perhaps over-ordered. The crackling was wonderful and an absolute bargain at £1.50 but it was a meal on it’s own. My chicken sandwich, used bread from a loaf the size of a doorstep. Whilst the full side of mushy peas was possibly three times as much as one person would need. Only the heritage tomato salad seemed on the small side, and for that we were almost thankful.

I had the brilliant idea of combining my cracking with my chicken sandwich, with fresh slices of the tomatoes from the salad which now is possibly my new favourite sandwich filling. The sweet mayonnaise and soft chicken combined wonderfully with the crunchy crackling, the tomatoes gave it a sharp tang and balanced out the richness. Brad merely rolled his eyes whilst demolishing his fish and chips, which were by all reports lovely both in terms of presentation and taste.

Service was swift and the total bill came to £30 including drinks and service. Given the quality of the food and ingredients, it seemed like a very reasonable price. I’m looking forward to going there another lazy weekend day, although perhaps a little earlier before the hipster crowd are out of bed!

How was it for you? Measuring what we do

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:53:44 +0100

As part of the London Digital Week, I went to a panel discussion at Imagination Gallery on How was it for you? Measuring what we do.

The description from the website:

“A facilitated panel discussion from digital professionals about how we can work out what success looks like across a variety of digital platforms. Panellists - Alistair Duncan of Partpicipation Marketing, Janine Smith - Creative Director of Que Pasa, Louise Brown - cross-platform commissioner of Channel 4 and Rachel Coldicutt - Head of New Media, Royal Opera House. Capacity is 150. Drinks and networking afterwards.”

The evening started with a opening remarks from the director of Imagination. He did also mention that there were recruitment consultants in the audience which I found somewhat odd. It’s great that they were interested enough in their jobs that they would come to such an event but perhaps I have been scarred by too many irrelevant messages on LinkedIn lately. Imagination’s Head of Insights, Katie Stratton, followed who gave a brief introduction of herself and the panellists. Katie started her career at a publishing company before moving onto the Science Museum and Channel 4.

Key topics for tonight’s discussion were:

• What is success? How do we define it? How do we measure it?

• What are some working models to help us achieve success?

• What is good to measure? What isn’t?

• Can we move to new models? If we can, should we?

The panel started off talking about successes first. Alistair mentioned a project about Sky HD in which they uses metrics like page views, time spent and ultimately increase in sales. The client was happy because these were all positive but they lack context. Do we really know how much the campaign affected the bottom line?

Louise, discussing the show Embarrassing Bodies, used not just metrics but qualitative data to measure their success. First measured tv viewing, then it’s ratio to online visits and returning visits. They also tracked the interaction with peripheral services around the program like mobile and SMS both during the program and afterwards when the series had finished. They received lots of email from people saying that because of the series they had visited a doctor and had nipped some serious problems like cancer in the bud. As the series developed they integrated the website into the broadcast to respond to their queries. The responsiveness helped increase the program’s success. Louise finished by saying that perhaps people just need to be honest to our base response to something. Often we know intrinsically whether something is a success or a failure.

Rachel talked about the very first opera put on twitter, by the Royal Opera House. To get marketing effort for it, would have doubled the budget of the project, so they just let it grow organically and it ended up being one of the biggest stories on opera this year! People were vocal and responsive about it but she wasn’t really sure how it should be measured. Ultimately, the Royal Opera House measures success by the number of people in the audience each night.

Janine mentioned a terresterial TV show that was moved off onto web and mobile. Although it ended up on a 5 minute slot on Virgin, they didn’t expect the ratings so didn’t include them (initially). They created bespoke content for each platform which meant that people could get a unique take depending on which platforms they viewed it on. They measured return visits and cross platform usage. Virgin Atlantic have asked them to create a version for their in flight entertainment so they’ve now added an additional delivery channel to the show. The ability to deliver things across so many platforms seemed like it was their ultimate measure of success.

Janine added we should “take the content to the client, rather than trying to get the client to the content”. We shouldn’t limit our measurement of success to one delivery channel but all of them. Limiting it just makes it harder to achieve success.

The discussion moved onto measuring interaction when the interaction takes place in a fragmented environment. Alistair mentioned how Comscore and Omniture are merging their data to deliver a unified digital audience measurement system. We often end up building statistics for that lifecycle rather than for the brand experience as a whole. The perception of a brand is measured differently by different groups, for example marketing vs. development.

Rachel added that measures can be distorted, especially in a funding environment like opera when there are targets which must be met to ensure funding. She echoed comments of the panel that there needed to be an industry wide standard. Louise talked about their skins “super user” who had a number of defining qualities - follower of the twitter stream etc. and they measured success by the increase in the number of these people. I’m cautious about the use of the term “Super User” here.

Alistair met an agency.com planner who said said that standard criteria isn’t about whether it’s successful but whether it is done yet (I’m not sure if I transcribed that correctly!) We need to measure the health of the brand and the effectiveness of our campaigns. He went on to talk about the use of the term engagement and how it speaks to human behaviour more directly. We need to think about the engagement curve across a spectrum.

The problem is that we don’t always understand how people are going to use, consume and absorb digital media. We need to understand and track the complete customer journey across all media. Unfortunately it’s difficult to measure digital and real life together.

Where to shop and eat in Perth, Australia

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:28:31 +0100

I was desperate to prove that there is something interesting in Perth, despite appearances to the contrary. After a quick bit of searching online, I managed to track down a website called Vegan Alternative Perth. Now before you think I’ve turned into a complete hippy, there was actually a treasure trove of cool stuff mentioned.

Off I trundled to Perth on a very rainy and miserable Tuesday. Unfortunately the journey didn’t start so smoothly. I arrived at the station at the same time as the train, resulting in a frantic dash to get on sans ticket. Trains are rather infrequent in Perth and I didn’t fancy a 15 minute wait in the rain. Luckily the forgiving ticket inspectors allowed me to go outside and purchase a ticket at Perth station, rather than give me a $100 fine. Tickets are AU$3.60 which covers two zones and lasts for 90 minutes or you can get a day pass which costs around AU$8. They also have a Oyster Card system but it’s probably not worth using unless you plan to spend a reasonable amount of time in the city.

One of the definite pluses of Perth transport system, is the free travel within the CBD area. You can hop on most buses within the central area for free or take advantage of the free CAT services. The lines are colour coded: red, yellow and blue. They are air-conditioned which is a godsend in a hot Perth summer.

Just next to Perth train station is the Perth Cultural Centre. It’s composed of the WA Art Gallery, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), the WA Museum, and the State Library. Not only was the weather rubbish in Perth but I also managed to pick the day when the Art Gallery was closed! PICA was also closed until the evening for an exhibition changeover.

Apparently in Northbridge, there has been a bit of a regeneration lately, a bunch of independent stores has grouped together to form the “William Street Collective”. With no art gallery to visit, I was going to have to undertake the arduous task of shopping. Tough life!

First stop in the William Street Collective was Harry Highpants, located at 259 William Street. A stylish interior stocking a bunch of independent Australian labels with super friendly service, prices start from around AU$50 to AU$200. On the same side as Harry is also Retro Vinnies, a vintage fashion store in aid of St. Vincent de Paul, located at around 265 William Street. They were bursting at the seams with loads of great stuff for both men and woman for around the AU$20. Just across the road at 276 William Street was the Butcher Shop who specialise in all things graff, with a huge selection of markers and paints. They also have some cute wall art, trendy books and a smattering of fashion. Further up the road, at 282 William Street was Didges-we-doo, definitely one for the international tourists, they have a huge selection of real hand-painted didgeridoos, as well as lots of fine art prints.

On the next block, you’ll find Fi & Co, located at X William Street. Fi & Co stock new ladies fashion downstairs and vintage upstairs. Well worth checking out for their great range of flats. One for the boys this time, Brave New World stock stylish menswear from mostly small independent labels. Think classy shirts, shorts and jackets. Finally, and quite a walk from the other shops, you’ll find La La Orange, located at 411 William St. My stomach was growling so I didn’t quite make it there but I’ve heard from a couple of sources that it’s worth the trek out.

One of the great things about the Northbridge area, is the plethora of Asian cuisine you can find there. I must have walked past at least five different cuisines - Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese… If you want a cheap, quick meal, you could certainly do a lot worse.

I decided to stop at Hung Kee BBQ restaurant (Korean) located around 270-something on William Street. It looked promising, it was filled with people from the local Korean community, run by a family team and there was an impressive array of roasted meats hanging from the front counter. The service was suitably abrupt and pushy, as I sat down a small bowl of delicious chicken broth was plonked down beside me. Unfortunately I dithered on what to order, confused between the menu on the card and the one on the wall. Given barely a minute to decide, I mentioned something about roast duck, boiled rice and chinese greens which the old lady taking my order took to be one of the first options on the menu. She briefly pointed at what she thought I wanted before snatching my menu away.

The plate of food that arrived, certainly looked appetizing - glistening roast duck and a small portion of chinese greens piled on a generous portion of steamed rice with a side of chilli oil - however, both the duck and greens felt quite cold. It was still nice but on a cold day, you want hot food. At AU$9.50 it was pretty good value and hopefully this is just a one off incident rather than a common occurrence.

The other area of note in Perth, is the North end of Hay Street. Since I’ve been away, a couple of high end stores have opened in Wesley Arcade but you can find them anywhere right? Skip the labels and check out Pulse, located next to Burberry. It’s been there for as long as I can remember and stocks quirky, edgy pieces, ideal for standing out from the crowd on a night out. If you are a music lover, it’s worth a trek up to 78’s records store. It’s a huge space which sells just about everything music related and holds in-store events. Attending an in-store at 78’s is like a rite of passage for Perth’s music loving teenagers.

After all that walking, you’ll definitely need some sustenance so make a pit stop at Java Juice for a fruit smoothie and a wheatgrass shot. Smoothies start at around AU$5. They have a couple of stores dotted around Perth so keep your eyes peeled.

What’s the verdict? Whilst Perth is still mostly sleepy and boring, there are certainly signs of life if you seek them out and enough to keep most tourists entertained for at least a day or two.

Typography for Lawyers

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:08:07 +0100

Typography for Lawyers:

I love this website. It’s fantastic. It’s not just good for lawyers but also for anyone who needs to brush up their typography skills when writing documents.

Butler's Wharf Chop House Review

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:56:00 +0100

One night after an exhibition opening at the Design Museum, Brad and I decided we both really couldn’t be bothered cooking. Unfortunately Shad Thames has two kinds of restaurants: chains and posh restaurants for those on expense accounts.

Jeans, trainers and streetwear didn’t fit the stylish dress code of Le Pont de la Tour, so we decided to check out the Butler’s Wharf Chop House. The vibe was slightly more relaxed than it’s neighbour but still reasonably formal.

The chop house makes use of good quality, seasonal ingredients and they also offer a fixed price meal for about £25 which appears to be reasonably good value. Unfortunately neither of us cared for the dishes on the fixed price menu so we opted for a la carte. Brad choose the steak and chips, whilst I opted for the Lamb Cutlets with Sauteed Potato and Jus with a side of green salad to share. As it was still early on in the week, I went for a glass of the Pinot Noir ‘Devil’s Corner’ from Tamar Ridge, Tasmania, whilst Brad plumped for a pint of beer. Fresh bread arrived with the drinks, which received full marks. My Pinot Noir was fantastic but a tad overpriced at around £8.50 a glass.

The food was slightly slow to come out and when it did, Brad wasn’t impressed with the portion size. His steak was overcooked and he was perplexed by the appearance of a large marrow bone. There was a handful of artfully arranged chips. Whilst I appreciate the presentation, it didn’t seem like good value for money. My lamb was certainly praiseworthy, cooked well and with three generous cutlets. The jus was lovely but I found the sauteed potato a bit bland and there was only one of them! The salad was your stock standard variety of lettuce leaves, sans dressing.

Still a bit peckish, we opted for a cheese platter. There was supposed to be four different types of cheeses but the plate we received had three different types, with two of the cheddar. Cheeses were of good quality and are usually sold through Neals Yard Dairy (a sign of a good cheese!) however, the accompaniments were dreadful - a few limp celery stalks, grapes and cheap shop bought water crackers. If I’m paying £8 for cheese platter, I expect at the very least some decent artisan crackers.

After spending some time trying to get the attention of the waiters, we finally got our bill which came to around £80, including service charge. The meal felt dreadfully overpriced. The meal was for the most part bland and uninspiring whilst service was certainly patchy in parts. Despite all this, the place was mostly full and it was obvious why. The views of Tower Bridge were certainly impressive, the menu is full of British classics and it’s rather expensive. It ticks all the boxes for impressing an overseas client despite it’s flaws. So if your company is picking up the tab, this is probably not a bad choice but if it’s your money, there are better ways to spend it.

My parent's holiday to Europe

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:08:00 +0100

For the first time in six years of living in London, both my parents came to visit me. My father, despite being almost 60 had never left Australia before. It was my Mum’s third visit to London, having previously lived their in the 1970’s and spending over a month with me in 2005. She was my original inspiration for the big move, having spent most of my childhood poring over her travel scrapbooks.

If you’ve noticed a slow-down in the blog posts lately, it’s because we’ve been up to a bunch of stuff and I’ve been run off my feet. Here’s what we got up to:

A walk around Hackney, London Fields, Victoria Park and Regents Canal in order to keep them awake after they arrived at 6am (Yes, I had to go pick them up!)
Lots of London sightseeing, they did an open top bus tour, went on the London Eye, saw Tate Modern, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.
Went to see Australia perform dismally on the first day of the second test, held at Lords Cricket Ground. We did lunch in style with a three course picnic with wine and cheese provided by Villandry. Ashes Flickr Set.
Drove up to the Lake District, staying in Avon Wood at Windemere Lake. Lake District Flickr Set.
Spent Dad’s 60th Birthday at Beun Ayre restaurant, Broadway Market. I don’t think I’ve ever seen steaks that big before in my whole life.
Mum and I went to the V&A Museum of Childhood, located just in Bethnal Green whilst Dad went to see the Imperial War Museum by himself!
Went to the Dove Club’s Belgian National Day Celebrations at the Dove in Broadway Market. Proceeds went to St Joseph’s Hospice located in Mare Street.
Mum and Dad travelled on the Eurostar to Belgium. From there, using their Eurail passes, they spent time in Brussels, Gent, Luxemberg, Basel, Zurich, Munich, Innsbruck, Florence, Pisa, Bologna and Ancona before catching a Superfast ferry to Patras. They then had to endure a seven hour train journey to Athens!
Brad and I met Mum and Dad in Athens before catching a ferry to Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades for three lovely nights. Lots of sightseeing, sitting on the beach and greek food. Highly recommended. Flickr Set.
Mum and I went to The Sanctuary spa in Covent Garden for an evening spa, massages, facials and thai foot therapy. Bliss!
Went to the Saturday Market held on Broadway Market in London Fields. Top marks but now my Dad thinks I’m a bit of a hipster.
Drove my Dad to Silverstone Raceway, for his 60th birthday present, which was a 2 hour driving experience in a Formula Ford. The smile on his face after was worth every penny. Flickr Set.
Mum and Dad went to the Science Museum, originally to check out the F1 exhibition that was on but it turns out their permanent collection held a lot more interest.
Attended the Smarkets Launch Party. Congratulations Team Smarkets!

The day after the Smarkets Launch Party, it was back on a plane (feeling rather shabby if I’m honest) to Perth via Kaula Lumpur. It’s been another whirlwind week catching up with family and friends, as well as walking my dog Brandee. I wrote this en route to Sydney, where I had a few days there with Brad’s family before flying back to London via a stopover in Hong Kong.

You know what they say, no rest for the wicked!

Herbal Essences Packaging Redesign

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:18:32 +0100

I noticed recently that Herbal Essences have changed all their packaging with the help of the agency LPK. There was a couple of really great things that they did with the redesign that really impressed me.

A little while before the new bottles started appearing, the old containers featured a preview of the what the new packaging was going to look like and what it was going to be called. Given the number of times that you pick up the bottle to use it, you’re bound to notice that you should be looking for something different next time you are in the shop.
The new shape removes the wasted space on either side of the cap, as well as providing a snug fit for the shampoo and conditioner. Why pay to ship air? Financially and environmentally this is a great improvement.
The old bottles were starting to look a bit dated, like it was something your Mum would use. It no longer felt fresh or trendy like more expensive salon brands. However, the new design isn’t totally alienating and retains a couple of the key features like the cycle and swirls.

The final interesting thing to note, is that despite the redesign being a success, it probably generated less press and comment than the panned redesign of Tropicana Orange Juice. Food for thought indeed!

Stumbling on Happiness Quotes

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:40:00 +0100

I was recently reading Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert for the August London UX Bookclub. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend, as I’m currently on the other side of the world but I thought it would make for some light reading on my trip to Greece.

I was interested to see the following taken from Chapter 11 - Reporting Live from Tomorrow.

“One of the benefits of being a social and linguistic animal is that we can capitalize on the experience of others rather than trying to figure out everything ourselves. For millions of years, human beings have conquered their ignorance by dividing the labour of discovery and then communicating their discoveries to one another…”

“The fact that we communicate with one another about our experiences should provide a simple solution to the core problem with which this book has been concerned. Yes, our ability to imagine our future emotions is flawed - but that’s okay, because we don’t have to imagine what it would feel like to marry a lawyer, move to Texas or eat a snail when there are so many people who have done these things and are all too happy to tell us about them. Teachers, neighbours, coworkers, parents, friends, lovers, children, uncles, cousins, coaches, cabdrivers, bartenders, hairstylists, dentists, advertisers - each of these people have something to say about what it would be like to live in the future rather than that one, and at any point in time we can be fairly sure that one of these people have actually had the experience that we are merely contemplating…”

“Every one of us is surrounded by a platoon of Dear Abbys who can recount their own experiences and in so doing tells us which futures are most worth wanting.”

It’s certainly interesting to note how the internet allows us to share our experiences and become a “Dear Abby” for someone else.

MySpace is to Facebook as Twitter is to ______

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:34:00 +0100

MySpace is to Facebook as Twitter is to ______:

Interesting article by Cody Brown, forwarded to me by my friend and colleague, Micah Alpern.

“The past few weeks have come with two major reveals for the weirdos who follow online social networks. The first was big news. Twitter’s internal documents leaked and the identity-crisis of earth’s most popular start-up is now public. The second was more under the radar but just as important. In a memo that went out to staff, the CEO of MySpace admitted that their users are caught between three competing notions of what MySpace is or should be.”

A Vintage Year of Fashion

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:10:24 +0100

Awhile back, I discovered this blog - The Uniform Project by Sheena Matheiken. What’s it all about?

Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accoutrements, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade’s boudoir.

This got me thinking about my wardrobe. I’ve pretty much given up my clothes habit. Managing just two blow-outs this entire year… once in California to get some much needed jeans and a skirt suit for business and once when I had to buy a dress for a wedding. So when I saw that Sheena here was managing to get some ace stuff via ebay I started trawling for some vintage clothes to bid on myself.

So you may be thinking, girl discovers ebay to feed clothes habit, so what? Well, not only am I being thrifty but being sustainable about my clothes consumption is kinda ace!

This leads me onto my blog title, I’m going to give up new clothes for a whole year. That’s right, I’ll only be purchasing clothes and accessories from ebay or other second hand stores until the end of July 2010. In the interests of hygiene, there has to be a few exceptions which are as follows: underwear, socks, swimwear and earrings — Although I’ll be doing my best to make do with what I have already — I’ll also allow myself one get out of jail free card just in case.

So with the vogue trends as my friend, I’ll just have to make do. I may do a round-up of purchases each month.

Vintage Logos from Eric Carl, on Flickr

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:46:17 +0100

Vintage Logos from Eric Carl, on Flickr:

From Mr Carl’s Flickr…

Collection of vintage logos from a mid-70’s edition of the book World of Logotypes.

NOTE: I did not create any of this work! This book is out of print but can probably be found with some scouring.

Little Georgia, Hackney - Review

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:29:00 +0100

Located at 87 Goldsmiths Row, E2 8QR, I’d heard about Little Georgia a number of times, including it’s enforced relocation from on Broadway Market proper (Read about that here and here). I normally ride my bike past it most days after work and it just looks so inviting and homely. When we were in Moscow, Russia (around the time they were invading Georgia) we actually went to a lovely Georgian restaurant which served some of the best food of the Russian part of the trip and I’ve still fond memories almost a year later. When Giles Coren actually had some nice things to say about it, well it seemed almost rude not to check it out.

So, one fine Sunday afternoon Brad and I wandered up to the new Little Georgia, going via the extensive bottleshop come off-license on Broadway Market. We stopped to purchase a lovely Stoneleigh Pinot Noir, from New Zealand, 2007 vintage which was around £8 or so. Little Georgia has no license and charges no corkage fee to bring your own.

Onwards to Little Georgia we went, where we were greeted by a gruff gentleman, who let us choose our table. We decided to stay inside rather than choosing the wonky tables that stand outside the restaurant.

With our lovingly home printed menu, we took the advice of some other reviewers which mentioned the strength of the lighter dishes over the daily specials for mains. We ordered meat filled blinis, a carrot salad, a spinach pate type dish and the hachapuri.

The hachapuri had to be the highlight, it was fresh and light, filled with a soft cheese. I could have happily eaten a whole one to myself. Blinis were lovely too, lightly spiced minced meat and crunchy on the outside. The carrot salad was a little disappointing, a bit soggy and boring for my liking. The spinach pate was interesting, not entirely what I expected, it came cold, mashed with garlic and olive oil. It was a good contrast to the blini and hachapuri.

Service wasn’t exactly swift but we were quite happy drinking our wine. It’s quite nice to enjoy eating out instead of knowing you have to rush off elsewhere. We ended up skipping the dessert, although this was out of laziness than of our own choice. Our server neglected to ask if we wanted anything else, despite us both eying up the selection of cakes on the counter. So after getting the bill we went home via another off-license, where we purchased ice-creams. It was certainly a squeeze though, because despite not looking like much we were pretty stuffed!

All up, the bill was £20.50 for all four dishes, service not included. Pretty reasonable for a dinner for two. Would I go back? Certainly. Would I recommend it? Definitely to those who are local to Hackney but maybe not if you had to travel for ages.

One and Other - Trafalgar Square

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:14:34 +0100

One and Other - Trafalgar Square:

I’ve been totally addicted to this today. Antony Gormley’s idea for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square is to let 2400 people stand on top of it, one per hour from today until October sometime. As expected, it’s been largely populated by fruitcakes which has provided me with lots of entertainment today.

Highlight had to be the town crier who had a pre-written poem, which he read over and over, advertising his two pubs in London. Until of course, he was heckled by someone for his spam, had a projectile thrown at him and broke his bell. He had a bit of a breakdown on the plinth, sitting down like a man dejected, urging everyone to stop lining the pockets of big corporations and support their local businesses. I felt kind of sorry for him.

Is it art? I don’t know but it’s certainly car crash entertainment.

My Mentor's on Whitney Hess's blog

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:38:18 +0100

My Mentor's on Whitney Hess's blog:

Whitney Hess recently asked me to write about people I considered to be a mentor or a hero. She’s now published it as part of her Mentors and Heroes series. Thanks to Whitney for giving me the chance to talk about people who have made a difference in my life. If you haven’t read Whitney’s blog yet, definitely check it out.

I posted a few months back about the a tasting that I did at The...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:05:00 +0100

I posted a few months back about the a tasting that I did at The Dove in Hackney, sponsored by Palm Brewery. We just received another email about a new event, and lo and behold, there we are enjoying Belgian Beer.

You can read my original post here: Palm Beer Tasting Night @ The Dove