Annoying short con in Westminster

Out and about again in 28 degree Westminster today. When I'm with other people in the know, we usually cross over to the upriver side of Westminster Bridge if we are heading across it. It's a way to avoid some of the barricades of tourists who are making the most of the fine weather and decidedly out in force.

It's actually quite funny walking along chatting to someone and having to dodge dozens of people taking pictures of Parliament, buses, traffic lights, taxis, the River, the Eye and so on. It requires a sort of crowd mastery to stay close and able to talk in a tourist mayhem.

To make it even more challenging, there's one of those gangs of tourist fleecers operating on Westminster Bridge at the moment, complete with home made plastic disks and metal cups for the three shell game.

Its always interesting to watch the edges of such games. There'll be someone standing in the road looking for police. There'll be a couple of extra large people around for 'management purposes' and the actual crowds around the makeshift tables seem to comprise quite a few people of similar ethnicity as the people operating the games. The marks seem to frequently be from the far east.

A couple of days ago a single policeman on a motorcycle arrived and in seconds half the bridge's hustlers had disappeared.

But I don't think of this offshore short-con as a London thing. I've seen it in Paris and Milan, but in truth am a little appalled we have it operating across the road from Parliament.

the pipistrelle bat swoops around me again tonight

I have been away from home intermittently over the last few days, but was home in daylight tonight.

It was a close thing though as the sun was just setting.

I decided to make a cup of tea and look to see if the pipistrelle bat would make an appearance.

Sure enough, just after sunset, the little bat appeared and began its swooping and weaving flight around the garden.

I've come to regard it as 'our garden's bat' because it does pretty much stay within the perimeter.

I have previously tried to capture it with a camera, but it is way too fast for that, unless I were to set up some kind of flash rig.
Some people are terrified of bats, but I find the swooping aerial ballet performance as it hunts for insects quite magical.

It seems fairly unruffled by my presence and I can stand outside watching it perform at not much more than arms length and occasionally see it do an extra spiral around me as it takes more of a sounding.

What is less apparent is that the bat is firing out bleeps of very high frequency sound to check for insects using a sort of echo-location. The sounds are actually extremely loud but too high for us to hear except for an occasional click like fingers being snapped.

...and we are not even in the Halloween month yet.

I wake to see another pink pig fly over Battersea Power Station

It was one of those accidental great London moments this morning. I woke up and looked out of the window.

I could see them preparing the white bubble tents for the dance series on the adjacent land.

Then I looked towards the river.

A pig.

Not just any pig. THAT pig. The one on the cover of the Pink Floyd record.

The third most iconic London album cover (Abbey Road is number one). Number two (23 Heddon Street) is pretty good too.

But to wake up to Number Three.

Brilliant.

At another time, the correct thing to do would be to pop along to the King William IV pub on the embankment, order a pint and play the album whilst sitting at a table on the pavement. But I had to go to work.

from small acorns

A Sunday morning bicycle ride today, whilst most people were still asleep.

Tyres re-pumped to 100psi with the main noises being squarks of nearby birds and distant sounds from traffic.

I did see one person carrying a tell-tale shotgun bag, but what with it being Sunday and all, I'm assuming it was simply being moved, and not deployed. There's a couple of areas that if I pass in the week I'll hear the crack of shotguns, but I think Sunday is supposed to be silent in England.

And further along I spotted an open gate, leading to an interesting landmark that is usually padlocked away. Worth a short detour to explore, and then on the way back to stop to pick up a few acorns.

I doubt if they would grow, but it might be worth throwing a few outside to see what happens.

And soon, nearby bells begin to peal as the rest of the area begins to go about its business.

in which i get a draft trailer for the triangle novel

It's not ready for general publication yet, but I'm amused to say I've received an early copy of a trailer related to the Triangle (clickable confidential preview above).

I must admit I sort of laughed out loud when I played it, but in a good way.

This all links in with the "Hollywood adventures" related to the Triangle and the components of what will be in some sort of distribution pack.

I gather its got some fancy name (not EPK - Electronic Press Kit) - Something more film industry specific. Anyway, for the moment the fledgling trailer/sting is looking okay, even if they have got the story slightly wrong.

I suppose in time I'll have to decide whether to settle for a mini series or to hold out for a Hollywood blockbuster.

Decisions, decisions...

Meanwhile, here's the old video I made where a couple of the characters meet at an airport and Patricia is on the search for a Cinnabon franchise.

no breach of the peace around this national security

I'm having a few interesting days in London locations that are quite often featured on television. The most obvious area is around Westminster (throw in a taxi and a red bus), but there's a few slightly less well-known places that can also feature on the 'been there' list.

There's also a few anomalies, like the relative scarcity of cash point machines around this part of town. Considering I'm so central, I'd expect there to be 'hole in the wall' cash dispensers for tourists on every street corner.

Unfortunately not, and those that are available had all run out of cash when I tried to use them. It could have helped the day I accidentally brought Euros instead of Pounds.

But then someone told me there was a cashpoint by the Treasury building - although, he added, it was out of order.

Maybe a sign of the times?

Through the brightly lit eyes of the glossy romance of fashion

For some, the black tie wearing season may run throughout the year.

Here at rashbre central it's normally more of a winter pursuit, probably peaking around the turn of the year. It can also mean that the relevant clothes need reviving or replacing from whatever scrape they were in the last time.

So my illustration above from last weekend's early foray into black tie territory may be a little unusual because it also meant arriving bow-tied in daylight, which felt most strange.

Still, the evening passed eventfully and a good time was had by all. Even the moment when a police car pulled up on the gravel drive to ask one of us some detailed questions didn't squash the mood. And don't panic, I had a chauffeur from the fancy palace.

Since then, I've been back modelling tee shirts, including my recent cycling addition*. * Thanks for location instructions, mb

being very central

Well, the establishing shot featuring a red bus and a black cab by the Palace of Westminster gives away that I've decided to take the work in the centre of London at the moment.

It's pretty close to where plenty happens and the chimes from the big clock can be easily heard from where I'm working. It's also quite amusing dodging through the dozens of tourists standing in the middle of the road taking pictures of the Clock Tower and the many related sights.

The nature of my work does take me to plenty of interesting places, although its been while since I've had anything quite so central.

Lanterns on the Lake - Gracious Tide, Take Me Home

It's a while since rashbre central featured new bands, although we've struck good here in the past with newbies who subsequently make good like Laura Marling, whose third album is just released, although with a somewhat unexpected American accent replacing Berkshire on some of her new songs.

We've also had the now global Adele featured here when she was still playing acoustic guitar and before any albums.

Right now covert agents of rashbre central are ensuring that Newcastle (rashbre north-east) gets attention as part of the new scene.

So who to include? Today's obvious choice is the not new but newly released Lanterns on the Lake, who made their debut album on an eight track recorder in various Northumberland homes including the basement of a shop on the Heaton Road.

Well, it's a lovely sonic landscape, folky but with a spectral and ringing guitar backdrop. You can hear north-eastern weather in the soundtrack and there's some of those creaks that might be instruments flexing or the hull of a slow moving ship riding the waves.

The album is called Gracious Tide, Take Me Home and its one to play and immediately enjoy. The live recording I intended to use had rather a bad bass overload on it, so here's one from Glastonbury.

return of the sparrowhawk

This week kicked in with a new form of busy as I get back into work.

There's been a sort of ground rush effect as the phone calls and different opportunities beckon. The trick is not to be phased as the phone gets busy and the plates again need to be spun in unison. I'm not sure I could hunt with the calculated precision of this week's garden visitor, but I've certainly got some options to work with.

At the moment I'm deciding between an out of town assignment, some work close to Parliament or a trip to Sweden.

We shall see.

as the evening starts to glow

Quite a busy weekend, including attending the last festival of the summer.

I'm sure its not really the last event, but it certainly feels like the start of the transition from standing outside to standing inside.

Among the performers was the excellent Beverley Knight who blasted out a terrific set in the sunshine, ahead of what then became a drizzle and later a downpour.

I also broke away from recent small camera obsession and took an SLR for this one, to get a few pictures. It still a lottery about big cameras at gigs though, I still remember getting turned away at Exeter and having to take a long lens back to the car park.
No such problems here although admittedly I used the 'get close' manoeuvre to good effect.

I've been to quite a few gigs in Hyde Park and it is a very pleasant venue if the weather holds. This one started with a Bart Simpson sky although later the moodier clouds arrived. I'd travelled light relying on a cycle waterproof and baseball cap to improvise weather protection.



Others were more prepared with proper chairs and picnics but then later the umbrellas were out in force. I've no problem with either further away from the stage, but think the first rows should be kept for fans who don't want to block the view for others.

My picture below illustrates a perfect configuration; quite distant from the stage, somewhat improvised plastic bag-like waterproofing; fizz at the centre and a generally happy demeanour.
Yes, I did take a street camera as well.

World Trade Center

Look carefully into this picture and you'll see my feet, or at least my shoes. The pictures are from my old snapshots.

It was my first ever trip to New York and I'm standing at the top of the World Trade Center looking down to the Plaza below. I was with a small gang of friends and we were on our way back from a meeting in North Carolina and had routed via New York to spend a whirlwind day 'doing the sights' before hopping a plane back to London.

Our visit to New York was uneventful. It was in the days before zero tolerance and we'd moved around as slightly cautious wide-eyed tourists. I'd been back to the World Trade since then, for a proper business meeting many stories high.

Then forward to ten years ago. Like pretty much everyone, I've the solemn memories of that New York morning, viewed as an afternoon from the UK. In my case I was driving an old white car to a garage to pick up a brand new blue one from the show room. As I arrived there were people huddled by a television in the corner of the dealership.

"Someone has flown a plane into the World Trade Center," came an explanation to me. I thought they meant a light aircraft - like a Cessna - or even one of the many helicopters that flitter around New York. I walked to the television and people there were explaining "It's crashed into the Pentagon."

It was the early stages of the news coverage and didn't make total sense. I picked up the shiny new car and tuned to a news channel on the way back home. It was at least another ten minutes into the journey that the proper news reports started to come in about the atrocities that were unfolding. I drove home and flicked on the main television coverage from CNN.

Then, like many, I watched shocked as the terrible events unfolded on camera.

The world permanently changed that day and even now it is difficult to join some of the dots on things that happened afterwards. Living right in the middle of a major event, in a connected world, it is still difficult to piece together the cause and effect linkages between the brutal and callous act of terror and some of the decisions that followed.

A few days after September 11, I received a mail item from the USA. It was some sort of minor financial transaction. The address on the transaction was World Trade Center, and the date 9/11.