Toby

I have just taken a series of new photos of Toby, some of which I am really pleased with:

To see the full set of photos please click HERE

Street Performers

I often wonder how much money Street Performers make. Thinking about it, those with the best pitches, the ones where there is a huge footfall of tourists, must make a small fortune. I was watching the following couple of performers at Trafalgar Square, and I think I counted about 8 people, in 5 minutes given them money. Here are the ones I spotted onTrafalgar Square:

 

However, here is my favourite, Charlie Chaplin still lives, and was spotted on Brick Lane!!!!

Regent Street Flags

I was hoping that the Union Flags that were put in place onRegent Street for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee would remain in place for the Olympics and Paralympic games. I thought it would have been nice for visitors to the games to see how much behind Team GB the nation was.

However, being typical British, I think that would have been seen as being unfair, so instead there are 216 different flags on Regent Street, one for each of the countries competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games. I must admit, it is a rather colourful sight. Also, it was great fun trying to work out which country each flag belonged to:

Stik

I have previously posted an entry about the street artist known as Stik, which can be seen here. However, I have noticed some newer examples of his work, which I would like to share:

The second picture is woman dressed in a Niqab who is holding the hand of her companion. I have read rhat Stik has said “the Muslim community has welcomed this piece of Street Art that they recognise as a sign of inclusiveness within their locality” However, there are two sides to the story of this picture. Stik has also drawn attention to the taller height of the Muslim woman than that of her companion, alluding to her empowerment in that relationship rather than subordination, and a possible challenge to established representations of Muslim women.

London Calling – British Airways Advert

I have always loved the song “London’s Calling” by The Clash, and often thought I would probably hear it a lot in the run up to the Olympic Games, as the World’s eyes will be on the city. So I was pleased to find that British Airways have used it in their latest advert, which is telling people not to fly and stay at home to cheer on Team GB at the Olympics. I hope you enjoy the advert:

If you have a UK Post Code you can see where you live in the advert if you go to: http://taxi.ba.com/

 

Sports House

As part of the Olympic Legacy, my borough has had funding to build a new sports centre, called The Sports House:

The Sport House is set in Mayesbrook Park, and will become a training venue for athletes competing in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The building itself is quite photogenic, and here are a couple of abstract pictures I took:

Let’s hope it people will use this new centre once the games are over.

 

New Compare the Meerkat Advert

Oh poor Sergi, thankfully he has made a full recovery from his recent stay in hospital, but he now seems to have runaway to join the circus to get his “dignity back”

These adverts are brilliant!!!!!

The Beatles

Walking around London is a real pleasure. So many things to see, but sometimes, you discover things by accident, things that are unexpected, and quite marvellous. Such as this piece of street art:

Considering The Beatles are associated with the 1960’s, it is even more of a surprise to see them imortalised in 2012 – well until the local authority decide to remove it. This peice of Street Art was completed by Mr Brainwash.

DIamond Jubilee Concert

We have a four day weekend here in the United Kingdom to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne. It is only the second Diamond Jubilee to be celebrated, the first being for Queen Victoria 114 years earlier.

There are a number of events happening as part of the celebrations, and for the first time, I have decided to go and experience one of the events. The Diamond Jubilee concert is taking place in front of Buckingham Palace, and although there are loads of people who have official tickets, I joined a quarter of a million people on The Mall to watch the event on the big screens:

We eventually got about two thirds of the way down The Mall, before we decided to stop, and this was our view:

What amazed me, was the number of different people we spotted in the crowd. It was nice to see:

Everyone was in a happy mood, especially as there seemed to be a break in the awful weather we had been experiencing in London. As you would expect, there were many people who decided to come along in their red, white and blue:

As for the concert. It was brilliant. Well, there were one of two artists that didn’t quite cut it, here I am really thinking about Cheryl Cole. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the artists, but the two highlights for me were Tom Jones and Madness.

Tom Jones was fantastic. He chose to sing “Delilah”, and you felt hairs on the back of your neck, when it sounded like a quarter of a million people joined in with the chorus: “My, my, my Delilah. Why, why, why Delilah……”.

Madness were also brilliant. They sang a way from the main stage, and were performing from the top of Buckingham Palace. The visual effects were brilliant too. When they sang one of their best hits “Our House”, pictures of council flats were projected on to the front of the Palace. Also, to fit in to their surroundings, they changed the lyrics “Our house, in the middle of ones street”.

The concert ended with one of the best firework shows I have seen;

It was a truly fantastic night, the atmosphere was superb. If you want to see more pictures from the night, please click HERE.

Happy Jubilee Weekend

Here is my patriotic tribute, made using M&Ms:

I would just like to reasure everyone, that no M&Ms came to harm during this photoshoot!!!!