Just a quick note about the Cape Town Fish Market in Carnaby – even though it’s dubbed “South Africa’s Finest Sea Restaurant”.
I’d walked past this restaurant several times, being drawn to it by my fish-fiend nature, but equally deterred from it by the lavish (read:expensive) appearance and menu. Feeling a little flush, I decided to try it out a couple of weeks ago on a night out with a friend.
The restaurant essentially serves seafood in every form imaginable under the sun. Moules marinaire, sushi, surf and turf, and good old cod and chips. My friend plumped for the moules and salmon teryaki, while I went for the tapas-style selection of ecclectic plates (miso mussels, fish cakes, and sashimi were among my choices). Everything was fresh, cooked just right, and bloody gorgeous to eat. We were served by a delightful young Australian guy, and were put in a great location between a window overlooking Argyll Street and a colourful waterfall installation. It did indeed feel lavish, but not as pricy as I’d expected. We also drank a round of Sake followed by a couple of digestifs, and including tip, the bill didn’t come to more than £30 a head. Fantastic! But dangerous, as I now want to return there. Often.
Written by Rebecca Davis of The Telegraph
Much as I don’t begrudge him his stateside success with House and, now, Hollywood blockbuster Street Kings (in which he plays a grisled police captain alongside Forest Whitaker and Keanu Reeves), I do miss the larkish charm that he brought to TV programmes like Jeeves and Wooster and Blackadder.
No-one else can do English upper-class nincompoop quite like Laurie, even if he has proved he can ‘do serious’ and has mastered an American accent convincing enough to fool Americans.
Perhaps I’m being a bit overly nostalgic, but Laurie himself recently complained that England has turned its back on him and that that he would love to work with Stephen Fry again. To which I say, come home, Hugh, and take on P.G. Wodehouse once more!
I don’t expect that this will happen any time soon; Laurie says he’ll be moving his family to the US if the success of House continues, and this seems very likely.
But perhaps by the time he tires of LA, both he and Fry will be old enough to play the principal characters in The Blandings Castle series. They could even reverse their societal roles this time, with Fry as Lord Emsworth and Laurie his trusty butler, Beach.
Then and only then will cosy Sunday nights in front of the telly be restored to their former glory.
I quite often pass West Dulwich train station on the way to work, and have often noticed signs pointing to the Dulwich Picture Gallery. When planning what to do with my Easter Monday, I tapped the name of the institution into Google to find that they have a rather spiffy-looking exhibition on Early Modern US art. Furthermore, Google result number 6 was a National Rail 2 for 1 entry offer.
So I popped along.
The permanent collection is somewhat reminiscent of the 18th Century rooms in the National Gallery, just a few miles further into town, with many of the same artists – Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Hogarth. The Dulwich Picture Gallery provides a change to really meditate over works by these artists, without feeling rushed along by a school crowd or gaggle of tourists. The paintings were hung lower, allowing for a more intimate viewing, which is quite unusual for these subjects and mediums and, despite being poorly-lit in places, I even found myself admiring a Constable piece – and he bores me.
There is a good representation of the period too – some religious imagery, landscapes, a few portraits, and even a bit of mythology. It was pleasantly surprising to see almost an entire wall dedicated to Rubens, including the Botocelli-reminiscent Three Graces.
Largely unadvertised, one room holds an exhibition on Guido Reni’s Saint Sebastians, which features six or seven similar pieces from across the world that prompt us to question the value of the original.
To the main feature: Coming of Age details the evolution of America’s artistic exploration. This being the first time that I’d seen an exhibition “about American Art”, I felt that, certainly in comparison to the British works I’d just seen, their landscapes were warmer, their still life paintings more ‘industrial’, and their portraits carried an air of comedy and character, which on retrospect is notably absent from their European counterparts during this period.
Not to get too biographical, but the fact that the start of this movement coincides with the American Civil War had an effect on the vibrancy and dynamic quality of these works. The path that led to the creation of now iconic pieces by Pollock (Phosphorescence), Reinhardt (Red Abstract), and Hoffman (Exaltment) is explained clearly and simply through the increasing abstract tendencies of their predecessors. For example, Prendergast takes the Impressionist technique and manages to execute it in a way that makes the painting appear less sleepy and more…like a snapshot of bustling life. He is sandwiched between Man Ray and Georgia O’Keefe.
The completeness of the exhibition’s “story” is really pleasing, leaving the visitor with an understanding of the momentum built up during this exciting period.
Not bad at all for £4.50 each.
Coming of Age: American Art 1850-1950 will be showing until mid-2009 at:
Dulwich Picture Gallery (March 1–June 8, 2008);
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (June 27–October 12, 2008);
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale (November 6, 2008–March 8, 2009)
Guido Reni’s Saint Sebastians will be showing until 11 May 2008
(I realise this has been a fairly image-led series of posts. I will find some words for you soon)
Filed under: fashion
Lip Service have made a name for themselves as original and cutting-edge alternative fashionistas, inspiring where most of their peers disappoint. Here are a few of the items in store for us over the coming months:
My latest article for Flisolo deals with the perils and pitfalls of moving to London post-graduation. Among my interviewees was Graphic Designer Owen Winn, who has worked with the likes of Oxfam and The Designers Republic
*edit* 11.11.09 – the online version of this article has since disappeared. Below is the text
The Big Smoke. The Empire. The City. What draws so many people to London? How do they establish themselves there, and why do they stay? The cost of living in London (http://www.workgateways.com/working-cost-of-living.html) can run you into quadruple figures every month, so is it realistic for a graduate to aspire to live there?
A lot of planning needs to take place whenever you move – anywhere. Luckily, most students are prepared for this. Housing, bills, appliances all need to be taken into account once again when you make the big post-university move. The settling in costs will rise, however, due to the addition of council tax, deposits, and the start of paying off your loan.
There’s no doubting that London is an expensive city, where money just seems to walk out of the door, so things will be a lot easier if you’ve already found work prior to moving. Anoop Aggarwal, who graduated from Warwick and now works for Citigroup agrees – “everything is considerably more expensive than anywhere else in England. Drinks, food, travel etc… But then salaries are higher also”. If you work in a service sector, you will likely be eligeable for the “higher cost of living rate” – a surplus payment for anyone living in Greater London. When I was working as a secretary, this came to an extra £1.88 an hour, purely because I was a Londoner.
If you’re after a more artistic career, on the other hand, things can be very different. Art organisations will be more than happy to take on an extra pair of hands on a voluntary basis, but most will struggle to find well-paid permanent employment. Expect to work for free, perhaps moonlighting somewhere more conventional – for the first few years of your career, particularly if you are an artist. Don’t be disheartened by this – Owen Winn, now a successful designer with companies such as Oxfam and the Designers Republic in his portfolio, is proof that the hard labour can pay off. “As an aspiring designer, finding any work was quite tough. Despite promises of a 100% job placement record what wasn’t made quite clear is that it was 100% EVENTUALLY and not necessarily in the job you trained for, which is the case for pretty much everyone I know who has graduated…there really is no luck at all but a lot of hard work which includes networking and often unpaid work to build up a reputation and portfolio…patience, perseverance and a positive attitude towards achieving the final goal of landing your dream job after graduation is key.”
Ideally, you should start looking before you finish your final year, but if this doesn’t work out, there are alternative options. Don’t be ashamed to live at home for a few months before making the big move, and make sure that you have enough money saved up to start with, especially if you don’t have a job set up for you already. Also, don’t rule out commuting. Several locations surrounding London – Bromley, Romford, even Brighton, can allow you to enjoy the fun of London while living on a budget. Anoop says that living in London is “generally pretty expensive and you really need to have secured yourself a job before making the move. The further out of london you go the cheaper it gets, so if you can handle a bit of a commute you can save a truck load.”. I’ve chosen a combination of these options – living at home on the cusp of London and Surrey – despite being in a graduate media role, as it will allow me to afford somewhere better after I’ve saved up some money*.
Don’t expect to dive straight into the lap of luxury when you’re looking for accomodation either. Dave Robson, who moved to London with friends after being offered a well-paid graduate place with L’Oreal found that “It did take 3 days of intensive searching but we found somewhere in our price bracket in an area we liked. In the eventuality it wasn’t the best of choices – the landlord was very dodgy, there were leaks in the ceiling, rising damp by the front door and the occasional cockroach – but despite it all, we were happy there. It cost £109 a week”.
Remember that with the Olympics coming up, the cost of living will only escalate in this area for the next couple of years. Even if you’ve lived in London all your life, things can be tough. Owen says “My next step is to look for affordable accommodation – it doesn’t look promising for a first time buyer”. Findaproperty.com is great for comparing information on crime rates, council tax, and amenities, and allow you to make an informed decision before you settle in. There are nice and affordable places to live in the city – often not where you’d expect to find them – so take your time to find the right home, and don’t be afraid to slum it in the meantime.
Making friends can be hard in a new city when you don’t have things like Societies and a Student Union bar to fall back on. If you’re not lucky enough to already have friends in London, or are moving down with friends, there are a variety of things to do in London by yourself (incidentally, London is the ideal city for the flaneur) or to meet new people. Nobody will judge you for eating alone or going to gigs by yourself, and there’s always 100 things to do www.londonist.com. With work comes networking opportunities, and Londoners aren’t as inward-looking as you’d think, so you’re bound to make friends in no time!
Just because you’re all grown up and living in London doesn’t mean that you have to let go of your student lifestyle compeltely. You can still take advantage of several student perks and freebies, even in the capital. Don’t forget that you can use your young persons railcard (renewable until you’re 26) on travelcards around the citty – saving you up to £90 a month. Additionally, Lastminute.com, land London free lists such as http://www.londonisfree.com/ are great resources for cheap nights out in the city.
All of our interviewees agree that London is full of life, interest, and opportunity. As Owen concludes, “London is expensive but I feel you do pay for what you get when you avoid the tourist trap areas of the capital. It is a great city full of opportunity and fun as well as being rich in its history. I can’t imagine living and working anywhere else”.
*Did I mention that Income Tax shaves off up to 20% of your salary? Beware!
Despite Take That being the biggest thing in pop music during my (early) youth, I had put off seeing them recently because, well, Take That have five members, not four. While channel-hopping last night, I came across this:
Underworld-meets-Daft Punk in a bleepy-beatsy theatrical mix. Completely the opposite of what I’d expect from one of their shows. I watched the whole thing jaw-dropped.
…and admittedly got a bit tearful at this
The NIN Hotline were recently looking for contributors to deal with the recent surge in news. I offered, and got a reporter account.
Some information about the website:
The NIN Hotline has existed since June 1999 thanks to a revolving cast of awesome characters. We’ve been quoted in USA Today, interviewed on KROQ’s Kevin & Bean show, our now defunct radio station was in Spin Magazine. (Swindley talked to Rolling Stone, but that was technically about ETS.) We dominated the 2006 debut of Band Madness sending more traffic than CollegeHumor and Stereogum, and left our marks on radio and television stations around the world in early 2007. We get as many page views as Wonkette with only a third of the readers. (This is the part where I encourage you to advertise on this site) In 2005, we made the The British Telecom Online Music Awards’ People’s Choice Award shortlist. Our RSS feed is one of the 100 most popular RSS news feeds on Livejournal. This site runs primarily on decrepit Perl that was hacked apart on outdated computers and dial-up connections, and one point had simultaneously updated French and German versions.
