Wooohoooppppeeeeedo!!!

London, don’t be too scared if you come across a pirate or 200 this weekend, Its Pirate Festival weekend on Southbank, and today is of course Piratecon :D

We’ll be back reaking pirate havock on the banks of the Thames from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th Sunday.

This year all profits will be split between the Golden Hinde Educational Trust and the The Jubilee Sailing Trust (a registered charity that owns and operates Lord Nelson and Tenacious, the only two tall ships in the world designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side as equals.)

Let the feather adorned buckled boot madness commence - London Pirate Festival

Start Time:
06 June 2009 11:30 - 23:00

Location:
Southbank Old thames side inn
Clink street MAP (next to the bloody great pirate ship)

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I have been dismally disappointed by the Labour Part ever since I can remember. It started when they stole my parents from me for most of my Childhood on the promise of a bright and better Country.

Then John Smith Died.

Then came the Joker…

And it got worse and worse and worse… until finally about 5 years ago I realised that they are a bunch of Tories wearing red ties. But anyway, enough about me, I just like to complain and do nothing.

Check these guys out THE Labour party.

June 5th 2009
Time 10:00 pm - 7:00 am
Title The Death and Astonishing Resurrection of THE Labour Party

Location London & Brighton pub, 139 Queens Road, Peckham, London SE15 2ND

Speaker Mister Mayhem

Phone Contact 07 769 695 359

Topic / Issue Race & Class

Sponsor The Government of the Dead

Map and Directions

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Free event. Booking required.

“If there were water…
If there were only water amongst the rock…
If there were the sound of water only
TS Eliot, The Wasteland
The Walbrook River was one of the largest and most important rivers in London. A Roman river, the Walbrook takes us back to ancient London, when south of the river was a group of islands, and much of what we now understand as this city was more marsh than land.
The Walbrook has been lost for over 5 centuries. With the help of a dowser, artist Amy Sharrocks has re-mapped this river, and is attempting to reclaim this great body of water with a huge public walk along its course.”

Amy Sharrocks has re-mapped the ancient buried Walbrook River from its source in Islington its mouth at the River Thames. Participents are asked to wear blue and be llosely tied at the waist, the idea being that this will be a process of re remembering the boy of water using a body of blue people!!!

A lovely Idea, I really hope they get a good turn out…

Details:
Artsadmin | Toynbee Studios | 28 Commercial Street | London | E1 6AB
Box office 020 7650 2350 | Online booking
Tel 020 7247 5102 | Fax 020 7247 5103 | Textphone 020 7247 5182 | admin@artsadmin.co.uk

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McDonald’s installed an interesting LED screen at Piccadilly Circus… see for yourself.

Just pose rightly for it ;)

Happy posing.

News Courtesy: Patrick Semaan

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I like Anarchy. Its good. Its doing something at least for what you believe in and from what I have experienced there can be a whole lot of fun involved if you’re not taking it all incredibly seriously…

So with that I bring to you the Anarchist Movement Conference 2009. Take a look at the call to the Movement …

“The anarchist ideals of mutual aid, solidarity and the desire to live as equals have been echoed throughout our history, in every country, by women and men, regardless of race or ethnicity. We have a proud history, this conference is both about recognizing where we have come from and organizing where we want to go. Be a part of it!”

Register

6th-7th June 2009
Queen Mary and Westfield College
London
E1 4NS
http://www.conference09.org.uk

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LOVE IT!!!

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Brisbane News - London police find dead man after G20 protests.

I couldn’t believe this at first when I saw a comment posted on a friends facebook… Strangely its not in th UK News as of yet.

He added later “I was in the vicinity. I had to get away from the main area as it was getting very heated indeed. I could just about see what was going on. Some people were covered in blood…. Felt like a horror movie. Some of the protesters were throwing things at the police therefore delaying medical attention to the dying man - Police version: natural causes!! I am shocked”

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OK, I don’t know why this central London building (occupied by the FilmLight digital film technology company) was covered in giant black-and-white stickers. And the pictures are gone now. But I thought it was cool enough to post photos of anyway…

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BoingBoing has a great posting from London resident Cory Doctorow here.

Basically, if you’re under 16,  in a public place after 9pm, and a police officer decides they don’t like the look of you and your mates, they can tell you to go away. Even if you are doing absolutely nothing wrong.

London and the UK’s inexplicable slide into a half-arsed, amateurish Orwellian future continues.

I can’t wait to vote in the next General Election.

Actually - can we skip that and proceed straight to the revolution?

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You may have noticed the weird little Google street view camera cars trundling the streets of Londinium over the last year. At long last the pics have been processed (Boots the Chemist, I expect) and put online.

Yay! Of course this is extremely cool. A modern wonder: fabulous, fascinating, useful, funny etc etc.

And how does the crap press react?

Evening Standard:

Daily Mail:

Google forced to black out thousands of Street View photos after privacy protests.

THOUSANDS of privacy protests in a day? Really? I doubt it. I smell journalistic licence (commonly knows as “making up numbers out of thin air”)

The London Paper:

Google privacy protest

Google forced to black out new service after London sex shop pics outrage

What a load of crap. There’s nothing in these pictures that you couldn’t get by going outside and walking around with your eyes open. As if we have anything to worry about, with about 15 CCTV cameras for every citizen.

Anyway - have a look around on Street View - it rocks!

In the meantime, here’s screengrabs of 2 of my favourite local shopfronts.

^^ I like this one  because of the lovely old advertising paintings on the walls.

^^ And this one, because it’s so cheeky and naff.

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Westminster Council is trying to sting motorbike and scooter commuters for up to £400 a year for parking. A forum was set up to give people a voice to challenge this. A few people got riled up and said Really Bad Things, such as:

- anyone who supports motorcycle parking “must accept the consequences of their actions”

- and is time for “the gloves to come off”

OMG! It’s a “hate campaign”!!!! Revolution! Terrorists!

The tiresomely predicable reaction from the apparatchiks at Westminster is to sic their lawyers on the forum, and get it closed down. They throw around unsubstantiated allegations, out-of-context comments and issue threats - including “up to six months in prison or a fine of up  to £5,000.”

Is this responsible government? Is this a council that listens to its people? No - of course it isn’t. It’s as cynical and ignorant as the original idea of the parking charges. Westminster are opportunists, playing the system. You might expect this kind of stuff in China, maybe. But not London in 2009.

One would have thought that Westminster Council would be able to see that reacting to a few robust bits of rhetoric on an internet forum with legal threats would be a REALLY BAD IDEA. But no.

They have done just that.

http://forum.notobikeparkingfees.com/ has been closed down.

All this, of course, is just Westminster throwing a hissy fit because there was a pretty large demo outside (and indeed within) their doors a few weeks ago. One of the main councillors responsible for the new charges got shouted down, and he ran away in panic with his pants round his ankles.

Here’s a link to details of the next demo:   PROTEST!

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………From the bringers of the Undie 500, International Optimism Day , and Happy Wednesdays

Group aim to set new “Conga Line World Record” in support of Red Nose Day

http://www.justgiving.com/congaworldrecord
Optimists to raise money by dancing through central London

On Red Nose Day, Friday 13th March, a group of Optimists Society members will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for a Conga Line, by distance travelled. They’ll be doing it to raise money for Comic Relief, get some exercise, have fun and cheer up Londoners along the 17km route.

\Its not to late to take part mail James @ - james@eternaloptimist.net
The attempt has already been “accepted as a New Record Category” by Guinness World Records, who await details of a “Suitable Claim”. Society members will use Guinness standard rules for endurance dance routines. Bringing together a lead “Conga” and 10 team members to follow. Of course the public will also be welcome to join at the back wherever they like along the route.
The route takes in many of Londons top tourist sites. It will start in London Bridge, take in the sights of the Southbank, head past Comic Relief’s offices on Embankment then head up through Westminster into the Royal Parks, through St James Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens turning down Notting Hill to Shepherds Bush, through the new Westfield Shopping Centre and ending at BBC Television Centre in the early evening. The proposed distance will be 17km. It will take an estimated 5 hours to complete. Though we might continue to conga into the night if people sponsor us to…

The Optimists Society, is a social-action group promoting positivity and helping people make a difference to themselves and others through simple actions.

Please visit our fundraising page… http://www.justgiving.com/congaworldrecord

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So - I took this pic of a pair of jeans in the window of a clothes shop in Dalston.

WTF??!!

One gets used to seeing mangled English on T shirts and jackets of cute Japanese tourists.

But what local English-speaking person would want to be seen wearing this load of bollocks? You’d do better to print out some Spam and wear that instead.

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Major demo, on Tues 31st March. Protesting against Westminster Council’s cash-grabbing and opportunistic fees. The scheme to make you pay to park your bike isn’t permanent yet. If enough people kick up an inconvenient fuss, they will quietly bin the scheme. So - protest!!!

Meet in Trafalgar Square at 5.30ish, Tues 31st March.

It’ll be noisy, shouty and fun!

Full details here

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How gross… theres even some hairs stuck in it!

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