Ok, so there’s no cure for the London cold. I’ve been disillusioned by cold suppressants for some time now, so I decided to try an old folk remedy — homemade chicken noodle soup. I know, I know, how could something as simple as soup help relieve devastating symptoms of London cold viruses. After all, there probably exists one variant of the London cold virus for every person living in London. A depressing thought I know, but there’s light at the end of the soup bowl, really. While chicken soup doesn’t have any anti-viral properties that I’m aware of, it does assist in relieving symptoms until the cold has been vanquished by your immune system. It accomplishes what most of those cold suppressants you see advertised on the Tube can’t do. Modify this recipe as you see fit, but I must insist on the chicken stock (and the garlic!), it’s not so hard to make really, you just boil chicken. For vegetarians or vegans, go with a vegetable stock by adding more veggies of your choice. Give it a go. I used mostly organic vegetables for this one, primarily for flavour and nutrition content. Even the worst of cooks can make a decent soup with a little practice. Enjoy it!
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I used to subscribe to TimeOut until I realized that I never actually went anywhere, and I certainly never planned anything in advance. Each week the beast would arrive on my doorstep, to be added to a pile of unread others, and I fell more and more behind on the goal of ‘living life to the fullest’ rather than ‘watching Living TV while full.’

Reader Lynsie Camuso sent in a link to her rather jazzy concert planning site, ShowClix. The site seems to have some very useful and nicely-implemented features, such as the ability to track concerts from your favourite artists. Lot’s of groovy Web 2.0 stuff there, such as seeing how many other people are interested in, although like any of these things, it helps if there are other people who like the same artists as you.

Maybe this will help me get out to some live music sometime soon. Does anyone else have suggestions for how to winnow out London’s infinite entertainment options?

During my usual evening route to South Kensington Tube Station with a couple of mates I was pulled into a violent atmosphere in front of a pub just across from the station. A man was stumbling, flailing his arms around as if here fighting the wind, he charged at a small, hunched over woman covered in charity shop clothes. She had two small dogs with her, one looked like a chihuahua. The dogs stood stunned as the maniac hit her in the midsection. She screamed in pain, falling to the ground her head nearly hitting the big, red double decker bus behind her. She laid on the pavement in a pre-natal position, her face nearly touching her knees. People flooded out of the pub, one tried to stop the aloof attacker who’s eyes were blank, emotionless, hollow. It all took place within a matter of seconds. So surreal that it faded as quickly as it had erupted. I urged my mates to walk with me in the opposite direction of the pub as people continued to gather about staring at the maniac as he walked into the street, stumbled into nothingness
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“I think it’s just about time for everyone to get dirty, digital and live.” Rich Mchardy

I’ve read in the papers that this is the most depressing week of the year, so do yourself a favor, and get down to Brixton tomorrow night for the monthly “Talk is Cheap” DJ/Live Band extravaganza.

The line up is one step beyond awesome with Hardwire, Stathis L, Boxtronica, Chris Murphy & Filthy G, Lewis Ryder & Javier Espanol and Enterprize.

My mate Rich puts on these monthly events, which go on ’til 6 a.m. The crowd is warm and friendly, and the music will make even the grumpiest among you shake your booties.

Read more for the flyer and guest list info. I hope to see you all there.
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Few cities in the world can boast about balancing urban atmosphere with wildlife refuge. London seems far from being one of the ‘greenest’ cities in Europe, but it has aimed to preserve natural habitats that have existed long before its civilization was ever born. London’s parks are more than mere green spaces that break up the city, rather they seem to inhabit it. Parks such as Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park play a vital role in providing the ingredients (such as oxygen!) necessary for life to thrive in this dark, brooding, yet fragile and delightful social organism known as London.
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I’ve solved the mystery of the go-any-slower-they’d stop tubes North of Arnos Grove of the P Line, I phoned a friend –

Me = “… whats the deal with the 10 minute wait at southgate and Oakwood anyway – Ive been dying to ask someone that for the last 3 months.. everyday in both directions….”

Picadilly Line Driving Chick Friend =
“oh its the stupid timetable that is in place but the thing is there is no train that is ever on time so there are always gaps between trains happens all the time now down this end of the line at ruislip, piccadilly line is every 20 mins xx”

Faaaabulous!

Whats the likelihood of anyone reading here to have been with me doing the tube shuffle this morning?

I’m used to the malarkies of Edgware Road – The H&C is religiously turned into a circle line or just downright terminated.

However this morning the controller got the whole entire Eastbound passenger force to switch to the train on Platform 2… then Platform 1…. then 2 again.

After a 4 or 5 minute wait we were sheepishly informed that the train on Platform 1 would be the first Eastbound train.

That would be the Original train.

I was quietly disappointed however when the train did indeed pull out Eastwards, and not back home to Ladbroke Grove……..

It’s unofficial; the Government is kidnapping our bikes and selling them into slavery. Unconfirmed reports suggests they’re being used to nuke gay whales in the rainforest.

Seriously, though, it does seem like Londoners’ bikes are under threat if a proposed new law to let the council “forcibly remove bikes chained to railings or lampposts without any warning” gets through. Obviously this is bad news; why they’re not just building more bike racks, I don’t know. Read the full story over at the London Cycling Campaign; the page also has a template for you to email the Mayor to register what I hope will be your displeasure!

Last week it happened, and it happened to me…oh and to Flora at the same time too ;-)

We saw God aka Sean drink a pint of Guinness after clearly saying eearlier that he didn’t do drugs, oops sorry beer. I wa shocked, but after he bought me a beer I let it slide.

Have you met him too? Share your thoughts. Meanwhile here’s a random photo.

Sean
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You know it’s going to be grim as soon as you wake up. As you slowly inch over into consciousness, there’s that unnerving noise somewhere in the back of your mind. Kettle boiling flatmate’s tea? Hot water pipes rattling? Leaves rustling in the wind?

No. The early morning (and ultimately) depressing mental effort is just about enough to wake you up sufficiently to realise that the taptaptap-tap-taptap is the rain. It’s turning the soil in the garden to mud. The normally inoffensive concrete outside gets transformed into a putrid grey mess – partly because it’s reflecting the equally disgusting sky. The tarmac on the roads is fairly ugly at the best of times, but a coating of water on the surface seems to turn them into a beastly, black, organic slab of tar.
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