Another month, another raunchy exhibition at the Barbican. Should make me feel even more inadequate about my current celibacy...
Well - I went with R & P and as we dutifully went round carefully inspecting people shagging in various positions, men wearing hats made of cocks (whole new meaning for dickhead) and victorian porn, i couldn't help wondering how the exhibition got away with sex being so closely associated with penetration alone. hmm. no lesbian sex please, we're british. still, it was fun. best 'exhibits'? - robert mapplethorpe being fisted; and a brilliant video of a woman's face as she gets a blowjob. And, being a total sucker (ha ha) for all things neon - remember the tate 'butterflies' where the 'b' and 'f' flicked on and off so it became 'utter lies'? - I also liked Tracey Emin's 'Is Anal Sex Legal?' // 'Is Legal Sex Anal?'. Genius.
OK, so I've been recommending this place to everyone for about a million years and have been known to escape there myself when I can't take the heat any more. It's great, despite the fact I could never afford the shops round there (nor would I particularly want to) - huge rooms, good showers, delicious sheets, great breakfasts and - hurrah hurrah - all that for under 100 quid.
I always find that there's something whimsical about photojournalism exhibitions and this one looks cool. Lots of images from newspaper photographers spanning most of the 20th century. On at the NPG until Oct 25th (nb open till 8.50pm on thursdays and fridays)
The good thing about liking photography exhibitions is that there are some real gems of galleries to hang out in around London. Just don't forget your SLR. Like Photofusion on Electric Lane in Brixton (best accompanied by a post-exhibition bowl of spicy noodle soup at Fujiyama), or the Photographers' Gallery on Gt Newport Street, which has the best shop for DVDs and big books - and wrapping paper - ever. And the Southbank usually has some photos somewhere - currently it is hosting the World Press Photo Exhibition till Sept 9th.
Don't have much time left for this exhibition at the Tate Modern - it finishes on 27th August - but I'm really going to try and make it as it looks fantastic. I like the fact they've themed it around things like space, diversity and speed - reflecting how we actually experience living in a city. All very Jane Jacobs.
I remember going to this building when it was a big, hot goth's dream. How different it is now... there's the Whole Foods supermarket with canteen (well, next door anyway) and this roof garden which sounds genuinely excellent - and it's a huge 1.5 acres big... Friday and Saturday nights involve Tudor barbeques (??) and a club.
This is playing until October 6th at the Trafalgar Studios, that slightly random theatre at the top of Whitehall. Suitably Norwegian for my tastes. And apparently John Simm is quite hot.
As I was writing about the Lyric, I kept on thinking of other things that are good about Hammersmith. So before I write the whole place off, other things I like about the place:
Riverside Studios. Great double bills on sundays. nice bar overlooking the river, that is much less crowded than some of the manky, chip-stinking, toff-stuffed pubs further down. I've always wanted to live near somewhere like this - art, film, music, good coffee - mmm yes please
The walk from Hammersmith Bridge (which actually I really like too, nice and green) down towards Barnes. Pretty pretty.
The Polish Cultural Centre. Great food, a lot of vodka and tends to stay open pretty late. bring it on.
The vintage fashion fairs put on at the bunker-like town hall every now and then. I fantasise about being one of those people who know what to buy at these things; sadly, I just tend to wander around paralysed by the fear of wanting everything and knowing nothing.
So - more reasons to hang out in Hammersmith than Bromley then. Hardly a ringing endorsement but not bad, given I'm generally a bit allergic to west London...
It's easy to think there's not much more to Hammersmith than the flyover, and the Apollo which you stare at for hours as you sit in traffic jams on said flyover. It's true that it's a bit short of good restaurants and bars (unless you want to pay over the odds for what is admittedly fantastic pasta at the River Cafe) but there's one reason alone that gives it a fond place in my heart (well, maybe two but that's another story) - the Lyric Theatre on King Street.
It is a beautiful old theatre - red plush seats, incredible cornicing and the rest... surrounded by a really impressive refurb that has opened out bars, terraces and cafes. Lovely. Best of all is the crazy stuff they decide to programme. Latest show, which I'm off to see in September, is The Bacchae, an exploration of female sexuality. If the last thing I went to is anything to go by (it involved simulated sex between someone with cerebral palsy and their carer) this won't be something for kids...
I love the Lyric for all this, but also because it has introduced me to some great stuff. Kneehigh Theatre from Cornwall, and Frantic Assembly are up there with Punchdrunk for physical theatre. They have some great soundtracks too - it was there that I first heard Lamb's stuff.
Well, it's been a while since I've been about town. Dunno where I've been really, but it's about time I reaffirmed my urban existence. In that spirit, here are all the films I want to see before miserable September comes round. So much to do, so little time...
12:08 East of Bucharest - v excited that this is the first of the Romanian films that are coming out this autumn
The Bourne Ultimatum - ok so not my usual kind of film, and I missed the second one, but I still remember the car chase from the first one
Eagle vs Shark - hmm, perhaps one to keep to myself on an early morning trip - Time Out call it a 'socially clumsy romance'
Sparkle - modern day rake's progress
Atonement - not out officially till sept but Vue cinemas are kindly putting on a preview with free popcorn and everything on 23rd August
The obvious place when you think about it for Punchdrunk to take up residence is the shambolic but lovely Battersea Arts Centre. I've seen some pretty odd stuff there in my time; Time Out mounted a huge campaign against miserable old Tory Wandsworth Council who were going to slash BAC's funding; the paint is peeling and the loos are awful, almost as bad as the wine but sod it, it's a great place.
Punchdrunk are putting on The Masque of the Red Death during September and October. Evening dress optional. I'm excited already. If you go on Friday or Saturday nights, the ticket price includes entry to Red Death Late Nights.
God, I don't think there's been more than 48 hours in the last three weeks where I haven't at some point found myself on the South Bank. What a great place. I love the fact that you don't need to buy anything to enjoy the space. I love the open-ness of the RFH. I love the glass and stone of it all. I love the water installations. You get the picture: I'm quite a fan. Anyway I was there again today and had 15 minutes to kill as I awaited a first date (not the best start to a beautiful relationship) and found yet more cool stuff. If only I could marry the South Bank and be done with these silly boys.
Take for example Late Lounge at the Terrace Cafe of the National Theatre, 10pm-1am on Fridays and Saturdays during summer - the unique 'Bring and Share' DIY disco. Or St Etienne's Turntable Cafe nights held monthly(ish). Or Benugo at the BFI. Super super, the lot of them.
This is what every local park should be like. Everytime I walk through it I am struck by how well cared for it is, and what a lot is going on there, despite being on the small side. Above and beyond the standard park-like things, it has a model village (yes! really it does!), a lavender field and a rose garden. Dead cool.
The park's one of several good reminders that Vauxhall is about so much more than a one way system. Others include the gorgeous and romantic community gardens behind hippie Bonnington Square, where I've loved and lost; the city farm squeezed into a tiny space between sprawling estates; and the Spring Gardens Community Centre, which has the most fantastic organic vegetarian cafe but only between 8 and 2 on weekdays. So unknown that I can't even find a link to it on the internet. Come Sunday night it plays host to some *very* raucous parties... what is it about sunday nights in vauxhall? they are apparently the new saturday in this funny little pocket of town.
There really isn't much to recommend the Victoria end of Belgravia. It's where Mrs Thatcher lives. It has the coach station. It has no newsagents. It has a pub full of braying rahs. Oh and it has two of my favourite restaurants ever. Damn.
Olivo and it's cheaper sister Oliveto are both brilliant examples of what restaurants should be about. Both Sardinian in flavour, the former does some serious meat 'n' fish; the latter great pastas, pizzas and a few fishy things. The waiters are cool, the wine is cheap and hangover-friendly, the tables are close together but somehow that doesn't matter too much.
Clearly the owner of these two lovely places has got sick of turning people like me away when I try (in vain) to book tables for 2 for the same day, and I see he's just opened a third restaurant: Olivomare (time to place your bets on what the fourth one's going to be called) - fish, fish and fish again. Sounds great. Only bad news is that according Time Out, they're already turning down bookings. Grr.
Olivo is on Eccleston Street, 020 7730 2505. Oliveto is on Elizabeth Street, 020 7730 0074. Olivomare is on Lower Belgave Street, 020 7730 9022.
The Royal Court has a relatively new artistic director who has been having a real go at all the Guardian-reading liberals feeling better about themselves for coming to watch plays about poor and lost people. He's said he wants theatre to be more explicitly political (I like him already). This play is about the self-obsession and self-consciousness that often seems to accompany overly eager proclamations of liberalism. It seems to be designed to make the audiences likely to be seeing it shift in their seats. Mixed reviews (it started on Broadway) but it's been too long since I went to the Royal Court so time to go back. On until 4th August, 020 7565 5000.
This site is very useful indeed: it has the listings and times for all films playing at the Curzons Soho and Mayfair, as well as the Renoir. So pretty much my favourite convenient cinemas all in one place. Although if I ever get bored of them, Rich Mix or the Electric are pretty fantastic alternatives.
Curzon Mayfair quite often has a good early showing, but guaranteed early and damn cheap are the Cineworld Haymarket, or the cinema inside the Trocadero (where, if they like the look of you, they give you a student price and let you take your own coffee in - two things definitely worth smiling nicely at the ticket vendor for...). Oh, and for those times when all you want to do is talk all the way through the movie, there's nowhere better than the Ritzy Friday night viewing.
Another month, another raunchy exhibition at the Barbican. Should make me feel even more inadequate about my current celibacy...