On Monday, I wrapped up the partying circuit in Madrid at Palacio de Gaviria, a 19th century palace restored as a discoteca. I mainly stood at the back watching kids in their very early 20s prancing with grown-ups well in their 40s in a predictable set of mainstream music spanning 80s pop, hip-hop, eurotrash and commercial house.
Back in London, with my sleep schedule still set in Madrid time, I went to Nag Nag Nag, one of the best Wednesday parties in London, at the Ghetto. Tucked in an alley just steps away from Tottenham Court Road, this gay bar welcomed a more hetero crowd (90%?) on this “polysexual” night.
On Thursday, a friend from Zürich and I toured my favourite watering holes in East London: Cafe 1001 off Brick Lane and T Bar on Shoreditch for Berlin style dark, minimal house, and Favela Chic for some swing and 70s funk.
At the weekend, I went with a couple of mates on a culinary trip to Palermo and Cefalu. As Sicily’s not known for its exuberant nightlife, the lone trendy place for thirtysomethings we found was at Tribeca, a Japanese/Western fusion restaurant/bar on via Mariano Stabile. Didn’t matter if there were other cool places around as I was in no condition to bar hop after a shot of grappa and a gin tonic that was really 90% gin and 10% tonic.
Image courtsey of Eventoplus
Note: This post is again back-dated.
I must have seen the Information Revolution Tube ads at least four times last week. “Should one company really control the web’s information?”
I thought it was striking at ICANN’s hold on domain names, but it’s actually a marketing gimmick by Ask UK. Too bad they didn’t plug our Revolution T-shirt.
Note: this post is back-dated.
We’re exporting London culture with this T-shirt. Cockney rhyming slang originated in East London and was used in films such as Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Ocean Eleven and Austin Powers.
We’d like to thank these sites for giving us CRS ideas for this tee: Wikipedia, Cockney Rhyming Slang, and Aldertons.
Street Sensation is one of my favourite London websites. Unlike Google Earth’s bird-eye view, it shows the store fronts of major shopping and eating destinations in London as if you are there walking along the street.
Most of the cool areas for streetwear are on the site: Carnaby Street, Seven Dials (Earlham Street), Notting Hill, and Camden Town. But some are not: Old Truman Brewery and Cheshire Street off Brick Lane, and Spitalfields Market (because it’s a market). I will review these places when I return to London next month.
Two streetwear trade shows took place this weekend during London’s Fashion Week. Margin TV showcased some 60 up-and-coming brands, mainly from the UK. Most T-shirt labels featured the en-vogue concoction of quirky, viral, cutsy designs. The ones I liked had a grungier look like A-non Clothing, which has a well-known store near edgy Brick Lane, and T Tees, whose designs are influenced by the “80s old shoot scene”.
The other show, To Be Confirmed, was held right off Brick Lane in the Old Truman Brewery. I wasn’t registered for the event as I found out about it by fluke on my way to Cafe 1001 for an afternoon of dark and deep electro session.
