https://www.we-heart.com/2016/04/26/no-197-chiswick-fire-station-london/?utm_content=buffer2e021&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

http://lichipan.com/blog/photojournal-tokyo-japan

https://pinthemall.net/pin/587e7056aaf51/?utm_content=buffer92ae4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

http://www.anadegenaar.com/2017/08/the-warm-and-intimate-nrvr.html

http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/2016/08/25/spotted-sf-barzotto/

LADY DATE – SUMMER 2016

I’ve been very naughty and have taken a very long time to write up this most recent Lady Date in London. To be fair I had my sister’s wedding a couple of weekends ago and have been doing a lot of work on my ‘new’ house – I will maybe be posting a little bit about this at some point because I know some people are interested in these things – at the moment I feel too stressed to talk about it and anytime someone asks me how the house is coming I want to scream at them  - so give me time – plus you know I’m not great at these personal posts – I’m working on it… for now I will give you a quick run down of what we got up to…

We started the day with butterflies; I wanted to be sure we’d get in so in I booked in advance for the Sensational Butterflies event at The Natural History Museum. This exhibition was housed in a gloriously humid greenhouse-come-tent in the museum’s grounds.  Immediately you enter through those sticky plastic curtains and you are surrounded by free-flying butterflies. There are a few stands with the names of the butterflies (mostly long complicated Latin names) with pictures so you can tell which butterflies are which. The most impressive ones to me were the slow moving butterflies, they were brown on the inside and a beautiful blue on the outside and they hovered in groups.  The most impressive thing about them was the fact that they moved so slowly and yet still managed to stay in the air. (I didn’t manage to get a video of this hypnotic movement but I did get a video of them congregating in a spot where someone spilt their coffee here:

http://claireis-ablogger.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/blog-post.html )

See more information here: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/sensational-butterflies.html

Our next stop was to walk around Highgate Cemetery. I’d never been before and as it was a lovely day I thought it would be a nice excursion.  It did take a little while to get there and a bit of an unexpected hill climb from Archway tube station. We went to Highgate East as the other side containing Highgate West was open for guided tours only.  It costs a small amount to enter and you are given a map containing information and locations for the cemetery’s most famous residents.  Douglas Adams’ grave is austere with a little pot containing pens placed in front. The most famous of all the monuments is the new resting place of Karl Marx, a very impressive tomb which is popular among the tourists, one of whom had a portrait taken in front of it while inexplicably holding a violin (which he didn’t play!) Another highlight to see is the grave of Malcolm McLaren; his is complete with a death mask, which is hardly surprising but quite rare for a modern grave. It was heartwarming to see that people had left safety pins on top in a sign of admiration much like the pens, flowers and stones seen on other graves in the cemetery.

See more information here: http://highgatecemetery.org/visit

Our next stop was Cahoots, a London Underground themed cocktail bar with a ‘blitz spirit.’ We hadn’t booked (as usual) and when we arrived there were already two people waiting for ‘standing room.’ The man on the door, dressed in spiffy 1940s get up, was friendly and welcoming and invited us to wait. We didn’t have to wait long before we could go down the stairs and into the bar area. The attention to detail was something special, even some of the floors were decked out in the same wood as the old underground trains. Everyone was dressed impeccably in World War II era style, victory rolls and tea dresses for the girls and waistcoat and braces for the boys. A special mention has to go to the maître d’ who was especially well turned out (by well turned out I mean good-looking – in case that was lost on you?!)

I love my vodka-based cocktails and ‘Keep Marm and Carry On’ did not disappoint. A fruity cocktail in a teacup containing lemon curd, passion fruit juice, sloe gin and syrups of vanilla and cassia and served with a biscuit. This was one of the most refreshing and delicious cocktails I have had for a long time.

Find more information here: https://cahoots-london.com

There were sandwiches and snacks available at Cahoots but we had already planned for our traditional pizza and so headed to one of our favourite areas in London to Far Rockaway. This wasn’t our original choice of destination. We actually went to Bethnal Green Station with the intention of visiting Story Deli down Bethnal Green Road. Little did we realize that not only is this road very very long and we walked right down the other end of it but the Story Deli was no more. It was a shame as I was really looking forward to trying what some people have described as ‘the best pizza they’ve had in their life.’ Unfortunately Far Rockaway was a bit of a disappointment.  The décor was amazing; the place is strewn with music posters that are fascinating to look at while you eat very mediocre pizza.  The worst thing about this place was their Coke. It tasted disgusting, either their pumps are broken or their syrup was running out or they bought some value cola from the Sainsbury’s down the road.  I have no idea what happened to their Coke but I won’t be going back again. Maybe this explains why it was empty on a Saturday?

More info here: http://www.farrockaway.co.uk

Our next and last cocktail stop was The Cocktail Trading Co. I think we must have walked past this place a million times without even noticing it, and it wasn’t even a hidden spot like some we sometimes visit. I struggled to find a cocktail to drink here. The menu was a little book with lots of information and humour and even an impossible crossword in the back, but I had a hard time finding something that I thought I’d like. There were only one or two vodka-based cocktails but each of these had something odd about them that put me off, like coffee and milk (whole milk teamed with kiwi sherbet and club soda was not a good post-pizza drink in my mind.) So I had to forgo the vodka for something called ‘Nightingales Gin-O-Cello.’ The cocktail I chose was called ‘Morning Glory #2’ I was pleasantly surprised, whatever Nightingales Gin-O-Cello is, I enjoyed it.

Rebecca’s cocktail was a little more sensational than mine ‘Instaspam’ comes in a custom made SPAM tin and even includes a little pot of ice cream.

More information here: http://www.thecocktailtradingco.co.uk

For more photos of this Lady Date and others go to: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29592695@N08/albums/72157648848576528

http://www.sweetmonday.co.uk/2016/07/london-eats-tombo-soho.html

FILM 1529: WILD TALES

TRIVIA: This is the seventh film from Argentina to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the third in a row with Ricardo Darín as a leading star (after Son of the Bride (2001) and The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)).

The site of the bridge, in which the tale "The Strongest" was filmed, is actually the 60th kilometer on the route between Cafayate and Salta, as the character in the tale mentions. This place has become a kind of a tourist attraction nowadays, as can be seen in Google Street View at coordinates (-25.730669,-65.6967926).

During the credits at the beginning, each main actor of each tale is identified with a wild animal. In the director's case, it is a fox. Szifrón said that this was because his father had liked foxes a lot, and had used to watch lots of documentaries about them. He also felt identified with that picture, more specifically with the fox's gaze, as the job of a director is in the gaze.

Damián Szifrón, the writer and director of the film, wrote most of the tales in his bathtub. He actually said: " The bath is a great place". He even lit some candles and poured himself a drink.

Selected by Time as one of the best films of 2014.

http://www.designlovefest.com

http://llamasvalley.com/food-for-body-and-soul/

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2016/january/the-secret-ingredient-yotam-ottolenghi-and-the-importance-of-design/

FILM 1456: MODERN TIMES

TRIVIA: Discounting later parodies and novelty films, this was the last major American film to make use of silent film conventions such as title cards for dialogue. The very last dialogue title card of this film (and thus, it can be said, the entire silent era) belongs to The Tramp, who says "Buck up - never say die! We'll get along."

Charles Chaplin allows the Tramp to speak on camera for the first time during the restaurant scene, but insisted that what the Tramp says be universal. Therefore, the song the Tramp sings is in gibberish, but it is possible to follow the story he tells by watching his hand gestures.

This was one of the films which, because of its political sentiments, convinced the House Un-American Activities Committee that Charles Chaplin was a Communist, a charge he adamantly denied.

Charles Chaplin devoted eight days to filming the department store roller-skating scene where he skates blindfolded on the edge of the fourth floor, coming within inches of falling over the edge into the deep stairwell below. The dangerous large drop was actually a painted scene on a pane of glass carefully placed in front of the camera to align with the existing set and create the illusion of great height.

A full dialogue script was written for the film, as Charles Chaplin had intended to make a complete talkie. According to a documentary on the DVD release, Chaplin went so far as to film a scene with full dialogue before deciding instead to make a partial talkie.

According to some accounts, working together on the film put a strain on Charles Chaplin and Paulette Goddard's relationship. Contrary to the way young actresses were presented on screen, Paulette was to wear shabby clothing and no make-up as the Gamin. When she showed up for filming with her hair beautifully coiffed, he dumped a bucket of water over her head.

Although filmmaking had become the province of large teams of highly specialized technicians, Charles Chaplin resisted delegating tasks, involving himself in every aspect of production, even to the point of blowing bubbles in a pail of water to simulate stomach-grumbling sounds.