Wolfram Alpha, Airstrip One

Wolfram Alpha tells us that London is a twenty minute flight from the UK.

Your Mileage May Vary at http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Oysters return to London

Oysters
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Oysters are now back in the River Thames.
Pay as you Oystercards will be available on the river boat services in 2009.
It the time of Dickens, oysters used to be plentiful in River Thames ...

In the early nineteenth century, oysters were very cheap and were mainly eaten by the working classes
The discarded shells feature in a description of
Jacob's Island in Bermondsey in 1849.

"The water was covered with scum almost like a cobweb, and prismatic with grease. In it floated large masses of rotting weed, and against the posts of the bridges were swollen carcases of dead animals, ready to burst with the gases of putrefaction. Along its shores were heaps of indescribable filth, the phosphoretted smell from which told you of the rotting fish there, while the oyster-shells were like pieces of slate from their coating of filth and mud. In some parts the fluid was as red as blood from the colouring matter that poured into it from the reeking leather dressers’ close by."

Much has changed, much has remained the same...

Scanning London

The FM (VHF) band London is fairly full. It is not impossible to listen to many of the main BBC stations, or Resonance FM and the others, but there is often interference. I have bought two DAB radios and also listen via the Interweb... needs must.

As I walked through Hackney, Queensbridge Road, one dismal night, I listened to many of the pirate stations and legal stations, playing house, hip hop, dance hall etc etc, and I guess a few low power community stations as well. Walking from place to place, I often re-tuned the radio on my mobile phone, when I tired of one of the stations. This process was repeated a few times, so I guess I was picking up the strongest stations as moved around (scanning for strength 5?). If I was in a car or a bus, I would find new stations more quickly, but I like to walk.

If I went North, I would expect find Greek and Turkish language stations, as I went towards Stoke Newington and Green Lanes.

This might be more fun in Tokyo, where there have hundreds of very low power FM stations, which can only be heard with a few blocks, or less. The peak power of transmission is one watt!

See for example:
Community Ties and Revitalization: The role of Community Radio in Japan

Riding shotgun on a 25 bus

There is a seat on a bendy which everybody wants. It is the seat at the front, next to the driver, looking ahead through the front window... riding shotgun

I reached this position, and held on to it, from the driver changeover at Bow Church until just before Aldgate. So everybody else was behind me. I had reached a higher level.

But behind me, there two separate arguments, with raised voices and some bad words. I had travelled about five klicks, and yet I was still subjected to these bad vibes. What was the story? It was not the heat of the summer, and the bus full but not overfull. Is the bus just a bad place?

Concrete in the 1930s and beyond

Concrete
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Kingsley Hall (designed by Charles Cowles-Vosey) in Bow (East London) was opened in 1928 and the Prescott Channel (1930) nearby were both over engineered with concrete, the medium of choice of that era. At Harrow on the Hill station, and others in Metro-land, concrete slabs abound. Charles Holden designed many stations with concrete, such as Rayners Lane Station

Rodney Gordon was responsible for many buildings that were described as "concrete monstrosities". He was trained in part by Bauhaus architect Arthur Korn.

The First International Gonzogeographic Congress

Conference delegate gathering research material
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

The First International Gonzogeographic Congress took place in London on 19th August 2008. Delegates from around the world gathered in a coffee bar in London's Oxford Street (at number 48).

Doing the Stroudley Walk

Stroudley Walk
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Stroudley Walk is a small shopping precinct, with some housing above the shops. The only pub has shut down. 10-12 Stroudley Walk is Grade II listed building... "late 18th, early 19th century , three storeys, stock brick with shop on ground floor. Attached to the Rose and Crown Public House.

Poplar HARCA have recently taken over the area...