AW08 Thoughts #3

So this week I have been mostly putting on jumpers; where did that cold snap come from? Anyway, it has pushed me further into the recesses of the winter wardrobe and last year's jumpers. Luckily, I have quite a few; but unlike seemingly 95% of people on the tube, I am not wearing only greys and blacks. Yes, yes, winter is the time for hibernation, but that doesn't mean we all have to retreat into monochrome (though it can look pretty good). As many of my fellow bloggers have noted, the BBC2 series British Style Genius is currently rocking the TV schedules, and at its heart are the underlying tenets of British Style; individualism, subversion and classic with a twist. I have always felt that we Brits are pretty good at this in the Summer; the fleeting glimpses of sun seem to bring out the most inventive outfits, but once the ice appears, out come the grey hoodies and ugly trainers. This week, my Staple shoe has been some green Lacoste trainers which I bought at the end of summer in the Matches sale. They are bright, but that's what you need when you're getting up at silly o'clock to get into the office. On that note, I have stopped wearing smart clothes on the Tube, and am now changing at the office. This allows a comfortable commute, and then a smart change once I arrive. Perhaps not the most practical choice, but it's worked well over the summer, and I reckon Winter will bring out a creative side...Although I have been a little 'thoughts' rather than full-on Staples of late, this will be recitified next week as the challenge goes ahead. Step 1; set foot in the vicinity of shops this weekend and attempt restraint; the utility bills that arrived this week will be a solemn reminder...
This week's Staples:
Dressing colourfully in Winter
British Style Genius (Tuesday, 9pm, BBC2)
A black and white checkerboard scarf
Nokia MP3 phone - my iPod is now a distant memory
Plotting some Winter trips; Kendal, Berlin, Manchester...
Hot water bottles
Anthony & the Johnsons with the LSO concert last night

Read All About It

Since last September, I made a dramatic change in my commuting habits. I stopped taking the bus after an horrendous 1 ½ hour ride on a 25-minute journey and switched to the much quicker Tube. Now I’m not a massive fan of the Tube; it’s always too hot, it’s stingingly expensive and more often than not, it’s FAR too full. But I have been hiding myself away in my own world when commuting, ears encased in some noise-cancelling headphones, and eyes focusing on a book. I used to read Metro, but when it dawned on me that the substance of Metro is mostly a) utter rubbish, and b) exceptionally Conservative, I decided to cultiver mon jardin, in the words of Voltaire. Since then I have read most of Paul Auster, some Ballard, and some odd things I found in the British Library (Scheerbaart) and second-hand bookshops (Cocteau’s ‘Maalesh’). But it was my Mum who got me onto Ian McEwan. I’d previously dismissed him (no idea why), and also I’m not a fan of period novels (Atonement), but on pressing a copy of ‘Saturday’ into my hand, I was hooked. The setting is all around where I went to uni, and the writing is clinically precise, but still warm and engaging. I quickly followed this up with a couple more of his; the beautiful ‘On Chesil Beach’ and the pretty disturbing ‘Cement Garden’. Now I’m back on to one of my favourites, Colette ‘The Pure and the Impure’. There’s nothing like some nineteenth century Parisian high society, debauchery and opium dens to liven up the commute. Get down to a good indie bookshop (Foyles, London Review Bookshop, Daunt, the Owl in Kentish Town, Prospero’s in Crouch End – anywhere but Tesco’s or Waterstones basically) and grab a book – guaranteed to improve any journey. Other Staples this week:
Reading Ian McEwan on the tube
Seeing The Whitest Boy Alive twice (Coalition in Brighton; Koko in Camden)
Getting out of London for a beautiful wedding
The Camden Arms
The ‘Great Gatsby’ look – Liberty print with chinos
DJing at the Fly on New Oxford Street
Being able to leave the house without a coat

EXTRA! EXTRA!

This week, it's a double-bill of Stapling. I spent this Saturday playing the most fantastic game. Last year, some fantastic friends of mine put together a Monopoly board-based game, whereby a big group of us split up into teams and travelled across London doing rather odd challenges. On Vine Street, we hid in plastic bins and shot a video. I, predictably, got stuck, and the following hilarity won some points. One of my mates had to do a somersault on the trampolines at the Trocadero. We collected flyers, photos, and other random objects to get more points. Much to our surprise, we won. And it had been genuinely one of the best days I've ever had in London. So when this year's was announced, I was unbelievably excited. Despite going to bed at some ungodly hour of the morning and getting to London Bridge for 12 (where we demanded they open the pub), I was possibly the most excited I've ever been. The game followed a similar format this year of running around London doing mental stuff - digging up Green Park, finding out obscure knowledge, lying in the street imitating dying horses and vets, stealing flowers from the Ritz, playing 'bus darts' , buying tourist tat, taking silly photos at every available opportunity and spelling out our team name with a different shot at every stop. Saturday was one of the most exciting, interesting and superlative days I've ever had in London, and I want to thank Kev and Tom for organising one of the highlights of my year. Even if the defending champions only came 10th out of 14. But it didn't matter; it genuinely was the taking part that counted, seeing stuff in London, like Buckingham Palace, that you never normally would. Never mind, there's always next year...and if it's even half as good as this year, then I cannot wait. Literally, I cannot wait. This is an absolute Staple.