The fabulous London Glassworks are holding an open weekend from tomorrow so if you like glass, if you like handmade, and you like a bargain, make sure you check it out! This place is a little gem so I'm planning on getting down there and treating myself to something that looks nothing like my own wobbly efforts, and perhaps some lovely things for Christmas presents too if my budget will allow!
You can find them here, on an industrial estate near Black Horse Road station (Victoria Line & Overground).
I'm sure there are a few people who might be getting a bit sick of me going on and on about Rob Ryan but I thought the other, saner people out there might like to know that he's opening a SHOP! YAY! It's at 126 Columbia Road London. It will be open every Sunday 8am til 4pm from June 29th onwards.
Feist's gig at the Shepherds Bush Empire the other night was really fantastic. Not the best venue for a 'standing still' kind of gig (if you're in the stalls, anyway) as it means you only really get a view of the ceiling unless you're 7ft tall. Which I am not. But the sound is great in there.
She played a little bit of Broken Social Scene but pretty much stuck to her solo work. 1234 predictably brought down the house - and I suspect that quite a number of the audience were only there to hear that one song - and at times you could have heard a pin drop between lyrics. The balance was much the same as on the album - mostly fairly simple, honest, somewhat downbeat songs punctuated with a few more upbeat songs, so it didn't get monotonous at all. My Moon My Man is still definately my favourite song though, it has a great video too (albeit owing a little in inspiration to OK GO);
The point where she invited a random audience member on stage to play the piano did seem a little odd, although it all became clear when he went on to read out a really sweet poem ending in the line, "Lauren, will you marry me?" at which point I think the audince made the most noise it did all night. She said yes... a suitably romantic highlight to a captivating gig.
The Selfridges website has a nice feature related to this at the moment too - a wonder search. There's a big long alphabetical list of lots of peoples 'wonders' (although unfortunately you can't read past O at the moment as the link to the next page is broken - rubbish!) that make some interesting (if slightly pointless) reading. It has a nice header too, but unfortunately it bears no relation to the ad in September's Vogue. How odd. I'd think a brand as huge as Selfridges (a guardian for a lot of other prestige brands no less) would do this a bit better really. It seems like all the thought went into the lovely ad and the rest got a bit cobbled together.
Went for a nose around the inside of Battersea Power Station last week - the first (and possibly last) time the public have been allowed inside. It's been opened up as a venue for the Serpentine Gallery's China Power Station Part:1 exhibition which I have to say is very atmospheric - as you walk into Turbine Hall B you find yourself transplanted into what seems to be a war zone; an empty shell of a building riddled with holes - oh yes, and there's a tank in the doorway. The venue does a great job of mentally transporting you away from London and rushing and crowds and shopping, and just makes you stop. and think.
The Power Station is ugly, but that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't have character. You can't help thinking that when this space is filled with shops, restaurants, cinemas, and whatever else the developers decide they can make money out of, it's going to stifle a large part of that soul. After seeing the Tate Galleries on the South Bank and also in Liverpool, it's clear that buildings so huge and seemingly impossibly proportioned can have a dignified second life. I doubt this one will - part of what makes it so ugly beautiful is its quiet melancholy and absorbing atmosphere, and when all of that scarred steelwork and bruised and battered interior is covered up I think it might just become ugly. But that's quite sad in itself... oh dear, going round in circles now aren't I...
