Tag Archive for 'London'

Skyline Time Lapse

Published
by
David
on July 13, 2008
in Film and London
. Comments


Mudchute Skyline

Apologies for not posting so frequently for the past couple of weeks - work/life has been very hectic (even more so than usual) and doesn’t look like it will let up for a few weeks yet. That said, I will endeavour to get a few posts out starting with this experiment I made recently…

A couple of weeks back I moved rooms in the house where I live to the top floor “penthouse” which one of my previous housemates had just vacated. Aside from having its own ensuite bathroom (a major plus!) and a balcony it also has great back and front views. Whist enjoying watching the world go by I decided to try creating a time lapse video with the inbuilt camera on my MacBook Pro. Above is my first attempt which I captured using an open source program called Gawker which took a picture every 20 seconds and then mixed together in iMovie ‘08. The music is “Red-Eye” by The Album Leaf and the view is looking towards Canary Wharf which you can just see peeking out from behind some of the houses in the foreground.

Although the picture is fairly compressed it’s nice to see what you can do with the tiny camera in a MBP and I hope to be doing some more experiments in the near future.

Enjoyed this post? Please subscribe to my RSS feed to stay up to date.

The View From The Top

Published
by
David
on June 24, 2008
in London and Photography
. Comments

DSC_7199

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be taken on a tour of One Canada Square, the tallest building in the UK, courtesy of a friend who works there. Situated at the heart of Canary Wharf close to where I live the main structure is 235m tall with 50 floors and is a prominent landmark on London’s rapidly evolving skyline. Having featured prominently in a string of recent films (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Bourne Supremacy, 28 Weeks Later…) and the UK version of The Apprentice recently it’s likely you’ll recognise the location.

DSC_7182

The higher floors offer amazing panoramic views of east London with the river Thames snaking its way around the Isle of Dogs. On a clear day you can see for many miles and it’s striking just how flat London without a hill in sight! It’s a shame there is no public viewing gallery but presumably fears of terrorism have curtailed any possibility of that.

DSC_7190

DSC_7173

There’s a lot of construction taking place around this area at the moment, mostly luxury apartments (like Pan Peninsular) but also various infrastructure projects to prepare for the Olympics in 2012. Part of this includes the lengthening of Docklands Light Railway trains which is causing mass disruption for anyone trying to get to and from central London at the moment (i.e. everyone)!

Enjoyed this post? Please subscribe to my RSS feed to stay up to date.

RAF Anniversary Fly-Past

Published
by
David
on April 4, 2008
in London
. Comments

Red Arrows Fly Past London Bridge

I’m a little late in posting this but on Tuesday I was lucky enough to be in central London at the same time as the RAF (Royal Air Force) was celebrating it’s 90th anniversary which included a cool flypast of the Red Arrows and Typhoon fighter jets. I watched from London Bridge which gave a great vantage point as the planes appeared seemingly out of nowhere over Canary Wharf leaving coloured smoke trails in their wake.

Red Arrows Fly Past London Bridge

It was all over in a matter of seconds but I still managed to snap a couple of OK pics with my iphone - more from the BBC. Not a bad way to spend a weekday lunchtime :)

Enjoyed this post? Please subscribe to my RSS feed to stay up to date.

How To Ruin A Design Classic

Published
by
David
on February 4, 2008
in Design and Rant
. Comments

The London Underground (or the “Tube” as we like to call it here) has arguably the most iconic map in the world. The circuit-diagram style map invented by Henry Beck in 1933 paved the way for the way in which most modern metro/subway systems portray their transit networks today. Its success in aiding the traveller to find their way from A-to-B is a testament to it’s simplicity and as the saying goes “it it ain’t broke, don’t fix it“.

As the underground has expanded and changed over the years so Transport for London have updated and tweaked the map. Fair enough, but unfortunately it appears that their designers have got a bit carried away and with every new version it seems to be getting more and more complex and cluttered.

For an idea of what I mean just compare the 2004 & 2008 editions of the map:

London Underground Tube Map 2004
London Underground Tube Map 2004

London Underground Tube Map 2008
London Underground Tube Map 2008

I think you’ll agree that the differences are striking. The main things things which come to my mind:

  • Adding background shading to show the zones is irrelevant and distracts the eye; when was your decision to go somewhere last influenced by what zone it was in?
  • Adding the blue step-free access signs only helps a tiny fraction of the maps users and actually removes detail as you can no longer tell which stations are interchanges; why not have a separate map showing disabled access provisions?
  • The new “London Overground” lines are a glaringly poor addition; they feel like they have been drawn around the existing map rather than integrated with it - is trying to bring together over & underground maps really a good idea?
  • The tiny red symbols, indicating “Check before you travel” in the key, are completely pointless and only add more visual clutter; they look more like crucifixes to me!

London Underground Tube Map

So there you have it - how to ruin a design classic in four easy steps!

Enjoyed this post? Please subscribe to my RSS feed to stay up to date.

Dim Sum Musings

Published
by
David
on February 3, 2008
in London
. Comments

Despite London’s large Chinese population, finding good authentic Chinese food at a reasonable price is somewhat difficult - China Town is OK but generally expensive and the quality/hygiene questionable. However, when you scratch beneath the surface, there is the odd gem to be found and sometimes in the most unassuming of places. One such place can be found south of the Thames not far from where I’ve been working and over the past year has become a popular haunt for Friday lunch of almost mythical proportions. One of my colleagues has kindly written a review which I thought I might share (complete with my iPhone photos) -

IMG_0076

An unassuming blue building at the Elephant end of Walworth Road - Indian Cafes, ropey B&Bs, the world famous Ivory Arch nightspot. Not necessarily where one would expect to find a restaurant of any true quality, but then life is full of unexpected pleasures. At the far end are a set of doors that would not look out of place along the Great Wall and behind them lie sublime culinary delights not of this world.

IMG_0069

The Dragon Castle menu has all the regular Chinese restaurant favourites - sweet and sour chicken, crispy duck etc - and some unusual but tantalising specialities, but the real draw is the dim sum. The highlight is the scallop and coriander cheung fun - juicy scallops and fresh coriander wrapped in a sheet of glistening cheung fun. Other favourites include the Vietnamese spring rolls, beef balls, sesame prawn rolls - a far cry from the usual sesame prawn toasts. The dumplings are a real treat, steamed or fried, pork or prawn, or both for that matter - I am salivating just thinking about them.

IMG_0086

The dim sum specials menu has just been updated with some truly delicious new ideas - mixed seafood dumplings and honeyed venison puffs are the star attractions.

You might think that all this is sounding a little pricey for lunch, but amazingly no matter how much you order the bill is never above £15 per head - perhaps this really is some magical realm!

So go, go now and try some of the joys that I have mentioned, and some that I have not, but make sure you get there by 5pm, because that’s when the dim sum chefs knock off.

Enjoyed this post? Please subscribe to my RSS feed to stay up to date.