Victory in a bottle

Easing ourselves back into running today - air was full of dust and seeds from London plane trees, so we spluttered our way round.

Saw the new sculpture on the forth plinth in Trafalgar square - would have liked to see the reaction at the glass factory when the artist, Yinka Shonibare, commissioned the four tonne bottle.



It is the first commission for the plinth by a black British artist.

We've also wondered for some years what the markings on kerbstones represent




My research has been inconclusive - they may be benchmarks, used by surveyors to keep track of where and how high they are.
Or they are stone mason marks to show who carved them - see http://www.flickr.com/photos/73704776@N00/2506808546/


Finally, Mark's theory is that they represent Parish Boundaries.


But who really cares - I hear you say...

ORC ALERT

On a recent trip around the Elephant and Castle area, I couldn't help but notice a new landmark tower - this is the Strata tower which features three wind turbines integrated into its roof. That should save the planet.

To me it looks like the Tower of Isengard from Lord of the Rings

I'm waiting for the Orcs to come steaming up the Old Kent Road ...

Running on water

Another virtual run this weekend - but getting excited about a new running sport. Will try it out on the Thames next week ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y0BsnTa5RA

Also happy birthday to Hugh and I

Here we see Hugh receiving his present from Mark and thinking

"not another bloody mountain climb for my birthday ..."

Ageing rock stars

Iggy and the Stooges were again on top form at the second gig - I also saw him interviewed on Later... - whilst these days 2 night in a row singing is his limit, he implied that was the only thing that he could only do 2 nights in a row.. .

Seeing Iggy (63) on the same programme sitting next to Ozzy Osbourne (61) watching Ian Hunter (71) perform, made me wonder how long this generation of rock singers will go on. Will they be like the old bluesmen of yesteryear ? How will their acts change ? Perhaps the following video gives us a clue ...

Hope I die before I get old ...

Iggy and the Stooges

Mark and I went to see Iggy last night - despite the use of ear plugs, my ears are still buzzing.

He played the whole of Raw Power from 1973 - still sounded fresh and violent. Also exciting that the original Raw Power lead guitarist, James Williamson, is back with the band after recently retiring as Vice President of Technology at Sony!

I had heard Iggy had given up diving into the crowd now that he was 62 and following a recent dive when no-one caught him - he dived 4 times in the first half hour so what do the media know ?




My favourite song was 'I Wanna be your Dog' - it was the 'most beer thrown into the air' moment as well.
Photos by Mark with his flashy new camera.



Iggy, pull up your trousers you naughty boy ...

Off to see him again on monday night - more news next week...

Stranded

Still stuck in Carribean - on Island of Mustique, so no need to feel sorry for me.

Spent the second week trying in vain to record the mythical green flash when the sun sets on the horizon - for years it has been put down by my family to too many rum punches.

Some success in that Amanda saw it this time - I missed it as I was messing around with the settings on my camera. This is an image from another evening at Basil's Bar,



Not so much a green flash, more you've been Tangoed ...

One of the other highlights was seeing the recent tracks of a massive leatherback turtle on the beach early one morning. Not that we would have even known what we were looking at -but the previous week we had met Mick Jagger's physio on the beach - turns out he's a bit of a turtle expert and a keen conservationist. He said the tracks would like mini tractor tracks ..




He wasn't wrong.

Best I can do for a Stones related turtle track to finish off is 'Beast of Burden' - answers on a postcard please.

Filing in the Thames

From : Roger Miles

Subject : Filling in the Thames

Date : 21 April 2010

To : mayor@london.gov.uk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Mayor,

I am an art student at Chelsea School of Art and Design – my current project in on ‘rivers’ and I have been developing an idea that may be of some interest to you.

Traditionally, the Thames has been the lifeblood of the City of London – today, however, it is hardly used for trade, transport or agriculture – in fact it threatens the City through increased sea levels and creates a barrier to efficient transport .

What could we do with the land that it occupies were we to ’fill it in’?

Some immediate benefits would be to                                                                                                             

• Remove the threat of flooding
• Solve the Heathrow dispute by building a state of the art airport near the head of the Thames Estuary
• Improve cross London transport further through a new monorail system
• Create an amazing new tourism industry based around fantastical developments from the Thames Estuary all the way to Richmond

My initial thoughts on what shape this new tourism destination would look like are

• Build six of the seven ancient wonders of the world i.e. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, The Temple of Artemis, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and The Colossus of Rhodes – these are lost to history but could be rebuilt – the one remaining wonder that still exists, the Pyramids of Giza would not be rebuilt but there could be some link to the original using new technology
• Rebuild the Lost City of Atlantis and the Tower of Babel
• Create massive lakes – each could have a single purpose and be located at intervals along the route of the Thames , perhaps including

·       A great coral reef

·       A frozen lake for skating and ice fishing

·       The world’s largest underwater art gallery

·       The new Titanic Lake

·       The London waterfalls

·       Flood the town of Slough to create a new reservoir for London – killing two birds with one stone

·       A great lake for the great ships of the past ie the Victory , The Mary Rose and the Mayflower.

·       A witch dunking lake next to Parliament to keep MP’s and Lords honest

Upstream, the river would be diverted to create hydro electric power and for agricultural purposes. The remainder of the project in London could focus on new Royal Parks, real quality social housing and a competition to design new wonders of the modern world – such as a new space station for day trips to the moon.

So imagine turning London from one of the great cities to visit into the greatest city – imagine a day trip that included a visit to The Pharos of Alexandria, a snorkel around the Great London coral reef, visiting the Temple of Artemis in the afternoon and finishing off the day with an evening trip to the moon.

By the way I really like the look of the ArcelorMittal Orbit – in fact it’s not far from a modern Colossus of Rhodes.

I look forward to hearing you thoughts on this proposal

Regards

Roger Miles

0208 876 3866