They have hundreds of these Archie digests at the Oxfam bookshop, Nicholson Street. I had been resisting but succumbed to these two last week. The stock is all from late 90s, early 2000s. I find the price and gift aid stickers come off with the application of a hair-drier #ProTip
Between 1918 and 1950, Scottish Combined Universities was a three member constituency elected by the graduates of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities with a single transferable vote system (like all elections should be). Wikipedia ref here.
I stumbled on this strange fact while researching CEM Joad who wrote the book below, published in 1945 and picked up in Burns Yard on Sunday.
Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad had stood for parliament in a 1946 by-election in the Combined Scottish Universities but failed to gain the seat for Labour.
Previously he had been the star of the wartime radio show the Brains Trust where his catchphrase was “It all depends on what you mean by…”
The last line of the book is “Let all the railways be run by the State and paid for by the taxpayer, and let the taxpayer ride free on them whenever he so desires.”
Ironically he was convicted of fare dodging three years later, which made front page news and ended his BBC career.
And if like me, you’re a fan of the 1960 movie School for Scoundrels, Joad was apparently the inspiration for Terry Thomas’ gamesmanship on the tennis court (Wikipedia ref here).
I just saw in the new issue of the Idler that Pete Loveday left this world on 16th April. For whatever reason I hadn’t seen that sad news in any of my comics socials or news feeds.
I used to see Pete when he brought his sale or return Russell comics in to Forbidden Planet (I know, I know, 37 years ago), he always seemed a nice guy, and his comics were well worth the read.
Thanks Barney Ronay for introducing me to the German phrase Eierlegende Wollmilchsau — the pig that also gives you milk, wool and eggs.
(from this article on Gareth Southgate’s tactical issues)
Thursday: Wetherspoons breakfast – shoulder surfing Avengers Infinity War on the train – the Dolphin in Kings Cross (Restaurant Guru Best Pub & Bar in London WTF?) – Beef madras and too much beer at Wetherspoons Hatch End with in-laws – Barry Cryer and split trousers – Watford Central Travelodge – too many not Guylian chocs – headache
Friday: breakfast at Cafe Bianco – Watford charity shops – outrageous Watford graffiti – Kensal Green Cemetery – dilapidated Playhouse – Trellick Tower – Rellik vintage clothing – Athlone Gardens – Lil Peep memorial bench – the Eagle – Cara’s Tasty Goat at Acklam Village Market – Grenfell Tower memorial doves – the Knight of Notting Hill – tube to Farringdon and train to East Croydon – Roosters Piri Piri – Germany 5 Scotland 1
Saturday: breakfast at the English and Continental Bar in the Whitgift Centre – rainy morning – 101 Records – Let Him Have It site at 27-29 Tamworth Road – tram to Wimbledon – charity shops – the Old Frizzle – chess club in South Park Garden – Wimbledon Village and Common – ice cream van for sale – Merton Library Monday Manifesto Club and Jah Wobble jam sessions – rainbow over Croydon – Sainsburys room picnic – Art and Craft CRO
Sunday: Queen’s Gardens – another rainy morning – Jermaine Cools memorial – Zodiac House – train to Whitechapel – Mouse Tail Coffee spinach and feta toast, cardamon knot and banana bread – tube to Moorgate – Neon’s Squiggle – the Barbican gardens and Conservatory – the Old Red Cow – Smithfield Market, Andrew Weatherall tribute at Fabric – Sam Smith’s OBB at the Cittie of Yorke – Store Street – Katsu chicken burger at the Rising Sun – England 1 Serbia 0
Monday: All American at Box Park Breakfast Club – train to Victoria – Pimlico charity shops and Small Faces house at 22 Westmorland Terrace – tube to Warren Street and big carrots – the Prince of Wales Feathers – Burton Street bookshop – Saint Pancras New Church – Scottish Stores – Housmans bookshop – train home
It’s Glastonbury 2017, and Beckham is “in deep conversation with Mary Charteris, a 30-year-old married party girl, the ultimate cool Sloane Raver.” She is, we learn, famous for “being present at parties where others enjoyed cocaine”. Is she meant to be a cokehead by association? Can one catch cocaine? How do you get famous for that?
From today’s Guardian review of the new Beckhams biography by Tom Bower, which looks to be just as pointless and bitchy as we had been led to believe it would be. Great stuff from Zoe Williams.
As a youth in Yorkshire I used to love a pint of John Smith’s. In London in the 90s we drifted apart, and when they went nitro they just seemed severely uncool. I’ve hardly touched the stuff since.
Now, as an old geezer I really miss bitter in this new world of craft IPAs, but I never consider Smiths, so it was a real surprise to find this guide (where to enjoy John Smith’s in London) in today’s issue of Vittles. Also a surprise that Smiths is number one again. 18 year old me would definitely have approved.
I wanted to know if this ageing body of mine was still capable of doing a London day trip bookended by overnight coach trips to and from Edinburgh. I booked the Megabus for a very reasonable £31 return with no seat reservations. There were times when people were sat next to me that I thought I was doing real damage to my knees, and I was in a pretty sorry state when I got off the bus, but I managed a few hours sleep on the return journey and I do think I would do it again.
In a packed itinerary I walked 25944 steps, from Victoria to Russell Square and then Pimlico to Battersea (in the pouring rain). I took in two gallery shows, both now closed (hence the need to go last week): Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy and Crass at Horse Hospital. I was surprised how small the Gee Vaucher originals were, but I guess that’s a necessary part of producing callage work from magazine images.
I ate at the Regency Cafe in Westminster and the Indian YMCA and enjoyed a pint of bitter in the Angel, which used to be a regular of mine back when I was working at Forbidden Planet (I know, I know, 37 years ago). I like that they still have many of the same theatre posters in the saloon bar at the Angel, but Anthony Sher in Richard III seems to have moved on.
I am interested in the memorials that people leave behind and so this trip I wanted to see the plaque for the Denmark Place fire and the Theatre Street floral tribute to the two bikers who were killed there back in 1998. I didn’t know about the Denmark Place fire back when I worked in Denmark Street and it’s a shocking story.
On the walk to Battersea I found another memorial that I didn’t know about previously, Mary Smith’s Pantry, a foodbank in Pimlico which founder Mike Smith named after his mother.
The Elizabeth Mavor book is the Ladies of Llangollen.
The St Columbas Hospice shop in Canonmills is the best charity shop for books in Edinburgh in my opinion.
#PaulAusterRIP
