Views of Kings Cross...

...just a few more shots of the area (as I found it at the end of last week), won't be much chance to explore from now on! ;)

Moo StickerBooks - and London Summer Party

So, tonight is the big launch party in Kings Cross for the new "Moo StickerBook" *thing*, I love Moo cards, so I'm guessing the stickers are going to be equally excellent (although quite what I am going to stick them on, at this stage, I cannot say)...what I can tell you is that you get 90 stickers for just under a fiver, which is just about the right price for a bit of fun with your photography...just need to take some nice, vibrant texture shots now, although the odd cropped sunset might do the trick too... ;)

Anyway, it's a free party, and Moo are paying the tab on the bar ("for a while anyway", thank you Moo-people)...Renemy went to the Moomeet in SF earlier in the year and said it was a great laugh, so, nothing to loose, might even get some free stuff (in exchange for my free promotion), you never know...! ;)

Oh, *and* we are being taken out for a free lunch by the office too (at Canal 125), so quite a good day today, all in all...! ;)

London Canal Museum (in the rain)

Join me, in a peek out the cell window at the cloudburst happening currently a few feet behind my desk...nice weather for ducks...*shiver*...

A scorcher in Islington?

Well, it looks the part anyway (highs of 22 degrees today for this area are to be expected), I checked the weather report for the rest of the week and it's looking good (highs of 27(!) degrees on Friday) for Eastbourne (which is near Laughton) where we are planning to spend the weekend (camping out in Colin the camper, among all the steam engines and vintage vehicles)...it wasn't very nice weather last time, so please, rain, don't come this time - we can both do with a bit of a break (been so hectic just lately)...

Chamber Maid - Vacancy Greys Inn Road

Hang on, we still have Chamber maids!!??

Balfe Street Blooms

Well, the blossom in Balfe Street is out rather early this year, another sign of global warming? It was April 10th last time before it was worth taking a picture...Same as last time though, the street below is *still* in a right state, it's been constant building works for the last two months, seems like every household in the road have decided to get a new bathroom (all at the same time), so there are about 40 builders, countless toilets, baths and sinks in cardboard shielding, a scattering of dangerous power tools littering the road and pavement (of which random bits are opened and closed daily) to have to worry about dodging during my commute...

Anyway, Balfe street aside, happily (if the weather persons can be trusted) we can expect a return to the lovely temperatures we were experiencing at the beginning of March (for a day or two at least), 15 degrees today and 18 tomorrow...excellent... ;)

Kings Place, York Way - Basic Structure in place

Well, here we go, another update on the "Kings Place" building project on York Way in Islington/Kings Cross. It seems to have stopped growing vertically (for the time being, at least), and so we may now actually have a good idea what the basic structure of the finished product is going to look like...

If you look back at the last time I took a few shots (which was in August last year) you can see exactly how much they have achieved in that time (despite the fire that caused the whole area to close thanks to the risk of exploding gas tanks) I tried to take these couple of shots from roughly the same angles as before, so you can see the progress more clearly-

- Haha...Well, God bless the local permanent-marker-wielding youth...much improving the work of the local primary school with added "dumplings" (even on the vaguely male-looking pieces, transforming what were probably supposed to be mixing desks into what now looks like an oversized bra) -

- walked up to see the view from the bridge over the canal (looks like we have a layer to go on the wedding-cake bit at the end to top it off) and was approached by a guy in a suit who walked right up to me and said "May I ask, who are you working for?", turns out, he is the guy in charge of the whole project, so I introduced myself, told him about the blog (and how to find these entries and photos, although not too difficult with the power of Google)...

So, Mr Head of Construction (nice to meet you by the way), and anyone else interested, if you want to really go back in time, check out what used to be on the site (before they demolished it, and dug a huge hole)...1 minute's silence (quiet cry)... ;(

There is another blogger intermittently documenting the build, "at one remove", an artist who either lives or works hereabouts, I think it was he that mentioned that there was going to be an official photographer to document the work but they were cancelled for financial reasons, so I feel duty bound to catch a bit of the construction...just for histories sake... ;)

Left Luggage at Kings Cross Thameslink

Funny, just as the trial starts in the case of the crown vs the 21/7 terror "suspects", so I get to Kings Cross Thameslink and see a rucksack, all on it's lonesome, left on one of the seats (situated between three men, but not really near enough to definitely belong to any of them)...I only waited a heartbeat after passing it to turn around and say "Do any of you know whose rucksack that is?", one of them visibly woke up when I addressed them (obviously having a day dream) but all three shook heads or said "Nope"...(I probably raised my eyebrows and tutted at this point) then walked all the way back down the platform again to where I knew the Customer assist window was, knocked on it, and a second or two later the door next to it opened and a head poked out. I told the guy about the left luggage and walked all the way back up the platform again, duty done, probably it was just someone being dozy, but then the prickles of doubt began to get me, a certain other incident with "left luggage" came to mind, and of course with the news of the trial being so fresh, I must admit, when I got past the rucksack, I put myself into a position whereby the force of any blast (and flying debris) on my body would be minimised. One of the guys, apparently quite unconcerned about any possible terror implications cheerily said "They'll be kicking themselves, won't they?" with a smile, and I smiled and nodded, thinking to myself, you'd be kicking yourself too if that was a bomb and it had blown your legs off while you just stood there ignoring it…has it really been that long that most people have forgotten what happened? Forgotten to be vigilant?

Anyway, a member of station staff turned up, gingerly inspected the rucksack, turned to me and said "Cheers" and then picked it up and walked off...But there *are* still idiots out there, the terror threat level is still set at a rather serious sounding "SEVERE"…so let's watch each others backs eh?

Back to work...

So, another year over and done with, we took down the Christmas decorations yesterday night (well, Flyingpops did while I was cooking dinner)...a little early, I know, but the next few weeks are going to be rather busy what with one thing and another...so our tree (this isn't it, just a random one I spotted in Balfe Street) is outside in the road waiting for the bin men to come and pick it up for recycling...we did get a voucher to take it back to Priory Farm for them to turn it into compost to help grow future Christmas trees, but frankly I haven't a clue when we would have found time to take it up there...

Back on the trains too this morning, my brain still isn't functioning 100%, I think it's the shock of having to think about being awake before 0930hrs (zzz), still, one bit of silver lining, it's only two days to go until the weekend, hehe... ;)

Parking suspension, Balfe Street

Spotted this morning (so that worked really well then! The road is still absolutely packed with parked cars... ;)

As well as all the parked cars there were also lots of "Bill Stickers" down there being angry with gesticulating members of the public clutching their valid parking tickets...quite funny to watch, they really should have turned off the ticket machine, or covered it up (or something...! ;)

Brass studs in the pavement

There are literally hundreds of these things stuck in the pavements all around Kings Cross, they are about the size of an M&M, shiny brass and each one has a little serial number scrawled next to it (this one is somewhat faded)...anyone got any idea what they might be?

Google has come up a little light for me, the only clue being a Surrey county council document about defining boundaries for pavement cafes, but there really aren't that many in Kings Cross, in fact, only 3 places I can think of have any kind of outside seating...so what are they for?

Answers on an IP packet...

Wharfdale Road - Closed

...weather permitting??

What is this, a school fête...? ;)

Balfe Street signs - Grand Theft Bike

What is it with Balfe Street and funny signs? Spotted this one this morning on my way in, it reads "Thinking about or attempting to steal a bike from here? THEN GIVE A GREAT BIG SMILE There are three CCTV cameras watching & recording you" (it's on the fire escape style exit from the "Central Station")...

It's a real problem in this area...more than once I have seen scuffy young chavs (sometimes in small groups) cycling around like predators carefully circling and checking out any bike that is left on display, and that is in broad daylight! Torquay slag had his extremely expensive and carefully locked bike robbed from outside "The Driver" during Friday lunch a while ago...I would suggest tying a dog to your bike to guard it (if you have to bring it to Kings Cross), but they are probably more likely to get stolen than the bike!

Any more of these signs though and I'll have to generate a flickr set for them! ;)

Konstam at the Prince Albert - Review

Okay, so, finally got my act together and made it out to the Konstam at the Prince Albert -

- (blogged about this before, but just to cover base - it's the resturant run by Oliver Rowe (new celebrity chef) where all the ingredients (well, as far as possible) are sourced from within the loop of the M25, or just *slightly* outside from what we actually experienced) with my usual Friday lunch crowd (this exercise was suggested by Fraggle, who is a rampant foodie, seconded by me (an excitable amateur), and partially-thirded by Whittleman (wannabe pro-chef) who rescued us during the booking process ;) we bagged a table for 9 (even got confirmation back via email! Unhelpfully the phone number on their website is currently wrong, the actual phone number you need to ring is 0871 0752385, thanks Mr W.) so...what is it actually like to eat there?

Well...when the advance party got there? It was actually closed...the doors were locked, *and* we were, even at that stage, rather late...I didn't like that, I thought the staff should, if it is advertised outside that the doors open at 1230hrs - simply open the doors at 1230hrs...shouldn't be too tough? I mean, stood in the road we could clearly see staff bobbing about...leaving us dodging the smelly chavster beggars on the Kings Cross Road for ten minutes was a little unkind...When we did finally gain access, I asked if I might be permitted to shoot a few shots around the place and the (almost, "why are you even asking?") response was "Of course?", the staff were obviously rather laid back(and indeed) perhaps a little jaded to the lens, what with the TV show being filmed there (excellent ;) -

- The decor was a bit on the "interesting" side, obviously being designed with night covers in mind, consisting (as it does) of thousands of ball-bearing chains draped around tiny modern ceiling lights, looking just a little bit BDSM for lunchtime, but not *completely* out of place (I guess) with the massage parlour opposite (note the regulars outside ;) -

- and the kinky leather clothing store 3 doors down...We skipped starters and puds (which would have added £11 per head (at least)) and went right for the main course...I opted for the "Sevenoaks rump steak with Bercy butter, braised chard and mashed potato"...One real high point that must be noted here is that you watch the chef cook your food, no matter where you are in the resturant, you can see the range and the preparation area... ;)

- The service? Way slower than snail's pace - not sure who their usual lunchtime clientelle are, but they certainly aren't in any massive hurry...I can picture a lovely evening meal, working one's way through the rich offerings sipping the *very* well selected English wines taking the best part of 4 hours...(and very pleasant that would be indeed)...

...but this is absolutely not suitable for a standard work lunch trip...

The food? Well, my steak, and I'm loathed to say this, was actually a lot worse than average in my opinion, *perhaps* I had been spoiled by the "Exmoor reared" from the weekend (which was frankly superb)...M25 beef? 'fraid I think it's actually rather poor...perhaps those cows need a few hills to walk up to develop the flavour, and a bit less of the CO2...there is a reason people ship in beef from Aberdeen then...

Duck, Chicken and Lamb were excellent though (I am told)...actually tasted a bit of the chicken which was *fantastic*, but was (and thanks to the layout we saw this done) effectively deep fried in about half a pound of butter....extremely rich, but extremely good...

Update - Read DJMathu's review here...

7/7 - One year on - Kings Cross - 2 minutes silence

Couldn't resist...

...but how else does one learn? Copy the pro... ;) This also answers one question from the last 2 minutes silence...no - they don't need to buy Big Macs (and neither did I... ;)

Lots and lots of people came, but only I recon about half as many as last time...for the actual 2 minutes I left McDonalds (which was full of people talking and eating) and crossed the road to join the patient throng...

Got pretty near the front but couldn't hear anything the guy said apart from "Thank you all very much" at the end of the 2 minutes...he was doing a quiet speech, but it was just too quiet for me...

Still, job done...

7/7 - One year on

Got to Kings Cross early so I could take a few snaps before work, and as expected it was a real media circus, rows of anchormen either having make-up applied/touched up or waiting patiently to deliver their scripted commentary...

...again from the traffic island (which means I was probably on 3 or 4 TV channels at this point), check out the satellite dish on the van on the right...

No anchormen here, so this footage was going to be cut into reports for later on...

Lots of police too...(as I was expecting)...

This guy was reading his report to someone over the phone "It began as a day like any other"...(not very original ;)

Using the photographers trick that I spotted during the 2 minutes silence last year, I climbed to the 2nd floor of the McDonalds on the corner and shot out the window (I think I counted 20 coppers in this shot!) -

- and a close up on the floral tribute...

I posted a lot on 7/7, made a lot of newspapers - mostly German, Brazillian and Dutch (strangely), traffic went through the roof (still get a lot of hits out of it) as I was practically all the news and pictures coming steadily out of Kings Cross at the time, doing my citizen journalist bit...anyway, if you want to read my thoughts as I typed them then you are best off starting at the bottom of the 7th - click here to set the wayback machine to July - and then reading up...lots of pictures/thoughts about what happened on the day (from my perspective)...

Kings Cross - Helicopter with huge St George's cross spotted

You'll have to zoom right in as it's not a brilliant photo (the helicopter was miles away) but it was zig zagging over Kings Cross dragging a *huge* St. George's cross behind it during lunchtime with the words "Come on England" in the cross itself... ;) Wonder who paid for that?

The Crinan Street Ghost

The office where I work, in Crinan Street (in Islington (in London)) is not a modern structure, it is an imaginative conversion of a building constructed on the banks of the BattleBridge Basin in 1903 (in order to house a bottling plant, administrative office and warehouse)...so it's got a bit of history behind it...

Now, (stick with me) this is my desk ornament, from the "Kinder Egg" scary halloween range from last year...Flyingpops built it at Earlswood station, kindly gifted it to me, and I brought it into work and it's been living on my desk ever since...very strangely though, each day when I come in he has either moved or bits of him have been dismantled, and the empty shell cases next to him are usually under the keyboard...a bit annoying...but I just pick him up, or pop him back together and get on with things...(thinking incautious cleaners)...
But, it turns out, little incidents like this are not uncommon around the place, when I began to prod, stories of desk events of a similar scale began to emerge from all over the office, and not the kind of thing you would think that the sole, kindly-looking cleaner could even conceivably have *time* to accomplish during her rounds, let alone have the inclination to - Moving mice, vanishing pens, repeated keyboard leg retractions (always the same one, night after night after night) so much so that one colleague (DJMathu) resorted to firmly selotaping his up!
Stories have also emerged from colleagues who work in the office late at night having odd feelings, or seeing things, one report spoke of a floating apparition, that when stared directly at promptly vanished, and another eye witness who wished to be referred to as 'ego sum mercator' said "one time I was walking up to a door with nobody around and for no logical reason I completely jumped and span around, convinced a person was right behind me"...he is also the person that clued me up to a hidden treasure, lurking in one of the fire escapes -

- looks like a number of loyal workers passed away during the war, did they die here, or on the front, perhaps leaving unfinished business...?

So, do we have a bored security guard, a cleaner who could be a bit more careful - or - is something else going on...of a more supernatural nature...?

BOO!! ;)