Everything London

"Rub ma belly"   Autumn. The leaves are falling. Its grey and raining. We're a long time past March's lockdown and yet coronavirus is still here and we still need to keep our distance. But we have a silver lining! A pick me up proven uplift opens on the 31st October, in the shape of nine cats roaming, ready for petting and belly rubs at the new Java Whiskers cat café at 105, Great Portland Street, in London! You book your time slot, 1-2 hours per person over 10 years of age, arrive 15 minutes early and kick off your shoes! Order some sandwiches, salads and pastries, with vegan options and gluten-free option and then enjoy the kitties as they come a paw-ing. There are rules though to protect the cats, while there are toys to lure in a feline friend, you aren't allowed to force them, pick them up or 'force hold' them, and the cats are free to retreat to downstairs if they decide they're done with human company for a while, so these cat kings and queens ...

Camden Council offering a variety of options with  #tryabike It's been a long London Council initiative to make bike hire free for at least 30 days- 4 weeks, with "try a bike"the idea is to reduce pollution and to create an opportunity to see if a bike is right for you, before investing in buying your own. The benefits of using a bike at this time are insurmountable, and especially for those at risk of infection but required to attend a job they can't do from home. Using a bike helps all our shop staff, post office workers, cleaners and of course the vital medics and allied professionals to avoid all public transport, which as we all know has been increasingly packed due to the reduced services on tubes and buses in waiting in the brisk the cold spring sunshine and occasional rain,  minimising workers’ disruption and possibilities of being infected as they travel to attend to crucial work in the COVID-19 epidemic. Free ebikes.. There are regular bikes c...

I probably don't need to reiterate it's a hard and uncertain time for everyone right now, how desolate the streets of London are in the midst of corona virus pandemic. So I won't, instead I want to turn your attention to goats, pygmy goats to be exact. At London Zoo, the pygmy goats enclosure is where all animal loving kids, and lets face it adults too, get to interact with the zoo animals -  and it turns out they're missing us! Seriously, they line up at the gate of their enclosure in the mornings waiting for the visitors, because they're waiting for massage and attention and they get lots of love! No social distancing for them - their keepers are on site and on hand to make up for the shortfall, though I'm not sure they are anything close to the numbers the pygmy goats miss. Its adorable and a real reminder of how we all love cuddles, even if we can't really see our friends and families in person. #staysafestayhome When this is all over mayb...

The Wellcome collection on Euston Road shows many a wonderful exhibition for the 'incurably curious' they say.  Since November 2017 has curated " Ayruvedic Man: Encounters with Indian Medicine"   an exhibition which runs for one more month to April 8th 2018. Ayurveda translates roughly in English to 'the knowledge of long life'. The knowledge of which Dr. Paira Mall was sent in 1911 by Wellcome to gather from India for the use of the pharmaceutical giant. It's complicated and layered story is put together in a very simply put together in a darkened room with many different types of media, photo's, film, song, and text, and you can move through the myriad of information relatively easily and without too much of a crowd. Dr. Paira Mall Dr Mall, an Anglo-Indian bought up by an 'English lady' who was raised to be a missionary, but 'preferred' medicine, and so continued his medical studies, he served as a surgeon in the A...

If you’re one of the many people who, when confronted with your internet usage and the privacy of your data say “I’ve nothing to hide”, and my articles have done nothing to dissuade you or convince you then you MUST get down to Charing Cross Road, London to “The Glass room" exhibit.  “You’re invited to experiment and reconsider the idea that even if we think we might have nothing to hide, we should at least understand what we’re not hiding. Many of the exhibits are innocuous 3 minute looking videos on an tablet with an attached set of headphones, but some are large digital display screens, on these you’ll be able to see in real time, how your very own mobile phone is ‘pinging’ all the time, how you appear in a display tracked, and then, even, see where you go after you’ve visited- many people were displayed as having gone to McDonalds... should I really know where to find thos...

You will no doubt have heard about the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack, and the London Bridge terrorist attack, and the Finsbury Park terrorist attack, no matter where you are in the world. London seems to be a scary place to be, facing such violence and such, for want of a better word.. terror. Westminster North Bank. This blog can't ignore the fact that sometimes a wonderful city, full of vibrancy and spirit is the target of those who seek to gain notoriety and influence. But it is the view of this blog that they are simply cowards, cowards picking easy targets. Geoff Ho, a fellow journalist there at the time agrees when he saw a bouncer being attacked he simply said 'not on my watch' and went in to help. He was stabbed and currently recovers in hospital. Down but not trodden, there were many wonderful heroes in these scenarios, professionals and lay people, and that fills my heart, and the hearts of all the good people in London, this was true in the times...

Beanie, Born Dec 28th 2016 With the current state of the world going on about migrants, and taking our jobs, taking back our country, banning you from here, but not from there, and all those alternative facts your mind might just be about to burst, so just for a moment, revel with me in the good, no great baby news of London! London, has a new arrival, from migrant parents! A (very cute) baby Anteater named Beanie. Born just after Christmas, Beanie, weighing just 1.2kg, has a surrogate mum in the shape of lovely fluffy yellow teddy bear.  Beanie's first time mum Inca rejected her new offspring, but the stripy baby will soon be introduced to the rest of the giant anteater family at ZSL London Zoo, where keepers hope that more experienced female Sauna will take over other mothering duties, such as carrying Beanie around and socialising her, so she can grow up part of the group. Young anteaters get around by clinging to their mother’s backs, so the newborn has...