First 13. Highbury Corner.

Shootin' Gallery: Islington. London. Thirteen.

Roaming. No Limits.

Shootin' Gallery: London.

Flipfactor. Picture Painting.

Aside from being an interesting and insightful read, What They Teach You at Harvard Business School by journalist Philip Delves Broughton is amusing too. Drawn from his experience of undertaking an MBA, he brings to life some of the characters he encountered. One of my favourite lines describes a silver-haired fund manager with ruddy complexion on page 140: "He was a caricature of dissatisfaction. His breath, which worsened with every gulp of Merlot and slice of roast duck, was paint stripper and his humor barbed." It paints a picture.

Roaming. Elephants at the Window.

Shootin' Gallery: Elephants. London. Windows.

Art Martha. Robert Opie Collection.

Packed to the brim, the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in Notting Hill is the perfect place to take a trip down memory lane. The sheer volume of printed material and products from Victorian times to the present day, neatly and chronologically displayed in a maze of glass vitrines, is mind-boggling. With mementos of Kate and Will's wedding and the London Olympics, it's also bang up-to-date.

I've been aware of Robert Opie's incredible collection for some time, so it was a real treat to actually visit the museum first hand. One of my favourite parts were the displays of consumer goods spanning decades of production. It was compelling to see the changes in packaging design, container shapes and logos. The originals were still the best in most cases, for example, Cadbury and Ovaltine. If you love packaging, design, and pop culture, then you'll love this museum's tribute to the wonder of consumer culture.

Roaming. Highbury Vale.

Shootin' Gallery: Cats. London. Murals.

Pie Report. Chicken Bake.

Hmmm. Doesn't it look delicious? Well, for £1.32 this pie was not only good value, but it helped to dissipate the effects of my hangover for a good ten minutes or so. With a rather high salt content, this chicken pie was just what I needed after unexpectedly seeing a strip show in a local pub the night before. I'll save that story for another post.

Chicken Bake

3.25 Pastry
3.25 Filling
3.25 Tastiness
3.50 Structure
4.00 Value

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED | 3.45

Roaming. Islington.

Shootin' Gallery: Islington.

Good Art #1. Exotic Cage Birds.

I found myself at Islington Museum on the weekend to see a photographic exhibition Medieval Meets Modern. While it was interesting, I was more enchanted by the local history display, in particular the collages from a previous exhibition Malicious Damage: the Life and Crimes of Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell in Islington. Using books in Islington Public Library on Essex Rd, the pair would not only rewrite blurbs for what they viewed as boring books, but also create humorous collages for the covers. Word has it that they would smuggle stolen books back in and sit back and watch the reactions of library users. For their arty escapades the pair served six months in prison. As a lover of collage, I found these works amusing and an apt inaugural Good Art, a new irregular column featuring art works I love.

Glossy. The Big Issue.

The Paralympians will be hitting their stride later this week, so it's great to see The Big Issue hit the streets today with this illustrated cover.

Roaming. London Life.

It's not everyday you run into a bearded clown with a bottle of Malibu, a cow ready for the disco or an adder ready for a strike, all sitting comfortably in the window of someone's house with a turtle. But in London, anything is possible.

First 13. Highbury Fields.

Shootin' Gallery: Doors. Green. London. Thirteen.

Roaming. Charming Dalston.

My stomping ground when I last lived in London was Dalston, just up the road from then uncool Shoreditch. Coolness may be creeping into Dalston with groovy cafés, vintage clothing shops and an uber-cool car boot sale on the weekend, but it's great to see that Dalston's High Street still has a local feel. International cultures mingle providing a vibrant atmosphere at street level and the op shops are terrific. These eyes are looking at you from the end of my old street.

Roaming. Chopper.

When I'm not navigating a Boris Bike — the Mayor of London's very good bike hire scheme — through London's traffic, then I'm likely on foot or riding this chopper (above), parked in uber-cool Shoreditch.

Popcorn. Airheads for World Peace.

It may seem kooky, but the honourable mission of the annual Air Guitar World Championships lifting off in Oulu today is to promote world peace. Organisers believe that "wars and climate change would end and all bad things would disappear if all the people in the world played the Air Guitar." I say lets give it a bash, I'd love to see bad behaviour banished.

Glossy. New York Post.

A smashing cover from the New York Post, but a sad state of affairs for the 21st century.

Roaming. Mona in Oulu.

Oulu in Fabulous Finland is one of the coolest little cities I've been to. Some Finns scoffed when I mentioned I'd be going there, but it was one of the highlights in an amazing country. Oulu was buzzy,  drag races took place in the local supermarket car park nightly and the main art gallery had one of the more intriguing photography exhibitions I've seen in a long time. Even Mona likes it.

First 13. Piccadilly.

Shootin' Gallery: London. Red. Thirteen.

Roaming. Shoreditch.

I was stopped by a fellow on Brick Lane yesterday who said he thought London's graffiti was disappointing. I've not found that to be the case as there are no repetitive idiots and fewer senseless tags than elsewhere — so far at least. Under London's grey skies I think garishly coloured graffiti comes alive, for example, this fellow overlooking a Shoreditch corner brightened up otherwise bleak surroundings.

First 13. Finn House.

Shootin' Gallery: Hoxton. London. Numbers. Thirteen.

Pie Report. All Eyes On Deck.

Wikipedia tells me that pies originated in Egypt, though I think the Aussie version was built on the English tradition of pie making: potentially delicious filling encased by stodgy pastry. Yesterday's Fish Pie lunch was bland and unusual, made even more so with these little crumbed fish sticking out the top of an average cheesy mash. The filling was tasty enough, but the overcooked, watery vegetables were bland beyond belief.

 

Fish Pie

2.75 Pastry — cheddar potato mash topping standing in for pastry
3.25 Filling
2.75 Tastiness
3.00 Structure
1.50 Value

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED | 2.65

Roaming. You're Moving Out Today.

Shootin' Gallery: London.

Roaming. North Haarlem.

Shootin' Gallery: Netherlands. Graffiti.

First 13. St Pauli.

Shootin' Gallery: Germany. Thirteen.

Roaming. Pretty City.

Shootin' Gallery: Graffiti. Netherlands. Words.

First 13. Haarlemse Wandeling.

A bar imitating a beach in Haarlem is a peculiar thing. The vibe was laid back, the rosé beers delicious and the pizza tasty. Today's Thirteen was snapped on a quiet Haarlem street on the way feeling home, and just a tad woozy.

Roaming. Haarlem Cut.

Shootin' Gallery: Netherlands. Scissors.

Roaming. Wish List.

Shootin' Gallery: Cars. Germany. Murals.

Roaming. Trabi Pulling Power.

Word has it that a new electrified Trabant may be hitting the streets later in 2012, but it was this yesteryear model that charmed me in Hamburg. The man in the car next to this Trabi was also charmed. He exited his car to take an identical photo to mine, giving me chuckle as I continued on along the waterfront.

Roaming. Olympics Fever.

Hamburger Dom is a visual overload and they have the best bins in town.

Roaming. Hamburg.

Next stop Kassal and Documenta 13.