When is the City not the City?

Picture this. A focus group is sat around a table wearing suits and earnest faces and the Head of Marketing begins to speak:
“We need to come up with an idea that’s really going to engage with the City and stage an event that’s going to knock their socks off and get them on board with what we’re trying to do”

“How about something in the heart of the City like we did last time?” pipes up one smartly-clad participant

“Too old. Been there, done that“ chimes in another.

“Tell you what“. Heads turn to view the new speaker. “Why don’t we get our message across to the City by not doing it in the City. Let’s pick somewhere they might not even be able to point out on a map“.

Am I the only one feeling a massive sense of anti-climax about the Climate Camp and it’s decision to set up next to a funfair on Blackheath? I may be missing some ingenious twist to this cunning plan but it almost seems like the decision-making as to where to set up camp has been led by Blackadder’s sidekick Baldrick.

To recap the events so far after playing games with the police on Wednesday by trying to lead them in a guessing game of where the camp was going to be set up they picked the well-known City hotspot of Blackheath to set up camp on the grounds that some protestors did it a few hundred years ago and it’s got a nice view of the City. This was billed as:
The Climate Camp are on the case, join them when they takeover the city of London, the financial heart of global capitalism next week…
Hmmm… If these people were ever to have annual appraisals I’d suggest they’re not making their quotas as from what I can tell most of the 22 identified targets are currently unvisited.

Yesterday morning the BBC reports that around 20 protestors staged a demo on Bishopsgate outside the Carbon Exchange on Bishopsgate and then, according to other reports, went off for lunch and didn’t come back. Sounds like they’ve begun to integrate into City life then!

By contrast Help for Heroes had a collection march of around 100 people which headed through the City on their way to Trafalgar Square. Did the press report that?

While taking pictures outside the Royal Exchange on Wednesday I chatted with Police and journalists and we came up with a list of at least five locations in Central London that would have had:
a) Immediate relevance to one of their targets,
b) Been very photogenic for the benefit of the press,
c) Had a very high footfall so they could get their message across to lots of people,
d) Wouldn’t be a huge disruption so they’d be unlikely to be moved on.

The didn’t choose any of those. Let’s see what today brings.

Climate Camp - lunchtime update

The Climate Camp is under way with protestors gathering, press reporting and Police observing. I visited the BankSwoop and RioTintoSwoop and there were about equal numbers of press and protestors at both with the mood being good on all sides.

The Rio Tinto Swoop were being entertained by a guitarist, possibly to draw attention away from the fact that Rio Tinto moved out six months ago, but even the Police I spoke to agreed with their cause and are hoping that they’re able to get their message across in a peaceful and productive way.

I’ve heard a few sirens on and off over the last hour but there’s no indication so farthat they’re related to the Climate Camp and aren’t unusual for a normal City day.

If you’ve seen the protestors, or if you are a protestor, then let me know how you think it’s going by leaving a comment on here or on Twitter to @thecityblog.

Climate Camp returns today

Today sees the return of the Climate Camp to London and this time there won’t be an announcement of their intended destination until noon. They have, however, publicised the starting points for their demonstrations and the ones in the City are:
Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH
Rio Tinto, Aldermanbury Square, EC2V 7HR
though the full list can be found here:
http://climatecamp.org.uk/actions/london-2009/swoop

Other targets for demonstrations in and around the Square Mile include:
London Stock Exchange - Paternoster Square,
J.P. Morgan Climate Care - 125 London Wall,
European Climate Exchange - 62 Bishopsgate,
Evolution Markets - 36-38 Leadenhall Street,
RBS - 250 Bishopsgate,
Multilateral Carbon Credit Fund - 1 Exchange Square,
Point Carbon - 102-108 Clerkenwell Road,
D1 Oils Plc - 33-37 Charterhouse Square.

Again, more info can be found here:
https://london.indymedia.org/articles/1920Climate
and here:
http://climatecamp.org.uk
and you can follow them on Twitter at @climatecamp and #swoop.

They haven’t got the kind of nice weather that they had last time but I’m sure they’ll make a go of it and I will let you know when I hear any more.

City school sex scandal

The case of Helen Goddard, the teacher accused of a lesbian affair with an underage pupil at a prestigious City girls school for Girls, came to court yesterday and she entered a plea of guilty to six counts of sexual activity with the girl between February and July this year. The maximum sentence available is 14 years though this seems unlikely, particularly as the child has expressed an intention to renew the relationship when she becomes 16 and is supported in this by her parents.

Slightly bizarrely the the judge has rules that the school cannot be named, not that the Telegraph seems bothered by that, despite the fact the school’s name was spread across the newspapers several weeks ago when the case first broke so it seems a little late for that now.

Sentencing will take place on September 21st

Broadgate Circle - A happening place

It seems like Broadgate is the hub of much activity over the coming days with various events going on. Top of the pile has to be the City of London ”Business Policing Team Summer Roadshow” tomorrow from 11am to 2pm including:

Demonstration by the tactical firearms unit, Dogs unit displaying how they search vehicles, Anti Terrorism Unit with bomb disposal vehicle on display, Cycle Surgery, Identity theft, Special Constables and much more.”

Also the have the new Jaguar 3.0L XF on display in Finsbury Avenue Square today and tomorrow from 7am to 7pm so if you want to take a look at it and then try to imagine what Jeremy Clarkson might have to say about it then now’s your chance.

If you do get the chance to go to any of the events then send me an email to let me know what you thought of it, and any pictures you might be willing to share.

Broadgate Estate
http://www.broadgateinfo.net/

Review - U2 at Wembley

I’m not a big fan of stadium gigs and unless you’re in the first few rows you could be forgiven that for thinking that you were watching a DVD of the band on the big screens while body doubles prance around on the stage. If that was true I’m sure somebody would have blown the whistle by now but the sheer enormity of Wembley reduced the band to distant figures from where we were, but having said that the video screens did do a great job of providing video of the band and multimedia content through the show and had a neat trick of extending downwards in a honeycomb fashion almost to stage level. In addition to that the immense stage, the excellent lighting effects and the constant twinkling of camera flashes gave the stadium an almost magical quality.

It’s advertised as being a 360 degree tour and while the stage is circular in shape there’s definitely a “front” and a “back”, and we were more facing the back, but the band members did stroll around to our side enough to feel like were weren’t bein ignored and the drum kit did turn around a couple of times to face our way.  I’d rather have been around the “front” though.

The set itself was excellent with the first few songs being new ones but then the classics started coming out with “Beautiful Day” ,”New Year’s Day” and “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” drawing the casual U2 fans in and then on to true classics like “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” and “Pride (In the name of love)”. If you’ve ever liked any of those songs then hearing them sung with tens of thousands of voices joining in with the choruses would certainly move you and I found the hairs on my arms standing up on end. Great stuff.

Two hours seemed to go by in no time and when it was all over I almost had to pinch myself to remind myself that I’d seen a truly legendary band play legendary songs in such a great setting. An unforgettable evening.

The Climate Camp returns to the City

Some will be pleased and others will groan at the news that the Climate Camp, which set up on Bishopsgate at the same time as the G20 protests earlier this year, will be returning to an undisclosed location in the City in the “Summer Swoop”. It’s all due to happen between the 27th of August and the 2nd of September, August Bank Holiday to you and me, and they’re being coy about the arrangements other than to follow them online.

Check your diary. Book the week off work. Whether you come for the whole camp, or can only come for a day, make sure you don’t miss it! This year we will set up the camp together, with a mass swoop of people taking the site. Get down to London on the day before camp on 26 August and be ready for the action to start at any time. Join us on facebook and sign up to twitter and text updates to make sure you stay informed about plans.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this before the day so check back for updates as I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground.

Climate Camp
http://climatecamp.org.uk

Leadenhall Jazz Festival reflections

Just back from an exceptionally long, and pleasant, weekend in Brighton (no Rob, not at Pride) and just enough time to post about last Thursday night’s jazz at Leadenhall Market.

The musical highlight of my evening was Steve Gregory and Raul D`Oliveira playing some great tunes although I really have to add that Cattle Market also put together a great set. Having the stage in the middle of the market outside The Lamb really made for a great focal point and the acoustics were good to so perhaps a tip of the hat to the PA people should be in order.

As you can see from the photo, left, there was a big crowd present while the setting in Leadenhall Market created a great atmosphere and there was also plenty of food and drink on offer as many of the restaurants had set stalls up to accomodate those who wanted to eat but didn’t want to go inside and miss any of the music.

My particular shout goes out to S&M who served us up with a great sausage and mash with honey mustard gravy which I’ve been dreaming about since, the only downside being having to hurriedly supply a reasonable explanation each time I mentioned where I went for dinner.

As with all of these thing there are drawbacks and to get into the private party outside Cheese you first had to make it past door security checking to see if your name was on the list [wink].

Hats off to all of the organisers for a great evening and I’m hoping there will be more events there soon.  Kepp your eye on the Leadenhall Market website and, in particular, the social club page which offers events, discounts and prizes for members and a free trial membership. If you do want to give it a test drive you can pick up a card from the Market or fill in your details online.

What’s On This Week: August 3rd - August 9th 2009

So the proverb says (or something very like it), all work and no play make The City a dull place.  So lucky for us there’s a hearty dose of good, clean, fun in the city’s events this week, promising wholesome entertainment for kids young and old.

If you’re feeling particularly creative there’s a chance to make your own musical instruments at Shake, Radical, Roll, a drop-in workshop at the Barbican conservatory on Thursday evening.  Whilst you’re there, a new exhibition of pictures inspired by the journeys, atmospheres and people of London buses is opening in the Library - it’ll be intriguing to see what this particular element of British public transport can inspire, beyond fear for your life whilst trying to navigate the stairs in motion.  It is a multimedia exhibition as well, apparently, so one for the techies.

Those of you on babysitting duty may appreciate the Museum of London’s efforts;  on Sunday afternoon archaeologist John Digger (prophetic name or what?) is telling tales of the secrets that may lurk beneath our city streets.  This follows the weekly Sunday morning Story Time, mildly educational but mostly fun stories about the city’s history of knights, Romans and such like.

Watch out, there’s also a Balloonatic on the loose on New Street Square on Wednesday, threatening to adorn passers by with hats, costumes and toys all made out of balloons.  It’s all part of the City of London festival, which comes to a close this Friday as the young people of the renowned New London Children’s Choir get their chance to shine, performing a range of baroque and classical songs at St Bart’s on Friday Lunchtime.  The Rambert Dance Company’s stars of tomorrow will also be performing this week, as their School will be resident at St Paul’s Cathedral from Wednesday to Friday.