Lord Mayor’s Show 2009

As I came out of the underground this morning workers were busy unloading metal barriers from a collection of lorries and they’d obviously been at it for a while as the streets were already lined with them. Yes, the Lord Mayor’s Show is upon us again and apparently if you hurry there are still a few grandstand seats left at St Pauls! As the official website explains:

“In a tradition dating back to 1215 and enshrined in the charter of King John, each new Lord Mayor is required to swear a pledge of allegiance to the Sovereign in front of the Lord Chief Justice and Judges of the Queen’s Bench Division. An established highlight of London’s social calendar, the Lord Mayor’s Show attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.”

“Behind the new Lord Mayor, in a procession extending more than three miles, around 6,000 people from all across London will come together to celebrate their city’s proud cultural heritage and to revel in its diverse modernity. With more than 60 participating organisations ranging from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to the British Red Cross Society, this year’s Show demonstrates exactly why London is widely regarded the most cosmopolitan city in the world and why the Square Mile continues to enjoy its reputation as the pre-eminent centre for global finance.”

The parade starts at 11am, though an early arrival is recommended because of the inevitable crowds, but if you can’t make that then I’d really recommend the fireworks down on the river at 5pm. It’s always a spectacular show.

For a plan of the route and more details of the timings go to the official website:
http://www.lordmayorsshow.org

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/

Sax in the City tonight!

I’m looking forward to this evening. A lot. In case you weren’t aware Leadenhall Market have been holding “Sax in the City“, which is an overflowing bounty of lunchtime jazz, and this evening is the pinnacle of the event, namely the big evening bash.

Now some of you may still be lingering under the philistine misapprehension that jazz is inpenetrable music best played in darkened bars but It starts at 6pm and features a number of great acts with unassuming legend Steve Gregory in the lineup.

To quote from his bio:
Best known as the session musician who played the famous saxophone solo on George Michael’s “Careless Whisper”. Steve has also played on many other hits such as Queen‘s “One year of love”, Alison Moyet‘s “That ole devil called love”, Van Morrison‘s “Hymns to the silence” and Chris Rea’s “Fool if you think it’s over”. If you enjoy Eastenders re-runs you might even see Steve backing Letitia Dean in the Vic!

There are other bands too with “Cattle Market”, winners of the 2009 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, featuring prominently and “Client Number 9″ on last and DJ Mark JB in between times.

Even if the idea of the music doesn’t immediately float your boat you should do yourself a favour and come along to enjoy the atmosphere as the bars will be open, they’ll be food a plenty and magicians will be wandering through the crowd plus it’ll be a chance to see one of music’s real characters.

You’ll need to go here if you want to see the programme for the evening and register to turn up.

Friday Round-up

Earlier in the week I brought you the police request to identify the man who jumped from the building near Bank and since then the press has been full of the tragic story of Anjool “Jools” Malde who had been asked by Deutsche Bank to leave work early last Friday while they investigated an “IT matter”. The general consensus seems to be that the fear of losing his job may have driven him to it although there are witness statements suggesting that he seemed fine only a couple of hours beforehand., and today the Daily Mail has suggested that the whole situation could have been caused by an internet prank that went wrong. Exactly what could have caused him to take his own life hopefully the coroner will discover.

It seems like the Metropolitan Police have been stung by events where Police officers and PCSOs have asked members of the public to delete photos from their cameras and the Met have responded with an official policy stating that all photography is permitted and that police should be involved if there is enough evidence to suspect a link to terrorist activity:
“Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.”

In my coverage of the G20 riots back in May I had no queries from police about my taking photos, even at the times when I was in between police lines, but I know some photographers did. With all my previous photos online (see Flickr gallery to the right) myself and thecity.co.uk owner Rob have been bantering about what kind of photo I’d have to take to get myself arrested but it seems as though the Met have taken that particular form of excitement away now.

Lastly I’d recommend you have a look at Leadenhall Market’s upcoming Jazz Festival, called “Sax in the City”, particularly the evening event on the 30th
July featuring Steve Gregory, former sax player for George Michael (“Careless Whisper” anyone?), Van Morrison and Georgie Fame amongst many others. I played guitar with Steve a few times in different bands over the years and more recently he played at my birthday party while I sang Sinatra numbers, though you’ll no doubt be pleased to know that I won’t be reprising those at the market… they couldn’t afford me

Police Guidance to Photograpers
http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm

Leadenhall Market – Sax in the City
http://www.leadenhallmarket.co.uk

Friday Round-up

Street Piano as part of the City of London Festival

The City of London Festival is a three-week long annual event which brings a variety of arts and art forms to the City residents and workers and I know from last year’s just how popular it was in my office with mainstream arts mixing with the decidedly unconventional, but highly entertaining.

The kick-off today is marked by a procession from the Guidhall at 12.30 finishing at St Pauls at 1.30 and then at 2.30 they’ll be a Street Piano event in Paternoster Square by St Pauls. The pianos will be around until July 13th so you’ve got plenty of time to find one and give it a go.

As one festival starts, so another finishes with it being the last day of the Spitalfields Summer 09 Music Festival and your last chance to catch the free lunchtime concert with the closing event being tonight’s concert by the Early Opera Company in Christ Church Spitalfields with early Italian compositions.

London Playboy Party

On my travels yesterday I bumped into two lovely, if decidedly cold, young ladies at Liverpool Street Station trying to tempt me into going to the London Playboy Party tonight at the Cafe de Paris. I’m otherwise engaged this evening so didn’t take them up on their offer though if you do go perhaps they’ll be able to afford to buy some of their lovely models some clothes…

What is the world coming to?

If you’re anything like me your City routine includes picking up one of the free papers on the way home to make the journey more interesting or to line the cat litter tray when you get home. It’s normally a relaxing read on the train to help avoid inflicting that dreaded ill of “conversation” on fellow commuters but when I picked up last night’s Metro I was reduced to apoplexy by their front-page splash.

So what was the most important news of the day that the Metro wanted me to know about? The markets? Job losses? Gaza? Corruption amongst Labour Peers in the House of Lords? No. The banner story was “Kisses as Jade Goody greets her boyfriend outside prison gates“. My first reaction was that anything involving Z-list celebrities isn’t welcome on a front page at any time and my second reaction was that he only served 4 months of an 18 month sentence for assaulting a 16 year-old with a golf club! Only 4 months?!?! I’m surprised a welcoming committee of a different sort wasn’t waiting outside for him. I guess you get what you pay for when it comes to newspapers but the Standard was running it too, though I admit they they did get bought out for a quid.

…and breathe…

There are better things to think about this week and Chinese New Year gives us a suitable excuse to party so get on down to Chinatown, or Docklands, at the weekend and join the crowds in celebrating the Year of the Ox. I feasted on Wing Yip’s finest collection of delicious, if intimidating, seafood on Monday and I’m looking forward to a rematch on Sunday. If you’re interested then head on over to the TFL website who’ve got useful travel info and a list of events.