Paul's 60th(!) @ La Petite Auberge...

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday...  shall we?

Last Friday night I had a lovely night out with Paul to celebrate his... ahem.. 60th at La Petite Auberge.

And on the way home there was a lovely pink sky and pink rainbow!

Arsenal FA Cup Final 2020 Champions - for a record-breaking 14th time! ...

Congratulations to the mighty Arsenal for winning FA Cup Final 2020. A record-breaking 14 wins. ♥️ ⚽️ 🎉 👍 Yay for our team!

The Umbrella Academy - Tiffany Dance Scene - Super excited series 2 coming to Netflix today!

Back to the gym! #supportyourlocalgym

Back to the gym! Blimey! My first Spin Class too! #supportyourlocalgym

With smiling photo before...  

...and not so smiley after (heart rate @ 186 bpm !)

How some bands got their names (allegedly)...

* 10cc - more than average amount of ejaculation.

* Linkin Park — Wanted Lincoln Park but couldn't afford domain name

* Led Zeppelin - A worse lead balloon. Spelt wrong to encourage correct pronunciation.

Lots more here:---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_band_name_etymologies 

The National Gallery (Reopened)...

Last Saturday afternoon Stuart and I went for a scooch around the newly reopened National Gallery in London's glitzy Trafalgar Square.

Timed entry, severely reduced numbers, a one-way system, masks, social distancing - it was a fairly safe place to visit.

The gallery contains some of my favourite paintings and, as we weren't sure if and when we'd get to go again, I took a gazillion photos.

Hey, if you wan to save yourself some legwork, take a look at a few below...

#supportyourlocalmuseum

Masculinities @ Barbican Art Gallery...

On Friday afternoon Stuart and I went to the Barbican Art Gallery at the glitzy Barbican Centre to see the final days of the Masculinities exhibition.

According to curator Alona Pardo, the aim of the exhibition is to explore how masculinity is “experienced, performed, coded and socially constructed” in photography and film from the 1960s to the present. An ambitious undertaking! But it is largely a success. They have brought together the work of over 50 international artists, photographers and filmmakers including Laurie Anderson, Sunil Gupta, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Isaac Julien and Catherine Opie.

The show starts with archetypes such as those displayed through ultra-male power ; military men, uber-masculinity, male control, pecking orders, violence, aggression, homosociality* and testosterone-fueled sports. Although even here the images get subverted; what do we make of Thomas Dworzak’s cache of found studio photographs of young Taliban fighters, some holding hands amid ornate arrangements of flowers, their eyes rimmed with black kohl, their heads framed by brightly coloured, hand-painted haloes? The codes are so complex that, were it not for the occasional artfully placed AK-47, one would assume that these posed portraits were evidence of an ultra-clandestine gay culture in Afghanistan.

The exhibition goes on to explore masculinity from the female gaze, the queer perspective, and black masculinity. In the wake of #MeToo the image of masculinity is brought into even sharper focus, with ideas of toxic and fragile masculinity permeating today’s society. This exhibition charts the often complex and sometimes contradictory representations of masculinities, and how they have developed and evolved over time. Touching on themes including perceived vs actual power, patriarchy, sexualised queer identity, female perceptions of men, hypermasculine stereotypes, tenderness, and the family.

The exhibition shows how central photography and film have been to the way masculinities are imagined and understood in contemporary culture.

Although the whole show is great, my two favourite moments were two darkly humorous takes on extreme masculinity: a wall of colour portraits of Hollywood Nazis – portrayed by Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Ronald Reagan, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy – by Piotr Uklański. And the incisive Laurie Anderson series Fully Automated Nikon; skewing as it does the casual sexism women encountered daily in 1970s New York by taking photographs of each perpetrator - usually to the utter rage of the dickhead.

The show closes this weekend so you’ll have to be quick if you want to see it!

*Homosociality: Typically non-romantic and/or non-sexual same-sex relationships and social groupings – may sometimes include elements of homoeroticism, as they are frequently interdependent phenomena.

 

#supportyourlocalcafe

Full English with this tasty sizzler. 

#supportyourlocalcafe

#supportyourlocalrestaurant

🎶 Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink

The years go by, as quickly as a wink

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think 🎶

#supportyourlocalrestaurant

Kylie Disco...

New Kylie single out “Say Something” this Thursday 23rd July. 

New Kylie album “Disco” out 6th November. Can’t wait!

The London Walker's Tube Map...

Got a free weekend coming up? Why not plan a stroll around London with the excellent Londonist tube-style map of some of the key walking routes. Many excellent guidebooks and leaflets exist to help you explore the capital on foot.

Here's a short summary:

London LOOP: A 150-mile walk around outermost London.

Capital Ring: A 78 mile orbital trek around Zones 3 and 4.

Thames Path: The full route runs from source to sea, but some 40 miles can be enjoyed in the capital.

Green Chain Walk: A spaghetti plate of linked walks through the parks and woodlands of south east London.

Lea Valley Walk: Trek along the River Lea from Hertfordshire to the Thames.

New River Walk: Follow this 28 mile watercourse, a 17th century man-made river, from Hertfordshire to Islington.

Canal Towpaths: The Regent's Canal, Grand Union Canal and their branches offer many miles of pleasant walking in London. Watch our series of videos for more inspiration.

Waterlink Way: An eight mile route through parks, following the River Ravensbourne and its tributaries.

Hillingdon Trail: 20 miles of parks and rivers in this outer London borough.

Parkland Walk: This former railway line is now a sylvan walking route through Haringey.

Jubilee Walkway: 15 miles around the centre of London, taking in many famous landmarks.

Wandle Trail: This 12 mile walk from Wandsworth to Croydon along the River Wandle is perfect for a weekend stroll

Dollis Valley Greenwalk: A 10 mile trek, mostly through the borough of Barnet, following the Dollis Brook.

Annual Big Gay Picnic @ The Garden Of St. John's Lodge...

Yesterday we attended Tim's annual Big Gay Picnic at The Garden Of St. John's Lodge, Inner Circle, Regents Park. As ever. Great fun.