Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:27

Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:27
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

Love on the common... Even in this heat and with the shopping...

Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:21

Scenes from Clapham Common Sunday 18:21
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

That lovely light effect is the smog hanging over the city. Nevertheless as temperatures hovered near 30 this afternoon, the punters flocked to the Common thinking it was a lovely day for fresh air... Across London high moderate levels of ozone were measured and it is expected to get worse over the next few days...

One last look back at New York

There is just one more thing I will mention about my trip to New York. It involves an exotic dancer and getting lost in the East Village until the wee hours of the morning. Of course no illegal substances were consumed. Read on…

Scenes from N1 Saturday 19:10

Scenes from N1 Saturday 19:10
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

Post match patriotism flying from a Georgian Terrace.

Scenes from N1 Saturday 15:16

Scenes from N1 Saturday 15:16
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

It is going to be a quiet month if England do as well as expected in the World Cup. England's first match yesterday afternoon against Paraguay emptied the streets and filled the pubs. It also closed shops (such as this one). I was in a pub where the match was only on a 42" CRT television set so it wasn't quite such a focus of attention (a true sports pub should have nothing smaller than a standard issue plasma television nowadays)...

Interestingly England's performance yesterday wasn't as crash hot as everyone was expecting. Their victory (thanks to an own goal by Paraguay) wasn't really celebrated on the streets of London. The reaction was more like relief... Assuming the team picks up their game, it is going to be a long month...

Scenes from SW4 Saturday 13:43

Scenes from SW4 Saturday 13:43
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

If you drive a really crap-looking car in London, then the chances are that you will have St George flags protruding from the back windows of it to show your support for England in the World Cup.

The flags are sold everywhere and are really cheap. This makes up for the extra £10-20 you are likely to spend on fuel consumption due to their drag if you have them up for the entire duration of the cup.

To be fair to England supporters, now that the cup has started other flags have appeared as well. On Friday I saw a Merc sporting both English and Mexican flags...

Scenes from the V&A Museum Wednesday 17:32

Scenes from the V&A Museum Wednesday 17:32
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

If there is something Londoners love, it is boring looking chairs on display in a museum as part of a justification of modernism. Politics, design and cheap mass production all combined made up for an incredibly dreary and mind-numbing exhibition. Nevertheless the punters are flocking to it, as afterall why wouldn't you pay big money to see a chair like this?

Much more interesting (and quicker to get through) was an exhibition on Che Guevara based around his iconic photograph taken by Alberto Díaz Korda on March 5, 1960. It is considered to be the most reproduced image in the history of photographs and whether or not it is true, it has become a symbol of pop culture. The original photo (and contact sheet) is on display along with the countless t-shirts, posters, ice cream wrappers, handbags, album covers that either used the image or were inspired from it. What is it about that scruffy-looking revolutionary turned Minister of Cuban government that captures the punter's imagination?

Theatre: The Drowsy Chaperone (in New York)

Another postcard from NY… This time a review of The Drowsy Chaperone...

Scenes from Soho Sunday 19:23

Scenes from Soho Sunday 19:23
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

All the sun and drink was a bit too much for some who had to take a quiet nap on Old Compton Street. He was just resting. Paramedics helped him to his feet shortly afterwards...

Scenes from Clapham South Sunday 15:21

Scenes from Clapham South Sunday 15:21
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

This weekend was one of those glorious sunny days that we have had so many of in 2006. Before this weekend May 4 was warm and sunny and that was a Thursday. So everyone was on the common wearing as little as possible.

Scenes from the tube Saturday 00:37

Scenes from the tube Saturday 00:37
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

Waiting for the last southbound Northern Line... It was 20 minutes late...

Scenes from Tate Britain (late at Tate) Friday 19:43

Scenes from Tate Britain (late at Tate) Friday 19:43
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

A (un)fashion show and cheap alcohol got the punters in... There is too much art in London to see on a weekend that is glorious and sunny (like today) so Late at Tate is a good way to it out, and be under the influence of something as well...

How to get on Broadway...

Another day another postcard update from New York. This time it's how to make an appearance on a Broadway stage. First of all, you buy a ticket to the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee musical. It is worth it…

Paul's return to work tip...

When returning back to work from holiday, don't bring sweets back for your colleagues. That is so passé. I chose to bring back duty free cigars. Sure coming back from New York means they won't Cubans, but American cigars are light enough to be enjoyed by everyone (unlike Cuban cigars which will put hair on your chest). Besides I kept telling everyone you won't get diabetes this way, only mouth cancer…

Published elsewhere...

There is a new postcard on my other blog about Birdland…

Movie: Lemming

As an antidote for all the theatre, travel and art I consumed over the past week (and the weekend drinking) I caught Lemming at the movies tonight. It is a French film by Dominik Moll who previously directed "Harry, he's here to help" which was a rather suspenseful drama in the style of Hitchcock. This movie again is Hitchcockian. That is to say if Hitchcock were alive, not doing crap television and making decent movies surely he would make this sort of thing. The movie also reminded me a little of Mulholland Drive with its dream sequences and surrealism of when a perfect marriage seems to fall apart when the boss and his wife come for dinner.

There is a somewhat happy ending after a murder and a suicide, but it still isn't the most pleasant of films to have on your mind while trying to get off to sleep. Oh and the neighbourhood foxes seem to be on heat tonight as well so there's that to contend with too…  

From NY to bank holiday...

It is a bank holiday weekend and so that means going out every night and getting drunk. Well of sorts. You do want to stay sober enough to keep dodging the aggressive types such as the Wisconsin guy who goes to your gym who won't take no for an answer. Some people should really control their level of drinking when you politely tell them that you're not going home with them and then they smash a glass and go "yeah what-everrrrrrrrrrrrrr". Sure it is amusing and one can blog about it, but it is a bit overly dramatic…

I am going to return to my London blogging in the next day or so. I will continue to upload photos onto the Flickr site and add a bit more text on the New York trip including:

• How to make a debut on the Broadway stage


• How to pick up women after denying you are a fan of musical theatre (i.e. code word for gay) meant I kept picking up women


• How to get a rent boy off your back


• How to keep a jazz legend in business

Oh the shenanigans…

Travel: From SW4 to New York

And there will be a change in programming as there's a plane that's waiting to take me to New York. I'll be trading in my full English breakfast on the weekend for bagels and coffee no doubt…

Other things I will not have for a week:

• Flatmate throwing hissy fit as I had the clothes dryer on. It was only midnight (your honour) and my room was closest to the utility room!


• Big brother. Not sure what freaks are on the show this time around


• Work!  

Not sure what adventures will be in store but they will be taken up at paulincognito.blogspot.com…  

Theatre: Sunday in the Park with George (West End transfer)

I couldn't resist catching a preview of the transfer of Sunday in the Park with George at Wyndham's Theatre Thursday evening. It starred practically the same cast that I saw at the Chocolate Factory with the exception that the female lead was played by Jenna Russell – who last I saw opposite Ewan Macgregor in Guys and Dolls. Russell gives it a bit more of a "star presence".

Even the technical glitches and the odd microphone dropout couldn't make this production look bad. The audience loved it as well. Sondheim and Lapine are there tomorrow night for a chat about the show and it surely must be a likely candidate for transfer to Broadway. There is a cast album about to come out shortly as well. There are indeed far worse things than sitting through the musical Sunday twice. And did I also hear additional lyrics in the song "Putting it Together"?

Sport of the week: one legged bitches

Sport of the week this week has been slagging off at Heather Mills. After the newsflash yesterday about the divorce, It takes the form of various things on the email rounds…

A poem by Paul McCartneyI lay upon a grassy bank, my hands were all a quiverI slowly removed her suspender beltAnd her leg fell in the river

Or this…

Heather Mills Press statement
Former model, Heather Mills has recently released a press comment to stamp out the allegations of her split from her pop star husband.
A close friend says Heather is hopping mad and although both her and Paul are unaccustomed to knee jerk reactions they have decided to go out on a limb.
"I'm totally stumped" Said Heather today. "We're going through a rough patch but I've no intention of legging it"

Oh and yes, the divorce is expected to cost Paul an arm and a leg…

Scenes from outside the Savoy 17:45

Scenes from outside the Savoy 17:45
Originally uploaded by Pauly_.

Not much happening...