Paul in London

Look in vain for signs of biodiversity in SW4. Only in central London could it be possible to have no sounds of insects or birds in summer.  Mind you I saw a man attacked on the tube tonight by Mothra (it must have been an attack given he leapt out his seat when the moth fluttered near him)… But I don't think that counts… Take part in a water pistol assassination … It would be small relief from the temperatures and smog… Check out Hampstead Heath for unemployed men from Brighton . I hear it’s a popular pastime in NW3… Drop by at Soho Pride on Sunday. The one day of the year when Westminster Council allows the streets of Soho to be what they should be all year round – pedestrianised… Then again this is the same council that earlier this year finally decided flying a flag from a building did not need planning permission .

Waiting for the next tube. Oh and orange shorts are popular in London this summer. Especially if you are working in dark spaces or resurfacing roads that have melted in this heatwave...

Scenes from near London Bridge Monday 21:44 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Night scenes...

Monday night I caught The Last Five Years at the Menier Chocolate Factory . More a song-cycle, the work charts the different perspectives of a relationship between Cathy and Jamie. It travels backwards from the Cathy's point of view and chronologically from the Jamie's over the past five years, with one song – their wedding song – sung by them together. Jason Robert Brown – one of the "new school" of theatrical composers – wrote the piece. It quite engaging with some terrific and amusing songs with lyrics like: "I could have a mansion on the hill I could lease a villa in Seville But it wouldn't be as nice as a summer in Ohio With a gay midget named Karl, playing Tevia and Porgy…" Once again the Chocolate Factory comes up with a great production. The leads Lara Pulver and (Australian) Damian Humbley were terrific. But a combination of things did work against the show for me tonight. The first is that the characters are not that appealing. The show star...

Scenes from SW4 Backyards Saturday 14:22 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Gardens are popular in London. Nowhere else in the world will you find such a concentration of low maintenance spaces of mixed paving surfaces and dead plants...

George Michael has been at it again. This time he has been caught at Hampstead Heath's having sex with a fat man from Brighton. The News of The World has the photos of the exact location and Michael's reaction to the photographer taking the pictures… Even more bizarrely they tracked down the fat man and he posed for pictures and bragged about how he has a special secret that Michael responded to… All rather titillating but perhaps not the best thing to read over cornflakes on a Sunday morning…

Scenes from Soho Friday 23:20 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Hot in the city...

Friday night I caught Turandot at the Royal Opera which was a good classic production of the opera. I gather from A that the ENO did a truly dreadful version a few years ago that prominently used old television sets for some unexplained reason so it was nice to see it performed in a largely standard way. This production now at least 20 years old is showing a few signs of age with clunky costumes and a stale take on Commedia dell'arte for the characters of Ping Pang and Pong, but overall it still looks good. Ben Heppner and Georgina Lukács were great in the lead roles but the biggest applause was reserved for Elena Kelessidi in the role of Liú. She had an incredible voice that would not be drowned out by the occasionally overpowering orchestra… This is a very accessible opera full of melodrama and soaring music… And also the aria "Nessun Dorma"… Discussing the plot of the opera later with A he suggested that the riddles were too easy for Calaf to get and that he should ...

American businessmen lost in central London. They didn't ask for directions so I couldn't tell them where to go...

Scenes from Leicester Square Tube Wednesday 22:00 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Descent into hell in this weather...