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BT Tower Restaurant Set To Reopen

2009-11-02T00:00:00Z

One of the greatest pieces of modern architecture in London, the BT Tower, is to reopen to the public almost 30 years af...

Some questions for David Cameron today

2009-11-04T08:35:38Z

David Cameron - CC / Flickr

It has been widely trailed that David Cameron is going to outline his new European policy today, after capitulating yesterday on the Treaty of Lisbon issue. The feral members of the Tory Party are baying for blood, so what is Cameron going to give them?

The most likely position that Cameron is going to propose to negotiate a withdrawal of the UK from all EU employment and social legislation, essentially getting out of the Social Chapter that Blair agreed. Any sensible journalist should ask the following two questions if that’s what Cameron proposes:

What – in practice – will that mean? What precisely in EU employment and social affairs legislation does the Tory Party disagree with? Does he want to do away with maternity leave? Or the rights of posted or agency workers? None of those things are especially social, and the one thing that would be – the Working Time Directive – is dead at the moment.
Does Cameron think the other Member States would allow the UK to negotiate such an opt-out? For its the Member States that would decide that, not some mendacious Brussels bureaucrats as Cameron might try to imply. I don’t reckon he could get 26 other countries to agree to his plans.

In short, if Cameron says that employment and social affairs matters are the big things he’ll deal with, it will be largely symbolic, and will not be achievable anyway.

Cameron could of course adopt the more wide-ranging, harsher line chosen by David Davis in today’s Daily Mail, positions outlined here on Conservative Home. Quoting Davis:

recovering control over our criminal justice, asylum and immigration policies; a robust opt-out of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights; serious exemptions to the seemingly endless flood of European regulations which cost the UK economy billions of pounds each year; a recovery of our rights to negotiate on trade; exemption from European interference into trade in services and foreign direct investment rules; and an exemption from any restrictions on our foreign policy

Essentially that equates to tearing up the rule book of the EU Single Market – do Tories these days not even believe that a Single Market in Europe is a good thing? Even Thatcher agree with that by signing up to the Single European Act in the 1980s. Plus how would the UK negotiate in the WTO (the logical conclusion on Davis’s line on trade)? How could the UK even stay in the EU if UK financial institutions operated according to different rules than ones in other EU Member States.

Plus Davis would fall into the same trap as Cameron: even if the UK held a referendum stating that the UK wanted such opt-outs, could the Tories pick a fight with the EU and 26 other Member States and actually win it? I seriously doubt it.

If the Tories want to be honest and bold they should promise a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, full stop, in or out. But that prospect might be a bit scary; unrealistic, nationalist posturing is of course much more desirable.

Late afternoon smile from the world of airline advertising

2009-10-27T22:33:38Z

Been writing like a madman all day and came across this ad from Frontier Airlines on USAToday.com. They've used their animal-adorned Airbus tails in advertisements before, but I came across a new one and I thought it would be fun to share. This recession has gone on for over a year now with $11B to be lost by airlines, delays by Boeing and Airbus, and huge numbers of jobs lost. No doubt about it, 2009's been a rough one. Consider this a 60-second escape. I promise this will make you smile.

Shadow Treasury team fully briefed on Crossrail

2009-10-16T10:07:00Z

Splendid news from the new egalitarian Tory party (with a bowler tip to the Raver).

Only last week Boris was taking supper with the terribly grand Osbornes.

Alas

Over dinner it emerged that Mrs O had never heard of Crossrail!

At least Mr O, the Shadow Chancellor, was better informed.

Although poor Boris was shocked to discover that George thought it ran North to South!

No matter

Presumably it will still call at one's club?

Keatings and Britain step out of the shadows

2009-10-16T07:29:18Z

Shared by David
What an excellent evening at The O2: a silver medal for gymnast Daniel Keatings

Daniel Keatings couldn't sleep on Wednesday night. He and his room-mate, fellow British gymnast Kristian Thomas, tried to get to bed at 10pm. An hour later, they were both wid...

Tube passenger dragged along platform by bag

2009-10-07T14:23:00Z

A cautionary tale really showing how you should be careful about getting things stuck in London Underground doors. Lee Roberts was trying to get onto some crowded Northern Line trains.

He said "When the fourth train arrived and the doors opened I squeezed on board and put my rucksack by my feet but I got pushed back again on to the platform. As I pulled my rucksack up to my shoulder the strap became caught in the door and as the train moved off I found myself being pulled along a few feet.

"It was terrifying, I thought I was going to get killed as there was only about 100 feet between me and the wall before the tunnel. The worst thing was that feeling that the train couldn't stop and the driver didn't know I was there.".

Fortunately the strap broke before something more serious could have happened. However, no station staff came to his help when he was trying to get assistance to retrieve the contents of his bag from the tracks. Also as Londonist point out the comments by some Evening Standard readers, seem to place the blame on Roberts - saying he bought things on himself.

DeanN from Londonist wrote "While compassion isn't London's strong suit, blaming the victim is a little extreme, and clouds the bigger issue - that neither the driver nor station staff seemed aware of what was happening."

This situation could have ended in a tragedy (if he'd had a stronger rucksack that didn't break) and it's worrying to think that people can be dragged along the platform like this. Hopefully, Transport for London will be able to think of a better statement than not wanting to disrupt Northern Line passengers in the rush hour to collect the guy's belongings. I'd be interested to hear from any staff as to how the train was even able to go along any distance with the door partially open and a man hanging from it!

E20

2009-10-02T06:00:00Z

Alternative (unused) scripts for Boris's Eastenders appearance

Scene 1: The Queen Vic (interior)
Boris: Hail thee serving wench, a pint of your finest fermented barley please.
Peggy: You what?
Boris: Intoxicant from the Bacchanalian vine, the enchanted fruits of Dionysus, quod erat demonstrandum.
Peggy: Don't you come swanning in off the street with your fancy language, young man.
Boris: I'm sorry, am I not in leafy Richmond, home to the cultured and the highly educated?
Peggy: Nah mate, this is bloody Walford innit.
Boris: Dammit. OK, I'll just have a pint of Pimms and be off.

Scene 2: Beale's Plaice (exterior)
Boris: (to a crowd of journalists) And right here is where one of my cycle docking stations will be located.
Ian: Excuse me? You're putting what outside my chippy? I'll be reporting you to the council.
Boris: I'm much more important than the council. I'm the Mayor.
Ian: Crikey. Well I don't want tatty two-wheeled hippies disfiguring the street outside my small business!
Boris: I have a sponsorship opportunity that might interest you - your restaurant's name here on this cycle rack.
Ian: I love you. Would you like to come inside for a photo opportunity?

Scene 3: Albert Square (garden)
Boris: Oh my word, this is perfect for the shooting.
Dot: I say, we'll have no gun crime here (Proverbs chapter 12, verse 7)
Boris: No, I mean this square would be ideal for an Olympic venue. We could put the targets over there by the car lot, and the grandstand could go outside the launderette.
Dot: Mr Papadopolous would never agree to that. He may be Greek, but he thinks the Olympics is a complete waste of money.
Boris: My point entirely. We'll install a cheap temporary venue here using existing infrastructure, and then we won't waste millions on an unwanted facility in Woolwich, and I can cut your council tax by 2p.
Dot: Ooh Mr Johnson, your priorities may be insignificant, but I like them.

Scene 4: Round the back of the allotments
Boris: Are you stalking me or something?
Dirty Ken: I'm going to follow you everywhere until you let me have my manor back.
Boris: Isn't it about time you came to terms with the fact that I got chosen over you?
Dirty Ken: But I was so much more in tune with the people round here, and you're all ineffectual bluster.
Boris: Come on bruv, this ridiculous feud must end.
(choreographed fisticuffs ensue)
(Dirty Ken is hit on the head by a well-aimed doorstop)
Boris: Four more years! Four more years!

Scene 5: Walford East tube station
Bianca: Oi, blondie, why can't I find Walford East on the new tube map?
Boris: I can't believe it! It will be reinstated...

E20

2009-10-02T20:32:18Z

Shared by David
Come on Boris. Shouldn't you be running London, not appearing on TV shows?

Alternative (unused) scripts for Boris's Eastenders appearance Scene 1: The Queen Vic (interior) Boris: Hail thee serving wench, a pint of your finest fermented barley please...

New ferries cause Wightlink headache

2009-09-30T16:50:22Z

A CATALOGUE of teething troubles hit Wightlink’s new multi-million pound ferry, Wight Ryder II.
Just a day after entering service Wight Ryder was beset with problems.
This morning it developed a generator glitch.

Boris Johnson fights back against Evening Standard "WEZ U-turn" story

2009-09-24T15:09:25Z

Mayor Johnson at the Blue Blog yesterday afternoon:

You may have heard the scurrilous rumour that I have reneged on my promise to remove the Western Extension of the congestion charge. I am blogging about this now to tell you that is emphatically not true.

Hold on. If by "scurrilous rumour" he means yesterday's Evening Standard "U-turn" story, it didn't say that he'd decided the WEZ would stay (although that might have been the reader's first impression). It claimed that plans to ditch it next spring had been scrapped and that no firm date for abolition had been provided, which isn't quite the same thing. The Mayor continues:

When I was elected, I promised to give Londoners the consultation they never got.

Error! Londoners were twice consulted about the Western Extension. This was mentioned in candidate Johnson's transport manifesto (pdf). I quote from page 14:

Ken Livingstone conducted two separate consultations, and ignored the results of both.

Hold on to that point about ignoring the results of consultations, as we return to Boris's Blue Blog post:

Londoners expressed the overwhelming view that it [the WEZ] should be removed...

Well, that depends on who you mean by "Londoners" and what is meant by "overwhelming". There were two parts to Boris's WEZ consultation, which was less extensive - cheaper - than those conducted by TfL for Livingstone. From the Mayor's press release of last November, announcing that the WEZ would go:

The five-week informal public consultation attracted nearly 28,000 responses and overall 67 per cent of individual respondents and 86 per cent of businesses responding to the public consultation supported the removal of the zone.

"Overwhelming"? I'd say so. But informal consultations do tend to be skewed by the input of people who feel passionately about a subject. They aren't weighed, representative, scientific and so on, unlike the attitudinal survey that formed the other part of Boris's consultation. That press release summarised its findings as follows:

Removing the Western Extension was the preferred option of 41 per cent of members of the public against 30 percent in favour of keeping it. Half of businesses surveyed wanted the extension scrapped and 23 per cent supported keeping it. Fifteen per cent of members of the public and 14 per cent of businesses said they would change the way the scheme operates.

Pro-WEZers have observed that if you add together the 30 percent who want to keep it as it is and the 14 percent who want to see the way it functions change, you get 44 percent who don't want it abolished - three percent more than do. In this case, the word "overwhelming" seems not to apply. Conclusions? The result of Boris's consultation was not as clear cut as he claims at the Blue Blog. And the Standard might object that throughout his little piece the Mayor is guilty of the very things his office accused the Standard of: misrepresentation; misinterpretation; spin.

Dave Hill

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

A week in the life of the River Thames

2009-09-17T23:01:00Z

A week in the life of the River Thames

Friday 11th September
» The Thames flows though London, as normal. Everybody knows where it is.

Saturday 12th September
» As tube services close down for the night, TfL station staff start to replace the previous tube map with the new decluttered tube map. The Thames suddenly vanishes.
» Mayor Boris Johnson prepares to fly to New York on a drum-beating trip to promote London. He is not currently incandescent.
» Hundreds of thousands of Londoners flock to the banks of the Thames to enjoy the Mayor's Thames Festival. All of them know exactly where the Thames is.

Sunday 13th September
» The poster-sized tube map continues to be pasted up at stations, although it's still not commonplace (and card versions remain rare).
» A few geeky tube types have correctly spotted that the river is missing from the new map, and are also busy discussing the implications of zonelessness.
» Hundreds of thousands more Londoners flock to the banks of the Thames to enjoy the second day of the Mayor's Thames Festival. All of them know still exactly where the Thames is.

Monday 14th September
» A few blog gers are running with the "Thames-free tube map" story, but the mainstream media are as yet oblivious.
» The new tube map is not yet available on the TfL website.
» The working week commences. The Thames has vanished, but most Londoners haven't noticed. They still think it's that wet thing between the Victoria Embankment and the South Bank.

Tuesday 15th September
» The Daily Telegraph is the first newspaper to realise that draining the Thames is a newsworthy story. Also noted are the possible negative implications of removing zones from the map.
» TfL reassures Londoners that there are many other ways in which zones can be checked, for example using the maps on trains and on ticket machines. They keep quiet about the Thames, but promise to listen to feedback.
» Old man river, he just keeps rolling.

Wednesday 16th September
» All hell breaks loose as the national and regional press leap on the story.
» The river removal scandal makes it to the Daily Mail, to the front cover of an evening freesheet and to several minutes on the BBC London evening news (amongst many others).
» The sudden loss of this fluvial icon is an abhorrent disaster and a national disgrace. Public groundswell demands reinstatement.
» "Why fix something that's not broken? The tube map was excellent the way it was, and the Thames was an essential part of the design."
» "i often use the position of the rivers as a basis for which station i need to get off at, this is a really daft idea, going to have to start catching busses so I can see where i am going."
» "they'll have employed a firm of consultants to make this decision, then another one to assess the outcry, then another one to reverse the decision...all paid for by you the stupid taxpayers...to all those people who voted Blair into power all those years ago, I hope you feel an ounce of responsibility and remorse at the joke Britain has become..."
» "Further erosion of English History by the Lunatic Left!!".
» The new tube map is still not yet available on the TfL website (because it's safest not to let the public actually see it).
» Evil TfL operatives continue to roll out the tainted Thames-free tube map across all stations on the network, the bastards.

Thursday 17th September
» Boris Johnson returns from New York to discover that London has a PR disaster on its hands. He moves fast, via Twitter, to reassure everyone that all will be well again. "Can’t believe that the Thames disappeared off the tube map whilst I was out the country! It will be reinstated... (1:30PM Sep 17th)"
» This is the same Boris who was IN the country when the maps were first installed. [Just landed in New York. Grey skies but special. (7:23PM Sep 12th)]
» This is the same Boris who, back in August, knew enough about the new tube map to offer his Twitter followers a sneak peek at its new cover. [Sneak peek at the new cover of the pocket Tube map by Turner Prize winner Richard Long for #TfL (9:52AM Aug 25th)]
» This is the same Boris who's the Chairman of TfL, and therefore jolly well ought to know what his organisation is doing, especially when they're printing hundreds of thousands of maps to a radical new design which must surely have been discussed at a Board meeting at least once.
» This is the same Boris who's now successfully passed the buck and come up smelling of roses as the People's Champion. "I hope Londoners will imagine the Thames in place until it reappears on the maps, and will not forget their beautiful river."

» So, yes, the upshot of this mega-furore is that the Thames is definitely going back on the tube map in December. The map'll need redoing anyway because the Circle line's being tweaked. No unexpected additional costs will be incurred.
» TfL are also "looking again at the provision of zonal information to ensure that it is widely available to customers". Which could mean that the zones go back on the map, or might just mean that they go back in the index.
» And then TfL said this: "We will also see what more can be done to respond to the feedback that we have been receiving on the map becoming too cluttered to be useful." And this is actually the best news of the day, whatever the rest of the media thinks.

Friday 18th September
» The Thames flows though London, as normal. Everybody knows where it is.

Making Tea For Alan Turing

2009-09-12T09:06:00Z

One of the most brilliant people I have ever met said that - had she been required to have done war work - she would have happily spent it making tea for Alan Turing.

Turing was born in 1912, and so he could well have lived into our own times (he was born the day before Brian Johnston, the cricket commentator).

He could even be alive today, celebrated as a national treasure for his incredible contributions to the war effort, to mathematics, and to computer science.

However, Turing died in 1954. The circumstances pointed to suicide (though some disputed this). He was found dead with a part-eaten apple, laced it seems with cyanide. The choice of an apple may be significant, as it has been claimed that his favourite fairy-tale was Snow White.

Alan Turing's death in turn has become significant. In essence: he died because he was a homosexual; he died because of the vile laws against male homosexuality which were then in force; and he died because of the misconceived "treatment" which was then deemed appropriate (by some scientists and medical doctors, sadly) for the "illness" of homosexuality.

In 1952 Turing reported a burglary. In the investigation and case which followed the police became aware that Alan Turing had homosexual relationships.

Technically, homosexuality was not directly a crime.

Buggery was a crime, under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act (which is still actually in force for Grievous Bodily Harm, Actual Bodily Harm and - oddly - Bigamy, which the law also regards as an offence against the person). But few men were actually tried for or convicted of the crime of buggery.

And "gross indecency" was a crime.

Turing was prosecuted under the notorious section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885. This was the same offence under which Oscar Wilde was tried.

Under section 11, an offence of "gross indecency" could be committed by two male persons, either in public or in private. This was taken to mean by the police and the courts to mean all consensual intimate sexual behaviour between men.

Section 11 was not a deeply considered piece of legislation; indeed its enactment was almost an accident. In one late parliamentary sitting, a (so-called radical) MP proposed an amendment which was accepted almost on the nod by the frontbench. There was no debate, either in parliament or otherwise.

Nonetheless, section 11 would criminalise all meaningful male homosexual intimacy for eighty years. Rather than the remote threat of a prosecution under the buggery offence, any evidence or admission of physical closeness - even in private - would lead to prosecution, a sentence, and a criminal record. It was regarded as the "blackmailer's charter".

Alan Turing was charged; he admitted his guilt and was convicted. Instead of imprisonment, he was able to opt for "treatment". He was given hormones to suppress his libido; the side effects were breast development and depression.

In effect, Alan Turing was chemically castrated.

Alan Turing was a hero and a genius, but this "treatment" was also inflicted on many other gay men prosecuted under this legislation. Turing's awesome achievements do not by themselves warrant him receiving an apology for this shameful official conduct; there should be an apology for every gay man who was prosecuted.

All of them deserved better.

It was good that the person who wrote Gordon Brown's apology noted this, though only in passing:

"While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time, and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair, and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted, as he was convicted, under homophobic laws, were treated terribly. Over the years, millions more lived in fear in conviction."
[Emphasis added - and note how Turing becomes Alan in two sentences!]

Of course, a posthumous apology or pardon is always a mere gesture.

Nonetheless, the greatness of Turing - and the undeniable sheer importance of his work in the war and in computers and the appalling injustice done to him - must force anyone to reconsider using the law to criminalise homosexuality, or to regard homosexuality as to be treated as an illness.

Such people still exist.

The Prime Minister's apology - an official acknowledgement of official wrongdoing - makes it just that more difficult for such bigots to prevail again.

The apology also reminds us just how recent "modern" times are.

Sadiq says...

2009-07-30T14:56:00Z

Via Twitter...

I have written to George Osbourne today asking him to confirm the Tories are committed to £1 bil spending/annum for concessionary fares

How much?!?

What are the passes made of - solid gold?

UPDATE: This from the Commuter...

I hope the Tories don't commit to spending £1bn on Concessionary fares.

Why should an OAP with no mortgage and thousands in savings be permitted to travel for free on buses and trains in certain areas whilst others are paying through the nose?

The actual cost of it is much higher, elsewhere across the country, underfunded councils are having to cut money from services such as parks and transport in order to fund this extravagance.

What a waste of money.

This was, presumably, a Party Political Broadcast from the non-Dave-aligned Conservative Party!

Debendification Reality : Higher Costs, Fewer Seats

2009-07-27T00:12:17Z

Andrew Gilligan, writing as kennite, ross281, etc., opined that the reason for his hatred of bendy buses was all about the seating capacity:

With only 2,009 seats available in the peak hour, as against 3,960 under the old Routemaster regime,the “new 73” was not better from every angle at all (PX, 2005, as himself)

And because the number of seats on a bendy is dramatically lower than on a Routemaster, peak-hour seating capacity has been reduced by nearly half. (CiF, 7/9/07 as kennite)

[O]n the 73, where the number of buses on the route fell by a quarter over the old RM days and peak-hour seats by half (ES 27/10/08 as himself)

You might have thought from this that the seating figures for the revised non-bendy 507 route would be of interest. I append them for any Gilligans or alter egos who might be passing:

2002-2009 Nasty Old Ken Era 507

9 buses
18m per bus
162m of bus on the road
49 seats per bus
100 standee places per bus (placarded, TfL capacity figures assume 71)
441 seats in total
Standee/seated ratio 2.04:1

2009-2016 Cuddly New Boris Era 507

15 buses
12m per bus
180m of bus on the road
21 seats per bus
76 standee places per bus (placarded, TfL capacity figures assume 49)
315 seats in total
Standee/seated ratio 3.6:1

So:

the number of seats has been reduced by 29% so you’ll get a seat less often if you’re a regular user
the amount of bus on the road has increased by 11%, 18m, or an entire bendy bus
the cost per year is £214k more than keeping the bendies
the inside has exactly the same ambience as the bendy
there’s no change to the open boarding procedure, so there’s no fare evasion decrease to offset the cost

Still think it’s a good idea, Andy? Stupid question, really, it’s not like you can reason with fanatics.

Elsewhere:

* “Chatting to a well-placed industry source at the North Weald bus rally at the start of the month, he told us that plans are now being drawn-up to retain bendy-bus operation on two services in London, one route being the 436 (Paddington-Lewisham). It could be argued that now in office, Boris has seen just how ill-informed he’s been about the supposed horror on the streets that are the bendy buses, but has got himself in so deep he has no option other than to progress with their removal.”

STV to launch new casino channel

2009-07-23T00:33:08Z

Shared by David
Oh dear...

STV partners with NetPlay TV to bring the first interactive gambling channel to DTT in Scotland.

That Boris EastEnders Appearance In Full

2009-07-20T16:33:58Z

[Start Credits]

[Scene: Inside the Queen Vic. Boris Johnson is leaning on the bar sipping champagne. Peggy Mitchell is looking agitated behind the bar]

PEGGY: Bleedin’ hell, Bozza, Phil’s just been arrested for fraud!

BORIS: Cripes! Blimey! What was he Deputy Mayor for again?

PEGGY: [looks confused]

BORIS: Better sort this out before those Pyong-Yang style bloggers Boriswatch get hold of it. Lucky I told the cabbie to keep the meter running, what?

[Exeunt]

[End Credits]

No show

2009-07-14T06:00:00Z

Last night should've been Michael Jackson's first concert at the O₂. Tragically he couldn't make it, which has left the Dome's owners with a rather large hole in their financial canvas. So I thought I'd pop down to North Greenwich to report on the echoing emptiness of the opening night, and maybe take a few shots of tumbleweed in front of the MJ memorial before they cleared it all away. How wrong I was.

I missed the call to action. I'm not on Facebook, and I don't spend the day glued to entertainment newsfeeds, so I never saw the invite. I was therefore surprised, on arrival, to discover a rather large crowd milling around in Peninsula Square. They were massing by the makeshift Jackson shrine, over in the corner by the big spike, beneath a videoscreen showing a sequence of images of the dead singer. Not enough to start a revolution, but several hundred all the same.

Many of the crowd had come dressed in at least one item of MJ apparel. Black hats were especially popular, although I looked around in vain for the street vendor knocking them off at a fiver a time. One or two wore white gloves, a couple sported rather more sparkly gems than is socially acceptable, and there was even one red satin tour jacket circa 1984. But the main item signifying membership of the Jackson cabal was the commemorative t-shirt. Be it respectful, exuberant or a bit cheap - the message was more important than the material. My favourite was the plain white t-shirt with the slogan "I HATE MARTIN BASHIR". Martin, thankfully, had had the sense not to turn up.

One girl had brought a single red rose wrapped in petrol station cellophane, which she laid respectfully within the fenced-off tribute zone. Others added their comments in marker pen to the wall of whiteboards behind - "King of Pop Forever", "This girl is yours", "Micheal We Luv U", "Thank you for making me want to dance". There was no intense grief on display, more a feeling of muted celebration, and nothing especially emotional or coherent either [see Darryl's report here]. I was surprised to see how many of the crowd appeared far too young to remember Michael Jackson in his heyday. Most would still have been at infant school the last time he had a number 1 record, although there were a fair few older souls and parents dotted about who'd probably moonwalked back in the day and bought Thriller on vinyl.

So, having travelled far and wide to be here, what were the crowd to do? Most gravitated towards the stage, or indeed onto it, and stood in proud solidarity occasionally chanting or bursting into song. Few seemed to have brought candles to wave, and it was too light for that anyway, but some had photos of Michael on inkjet paper and wielded those above their head instead. As 7pm approached a countdown began, ending in an uncoordinated silence, a few waved arms and a fizzled-out cheer [photo]. Had things worked out differently and last night's concert taken place, the yelling would no doubt have been rather more hysterical.

As the on-stage teens held hands and filed off round the square in a celebratory crocodile, I edged out of the crowd to take a look inside the Dome proper. I was expecting bleak emptiness, given that the O₂'s website was announcing "No Events found on this Date". Not at all. A steady stream of entertainment seekers were filing past security, not all of them MJ fans on the lookout for something to do. Many of the restaurants (notably Pizza Express) were doing good trade, although others (yes Wasabi, I'm looking at you) remained stubbornly empty on a night they might have hoped would be a takings bonanza.

A medley of Michael Jackson hits accompanied the Roller Disco in the London Piazza, although few of the evening's special visitors had taken up the offer to don wheels and enter the rink. Maybe the £7.50 charge had put them off. Few showed any interest either in the Body Worlds exhibition (£12) or the British Music Experience (£15). I was struck by how little there is within the O₂ to keep cash-poor teens occupied, bar a single newsagents at the far end selling chocolate and Coke. Owners AEG have deliberately targeted a more discerning crowd to keep the riffraff out - there's no McDonalds or KFC here - but most youthful visitors seemed happy to stroll up and down Entertainment Avenue all the same.

The first night of the "This Is It" tour therefore passed off with rather more incident and enterprise than I'd expected. Not all of the remaining 49 lost concert nights may be quite so busy.

Silly video: Aircraft toilet vs toilet roll

2009-07-06T09:43:37Z

Let's start the week with some pointless trivia. The flush on an airline toilet will suck in an entire roll of toilet paper...

Apparently this is from a stunt in which US comedian Mark Malkoff lived on a AirTran aircraft for 30 days.

[Spotted on Upgrade: Travel Better]

Old joke recycled

2009-07-03T12:37:00Z

This from the Daily Telegraph...

SIR – Now that Gordon Brown’s administration is to take over the East Coast main line should the 10am King’s Cross to Edinburgh be renamed The Lying Scotsman?

Keith Porter
London SW14

With a bowler tip to our man at Buggleskelly

UPDATE: This from "Old BR Hand"

A more charitable name might be The Trying Scotsman?

Hot Tube Cartoons

2009-07-03T11:02:00Z

Amongst the stories in the London papers about how ridiculously hot the London Underground is that moment, a couple of cartoons really stood out. Thelondonpaper were spot on with their microwave Tube carriage:

Ianvisits spotted something similar in The Telegraph

Fortunately next year, some of us might have some relief with the air conditioned Tubes when they are rolled out on the Metropolitan Line. But with deep level lines there's still no hope for cooler Tubes as Boris Johnson says "The difficulty is of course that it will ramp up the public pressure on us to deliver air-conditioning on the deep lines as well."

Each year we hear that TfL are working on cooler Tubes (when Ken Livingstone was mayor he offered a six figure reward for someone who could come up with a solution) and each year we swelter on deep level lines. Maybe one day, we'll see it, but until then it's a case of sweating and bearing it.