Wait until next year

May 28, 2014

Thamesmead and the JR James Archive

Birchmere Lake, Thamesmead

Dirty Modern Scoundrel has highlighted the JR James Archive on Flickr. James was Professor of Town and Regional Planning and Chief Planner at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and took a huge amount of photos of British architecture, and by the looks of things had a particular interest in brutalist architecture. The collection, brought together by the University of Sheffield, has loads of photos, maps and plans and is a very good way to lose a few hours as you work your way through this chronicle of post-war British town planning. Read the rest of this entry »

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May 27, 2014

Jenny Lewis trails The Voyager

I could do with more than 16 seconds of this – a very brief teaser of the new Jenny Lewis album The Voyager. Her first solo album Rabbit Fur Coat is up there as one of my favourite albums ever. It is rare to have such great lyrics, such a great voice and so many great songs all working so well together, yet time and again Lewis manages it. This new album sees her working with my all-time favourite Ryan Adams. So, I’m rather excited about this release. Probably too excited. Anyway, enjoy the 16 seconds.

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May 22, 2014

Neither here nor there – The ‘Nearly Places’

Valérie Anex, Ghost Estates, Ireland

A ‘ghost estate’ refers to an unoccupied housing estate. The term has been used, and seen, widely in Ireland. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ years from 1995 to 2008 saw a huge amount of economic growth in Ireland. This led to a housing surplus, made much worse with the global economic downturn from 2008 on. There were a lot of houses, and nobody willing or able to buy them. Read the rest of this entry »

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Video | May 17, 2014

Saturday Night Movie: The South Bank Show – J.G. Ballard

I’ve finally got around to reading some J.G. Ballard – I’m starting with Vermillion Sands but any recommendations on what to read next or guidance on books to avoid would be very welcome. This documentary was a decent primer, plus I have something of a man crush on presenter Melvyn Bragg, not least for his masterful work on the In Our Time radio programme.

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May 14, 2014

Some Afternoon Spring Rain

Heading home yesterday afternoon it began raining. Read the rest of this entry »