#Hawksmoor Bar

[onejamtart]

OJT EATS | The Lowback

If you’ve been to Canary Wharf lately, you might have noticed a big expansion of new shops and restaurants.  One of the most exciting parts of that was that Canary Wharf got its own Hawksmoor restaurant as well as a new bar serving a slightly (and I do mean very slightly) less steak focused menu called The Lowback.  Read on to find out more.

First up were these bone marrow roasted oysters.  Now, we normally prefer our oysters raw but this was an exception as they were delicious!  The addition of bone marrow and bread crumbs for a little bit of crunch was genius and along with drinks, this alone is worth coming back to The Lowback for.

Nest was the fried chicken which was also really tasty and had a bit of a kick to it which I personally quite enjoyed. 

After the oysters and chicken, we jumped straight into the beef.  This was a t-bone and was done to the usual Hawksmoor standards which is to say excellent.  Being the sister bar to an excellent steak restaurant definitely has its advantages!

Now the sides: mac and cheese was a gooey melty, rich pot of pasta.  It’s only a small portion but it packs a punch in terms of heaviness so don’t understimate it!

Chips were again, as reliably good as Hawksmoor; that is to say chunky and crispy.  Really nice and goes great with steak.

As a side, this lettuce and herb salad was a little disappointing but admittedly was exactly as described.  It did provide some much needed greenery on our table but not something to get excited about.

Dessert was sticky toffee pudding.  This came with creme fraiche on top and was amazing!  We’d normally share a few different desserts to try out a few but all of us were adamant on not sharing this.  Perfect for a winter’s day; it’s sweet, warming and just so good!

The Lowback has rapidly become one of my favourite places to go to in Canary Wharf.  The drinks are pretty great and as bar food goes, it’s pretty spectacular (I might be stretching it a little to call an almost 1kg t-bone steak “bar food” but I stand by it).  Definitely worth a visit!

The Lowback, 1 Water St, London E14 5GX

Cheers, JL

[thisislizheather]

2023 Resolutions Revisited

Above Photo: The view from Nubeluz, NYC

Time to revisit the resolutions that I made in 2023! This is definitely my favourite post of the year because I will forever love accountability. The best part about making resolutions is going back and seeing how they went in reality. Why are people so anti-resolution? My guess is because most of us think that resolutions are supposed to be serious and not at all fun. Well, news flash - I’m here to tell you that you’re allowed to make fun ones. Also I’m bringing back “news flash.”

Throughout the year, I kept making my seasonal lists (spring, summer, autumn, winter). I got really into making reels, Nathan did his second Tonight Show, I got to visit the abandoned City Hall subway station, I toured the gorgeous Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, went to a tulip farm in New Jersey, we celebrated my dad’s 100th birthday with a giant party and a family trip to Scotland, I saw a ton of shows on Broadway (Death of a Salesman, Moulin Rouge, Shucked, Pictures From Home, Bad Cinderella, Hamlet at Shakespeare in the Park, Six, The Shark is Broken). I started the Summer Saturdays series, as well as Fall Fridays. I saw the Lagerfeld costume exhibit at The Met, I got to see this incredible private rehearsal of a play with Michael McKean, I flew in a Harvard plane, I continued my domination of Halloween, Nathan had three pretty significant pieces written about him in The New York Times, I compiled my favourites of 2023, and I found my favourite summer photos as well as my favourite photos of the year. And here’s how my 2023 resolutions went.

Above Photo: Family in Edinburgh, Scotland

1. Read at least one book per season.

Spring: Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke

Oh my god, that’s it. I read one book last year. Nobody tell my dad because that’s embarrassing as hell. That’s the worst I’ve ever done with my reading goals. Definitely aiming to better about that this year.

2. Take Baby Dog on an adventure at least twice a season.

Done! She went to Canada a total of three separate times this year, and I took her on Central Park walks each season. She also did her pet volunteering a few times and I also took her to the air field where my brother and I got to fly in those planes.

Above Photo: Baby Dog in Central Park, NYC

3. Try at least one new restaurant each month.

January: Carne Mare (such a beautiful space, it’s perfect for a special occasion, caviar mozzarella sticks were slightly overrated but everything else was good), Little Ruby’s Cafe (so great for lunch) & Bistro Eloise (had the best onion soup in all of NYC, that broth was unreal, escargots was fantastic)

Above Photo: Carne Mare, NYC

February: The Bar Room (the grilled chicken on top of their caesar salad was unparalleled), Nubeluz by Jose Andres at The Ritz-Carlton (everything was great, view is perfect), Golden Unicorn (suck city, don’t go) & Olio E Piu (so terrible, begging you to never go)

March: The now-closed Quality Eats (that short rib hash was great), Wayan (best dishes: the corn fritters, the spring rolls, the lamb kebabs and the chocolate chip cookie with cheddar ice cream) & The Grill (the MP pasta appetizer was the most incredible thing we ate - they used this crank-type machine table-side to make the broth for the pasta sauce out of MEAT BONES and I’m still thinking about it, other highlight was the gluten-free zucchini cornbread)

April: Hawksmoor (flashy and beautiful inside, but no real substance), Pete’s Tavern (space is great, food is fine and service was attentive but odd) & Figlia (best Italian in Astoria, by far)

Above Photo: Figlia in Astoria, Queens

May: Spirit Tree Estate Cidery (so wonderful, can’t wait to go again)

June: S& P (fine, absolutely nothing special) & Sojourn (the duck spring rolls are insanely good)

July: Superiority Burger (veggie burger was great, everything else was just average), Modern Bread and Bagel (the gluten free latkes and french toast sticks were unreal) & Rubirosa (great space, great food)

August: 111 by Modou in Glasgow (fantastic!)

September: Shukette (truly special), Margaritaville in Times Square (the key lime pie is legit here) & Shopsin’s (great chicken sandwich)

October: Beetle House (too fun) & Oscar Wilde (so seasonally perfect)

November: Kaia Wine Bar (insanely good birria tacos and a great happy hour)

Above Photo: Birria tacos at Kaia Wine Bar, NYC

December: Mel’s (good, but never need to go again)

4. Properly go on a date with Nathan at least once a month.

Did it! Some of the dates included: going to see Death of a Salesman on Broadway, which depressed us so much that we silently went home and immediately to sleep. He made me see Scream VI against my will, we got drinks at Sunken Harbor Club, went bowling in Astoria, had a night at Rec Room in Square One, saw Talk To Me in theatres, went to Shot of Art together, devoted each Sunday in October to horror movies, we saw The Shark is Broken AND LIFE WAS CHANGED FOREVER (we loved it) and then we went to Maryland for New Year’s Eve.

Above Photo: Nathan in Baltimore, Maryland

5. Every month, cook something I’ve never cooked before.

January: penne alla vodka (this recipe sucked, but I want to try it again) and lasagna soup (wonderful, definitely would make again)

February: greek chicken meatballs (hard pass, too bland)

March: chicken marsala (I’ve made this at least ten times since March, favourite recipe of the year) & tres leche cake (heavenly)

Above Photo: Tres leche cake

April: steak Diane (really, really good) & asparagus soup (phenomenal)

May: lemon almond pudding cake (pretty boring, wouldn’t make again) & a classic bread pudding (simple and great recipe)

June: strawberry cobbler bars (good, but nothing to make again) & this dark chocolate cake with this icing (unbelievably tasty)

Above Photo: Strawberry cobbler bars

July: nothing this month (I’ll blame it on traveling)

August: stuffed summer shells (so, so good) & homemade pizza (which I promise to shut up about after this post)

Above Photo: Stuffed summer shells

September: tomato tart (good, but a ready-made puff pastry would’ve tasted better here) & pecan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (meh, don’t need to make again) & pumpkin spice syrup for iced coffee (wow)

October: apple cider doughnut cookies (good!) & a coconut chicken tikka masala (good but I never need to do it again)

Above Photo: Apple cider doughnut cookies

November: a rice krispies pumpkin pie (hilarious)

Above Photo: Rice Krispies pumpkin pie

December: espresso martini cookies (good!) & a mushroom loaf (truly great) & chocolate pistachio shortbread cookies (the worst! I think I just messed up the recipe though so this is on me)

6. Go on a solo, alone trip.

Biggest regret on this whole list. I’ve wanted to do this for years, so I might just keep it on the 2024 list.

7. Have at least one advertiser on this site.

Not yet! But I’ll keep trying.

8. On the first of each month, try something new.

Jesus, these resolutions were lofty! Big nope on this one.

9. Buy a keyboard and start playing piano again.

Hahahah, not even kinda. Great idea in theory. I did play piano each time I visited my parent’s house, though, so that’s something. A pathetic something, but a something. Don’t worry, I won’t try to take a half point here.

10. Have my book in at least one bookstore by the end of the year. Even if I have to self-publish and then physically put it on a shelf myself.

Okay, truthfully I didn’t even remember this was a resolution, so I didn’t even submit it anywhere for at least half of the year. But this is exactly why I need to revisit my resolutions list at least once a month. (It’s not lame if that itself is one of my resolutions, yeah?)

One thing that I’m so happy that I kept doing throughout the year? My monthly roundup posts. They’re basically little monthly journal entries that make me realize how good I have it sometimes, and I’m so grateful that anyone wants to read them. Here are the links to the last twelve months of them: December 2023, November 2023, October 2023, September 2023, August 2023, July 2023, June 2023, May 2023, April 2023, March 2023, February 2023 & January 2023.

And here are all the best tweets posts from 2023 as well: January, February, the best Valentine tweets, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, the best Halloween tweets, November, December and the best Christmas tweets.

So if we’re keeping score (we are), I did 4/10 on my resolutions (dear god). But see the thing is - this was one of the best years I’ve had in a very long time, so that’s important to note. You can brutally fail at resolutions and still make some progress because this felt like a very full year with a lot of things that went in the right direction.

2024 resolutions coming tomorrow!

[ayearincontent]

2024

key

bold = highlight of 2024

+ = not new in 2024

# = book club

books

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: A Palestine Story, Nathan Thrall (2023)#

Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky (trans. David McDuff) (1866)

Restless, William Boyd (2007)#

Ablutions, Patrick deWitt (2012)

The Hummingbird, Sandro Veronesi (trans. Elena Pala) (2021)

Faith, Hope and Carnage, Nick Cave and Sean O'Hagan (2023)#

The Life & Times of Michael K, J. M. Coetzee (1983)

The Twilight Word, Werner Herzog (trans. Michael Hofmann) (2023)

Darryl, Jackie Ess (2021)

Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain (2000)

Caledonian Road, Andrew O'Hagan (2024)

Feet in the Clouds, Richard Askwith (2004)#

Arrangements in Blue: Notes on Love and Making a Life, Amy Key (2023)

Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (2021)

A Box of Matches, Nicholson Baker (2004)

Jesus' Son, Dennis Johnson (2012)#

Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, Irvine Welsh (1996)

Sleepless, Marie Darrieussecq (trans. Penny Hueston) (2023)

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sachs (1985)#

The Memory Police, Yōko Ogawa (trans. Stephen Snyder) (1994)

Monsters: What Do We Do with Great Art by Bad People?, Claire Dederer (2023)

films

Sound of Metal (2019)

Saltburn (2023)

The Two Popes (2019)

All of Us Strangers (2023)

Hell or High Water (2016)

Boyz n the Hood (1991)

Past Lives (2023)

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)+

If Only I Could Hibernate (2023)

Searching for Sugarman (2012)

All the President's Men (1976)

The Informant (2009)

Force Majeure (2014)

Paterson (2016)

Anyone But You (2023)

Triangle of Sadness (2022)

22 Jump Street (2014)+

Before Sunrise (1995)

Before Sunset (2004)

Before Midnight (2013)

Arrival (2016)

Emily the Criminal (2022)

albums

'Stretch for the Stars' (EP), Joshua Idehen (2023)

'Shiver' (EP), The Libertines (2024)

'the record', boygenius (2023)

'Wall of Eyes', The Smile (2024)

'Promises', Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra (2021)

'Where's My Utopia?', Yard Act (2023)

'Cold Fact', Rodriquez (1970)

'Coming from Reality', Rodriquez (1971)

'What Now', Brittany Howard (2024)

'Mountainhead', Everything Everything (2024)

'This Ain't the Way You Go Out', Lucy Rose (2024)

'Blue', Joni Mitchell (1971)

'A Dream Is All We Know', The Lemon Twigs (2024)

'Romance', Fontaines D.C. (2024)

'Samurai', Lupe Fiasco (2024)

exhibitions

'Time is Out of Joint', National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (Rome)

'Philip Guston', Tate Modern

'Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990', Tate Britain

'Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize', National Portrait Gallery

'The Cult of Beauty', Wellcome Collection

'Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and The Blue Rider', Tate Modern

live music

Ben L'Oncle Soul, Alcazar Live

Yard Act, Rough Trade East

Romy, Roundhouse

Dan Shake / Pretty Girl, Phonox

Berlioz, Brixton Academy

Lapsley, Brixton Academy

theatre

The Cherry Orchard, Donmar Warehouse

Dr Strangelove, Noel Coward Theatre

restaurants

Perilla, Stoke Newington

Felice a Testaccio, Rome

Salumeria Con Cucina Roscioli, Rome

Zahter, Carnaby Street

Beckford Inn, Tewksbury

Chez Bruce (*), Wandsworth+

Ottolenghi, Spitalfields+

Dalla Terra, Covent Garden

Faros, Soho

Little House, Balham

Ye Olde Hobnails Inn, Tewkesbury

Pot Luck Club, Cape Town

Scala Pasta / Bar, Cape Town

La Colombe, Constantia

El Burro, Cape Town

Franks Corner, Franschhoek

The Girl's On The Square, Wilderness

Pumba Game Reserve, Eastern Cape

Nest, Knysna

Maillard Baking Co, Knysna

Sirocco, Knysna

Coral, Mauritius

Kot Nou, Mauritius

Lemongrass, Mauritius

Le Benetier, Mauritius

Le Chamarel, Mauritius

Muang Thai, Camden

thirty7, Covent Garden

Morito, Hackney+

Nobu, Shoreditch+

Botanica Hall, Clapham Junction

Devonshire Terrace, Liverpool Street

Brutto, Farringdon

St John (bar), Smithfield

Mechela, Seville

Mamarracha, Seville

Caminata, Balham (x2)

Pasha Mangal, Balham (x2)

Hawksmoor, Air Street+

Dishoom, King's Cross

Som Saa, Spitalfields

180 House, The Strand

Three Uncles, Brixton

Balham Social, (...)Balham

The Duke of Malborough, Woodstock

The Perch, Binsey

Megan's on the Hill, Balham

Le Bab, Covent Garden

podcasts

Kermode & Mayo's Take+

The Russell Brand Podcast (Radio 2 / Audioboom / XFM)+

The News Agents+

The News Meeting+

Today in Focus+

The Adam Buxton Podcast+

Joel Golby's Book Club

Desert Island Discs+

Off Menu

Young Again+

The Louis Theroux Podcast

Conversations with Tyler

tv

Mr Bates v The Post Office (limited series)

The Traitors (series 2)

Six Nations: Full Contact (limited series)

One Day (limited series)

Gossip Girl (series 1-3)

Ripley (limited series)

Kin (series 1)

Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip (series 1)

America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (limited series)

talks

'Judges, Politics, and the Public: A Judge’s View from Inside Westminster' by Sir Nicholas Green, Leicester Lit&Phil Society

foreign travel (no 'favourites of the year', all excellent)

Rome

South Africa (Cape Town, Franschhoek, Wilderness, Pumba Game Reserve, Knysna)

Mauritius

Seville

Algarve (work)

New York

Miami (work)

Amsterdam

[venetianwindow]

220515 • 11:27am 🚍

Strap in folks, today we’re taking a little walk through Victoria and Pimlico with Ian Nairn.

I did this mini-tour on a whim as a break from university work. Didn’t cover all the destinations in Nairn’s route, but strove to stop by at least a few of them.

We start with a sequence (he loved sequences, my goodness): Barton Street - Cowley Street - Lord North Street. The photo composition of the third one I owe to Nairn. I don’t imagine these houses and streets have changed much since he was here in the 60s.

Lord North Street takes us to one of Thomas Archer’s contributions to the 1711 Churches Act - St John’s Smith Square. I don’t love Archer enough to post separately, so you’re getting him here.

Nairn is pretty mean towards Archer, a bit too much I might say - I think Archer’s got all the right parts but can’t put them together for the essence. It feels like Archer knew what elements make a good English Baroque building, but he just put a bunch of those together in the hopes that his design would turn out the same way - that’s not what makes good architecture though, you need sensibility in composition, and he didn’t have that. It’s the case with St John’s, which I find too overwrought. Everything feels so extravagant but there’s no hierarchy. It’s sensory overload with all this ornament and motif play, but lacking the ‘knowing how much is enough’ for greatness. (Obviously I think Nairn’s being unfair when he compares Archer to Hawksmoor - that bar is way too high!)

Returning to Millbank and walking along (plus some turns here and there) eventually takes us to Pimlico. Skipped on Tate Britain photos here - surely that’s overdone. Quite enjoyed the resonance between St James the Less and the Lillington Gardens Estate! Lovely brickwork all around, and a great way to give coherence to the area.

We finish on a shot of Hawksmoor at Westminster because Victoria was too crowded for good pics by the time I got there. Some things to see though, expect a follow-up post… eventually.

☞ studygram

[themostexpensiveboningknife]

2020

Failed party, money in drawer, communicate, move house, move boxes, drive in van, walk to shops, buy noodles, think it’s the end, see whole bus of soldiers in Beijing, new area, walk in darkness, think about leaving, leave, think its temporary, in taxi, post stupid photos, check and check again phone, think people with goggles on my plane are over reacting, take off my mask to eat, keep taking off to loosen, arrive back in London. Tube. Cold. Pub. Party at WeWork. Exhibition at Dulwich Gallery. Farringdon. Drugs and drinks. Brockley, South east London. DJ. Ethiopian food. Morley’s Peckham. Walking on the River. Photographer friend’s house. Canal cycle. National Gallery. Car crash, Dalston. Omar Souleyman. Corsica Studios. Meet girl, back to my friends, back to hers, sex. Morning up to mum’s best friends birthday, Covent Garden restaurant. In a van, Sunday roast. Chisenhale Gallery. arebyte Gallery. Getting worse in China, seems nice and easy and calm in England. Camberwell beers and more. Second-hand book shops, Charing Cross Road. Courtauld. Leafed through a book about a man who lived his entire 86.5 years in East London. Still talking to the same girl back in China. Both believe I’ll be back soon. Chicken wings. West London, meal. South London pub. DJing somewhere inside. Kent, see grandma. Rave, Bermondsey. Friends from Israel and Germany arrive. More drinks, more drugs. Mixing friends. Gay bar in Bethnal Green for old friend’s birthday. Acid, confused and hilarious. Tate Britain. Serpentine. Cranes on the bridge. Liverpool Street film screening. Feels shallow, but good. Begin regular E Pellici sojourns. Primrose Hill with Dad. Beer festival with Keaton and co. Peckham, school friend’s house, bad vibe. More drinks, more drugs. Working on first music compilation with Slowcook and Fafa. Begin watching all of the Studio Ghibli movies. Watching Breaking Bad. At some point have huge argument with my brother, it went like this: He came home from work and I was sitting watching Breaking Bad, he asks, “Have you been like that all day?” I either took it in the wrong way or picked up on a sly dig. It was probably me, but at this point I was pretty self-conscious and worried about going back to China and whether or not I would have a job back there. Was getting surprisingly pissed off with my brother mentioning his work, felt like an affront to me. Weird. He goes crazy (he has a short fuse), punching a wall, ready to fight me. My mum is pretty upset. A few days later I go into his room and try to patch things up. Turns into a deeper chat. He feels like I haven’t been a good brother to him, he gives the example of not looking out for him on his first days of school. I say I’m sorry, it’s because I’m a bit scared and insecure. In retrospect I regret a little laying so much weakness on the table, seems his interactions/ways of acting around me have changed a bit. Still not sure how I feel about it all. Considered getting a gold tooth with Matthew. Play with cats, enjoying them more and more. Rave in Dalston, good music from Asia and beyond. Looking at magazines. Not doing much work at all. Being out and about instead. Go to Norfolk. It’s beautiful, but get way too drunk on first night, sick everywhere, wake up naked in sick. Massive fucking shitshow. Majority of people there have no choice but to act weirdly around me now, which is understandable. Still some nice aspects. One girl there surely hates me a lot. Tate Modern. Art stuff by self is good. Corsica Studios, semi-art, semi-music event. Mr. Bao for first time of many. Radio in Tottenham. Take drugs. Pubs. Drive to Asda with brother to stock up on food. It’s March and the reality of the pandemic is hitting. More canal cycling. First and only group chat on Zoom. BH Funk. Probably have taken cocaine and messaged one of three or four girls numerous times by now. If there’s one, in the cold light of day, horrible and disgusting thing I’ve done too much this year it’s this. Incessant messaging of poor girls that I know will react (although increasingly they don’t, I manage to alienate even close friends in this way). Southbank and The Mall with Nick. Reading about Wuhan. List of good texts. Continuing to do some writing. Making WeChat posts for guī WeChat, including mix series and miniessays. Greenwich park with Matthew. Grime quiz online. Delivering food regularly for my mum’s school. Hackney Marshes with Luan. Epping Forest with Mum and Dad. By this point probably have woken up feeling sorry for myself in Ludo’s flat, after untold amounts of alcohol and cocaine. Online rave. Beijing artists only mix. Go to Switzerland, pass through Italy on the way. Its breath taking, the mountains, the expanse of scenery, not used to it. Climbing up mountains with no one around. Rolo and Patrick and Rita smoke too much weed. I really, really, really still hate smoking it. Feel a bit annoyed how long we spend sitting around while they smoke, but this is way outbalanced by the uniqueness of where we are and the beauty all around. Producing more and more, actually getting somewhere. Cooking more and more food. Reading more and more, like: Black and British, The Corrections, Real Fast Food, Bass, Mids, Tops, Zadie Smith, Olivia Lang, Graham Greene, JG Ballard, Monica Ali, Mo Yan, Jenny Zhang, John le Carre, Naked Lunch, Nabokov, Bukowski, Zora Neale Hurston, Wiley, Bitcoin, Murakami, Judith E. Butler, The Painter of Modern Life, Maupassant, Chekov, Video Art, Gravity’s Rainbow (couldn’t finish), Anaïs Nin, The Net Delusion (couldn’t finish), The Establishment and how they got away with it (couldn’t finish), Roddy Doyle, The Secret of Scent, General Intellects, Women In Love, The Intelligent Investor, Lyndon Johnson. Victoria Park more often than I can remember. To Chrissy’s house. Mile End Park. Very regularly sitting on the river in Wapping. Bring the chessboard and play Ludo sometimes, people smile and look at you differently when you’re playing chess and drinking beers versus just sitting and drinking beer. I May Destroy You. Industry. The beautiful wide expanse of Hackney Marshes. My incessant quest to reach 1000 followers in Instagram. More cycling, and I hate to say it but it really was: Here there and everywhere. Margate with my Dad to see my grandma in hospital and saw the Turner Prize exhibition. Light blue like scrubs, the sky and sun felt eternal. Swimming in dirty water. Make a DJ mix of old 2000s Road Rap. Eat cheese in Peckham. Cycle along the canal north, keep going and going through Tottenham, past Enfield keep going, it’s mad how quickly it becomes quiet fields on all sides, arrive to some kind of lake, swim and then back to the centre of town. Outside a Hawksmoor church in Shadwell ate chicken with Karim and Ludo. DJing. From my bedroom window saw a big crane in the middle of the night sitting on the canal. Begin developing the second DCCY compilation this time with BULLY magazine. Go to a house in an old school in Camberwell. Discover new secret riverside spots in East London. Finally give up my apartment in Beijing. Mile End park. Cycle further and further East to a pedestrian bridge I didn’t know existed. Get onto the beach and into the Thames water. Interview Akito. Begin writing more, after few months of wiling away the summertime. My friend Emmy gets married in Rwanda, I give him some money as a wedding gift which he tells me he used to buy his wife’s dress. Protests in HK always on TV. Get more into finances, crypto and trading, and just saving in general. Had sex with an old friend. Now meeting a girl I first knew years ago in Beijing. More secret river spots. Keaton has his baby, Noah. More times on Hackney Marshes. Barbican conservatory. Watching more films, try to watch all the films of some directors including: Jia Zhangke, Bong Joon-ho, Edward Yang, Wong Kar-wai, Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Decide to watch all of the infamous lauded series, go through Breaking Bad, The Wire and The Sopranos. Go to the seaside for a few days, camping also. Henry Wu album launch in a car park in Bermondsey. Go to visit Keaton’s baby for the first time. Good photography exhibition at Photographer’s Gallery. Go to Wallace Collection again. August. Go to Berlin. Swimming in Berlin lakes until I get an ear infection. It makes me drowsy and lethargic, but still seems to spend all my time cycling around the city. On one night cycle for hours to a rave on the outskirts of the city. Like a lot the abandoned airport in Berlin. Oh yeah, vaping. Found a dead bumble bee. Speak with Nevin about projects. Write a piece about the future of the art world for a magazine being started by Nevin’s friend in Canada. Go to Lithuania. Walk around Vilnius, get too drunk by myself. Get to the Curonian Spit and Nida, beaches and new friends. For the Nightlife Residency project. For a short while life is like on a desert island of new food, new people, new locations, quiet and new meaning. Go to the Russian border on the beach. Cycle to the road boarder and get stopped by the police. Go nude on the beach for the first time. Sauna, sand dunes and forests. DJ out for the first time in ages, this time with Nono. To Kaunus and try nice and stodgy Georgian food for the first time. Hackney Wick back for party. Meet a ginger girl online and go on a date. Wallace Collection again. Free beer and pizza. White Cube. National Gallery, Titian. On BBC Radio London with my Dad. Riverside beers. Saw a lost swan near my front door. Meet Keaton near his work, one of many times. Making more and more music, getting better. Decide I need more organisation and clarity, put everything I’ve done on a blog. More or less long since given up on my job at M Woods. But don’t really begin looking for anything new because it’s still sunny. At some point I start getting benefits money. Go to see La Haine in the cinema. Someone blocks me on WeChat because of me. Some pub somewhere. Sunday walks and breakfast with my parents. Go to an exhibition in Woolworth Road with Muzi. Realise how nice it is to run to Victoria Park along the canal. Vicky Park in general. Dinners at friends’ houses. Museum of London. Walking with Michael in some countryside near London, surprising how quickly things turn green. Break onto a pier in Wapping with Jack. Battersea Park. Tate, Bruce Nauman. Old Street Weatherspoon’s with Keaton, drugs. Central London cemetery. Chinese in Camberwell. Chinese in Aldgate. Italian in Camberwell. More and more exercise, running, weights and yoga with my brother. Sadie Coles. Nick, Central London. Gucci Mane. Hampstead Heath more because Ludo and his flatmates are nearby. Ludo’s now house more for days and nights of you guessed it. Borough Market more, with Emma. Alexandra Palace walk and famous sandwiches after. Tate Britian new lights. More time at Muzi’s. Signing up for cycle courier. LYL Radio show. Shave head. Take acid and it hurts my stomach. Camden Arts Centre with Muzi. Christmas party with friends. Birthday. Cake with Muzi, presents and Indian takeaway from family, walk in Vicky Park with Ludo and Karim plus battered sausage and chips. Christmas at home nice and warming meal. Evening to Ludo’s place with more friends. Boxing day with Matthew, pints and then more at his house in Peckham all night long. Next day is tough! Giant turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey curry. Buy first NFTs. New Year’s Eve stay in at Muzi’s, one drink and a cake.

[makotokyoqoku-archived]

What do you think of the other members of Stormwatch?

I like them!!! especially hellstrike hes funny utgzgjzjzj also I'm gonna assume you're talking about the og stormwatch and not rebirth's stormwatch.

battalion/weather man ii/jackson king: I love him I love how he'd do anything to get a job done!!!!

synergy/christina trelane: shes ok I guess,, I never got interested in her kyckiydits

winter/nikolas komarov: hes ok I guess,,, the only thing i like about him is how he looks a lot like apollo,,, altho I'll admit that time stormwatch members went bar-hopping to destress and he told them some grisly war jokes and their reaction was to cringe at him for it was pretty funny kyckhckgxjgzuts

fuji: I love him!! I love just about everything abt him!!!!

flint: I love her but i hate warren ellis's for being racist and just going w super strength & durability for the black woman on the team ://

rose tattoo: listen I get shes a remorseless killing machine but I love the concept of her so much—the spirit of murder,, that sounds so hardcore & creative ok

jenny sparks, jack hawksmoor, and shen being in a black ops stormwatch team was honestly so cool in wish it got explored more

so yeah I really like them,,, I miss them sometimes bc they were a really good team 😭😔

[notbecauseofvictories]

Reading Recs

Because studying for the bar is terrible, all the time, I have been reading a lot of fic to make up for how terrible it is. So have some (completely random, no two fandoms alike, plus some journalism) recs!

AN EVER-FIXED MARK by AMarguerite [pride & prejudice, elizabeth/darcy, elizabeth/colonel fitzwilliam] \\\ One would think that having the name of one's soulmate appear on one's wrist on one's sixteenth birthday would make matrimony much less complicated. It mostly does not. And not at all for Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourne.

why you should read it: This is a full-fledged novel, clocking in at 190k, and delightful from start to finish. (I started reading at 11pm and didn’t stop until 6am---screwing up both my sleep and study schedules. It’s just that good.) The author calls it a deconstruction of the “soulmate mark” trope, but it’s more of an imaginative exploration, lovingly done. It deftly interweaves British history, Napoleonic politics, and a healthy dose of Austen-like humor, as well as a cast of characters from both the Austen canon and history. (Not to spoil anyone, but the appearance of the Duke of Wellington is fucking delightful.)

There are a couple places where it feels a little too postmodern (mostly dialogue in some of the later chapters) but overwhelmingly it’s a fantastic love letter to Elizabeth and Darcy, the era, Austen, and both friends-to-lovers and soulmarks.

.

THE LADY AND THE KNIGHT by Jack Hawksmoor [labyrinth, sarah/jareth] \\\ Sarah's made a great life for herself, but Jareth has a problem. Will Sarah help him? What will it cost her if she does?

why you should read it: I read one of this author’s other Labyrinth stories first---“Sanctuary” which is also very good---but this is the fic that came out of nowhere and roundly punched me in the teeth. The Jareth/Sarah dynamic is so fey, so distinctly fairytale, with all the strangeness and grasping connotations of that. (I’m a sucker for a love that is profoundly selfish.) It also balances perfectly with the worldbuilding, which is done so well. There’s absolutely no dull expositional explanation just....the world and the stories therein, the way Sarah interacts with it as a Hero.

It is a decade old now, and there are places where it reads very....00s-era fic, but since I was around reading fic back then it was a fun trip back into nostalgia.

.

HERMIONE GRANGER’S HOGWARTS CRAMMER FOR DELINQUENTS ON THE RUN by waspabi [harry potter, harry potter/draco malfoy, ensemble] \\\ ‘You're a wizard, Harry' is easier to hear from a half-giant when you're eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you're seventeen and late for work.

why you should read it: Another alternate universe novel, though this is more canon divergence than fusion. Honestly, the best part is how the author portrays the ensemble---Hermione, Ron, Malfoy, Neville, Ginny, and Luna, all interacting with each other and with a Harry they don’t know is fantastic, and the sense of warm humor is very much J.K. Rowling in her “schoolboy antics” prime. Obviously the stakes are considerably higher in this fic, since the gang has left Hogwarts and is on the run from the Death Eaters, but it still manages to be quippy, and intimate.

Also, Hermione is wonderful.

.

LET ME LOOK AT THE SUN by telanu [the good place, michael/eleanor shellstrop] \\\ They’re eleven months into attempt 801, and Michael thinks this might be the reboot that finally takes.

why you should read it: I freely admit to getting on the Eleanor/Michael train (trolley?) purely because Ted Danson and Kristen Bell act the crap out of their scenes together. Also because it amuses me, but that’s my reason for everything. Either way, this fic takes the dynamic of “human garbage fire, on the verge of redemption” Eleanor Shellstrop and “not human, but maybe not completely evil” Michael and dials it up to eleven, underscoring both how similar and how different they are. 

It strikes completely the right balance between cruelty and kindness, and also there is discussion about monsters. My kind of thing.

.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE by MirasolAbeille [discworld/sound of music, susan sto helit/georg von trapp] \\\ Captain von Trapp and his children get rather more than they bargained for with the new governess.

why you should read it: Crossovers have never been my cup of tea, but I love a somewhat-ridiculous premise taken very seriously, and that’s what’s happening here. Half the fun of the fic is Susan’s internal narration, which imports all the uncompromising pragmatism and irony of the character, and neatly skewers some of the....more twee aspects of a very twee musical. It also brings out a much more interesting depiction of Captain von Trapp---with a more formidable governess, he’s allowed to be smarter and harder, enthralled with Susan’s will and cunning rather than innocence.

This is a work in progress, but I’m definitely keeping my eye on it. Mostly because I have to know how it ends.

.

LIVE IN THE QUESTION by valeris [marvel, darcy lewis, some darcy lewis/bucky barnes, ensemble] \\\ In which Darcy is the Alpha child of two famous Omega Rights activists.

why you should read it: I honestly just love the worldbuilding on this. Darcy’s mother and father, her friendships, the dynamics complicated by designation, are all extremely interesting---ironically, the best way to get me interested in A/B/O fic seems to be lots of discussion of fictional gender roles and gender politics! Who knew.

.

ARCANA by rosa_acicularis [sherlock, f!john watson/sherlock holmes] \\\ Sometimes, her grandmother has said, in the simplest, strongest of magics that’s all that’s required – a sacrifice and an intent. Her blood, and his words: I want to forget. (In which Joanna Watson is a witch, Sherlock Holmes is himself, and every spell has its price.)

why you should read it: Hey, we were all there in 2013, okay. Sometimes, you just want to return to the warm bosom of fandoms-gone-by, and this is one of my favorite Sherlock fics for a reason. Rosa_acicularis has been doing fairytale fusions since the Doctor Who days, and they’re always effective and interesting. Joanna Watson is wonderful, and her witching is wonderful, and it’s just....good.

.

THE REAL BANISHMENT IS THE FAMILY WE MADE ALONG THE WAY by scioscribe [thor: ragnarok, loki & hela] \\\  Hela did not ask for company in her sealed-up world, but evidently Odin is economical in containment strategies for his misbegotten children.

why you should read it: Loki gets punted into whatever terrible pocket of space Odin kept Hela in. They kill each other, and awkwardly bond over being a murderous family disappointment. This fic nails the dynamic, and even when they’re getting along, Hela and Loki are mocking and prickly and hateful. It’s exquisite.

.

+PLUS

I’ve mentioned before how much I love the nosleep reddit, and I finally found the time to sit down and catch up with the last.....couple months. Has anyone heard of the Left/Right Game? has to be my favorite since the Search & Rescue story, or maybe the Florida Pill Mills. I’m just a sucker for a sense of “further up and further in” where our everyday awareness is a thin layer of normalcy laid over the profoundly weird and deeply horrific.

Finally, in journalism, Chicago Magazine’s Journey to America made me homesick like crazy. A really good depiction of the midwest, in all its wonderful small-town weirdness.

[mytipsyturvy]

Daily MCO Drink #636: BLINKER, made with 45ml Woodford Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey, 60ml grapefruit juice, 1 barspoon grenadine syrup, shaken over ice and strained. Another grapefruit drink that is actually decent, despite the addition of grenadine. (London bar Hawksmoor has another version that swaps grenadine for raspberries and simple shrup). Adapted from a recipe first published in Patrick Gavin Duffy's 1934 The Official Mixer's Manual. #dailymcodrink #mytipsyturvy #tipsyturvycocktails #tipsyturvywhisky #woodfordreserve #straightrye #ryehwiskey #whisky #whiskey https://www.instagram.com/p/CXlErLfph_n/?utm_medium=tumblr

[ganhosdoelefante]

Ficção

London, UK, 23th, January of Year Two, Quinta, Doctor. (27)

06:30 - Acordo, tomo banho e me arrumo.  07:00 - Saio para tomar café.  07:20 - Chego:  Hagen Espresso Bar (Hagen Mayfair)

Encontro JP e tomamos um café romântico juntos. 

07:45 - Nos despedimos e vamos trabalhar.  08:00 - Chego no trabalho e atendo. 

12:30 - Almoço sozinha mesmo: 

13:00 - Volto a atender.  17:00 - Saio e vou comprar choco:  Rococo Chocolates

17:10 - Vou a uma loja:  Schuller Opticians

17:20 - Outra:  ba&sh

17:30 - Vou a academia:  Core Collective

18:20 - Saio e vou ao salão do lado:  FACEGYM St John's Wood

19:30 - Vou para casa.  20:00 - Chego, tomo banho e me arrumo.  20:40 - Saio para uma noite das meninas com: Sabri, Aria, Jord, Barb e Nara.  21:00 - Chego:  Hawksmoor Air Street

Comemos super bem e conversamos muito. 

22:40 - Saímos e vamos para casa da Sabri.  22:50 - Chegamos e ficamos jogando e bebendo drinks: 

01:00 - Dormimos por lá porque Finn está viajando. 

[contractfurniturestore]

Look at these beauties! Large order of bespoke high stools, manufactured and upholstered to spec and installed at one of our favourite London hangouts! 👍🏽 #contractfurniture #restaurantfurniture #barfurniture #hotelfurniture #furniture #contract #bespoke #madeintheuk #ukmanufacturing #italy #europeansources #onlineshop #bar #restaurant #hotel #education #highstool #usa #dubai #chair #table #contractfurniturestore (at Hawksmoor)

[venetianwindow]

220116 • 11:27am ☕️

St Mary Woolnoth revisited.

I had an excuse to stay in here for an hour or two while going out on Monday. Nothing like using a Hawksmoor church as a quiet study space to work out my design portfolio.

I like this one because it’s small and compact, but still retains Hawksmoor’s signature sense of monumentality. I often forget how massive his churches are until I put myself there for scale, like the little people in a render. That palpable heaviness is a whole experience in itself.

With Woolnoth though, I also forget how dark it is - the chandelier hardly does anything to give it some light. Sit in there for too long, and you’ll find sleepiness creeping upon you, lulling you into nebulous dreams of Baroque fantasy. The only thing that keeps you grounded and awake is the bustling of the coffee bar ladies outside, only a door away but feeling like another universe.

(Also paid Bank station another visit before it closes for the much needed upgrade. I’ve been here many times but it’s the first time that I noticed the little illustration on the signage! Very cute.)

☞ studygram

[gessvhowarth]

The Best New Restaurants, Pop Ups And Bars To Try In February 2017

It's that time again... here's our pick of the best February openings. Thai treats at Farang. Hawksmoor Borough When the original Hawksmoor opened in Spitalfields in 2006, it changed the way Londoners thought about steak. Here was a restaurant serving high welfare, grass fed, properly aged beef and cooking it on a Josper grill. At the time there was nothing else like it. Now they're opening a sixth London branch, in Borough Market, within the grounds of the medieval Winchester Palace. The 160 cover restaurant is spread over two floors, with a separate private dining room and will serve all the Hawksmoor classic dishes and steaks, alongside a market specials menu. Their legendary cocktails will be available too, of course. Hawksmoor Borough, 16 Winchester Walk, SE1 9AQ. Opens: Late Feb Hawksmoor is coming to south London. Farang Ex-Smoking Goat chef Seb Holmes will be cooking at a six month residency in Highbury, in a venture that may become permanent. A sample menu includes dishes such as pork belly and lobster lon with dipping vegetables and herbs, jungle curry of fresh dayboat Cornish fish and fresh doughnuts with crab apple jam, coconut and Kaffir sugar and pandan custard. The opening represents the new wave of Thai restaurants with authentic flavours and methods that have opened up in London, such as Smoking Goat, Som Saa and Kiln. Farang, 72 Highbury Park, N5 2XE. Opens: 3 February We can't wait to tuck into the Thai food at Farang. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele Yes, you have seen this in previous months but restaurant openings are often delayed. Now they've announced an opening date of 3 February, so fingers crossed. One of Naples's most popular pizzerias is coming to Stoke Newington. The menu will be short, with just two regular pizzas (margherita and marinara) and two rotating specials, and the pizzaioli will be trained in the Naples branch before heading over. All the signs are there — this should be a very good pizzeria. Anyone got a flat to rent in Stoke Newington? L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele, 125 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0UH. Open: 3 February Some of the best pizza makers in Naples are coming to London. Untitled Famous drinks man Tony Conigliaro is to open a new bar in Hackney, called Untitled. This will be his third bar, following the award winning 69 Colebrook Row and Bar Termini in Soho. There will be 12 original cocktails available, and lots of guest cocktails and food from other local collaborators. Word is that Conigliaro has modelled the bar on Warhol's Silver Factory, which provided a creative space for artists and other creatives during the 60s. Tony hopes his space may serve the same purpose, and silver walls are included.   Untitled, 538 Kingsland Road, E8 4AH. Opens: 7 February The Other Naughty Piglet We're huge fans of the original Naughty Piglet in Brixton, and this new branch in Victoria's Other Palace Theatre promises more of the same seasonal plates and great, natural wine list. Example dishes on the menu include Devon crab, white cabbage and peanut, XO linguine, and cured egg yolk and warm chocolate mousse with ice almond milk. The venture happened because Andrew Lloyd Webber enjoyed his meal at the original restaurant so much, he suggested they take over this one. The head chef is ex-Clove Club, too (James Knowlden) so all the signs point to this being a roaring success. The Other Naughty Piglet, The Other Palace Theatre, 12 Palace Street, SW1E 5JA. Opens: 13 Feb (soft launch until 18)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/londonist/sBMe/~3/vAeikHY1qfg/the-best-new-restaurants-pop-ups-and-bars-to-try-in-february-2017

[spirited-chronicler]

HARVEY WALLBANGER JR ⠀ https://www.instagram.com/p/B99oEmmlcLR/?igshid=1obk17h33zd1g I was sad to hear that the @Hawksmoorrestaurants have closed their doors temporarily. Its another example of the global situation negatively impacting the hospitality industry. When announcing the news they thanked loyal customers for offers to buy vouchers but instead requested that smaller local outlets receive the guarantee of patronage instead. Quite the touch of class!👨‍🎓💎 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It has been a few weeks since I last visited, but that trip has influenced much of what I have mixed up in the time since. After a great night running through their Cocktails and Dreams🍹retro menu, I have enjoyed reimagining a number of other disco drinks.🍊 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My highlight from the latest menu is their take on the Harvey Wallganger, which is described as a leaner, lighter, brighter heir to the original. I enjoyed it so much that I have spent a number of weeks perfecting a mandarin shrub and infused vodka trying to recreate it. The below is in honour of their drink which will keep my thirst quenched until their doors reopen…hopefully soon. Though the Hawksmoor omits the Galliano altogether, I really do enjoy the peppermint freshenness it brings .🍃 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Harvey Wallbanger III ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🔹️Vanilla infused @reyka_vodka 30 ml 🔹️Homemade mandarin shrub 50 ml 🔹️Lemon 17.5 ml 🔹️Simple syrup 5 ml 🔹️Soda 30 ml 🔹️(Optional bsp Galliano L'Autentico) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Shake first four ingredients with ice and pour over clear block ice sandwiched between two slices of orange. Top with soda. Optionally then float a bar spoon of Galliano. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #cheers 🥂! #vodka #friyay #classic #cocktails #cocktail #drinks #drinkup #mixology #mixologist #fresh #hospitality #friday #friyay #weekend #weekendvibes #barfamily #barculture #liqpic #drinkoftheday #instadrink #happyhour #craftcocktail #cocktailgram #drink #thirsty #london #bartending #igdaily #drinkinourhistory (at London, United Kingdom)

[hodgman]

Witchside at the bar. (at Hawksmoor)

[traveladikkt]

Hawksmoor Spitalfields Bar | ADIKKT #travel #beautifuldestination #travelgram #traveladdict #bestvacations #amazingplaces #travelblogger #travels #travelphotography #solotravel #luxuryhotel #travelgirls #beautifuldestinations #travelblog #traveladikkt

[southamptonbookclub]

2020 Meeting Schedule

Thursday 30 January Book: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Thursday 27 February Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Thursday 26 March Book: Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas

Thursday 30 April Book: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Thursday 28 May Book: Hawksmoor by Peter Akroyd

Thursday 25 June Book: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Thursday 30 July Book: "Tower of Babylon", ", "Story of Your Life" and "Hell is the Absence of God" from Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

Thursday 27 August Book: Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

Thursday 24 September Book: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Thursday 29 October Book: Fledgling by Octavia E Butler

Thursday 26 November Book: Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor

Thursday 17 December Book: The Christmas Truce by Carol Ann Duffy

We normally meet from 7.30 - 9pm at:

the front bar at The Blue Keys Hotel, 82 Northlands Road, SO15 2LH.

During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown we are meeting virtually using Microsoft Teams.

Please check the above details with us before attending.

Email: southamptonbookclub@gmail.com