Jan Nieupjur writes on Student Demonstration.

Due to the ill health of this blogger Jan Nieupjur is guesting today. As I have previously stated,  his views and mine are not necessarily the same:

A number of youths sit in a central London pub.

Youth #1: "Let's pretend to be outraged by government policy and go to the demo. See if we can wind the police up enough to get them on the attack".

Youth#2: "Yeah".

Youth #3: "Power to the people, right on".

Cut to:  Some time later on the street: youth #1 is sitting in the road with a look of outrage on his face holding a Che Guevara bandana to a scratch on his forehead.

Youth#1: "Fucking monstrous. That copper hit me. It's not fair".

Youth #2: "Yeah".

youth #3: "I'm telling my mum".


Listen... If you go to the barricades you must expect the worst. You must have no consideration for your own safety (bloody hell! Liberty got her kit off for the cause). You are there to abuse authority and authority has as much right to freedom of action as you do.

Stop fucking whining!

Within a collective action the acts of each individual represents the whole; if one idiot is balaclava'd up and gratuitously smashing a window then you are, by being there, all part of it. Expect to get hurt.

Of course you have the right to voice your convictions but the bloke in the uniform you are lobbing bricks at has an equal right and might to over-react and smack you on the head with a truncheon.

If your mum had any sense (and wasn't down the pub) she would clip you round the ear and send you to bed without your beans on toast and with a copy of 'A Tale of Two Cities'.

I was interested to see that the Press snappers were doing most of the 'egging on' as usual.

Jane Bussman, The Young Satellites and Rose Royce.

Last night saw me off To the opening of the 'Young Satellites' exhibition at the Atom Rooms at the top end of Portobello. A great little gallery presenting a collection of very, very good, young (and I mean young) photographers.  Go and see this if only to reaffirm the fact that YES photography is ART... And in this case, good Art.

Then to the Tabernacle for Jane Bussman's one woman show... I was expecting a shaggy dog story. We got a dodgy shag story... Despite the technical glitches she did it well if perhaps a tad overlong.

In the bar during the interval I learnt that Gwen Dickey (the voice of Rose Royce) is performing at the Cobden Club on Thursday night.  Got to go and see that.

Portobello Road: Spectrum. Cool baby.

This is from A facebook group well worth visiting if you are interested in the area...



Spectrum: Portobello road from Brian Jones on Vimeo.

The Young Satellites

Ladbroke Grove between the 50's & 70's.

Brian Nevill has started a goup thing on facebook looking back at the area, the people and the music of those times... It is early days for the site but will be well worth a look for the remeniscences as well as the images....

Click HERE for the link.

Gallery 'pop up' in Cafe Ravenous, Portobello Road.

Some sort of Phoenix is rising, albeit temporarily, from the ashes of the notorious Cafe Ravenous. Sabrina Rowan Hamilton and others are running a pop up gallery from Thursday until the 24th... 


Art, chai and cupcakes, among other things, replacing iniquity (I am informed) plus more than likely a ghost of the  mayhem of old will put in an appearance. 

David miles
Sabrina Rowan Hamilton
Luke Dickinson
will be popping up an exhibition stroke cafe
where you can drink chai and fairy cakes or buy art
at (bargain basement clear out the studio time prices)
its christmas time



Times and info HERE

Murray Lachlan Young's TMS Ashes Poem

Morganne. My favourite star from the West.

Naughty and Nice,Tabernacle, Paradise Point, the Island experiment, Blair and very naughty at Maison Du Chien.

Ok. Friday night. Cold but not too cold to get up the road to Naughty and Nice at the Tabernacle; a party put on in order to collect toys for needy children at this time of year.  The toys go to kids in hostels for Women suffering from domestic violence. Please check out the web site.http://www.naughtyornice.org.uk/ and make a donation.

the Tabernacle in winter begins to look less like a church and more like a place to party. First up were 'Paradise Point'; a young and I understand unsigned band that will not remain so for much longer; A bunch of (all importantly) cool looking guys who are happy to put on a performance with some great up beat songs - a very pleasant change from the usual 'blokes with beards and guitars singing about dead things'- there was joy in the room.  A celebrity dad in the audience seemed pleased even though there was a technical hitch or two. A great new band. check them out.


Wade and his Island Experiment crew brought his blend of bonkers somewhere south of the borders madness followed by Blair.

I'd never heard of Blair... I have now.  check him out too!

I popped into Maison Du Chien on the way home (this is why I love Notting Hill, it really is on my way home) and took in some of Mat's Cabaret du Jour: in this case a brilliant New Yorker called Sxip Shirey with a bizarre musical act that needs to be seen and heard to be believed, followed by a 'fan dance' that decency does not allow me to describe... Fantastic. (Oops a pun). Hopefully these acts will be performing at Medium Rare at Christmas.  Medium Rare is Mat's Big thing, I'm going!  A free entry to the first person to ask. email me.

Trouble with the Muse.

I'm not having much luck with the Muse these days. The last one was definitely less than the sum of her parts.

Jan 'phoned from Antwerp suggesting I stick to painting by numbers in future.

I told him I was feeling pretty numb as it was but that is probably down to my new tipple; a splash of Jack Daniels in a glass of fizzy white...

I've turned to Art again, putting together a piece incorporating the most dangerous toothbrush in London alongside a portrait of the Virgin Mary.

The toothbrush is yellow!  http://virtualfactoryone.blogspot.com/2010/12/most-dangerous-toothbrush-in-london.html

The Lexi Cinema and Sally Wilton.

I didn't know too much about the Lexi until I read this in the FT

Star of the green screen

By Penny Wark

Published: December 3 2010 22:09 | Last updated: December 3 2010 22:09

Grounded: Sally Wilton with Lickers the cat

:We all make assumptions, and one of mine is that if an entrepreneur has sold a business for £21m she will live in

a swanky house. So why am I standing outside a pleasant but ordinary Edwardian end terrace in London’s Kensal Rise?

The clue is in the shy woman who opens the door, and the quirky building a few hundred yards away that announces on 

its front wall, “I AM CINEMA, LOVE ME”. This is The Lexi cinema, a thriving art house centre that serves as a focus for the

 community around it, and sends its profits to Lynedoch, an eco village in South Africa. Sally Wilton is the chief executive, 

although these days she works for nothing. Or at least not for personal gain. READ MORE

Ethically fabulous in Nottingt Hill.

Ethical Just Got Fabulous

Get Christmas wrapped up early with Ethical Just Got Fabulous

Magic 105.4 has joined forces with Ethical Just Got Fabulous to host the first ethical pop-up department store in Britain. Held in Notting Hill’s glamorous 20th Century Theatre over Saturday 4 – Sunday 5 December, Ethical Just Got Fabulous’s unique event will feature A-list stars and boutique brands, including Livia Firth of Eco-Age and award-winning designer Izzy Lane.

Shoppers will be able to browse a unique selection of gifts, as well as clothing, accessories, homewares, jewellery and handpicked stocking fillers. Visitors will be treated to live jazz, mulled wine and a raffle for a chance to win a Fabulous Christmas Hamper worth £1,000. Proceeds from the raffle will go directly to Magic 105.4’s Cash for Kids, find out more here.

Showcasing the very best ethical brands that embody both fair trade principles and essential style, doors open on Saturday 4th December 10am - 6pm and Sunday 5th December 11am – 5pm and it's free entry for all. So why not pop down and get Christmas wrapped up the fabulous way!

For more information click HERE

Click