signs behind the times

An Angel in Soho

2006-07-15T23:46:00.000+01:00

Some new additions. Most of these are in Soho.

This one reminds me of Habermas' Public Sphere. See what they've done to me?

And a new favorite!

Oxford Street

2006-07-01T21:23:00.000+01:00

Oxford street is one of London's main shopping arteries. For London, it's a very wide street, full of buses (often stuck in traffic) and bemused shoppers. I usually try to avoid it.

Now here's a palace of consumerism: mighty Selfridge and Co. (more ministry than department store!)

Of course Oxford Street also has its good moments...

Jesus of the Urinals

2006-06-24T22:46:00.000+01:00

Brazilian music in the bar and....

More Pubs

2006-06-17T23:12:00.000+01:00

The pubs follow the order of my walk to campus. Here is the sign for "The Lamb". It's by far my favorite pub in London--mostly because it's 250 years old and has great dark corners to hide in. There are also no televisions (a creeping plague spreading throughout London's pubs). Perhaps we'll go for a tour inside at some point.

Next we come to a pub with a fabulous name (but not a place that I actually go). It's just reassuring to walk past it.

A bit of Florida on a land-locked street:

Wine bars are apparently the sophisticated alternative to pubs. This place is quite near Gray's Inn...

And so we arrive on the LSE campus...at one of the three campus pubs. I know absolutely nothing about George IV, or why the LSE decided to buy this particular pub. But he looks like a nice guy, doesn't he?

Highgate Cemetery

2006-06-16T00:49:00.000+01:00

I went to Highgate Cemetery early in the year, but I just found these pictures now. The Cemetery's most famous permanent resident is Karl Marx (the photo is too blurry to really make out the features on his giant head). Around Marx are all kinds of socialist leaders (or at least devotees) who wanted to be buried quite literally in his shadow.

I thought this other grave was a beautiful example for the possibilities of interfaith marriages. Each tradition respected but neither compromised.

Beautiful Chelsea

2006-06-14T00:53:00.000+01:00

I went to Chelsea looking for the Physic Garden. Apparently, the buildings on one side and river on the other create a microclimate that allows semi-tropical plants to survive outside all year. The garden was unfortunately closed, but I did find some flowers on a wall and an incredible set of doors:

What do you think they mean by this?

2006-06-12T23:47:00.000+01:00

On the bus

2006-06-12T23:32:00.000+01:00

So, I thought I might discover signs while riding on the bus.

It's the best cheap entertainment in London--and the height of the second floor gives an interesting perspective. But it moves too fast to compose the pictures well.

So perhaps I will call them abstract.

Summer (wish you were here)

2006-06-12T00:17:00.000+01:00

"To Know the causes of things"

2006-06-11T23:59:00.000+01:00

The LSE has several signs:

A Beaver (industrious, I suppose).

Some glass frosting.

And its disembodied acronym.

But it's the people that count!

The sign maker

2006-06-11T23:52:00.000+01:00

I don't think they craft the pub signs, but the shop is just around the corner from my flat.

small pub collection

2006-06-11T22:22:00.000+01:00

I've always wondered how these pubs got their names.

I've seen old maps that show most of greater London as just scattered villages.

Some of the more ancient pubs appear as inns at the crossroads.

a favorite

2006-06-11T22:16:00.000+01:00

this might be hard to see...winter was terrible for the light: The Hope!

the ship coming to the rescue is over-exposed...but it's there.

Signs

2006-03-03T13:05:00.000Z

I've started a collection of London signs....

old pub signs

odds and ends

and other things that caught my eye.

Now, to set the scene:

(this is the view from the coffee shop on the 5th floor of the Tate Modern. St. Paul's and The City)