Star Log Entry 12: Sculpture in the City, Notting Hill Carnival and POP! She-Hulk

Sculpture in the City

I always look forwards to seeing new sculptures appear in the City on a annual basis which gives a perfect opportunity to explore the architecture against the new crop of sculptures created by artists around the world. It's more perfect on the weekend, when the City workers have their days off leaving a quiet haven to do some exploring. Blog post coming soon!

Notting Hill Carnival

I was planning to go to the Notting Hill Carnival with my sis Ann on Sunday but looking at the weather, it seemed that the rain may put a stop to the plans.

On the day though, the rain wasn't that bad - a little rain never hurt anybody (but a lot can kill ya)! Instinctly, I texted my sis to tell her it's back on and naturally she texted me an hour later to say she'll be there in 2 hours. As much as I would love to see her, ain't anybody got time for that!

The rain most certainly didn't dampen any spirits as the Carnival was in full swing in every direction with music blaring from multiple speakers and people dancin' in the streets. It's the busiest I've ever seen so far in the years I've attended and the atmosphere most certainly captures why as it brings a community together to celebrate a culture that thrives on being alive.

POP! She-Hulk

I didn't even know that Funko had release a POP! Vinyl She-Hulk until Ed and I spotted it in Forbidden Planet. I fell in love at first sight as I simply marvelled at the sculpted beauty of the bobble-head. Ed got for me as a gift for getting my new job and he knew I am HUGE fan of She-Hulk. I just became a giddy fan boy as I bounced with it all the way home with it. At the back of the box shows that Doctor Strange comes part of the same wave so will get that next time I see it at Forbidden Planet or may just get it at the London Film and Comic Con or the MCM Comic Con as they usually pretty well stocked with all walks of POP! Vinyls.

Star Log Entry 11: Spotlight and Luna

Saturday saw the return of the Spotlight Festival to Seven Dials with a day of fashion, lifestyle, dining, art and performances. Ed and I headed down to enjoy what was on offer in enjoying art made of fruit and live performances.

We took to drawing cats on a collaborative piece branching off Seven Dials. Ed’s the first one and the second mine. Take your pick as to who’s the best cat drawer!

Today, saw a return of a family friend’s cat Luna who will be with us for the 8 weeks. She’s so cute!

Tech Talk: Windows 10 - introduction

Windows 10 is the last iteration in the line of operating systems having come off the moderately received Windows 8, which I really liked a lot. It brings together the best of two worlds with the functionality and familiarality of Windows 7 while taking the touch-friendliness of Windows 8. It also brings forward a plethora of new features with a big bag in the “continuum" – the ability to use the operating system across different devices such as desktop, mobile devices and tablets, with options to synchronise.

It introduces a lot of new snazzy features such as Cortana for desktop, Windows Hello (new option for signing in to devices), Start menu (back in with the old and new) and a new browser found in Edge.

Microsoft wanted to get this just right with pre and post-testing phases with a total of 25 PC builds used for testing and feedback as well as 16 mobile builds for participants of the Windows Insider Program. This is the highest number of engagement of participants used for any Microsoft operating system.

I can’t wait to delve into Windows 10 in future blog posts so which this space!

Star Log Entry 10: Magnum Summer Streets, Busk in London and BFG Trail

Busk in London Festival 2016

Busk in London was launched in 2015 by the Mayor of London as a staple of street performances known as “busking” founded on the value of easily finding talent across London and as a way to cultivate the talent.

This year’s event actually became the world’s first International Busking Day on Saturday 23 July over the weekend with events across 100 locations around the world. The first day was to see all performances of visual arts, music and all different variety acts. A lot in store for the day. The day after, I went to see my sis who was working on the day rallying people to become creative materials at hand.        

Regent Street – Summer Streets: Fashion with Magnum

Last week of Summer Streets with Magnum! Didn’t see much fashion-y stuff lined up on Regent Street and noticed only one catwalk installed while most of the street were free ice cream stalls.

There were huge queue galore for the ice cream and a lady actually joined me at the back and asked if this was a line for the ice cream to which I replied it as. I joked that it was quite a queue to which she agreed. She mentioned Ben and Jerry’s doing a trip around giving out free ice cream which I’m gonna have to look up as I love me some ice cream. I got my hand on Magnum’s new peanut butter ice cream with the lady going for the same. I was quite satisfied with what I got without heading into sugar rush but she went back for seconds which was quite admirable.

The BFG Trail

For the past week or so, I’ve been doing the BFG Trail which was slightly hella annoying as some were temporarily moved to Leicester Square for the premiere of the film. With more insult to the wound, some were temporarily removed due to damage. Talk about respect! I know that some people may want to stand on the sculptures but they have to consider that a lot of hard work did go into making these sculptures and the money made from the proceeds of the sculptures go to charity. If they go out of play, people won’t get to see these sculptures and more money is pumped into repairing them. That’s why I always make sure if I do see someone stand on them that I tell them to get off as a way to respect the property.

The BFG Trail blog posts are coming soon so watch this space!

Tech Talk: Windows 8.1 - Apps

With the introduction of Windows 8 comes apps which is not to be confused with the traditional applications found on desktops but rather one that opens up to the whole screen or a module of the screen in a “metro” style.

Apps can be accessed from the Start Screen or the Apps View on Windows 8.1 and can be “snapped” side by side or take up the whole screen. Apps can be downloaded from the App Store. To close the app, either go to the top-right of the screen and hover until an “x” for closing the app pops up or swipe from the top of the screen and head down to the bottom of the screen.

In the Charms bar, the options would be tailored to that specific app.

Jonathan Kennedy Enyim-Otebil & How About Studio - Artic Love, Just You and Me

With over 100 applicants for the Design Challenge, Jonathan Kennedy Enyim-Otebil was chosen as the winner and is exhibited as part of the Festival of Love. The work is being displayed from 9 July to 30 September 2016.

Situated in Southbank Centre Square, the work brings up ideas of love, friendship and sustainability as inspired an image of two polar bears to form a pavillion. The work includes braille for the enjoyment of visitors. The pavilion forms a canopy of two abstract polar bears.

The work was brought to life with Nick Wood from How About Studio to bring together the designs from the proposal into reality.

Star Log Entry 9: London Pride, Ghostbusters and Summer Streets

London Pride

It’s my first year being a senior steward at Trafalgar Square seeing that I’ve done general stewarding for the previous 4 years and this was a chance for me to push myself that extra mile to see what I was capable of. I had an absolute brilliant team this year with everyone doing a super long shift from 11am to 8pm, marking the first year I’ve been in a team that did not have team members leave, which I was absolutely proud of. They all done a damn good job at it!

A lot of care and work is needed to put into events which I didn’t realise when I was stewarding generally. But I guess it is because it is in light of recent events such as Brexit that the level of rowdiness may have increased.

This year’s pride fell on the Orlando shooting with many tributes and talks focussing on universally bringing the love and support on the tragedy. 2 minute silence was held out of respect for the victims and their loved ones.

Ghostbusters

My sister Ann invited me to go watch Ghostbusters with her. It was an early preview and e-mail stated we had to be there at 3:45pm as film is to promptly at 4pm with no advertisements shown. She was late as she forgot to bring her glasses with her. By the time she arrived, it was 4pm and I texted her beforehand that we can go somewhere to sit down and have a chit chat if she was late. But I thought it was very much worth asking anyway and the film didn’t even start! They were still letting people in halfway through the film so I’m guessing we were more than fine anyway.

The film was one hell of a film and my sister and I just looked at each other once the credits started rolling nodding to acknowledge what good of a film it was. You can read my RE:VIEW I did of the film earlier in the week.

Asides from that, Ghostbusters took over Waterloo Station with slime coming down from the ceiling and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man coming up from the ground.

Summer Streets 2016

It’s that time of the year again with Sundays of July blocked off from traffic to bring Summer Street to Regent Street. This year so far brings “Transport by Design”, “Health and Lifestyle” and “Garden Party”.

The City Centre: Rebecca Louise Law - City Garden

The City Garden is a floral installation held at the City Centre at the Guildhall. Working together in partnership is the City of London Corporation and artist Rebecca Louise Law to create this installation. It forms as part of the first public art installation at the City Centre. The exhibition is sponsored by The London Wall Place Partnership. The exhibitions runs from 23 April to 25 September 2016.

34 gardens in the City were used to garner the 33,000 flowers used for the exhibition and was inspired by the 200 open spaces in London. The space occupies that were installed fresh and kept up with entwined copper wires. The installation is accompanied by 2 films.

Apart from triggering my hay fever in sneezing several times, I could not help but marvel at the beauty of the natural process of it withering away as it dries out and preserves. I couldn’t say whether all the 33,000 were intact but it did look slightly more depleted to images I’ve seen of it beforehand. Funnily enough, Ed who came with me recognised the artist as being one of his friend’s friend.

There is an app available that has a trail of all the 34 gardens with information on each one. The app is available on Apple App Store.

The following are images taken on 16th July 2016:

Edward Onslow Ford - Rowland Hill

Rowland Hill is well known for his work in campaigning for a proposed system of a postal rates that were low and fair as well as prepaid postage stamps with the latter being shunned by the Parliament. His work is well recognised that one of his statue stands at King Edward Street.

The statue created by Edward Onslow Ford was made in 1884 (and 1881). The statue itself is made of bronze and the base of Peterhead granite. It features Hill facing the East dressed in contemporary garments as he holds a pen and pocketbook. On the side of the step that Hill stands on, it features the founders H Young & Co as well as on the other side, Ford’s signature.

It is also one of the “Talking Statues”, a series of statues that speak once tapped with compatible technology. The spoken words were written by Colette Hiller and the words animated by Alan Johnson. You can head down and tap using NFC technology, scan the QR code or type the URL into the phone web browser. You can receive your call from Rowland Hill by typing speak2.co/hill in the web browser of your phone.

"I think it’s a tremendous idea for these august people, whose statues are placed all around London, to suddenly come to life, to actually hear their story and I’m so pleased to do it with Rowland Hill, one of my heroes as a former postman.” - Alan Johnson