coolography

1extra presents john legend

Posted on: 30 October 2008

A few weeks back London’s Bloomsbury Ballroom was revealed as the location of John Legend’s secret concert for BBC’s 1Extra. A select few competition winners and industry heads queued round the block, eagerly awaiting a rare and intimate performance from the award winning singer/songwriter. Having previously performed solo for 1Extra at the Jazz cafe before he made real chart success, it was interesting to see how much had changed since then. Legend, in his last appearance was accompanied simply by his voice and a piano; now he was joined by a live band and a trio of backing singers. continue reading »

jason hawkes’ london from above

Posted on: 29 October 2008

Having found a renewed appreciation for the streets of London Town courtesy of street view mapping utility seety (see our previous post), we exhausted our worm’s eye view and stumbled across something far more bird-like. continue reading »

mackage ‘neil’

Posted on: 28 October 2008

As the weather takes a turn for the worse, thoughts turn to warmer climes. But for most of us, the best we can muster is an updated wardrobe for warmer wear. Mackage has a 3/4 length wool coat that is perfect for the cold weather, both keeping you warm and looking stylish at the same time. continue reading »

XO

Posted on: 27 October 2008

Tucked away in a side road off Haverstock Hill, XO restaurant in Belsize Park is perhaps not the best location to be navigating to on a dark and rainy autumn night. However the venue itself is warm and inviting and a perfect sanctuary from the elements. Softly lit and with a homely, modern decor, XO attracts a quietly sophisticated and well heeled crowd. Coats and umbrellas were taken, seats acquired, then menu perusal began.

Offering a relatively small selection of modern pan-asian cuisine, we still felt quite spoilt for choice. Tuna and salmon sashimi were no-brainers for sushi aficionados such as ourselves, and, as requested, was the first starter to arrive. Immaculately presented on a bowl of ice, we were initially swayed by style over substance. Sadly the presentation ensured that the fish was chilled to the point where it numbed the tongue and all flavour was lost. Desirable perhaps for a cheap lager, but not necessarily for sashimi at just over a pound per slice.

continue reading »

seety.co.uk

Posted on: 26 October 2008

For the curious, voyeuristic, or simply agoraphobic, Google’s streetview expanded a hundredfold the level of detail (or creepiness) of exploration offered by Google Maps. Streetview camera vehicles patrolled neighbourhoods and cities mapping in extraordinary detail panoramic views at street level. Previously, streetview availability was limited to certain locales in North America, Japan, and Europe. No mean feat, however, when taking into account the gargantuan effort to map 360 degree images over thousands of kilometres worth of streets.

To aid in this effort, arrives a new player, seety.co.uk. Aside from it’s groan inducing pun of a name, seety does nothing but impress. Taking it upon themselves to map the entirety of central London (so far, over 1000km mapped over a total of 171,103 images), probably the greatest achievement of seety so far has been to capture the often dreary London Town in a perpetually sunny state.

With a highly intuitive street view navigation integrated into the Google Maps interface, seety.co.uk provides and easy and addictive way to explore sites both new and old.

seety.co.uk