BACK W/ A BANG!!!

It was a lovely holiday in Canada visiting friends and family, but I'm glad to be back.

I started off visiting an Icebar with Emilia, during a random wander in Soho.
She had just returned from seeing family in Finland and I from frosty Canada.
So the Icebar was kind of a funny place for us to end up. It was -5 inside and we were given space like pullovers with fur lined hoods and elasti-tached mittens to stay warm.




The day after Yunnie, Emmi and I went to the Clink Prison Museum.

On the walk...


Here's some info from Wikipedia:

"The Clink was a notorious prison in Southwark, England which functioned from the 12th century until 1780 either deriving its name from, or bestowing it on, the local manor, the Clink Liberty (see also the Liberty of the Clink). The manor and prison were owned by the Bishop of Winchester and situated next to his residence at Winchester Palace.

It was originally used for the detention of religious non-conformists (both Protestant and Catholic, as English religious winds changed). At one point the Clink was reserved for priests who refused the Oath of Allegiance, but came to be used for people who broke the peace on Bankside or in Southwark's numerous brothels. The prison probably fell into disuse after the English Civil War, though it was described in 1761 as being "a very dismal hole where debtors are sometimes confined, but little used". The Clink was burned down during the Gordon Riots of 1780 and never rebuilt.

The name of the Clink is the origin of the phrase "in the clink" (meaning "in prison"). The origins of the name are uncertain, but it may have been an example of onomatopoeia, referring to the sound made either by the prison's metal doors as they closed, or the chains the prisoners wore. The Clink Prison Museum is currently located on the original site in Clink Street, in the basement of a former warehouse. The Clink Prison was the first prison in which women were regularly confined."

It was quite tiny and very eerie - dark and smelly!

Not sure how this shot happened!

Methods of deciding who was guilty back in the day...

Check out this hot prisoner broad!

Yunnie checking things out in the Clink

Yunnie being whipped by Emilia as they used to attached to this device back in the day.

Sitting in the torture chair... eeeee!

This dude is looking a little roughed up!

Sometimes the prisoners ate Rats because they were so hungry! If they ran out of money, since they had to pay for their accommodation/food.

The execution belt.. wouldn't want to have that thing strapped around me!

"Off goes her head" Yunnie chopping me up on the cutting block.

Next we walked along to the Borough Market, full all kinds of fresh goodies! Some scenery on the way:

Looking at the end of the Green Market

Fish, bleh!!!

After my raving about sourdough bread Yunnie was curious... so we both bought loaves!

Mmmmushrooms!

The Green Market. I spotted a hummus stand with crazy flavours of hummus, including Beetroot! What's with these Brits and beetroot. I ran into Elle MacPherson at Wholefoods looking for some beets the other day.

Emilia decided to purchase some Baileys cheesecake with a brownie base. Mmmm.. too bad it wasn't vegan.

The holidays are here!!!

The Christmas spirit is dangling about all over London.......well mostly amongst the popular shopping areas like Soho/Mayfair.

Lights, lights and more lights plus giant inflatable snowmen are (personally) a better alternative to snow for putting shoppers in the mood for the holiday season.



Yunnie and I went to visit our favourite festive sight - the jolly snowmen. Conveniently located beside Liberty, the ultimate one-stop posh shopping destination.



I had never been to the top two floors, which I discovered contained absolutely anything you desired, including an empty ostrich egg shell (?!?!?!). On the top floor was a fabric department, stocked with the most beautiful fabrics I have ever seen! Really makes me wish I had a sewing machine.... and millions of dollars. When we went in, it was light outside and when we emerged it was pitch black! That gives you an idea of how long it takes to really give this shop a thorough perusal.

Above: Carnaby St
Below: Liberty at night


One last pic of the jolly snowman... I really love him!

EXPERIMENTAL ART

More fun experimenting with artistic processes! The first one really worked, but the second not so much!

XMAS MADNESS!

Regent St was turned into a giant pedestrian walkway this weekend.. the Christmas craziness is at full throttle in London! It was not easy making my way through this crowd!

PHOTOGRAPHY!!!

It was like taking a trip back to high school during the photography unit.
We were unleashed into the city to capture "colour" on black and white film... not the true stuff, but the kind that you can develop using colour processing (C41). I had always avoided that type of film, assuming the results would not be as authentic. Antique (Asahi Pentax k1000 c1960) cameras were distributed with only a standard lens - no zoom!

The photographing day was great, luckily it wasn't raining, just cold + I had a partner whose graphic work I admired, so I knew our photographs (we shared one camera) would be brilliant.

I think our footprints pretty well covered central London. Then there was the unfamiliar suspense (due to modern technology - digital cameras) of whether the film would turn out okay or not. I even had a nightmare that evening after discovering our settings were a bit off from that our film was indiscernable.

The next day we spent in the darkroom, making contact sheets and prints. Despite the lengthy procedure, I got quite a thrill out of revisiting the experience.


Above: our contact sheet.
Below: our prints!

I AM A SAFETY HAZARD

Just thought I would share my idiotic near death experience with you, incase like me, you are unaware of the dangers of electrical appliances.

After having 2 fridges in my flat for weeks and being unable to find the plug for the old fridge (located somewhere behind the counter - or so I thought), I decided to cut the power cord with scissors.

I had no idea of the risk I was taking until a flame shot out of the cord and I lost power. Scary stuff. I flipped the breaker back on, not realizing I had a live wire sticking out from behind the new fridge. I rang the electrician emergency hotline, who was very discouraging after the fellow called me crazy under his breath. Apparently even the fire department in London was amazed I didn't receive a massive shock or electrocute myself.

Anyway, thanks to my family's aid and discovering the outlet buried at the back of the inside a cupboard, I was able to remove the wire (with the breaker turned OFF). Let my stupidity be a lesson kids!!!