Today I found a new way to challenge my London knowledge, which was a map of Zone One of the London Underground without any of the station names. You have 10 minutes to type as many of the station names as you can remember and watch as your answers get added to the map. I managed 52 out of the 63 stations which I was fairly happy with, but still had to kick myself when I saw the ones I’d missed. It instantly highlights the parts of London you never visit, for me there was a huge empty space in south West London which I had no idea about. Have a go yourself at www.sporcle.com/games/londontubecentral.php and see if you do better than 52…
It reminded me of a simliar game, with the same concept but on a much larger scale. At travelpod they have a flash game where you must place a flag on the map of the world to mark the location of cities and famous places with points are awarded for speed and accuracy. There are 12 levels of difficulty with cities becoming more and more obscure as you progress. Give it your best flag at www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq. Unfortunately I didn’t make the 30,000 threshold to get past level 6, I’m sure you can do better!
This is a great video, i know I take a lot of pictures but the work that went into this is astonishing.
London (harder, better, faster, stronger) from David Hubert on Vimeo.
An excellent example of a company jumping on the latest technology bandwagon to promote something completely unrelated.
I guess they wouldn’t do it if people didn’t buy it.
I am undeniably a fan of Bond films, and particularly of the new direction they have taken with Daniel Craig. Although the next film isn’t due for release until November there is a teaser trailer online already. Enjoy. Even if it is called “Quantum of Solace”.
***UPDATE***
The trailer has made it to YouTube now:
Last night I was shopping for a present for a good friend of mine at work who’s leaving this week. As they commute long stretches of the tube each day I decided what they would most like to receive as a leaving present would be An Illustrated Guide to the Piccadilly Line (and a wodge of topshop vouchers and some other stuff, we’re not complete bastards).
It turns out the London Transport Museum has a very impressive library of books on everything tube and train related, and it doesn’t stop there, they have a decent sized display devoted to DVDs. What particularly caught my eye was the series of “Driver eye view” films for each of the tube lines, with a running commentary of dark tunnel followed by dark tunnel of tube track. Now that is a niche market, and they’re got it fully covered. Don’t tell Gorden Brown though or he’ll ban them for being a terrorist threat.
On my way to Covent Garden I also noticed a very nice looking whisky shop which I had a quick look in on. Whisky was stacked floor to ceiling and it reminded me of a cachaca shop in Paraty ‘d been to. In a complete coincidence the London Daily Photo site features the same whisky shop in today’s photo. Which is nice.
I like taking pictures and I’m not fussy about what I take pictures of. But I hear more and more about people who are very fussy and claim that it’s against the law. There’s been a few cases recently – The Register have just published a piece on the problems photographers face – having film removed from cameras, memory cards taken, threats to confiscate equipment – which paints a worrying picture. They also follow it up with some useful advice on what the law actually says about taking pictures (So, what can you photograph?).
This issue was raised earlier in the year by The Online Photographer who shows a great clip about restrictions on film and photography, including a film maker being stopped at Oxford Circus by two community support officers and questioned aggressively with no reason what so ever.
And it’s not just in the UK. DCist and The Online photographer both picked up a comical story of the Head of Cumminications of Union Station being stopped from conducting a TV interview. An interview where he was trying to report that there was nothing wrong with filming or taking pictures in the station.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUsNQkV6o04]
Taking Liberties is released June 8th.
More at: www.takingliberties.com
I was reminded of this Trigger Happy TV sketch this morning:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRyuisjvP00]
