Generally speaking, it’s my golden rule to let London be. To talk it up. To represent. I’m a diehard Londoner. I was born and raised here, but I am also someone who lived abroad for eight years on a permanently sunny coastline with orange trees in my back yard. I could have stayed, but I came back.
I am aware of its faults. The crowded tubes, the impossible prices, the oppressive fog of grey that we are forced to call a morning… Yet overall, my philosophy is don’t trash the place you live. It makes for bad juju.
But whilst I can ignore much, there’s something that has been bothering me. It’s London’s advertising. Every mad-dash on the underground comes with a side of basically-naked Kylie Jenners posing, billboard after bloody billboard, in the same picture for Acne. Every single square inch of the underground is hung with shouting slogans. The relentless flash of moving screens in public places like Piccadilly does not make me awe the power of technology. It depresses me. I am being force-fed.
Even more so online. Interactions are interspersed with videos. Conversations are bookended with smiling avatars offering me discounts, and Youtube has become unwatchable. I’m so tired of being over-stimulated by the scream of advertising; it is as relentless as an unwanted houseguest who needs you to pay their gambling debts.
And now, prepare yourselves, because my next sally will feel a little hypocritical. I am going to try and sell you something. I better make that clear straightaway. Although all I’m really going to try and sell is LONDNR, which hopefully, if you’re here in the first place, you won’t hate too much.
The thing about LONDNR is that we don’t hound our readers. Our website is 100% advert free, so that you can read in peace without a million noisy pop-ups. We do this on purpose. We also take the minimum amount of advertising in our print issues, so as not to distract from our lovingly crafted articles. We do this to the detriment to our bank balance. We want want to be a little sanctuary for your brain in this mad world.
Now if you’re at all interested in supporting such a mission, please consider subscribing either to this newsletter, or to the print. If you already subscribe, perhaps it could make an intellectually meaty but inexpensive gift for a loved one?
This will not only help keep us in gin and ribbons, so to speak, but will give me the satisfaction of knowing that one can market a product without stripping female celebrities down to their frillies.
This week for our London guide, Christopher recommends:
Restaurant Review: Fish Game, at Canary Wharf
“I was told as a kid ‘only boring people become bored’. So, in a bid to escape the middle-aged dinner parties (at which the only adrenaline rush is the constant fear I’m about to stumble into a keys-in-a-fishbowl scenario), I resolved to find new entertainment.
And thus, wearied, tentative, but hopeful, I alighted at the brightly lit portal of the restaurant Fish Game. Their tagline runs, ‘inspired by the flame’. Seemed perfect for someone seeking a creative spark and divine inspiration...” READ THE REST
Women in Revolt!: Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990, at Tate Britain
“Tate Britain's latest exhibition delivers a resounding feminist blow to the mainstream, patriarchal art world, in both scope and impact. Spanning from 1970 to 1990, this comprehensive exploration delves deeply into all dimensions of femininity. The voices of everyday women are unearthed. They speak of rebellion, strength, and survival...” READ THE REST
Read more reviews of exhibitions, restaurants, bars, theatre shows, and little-known city sights on THE WEEKLY MUSE.
Finally, should you want to drink till the billboards blurs, here’s our wine of the week. Provided by Amelia Singer, an award-winning wine educator and guru. She’s recently launched the podcast: ‘Ameliarate through Wine’. If you want to hear sparkling conversations that weave wine into high & low culture, check it out.
P.s. I’m happy to report we were not paid to say this. We just think she’s wonderful.