Upstream

In the oil business “upstream” is the jargon for exploration and production, “downstream” is refining and “midstream” something in the middle, namely transportation. Living near the Thames I use “upstream” more literally.

Blue Plaque

Blue plaque is not something that stains your teeth if you are a Conservative. It is a commemorative plaque put on the outside of a house in London that has been lived in by someone distinguished.

Tam-Tam Time

Tuesday evening was the first night of Opera Holland Park’s season. They put on Iris, a rarely performed opera by Pietro Mascagni – who is better known for Cavalleria Rusticana.

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Categorised as Music

Travelling Back in Time

  The London tube map no longer has Heathrow Terminal 1. I was surprised as I’d forgotten that it closed last June. From 1968 – 1972 I used it at least six times a year, so remember it pretty well in its early days; it opened in 1968.

Christopher’s Diary

I thought you might like to catch up on what I’ve been up to. If not, you’d better come back tomorrow.

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Categorised as Music

Boxcars

Boxcars is the (American) slang for throwing double sixes in a game of craps or backgammon. For those of us outside the United States a boxcar is a railway freight wagon and apparently the six pattern looks like one – no, I don’t think so either.

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Categorised as Business

High Tide

Three years ago the BBC made a short film warning that flooding in Paris was inevitable and they have been proved correct. The last time the Seine rose to such high levels was in 1910 and, although it didn’t burst its banks, the flood spread through tunnels, sewers and drains causing much damage.

Local Hero

This is a photograph of Sergeant-Major Champion in full dress uniform. James Champion was born and died in Hammersmith and he came to my notice when I saw his headstone in Margravine Cemetery. It was put up last month although he died in 1904 and the Cemetery closed for new burials in 1951.

The Big G

Opening later this Summer at the Royal Academy there will be that hardy annual,  the Summer Exhibition, followed by a David Hockney show that will help balance the books. Hockney’s latest riff is portraiture.

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Categorised as Art

Pavilioned in Splendour

Earlier this week I alluded to the remarkable success of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The credit often goes to Prince Albert but it was the brainchild of a civil servant, Henry Cole, among much else the inventor of the Christmas card. Joseph Paxton lent a hand, designing the Crystal Palace to house the exhibits… Continue reading Pavilioned in Splendour