London Underground Strike Latest - ASLEF & RMT call off 2nd March strike

tube strikes off

Well it looks like here's one thing that Mayor Ken's suspension won't effect, as both the RMT and ASLEF have called off the industrial action that was planned on the Tube for this Thursday 2nd March.

ASLEF said "talks had progressed to the stage where taking action would prove unhelpful and could adversely affect the discussions. ASLEF has no desire to disrupt London's travelling public unless it is absolutely necessary."

Today, a London Underground spokesperson said: "We are pleased that ASLEF are to recommend that this Thursday's planned Tube strike is called off, following constructive talks with London Underground.

"We have maintained throughout that the best way to resolve all issues is through discussion and consultation. ."

and just updated

"We are pleased that, following constructive talks held with RMT yesterday, they have called of this Thursday's strike."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Permalink

What the Japanese Metro can learn from the Tube

Toyko delegates coming to learn about......

How to keep a happy and strike free work force? How to ensure your subway system is the most expensive in the world? How to keep one of your lines in its own time zone - eg the Northern Line? How to stop people from spoofing your maps?

Well no. A team of delegates from Toyko are coming to London to learn about busking! Yay, London Underground have found something that they think the Japanese can learn from. "Six Tokyo Metro delegates, including Fusao Koike, Deputy Manager of International Affairs, will join senior LU officials on 1 March for a day-long visit of the Underground network, when they will get the opportunity to learn about the implementation and running of the scheme, and to discuss it with real life LU buskers."



The guy in charge of the Tube's busking scheme, Steve Charlick said of the visit: "We feel truly honoured that they have chosen our scheme on which to base their own."

"The London Underground busking scheme sponsored by Carling began in May 2003, after LU managed to change the laws and the bylaws to make busking legal on the Underground.

"The scheme has gone from strength to strength, and we now have nearly 300 licensed buskers providing passengers with over 3,360 hours of entertainment each week." Read the full story here.

Let's hope that on Wednesday the buskers polish their guitars, violins, didgerdoos and boom boxes and get out their best collection of songs.

Speaking of buskers you can check out one of the first "legalised buskers" who was interviewed on Radio 4 a couple of weeks ago. "When London Underground organized and formalized the tube busking situation in the early new millennium, Stephen was encouraged to take part in the TfL initiative and, figuring that almost all of his Blues heroes had used busking as an organic marketing and promotion tool, he enthusiastically took up the reins and the chance to broaden the Blues appeal to a much wider potential audience." from Stephen Dale Petit's website Guitararama. Thanks to Ian for telling me about this.

Perhaps now that Toyko are interested in busking we'll have buskers going on world tours as well as selling CDs and doing promotions for film companies!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Permalink

Stop.....................Hammertime

MC Hammer's Blog

Nowt to do with the Tube (well unless you count Tube Fashion Victim - 3's MC Hammer influenced jeans) but through Gia I found out that MC Hammer has a blog - which she introduced with these wise words "How You Know That Blogs Have Gone So Far Mainstream That They've Gone Retro"

It's given me a great laugh for the last half hour. He only started it in February and he's using the free version of blogspot which is cool. I particularly love how he puts up pictures of his meals at fast food outlets. It rox!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Permalink

Love on the Tube - Part Two

Have you found / made love on the London Underground?

Regular readers may remember a couple of weeks ago that a guy from the University of Westminster was going to interview me for a radio show (Smoke Radio) about whether it was possible to find love on the Tube. I waxed lyrical about my little knowledge on the subject, general lack of eye contact not making it easy, but how the proximity between people on crowded trains can lead to some "interesting" situations.

Amongst the people featured in the piece, there's a guy who said he fell madly in love with a stranger he saw on the Tube "she actually took my breath away", people who said they'd be too shy to chat up people, plus a guy who got married as a result of meeting someone on the Tube.

The producer, Mark, even managed to find one girl who admitted to making love on the Metropolitan Line, between King's Cross and Harrow on the Hill. She and her then boyfriend were in a carriage with eight other people in it (although they were both pretty drunk at the time). "After a bottle of vodka I really didn't care. Vodka's an evil thing, I can't say no", she said. Also the love making didn't appear to require a lot of effort: "It's surprising that you don't have to move at all while on the train, it does it all itself!"

If you have a spare ten minutes you can listen to the piece here (towards the bottom of the page). It's is nicely mixed with some chillout music and a poem from one of Mark's friends, about people's eyes meeting across a crowded Tube, or that James Blunt moment, as I like to call it.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, February 27, 2006 Permalink

Mayor Ken Livingstone Suspended for a month

Sheriff Ken Suspended for Shooting off

Not exactly Tube related but such a shocking story that I had to blog it and you never know it may well effect any negotiations about the next London Underground strike which as far as I know is still scheduled to take place on the 2nd March. "London's mayor has been suspended from office for four weeks for comparing a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard".

"The ban is due to begin on 1 March, but Mr Livingstone's representative said he may appeal to the High Court."

Check out the BBC for the full story and it's absolutely all over The Standard now.

Speaking of Ken, someone had rolled out an old game that was made about his wish to get rid of all of London's pigeons - "In light of Ken's recent announcement to prevent avian flu and stop feeding London's pigeons. We thought you'd like another little look at this old chesnut".

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 24, 2006 Permalink

Friday London Underground Competition

Where were these Tube pictures taken?

Regular readers may know that the last (and only time) I was in the States was last November when I was in sunny San Francisco. So how did I manage to take a picture of this New York Subway sign for Times Square Station?


I took it yesterday somewhere on the London Underground, but where exactly did I take it? It's a bit blurry as I couldn't use a flash and I was also a fair bit away from the sign when I took the picture, so I didn't arouse the attention of London Underground staff.

The location of the next picture below is probably easier to identify. However, there's a bonus point if you can also say what the man on the tiles is doing as well which station it was taken at.


As usual one guess only please and please leave both guesses at the same time. To enter leave your answer in the comments below along with your email address and/or your website / blog address. The competition closes on Sunday 5th March at 23.59 (GMT). In the event of a tie, Neil's paper clip selection will be used to select the final winner.

And the prize, a stick of London Tube rock, or if you're looking after your teeth, a copy of What's in a Name - a fantastic little book which explains the origins of every London Underground Tube & DLR station name. It also has a lot of other information including the year the station opened, and the name changes that have since occurred. Plus black and white photos of many of the stations or their immediate surroundings.


Enjoy!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 24, 2006 Permalink

London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

Back to the normal Friday look at commuters spotted on the London Underground who could be considered to be slaves to fashion. There's a bit of a theme this week which nods a bit at Nick Park's great Wallace & Gromit film The Wrong Trousers. This week we have "The Long Trousers".

As everyone knows, there's a current trend to wear your trousers or jeans so that they are dragging across the floor. You may well be wearing a pair yourself. Amazingly I've never seen anyone trip up in them, so there must be an art to wearing them, or rather walking in them.

Long Trousers One

A nice example of the long trouser here. I think they were some form of track suit bottoms (I'm sure there's a trendier name from them, my boss was shaking her head at me last week as I had never heard of Converse shoes - but I digress), as you can just about see a zip up the back of them.



Pair of long jeans

Here's a couple both wearing some particularly long jeans



Baggy Trousers

This guy was wearing my personal favourites of the week. I love the particularly attractive way they all bunch up while he is sitting down in the classic "bloke on Tube with legs wide apart" way.



That's it for this week. The previous entry for London Underground fashion victims is here and all of them together can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 24, 2006 Permalink

A moments diversion - There's a fox on my garage

Urban Firefox

This morning I padded my way bleary eyed into the kitchen to put on the kettle. Just out of the corner of my eye I saw what I thought was a large ginger cat. It was a fox. I managed to leg it to my study and get back just in time to get a couple of pictures.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 24, 2006 Permalink

More alternative Tube Maps - Commercial Map & Literary Map

London Underground Sponsoship Map & London Reading Map

Many thanks to regular commenters Jo, thereisnospoon and Stuart for letting me know about a map that replaces station names with some puns by companies that could sponsor them - mirrored on a mirror of Geoff's site as it overloaded Paul's orginal server!



We had actually discussed companies sponsoring Tube stations last year. Back in November I blogged about a Robert Elms (from BBC Radio London) debate that I went to on London Transport:

"Robert Elms rather enthusiastically said - "I know how we can make transport a lot cheaper, why don't we get McDonalds to sponsor station names. You know how we get free transport over the New Year cos of companies like Smirnoff and Fosters who sponsor it." So instead of Piccadilly Circus it could be called Ronald McDonald's Circus and loads cheaper travel or even free travel to that station. Interesting idea, which actually met with with a good laugh and approval in the studio audience. But I wonder if it would ever work?"

A number of you had come up with some funny suggestions and a number of them have been put into practice on this map.

Londonist were ahead of me on blogging this one - well done guys!

London Reading Map

Now the next is not entirely accurate when it comes to the Tube map and locations as a lot of artistic licence has been used. It's the cover of a book - London by the Book - by Rough Guide in association with a campaign to "Get London Reading": "From Bloomsbury to Bromley, Geoffrey Chaucer to Zadie Smith, London by the Book is a guide to the city through writers and their writing. Packed with obscure and intriguing information (How did Graham Greene survive the bombing of his Clapham house in 1941? Which nineteenth-century poet was in the habit of sliding naked down the banisters?), it chronicles the waves of novelists, poets and playwrights who have lived in London over the centuries, written about it, and developed its identity as a result."

Copies are being given out at Earl's Court, Victoria, Farringdon and Angel stations next Monday & Tuesday, but you can also download it here.

However, Waterstones have prepared a far more accurate free London Reading Map which they are giving away in their shops. It has 100 of their favourite books on big map with the locations & scenes in London that the books are based in or feature heavily - eg Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch - Highbury, Monica Ali's Brick Lane (pretty obivous), The Witches of Chiswick (again fairly obvious). A number feature railways 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie, Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin (Waterloo) and A Metropolitan Murder by Lee Jackson (Baker Street). This would also make a prety cool alternative Tube map, although I'm not sure you could find a book for every one of the 275 London Undeground stations. Now there's a challenge!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 23, 2006 Permalink

And the next witness is........ an Oystercard

Suspicious partners use Oystercard to track infidelities

Ian sent me a link to an article in Sunday's Independent, about how people were using Oystercard to track their partner's travel movements. "Oyster cards, the 'smart' little blue thing in London commuters' wallets that enable them to travel at will around the capital, have another, unexpected function. They could also be a one-way ticket to the divorce courts."

As your every journey is recorded on an Oystercard it seems a great way to spy on your partner if you are that way inclined. "The electronic lipstick-on-the-collar is revealed to anyone - the holder or their partner - who takes the card to a machine on the Underground or keys in its serial number on a website to get a read-out of every journey taken in the past 10 weeks.

One private investigator said: 'Oyster cards won't tell you that the bloke's been cheating on his wife, but it will show if he's been in one part of town when he's supposed to be somewhere else. It is an easy thing to confront your partner with. It doesn't look like you've been snooping around too much."

Personally I think it looks like you've been snooping around a lot. But I digress, returning to the article "Divorce lawyers said they were sceptical that Oyster cards would be used in divorce proceedings, but accepted that it could lead more people to realise their relationship was over.

"Lisa Fabian Lustigman (top name), a family lawyer at city firm Withers LLP, said: 'I would never instruct a private investigator to try to track down someone's Oyster card records to prove adultery. I don't think it would be overwhelmingly helpful.'

"But it has already happened in Hong Kong, where a similar scheme was introduced eight years ago. Suspicious husbands and wives obtained print-outs of their spouse's travel card to use as evidence in divorce proceedings."

However, it looks like your Oystercard may become even more "useful", as through the article I learnt that Oystercard planners are trying to enable Oystercard holders to pay for their shopping in nearly 4,000 shops with their cards. "The records of where a person has shopped, as well as where they have travelled, will then be stored on the card." So then you'll not only be able to see where you might be cheated on, but what your partner is buying their lover too!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Permalink

Stand clear of the doors around the world

Mind the Doors

If you've been travelling around on the Tube recently you'll have seen these new ads on the London Underground encouraging you not to block the closing doors.



Hopefully the implication is that you won't get cut in half like the pantomime horse they show!

Funnily enough I was recently sent some pictures from subways around the world and how they advertise the same point of not getting yourself stuck in closing doors.

Firstly, here's one from Italy of a man who appears to be lying in between the closing doors:



However, it's warning us not to lean on the doors as you might fall out of them if they suddenly open.

Then we have one from Japan with a cat with its tail trapped in the doors:



Finally another cartoon animal from France encountering some pain with a trapped hand:



So you have been warned those closing doors are dangerous particularly if you happen to be a cartoon character or a pantomime horse.

Unfortunately I'm one of those terrible people who often legs it for the Tube at the last minute as the doors are closing, block them with some part of my body, use Herculean force to prize them open and then slip myself into the carriage, as the doors slam behind me, much to the amusement or tuts of the rest of the passengers. This is often followed by stern telling off from the driver who says "Please do not block the doors while the train is trying to leave" or something similar. Is that just me?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 21, 2006 Permalink

Spot Anthony Underground Dust Masker on the Tube and win an EP

Have you seen this man?



Or rather if you see him on the London Underground (with or without his dustmask) and go up to him and say "You are the Underground Masker and I claim my Bakerloo EP! , he will send you a soon to be released EP from the Underground Masker err... series.

For full rules pop over to Boltzmann's Tomb. Think of it as a Tube version of "Where's Wally?" or something.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 21, 2006 Permalink

Victorian Railway Gadget Quiz Results

And the winner is......

Even though quite a lot of you made guesses in the last quiz, very few of you were even close. In fact I can't really say that anyone got the answers exactly correct.

The first item that some of you guessed was a nipple clamp or some sort of weighing device or even a curtain hanger, was in fact a Victorian Skirt Lifter:



As the description says "When climbing stairs or avoiding puddles the Victorian lady would pull on the leather strap attached to the lifter and up comes her skirt". It's an item that would have been easily used on the London Underground as the Victorians would have had far many more stairs to deal with on a regular basis as escalators were only introduced on the Tube in 1915, although some lifts existed before then.

With picture two more of you were in the the right ball park with a number of you saying that it was a lantern or a torch or some form of light. However, no one got the exact answer of a Traveller's railway lamp.

The description says "This lamp would hang from a luggage rack and reflect light directly onto the newspaper reading traveller".

Soooooo, the nearest person to both answers was actuallly Nez with his short answer of "a clothespin and a torch". I wouldn't say the lamp is strictly speaking a torch as it's not hand held - but no one else guessed that it wasn't hand held either. And Nez was the only person to mention something clothes related with the first guess. So Nez is the lucky winner of The London Underground - a Diagrammatic History by Douglas Rose, kindly donated by Graham O'Mara.

By the way, the "Wonderously Wacky Gadgets" exhibition, from where I took the pictures, is still on at the Kew Bridge Steam Museum and makes for an intriguing afternoon out. Up until 17th April you can "Come and delve into Maurice Collins bizarre collection and guess the obscure purpose of a host of eccentric contraptions....

Fascinating and humorous, this exhibition will intrigue and amuse and is a testament to human ingenuity and resourcefulness.."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, February 20, 2006 Permalink

The Tube on TV Tonight

Sliding Doors and Map Man

If you're in the UK there are two London Underground treats on the telly tonight.



Gwynnie Paltrow puts on a great English accent in Sliding Doors. She plays a woman whose life follows very different paths depending on whether she catches the Tube that she is about to miss by a few seconds. "In one reality she finds out her boyfriend is a two-timing louse, so she leaves him and gets a cute new haircut. In her parallel world the hair is long and boring - very much like her life." Lots of the film is shot on the London Underground and you'll have fun spotting the many discrepencies and "artistic licence" taken. (If you don't get a chane to watch it Nick Cooper has done a good job of this already on his site about the tube in TV and Films). Nevertheless Sliding Doors is quite an enjoyable British rom com. It's on at 11.05pm on BBC1.

UK TV History will be showing Map Man at 6pm (at at 7pm on UK TV History +1 - funnily enough). It's part of a series that looks famous maps "that changed the face of Britain" and tonight's episode focusses on Harry Beck the designer of the London Underground Map. I missed it when it was on terrestrial TV last year so will definitely be taping it tonight. I have a feeling that Mark Ovenden (whose brill talk we went to last year) is featured in it too.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 17, 2006 Permalink

Tube Strikes for 21st February called off

London Underground February Strikes called off

First driver's union ASLEF pulled out and now the RMT have done the same. RMT leader Bob Crow said yesterday regarding London Underground "The company has confirmed that it will not impose a range of new procedures, and we have agreed a way forward to deal with the issues involved."

However, we mustn't get our hopes up too high yet as the strike planned for the 2nd March is still on, if the issues surrounding SPADs (Signals Passed at Danger), harassment and other disciplinary measures are not resolved between the unions and the London Underground.

I love the way that Bob Crow finishes his statement: "Despite overwhelmingly hostile media coverage and a campaign of disinformation, our members have once again demonstrated determination and solidarity they should be proud of".

From the comments we've been having below involving Tube drivers and commuters, it appears that a lot of that disinformation has come from the RMT itself!

ASLEF appear to be taking a more concilliatory approach "ASLEF is not a union that postures or pretends. We are not in the business of strikes for their own sake. We don't like our members losing wages. Our aim is always to secure the best possible deal for members without calling for action. We know you want a resolution, not a strike."

London Underground said: "We welcome the decision to call off the strike next Tuesday. We have always made clear that the issues should be resolved through discussion. We will continue to meet to resolve the outstanding issues".

Watch this space for the latest on the threatened March strike, and continue to contribute to the lively discussion.

Latest at 15th February

Don't take my word for it yet, but rumour has it that the Tube strike for next Tuesday 21st February might be called off. See the BBC for more on this. "The first of a series of co-ordinated Tube strikes is in doubt after the main drivers' union said it would pull out, following talks with managers."

ASLEF said "There are issues that still require resolution for ASLEF to call off the dispute in its entirety. It is our intention to recommend the suspension of the strike set for the 21st of February 2006 to allow talks to progress further". Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Now hopefully Bob Crow's "love" letter to Tim O'Toole, managing director of London Underground, may also have a similar effect on negotiations.

As both announcements were made on February 14th, perhaps Valentine's day really is a day of love!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 17, 2006 Permalink

Two quick reminders - Design vote plus Victoriana Quiz

Get your votes and answers in

Taling about the Tube map, Simon reminded us in the comments yesterday - "the "final 10" of the BBC Great British Design Quest is now available to vote on (was mentioned the other week on here when there were more to pick from) and the London Underground map is still in the running"



As you can see from the picture above, the Routemaster bus, the Mini (car not skirt) and Concorde are also in there, so there's a bit of a transport theme.

Victorian Railway Objects Quiz

You also have until 23.59 on Sunday 19th February to identify the two Victorian gadgets for the quiz from last Friday. There is definitely still a chance for someone to win the prize that Graham O'Mara kindly donated, as no one who has guessed so far isn't really that close on both counts. So if you haven't already guessed - pop across to the post and make your guesses. Good luck.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 17, 2006 Permalink

The Art of the London Underground Poster

Tube Posters through Time



Speaking of the BBC, an article I had written some time ago for H2G2 (the BBC's online version of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) has been selected as a "BBC Best Link", where they very kindly call it "A fascinating piece on the billposter art of the Tube"


Enjoy!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 17, 2006 Permalink

London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

A slight change in my reglar Friday look at commuters spotted on the London Underground who could be considered to be slaves to fashion. I hardly spotted any worth picturing this week. It's been a somewhat busy week at work, and I've often had my head down reading something on the Tube or been asleep! But I thought I'd take a look at the delightful flourescent waistcoat that London Underground station assistants wear.

Station Assistant One

A nice example of the jacket here, with a woolly hat to keep his head warm in the drafty corridors and gusty platforms of the Tube



Station Assistant Two

Take the same waistcoat and put it on the woman and ..... well it's not a great look really



I'm sure "a good fit" was probably the last thing on London Underground's mind when they designed these waistcoats and they're probably "one size fits all" or S, M, L, XL and XXL. This did look rather unfortunate on this woman, particurlarly the way it seemed to balloon out at the bottom. It also clashes with the Tube Blue sweater that she's wearing underneath. But then, I spose flourescent orange is hardly going to blend with anything!

That's it for this week. Hopefully, next week normal service will be resumed. The previous entry for London Underground fashion victims is here and all of them together can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 17, 2006 Permalink

Origins of Inspector Sands

The "Mystery" of Inspector Sands

A week or so ago Paul from the US emailed me asking about the Inspector Sands announcements: "I was just wondering...How often can these messages be heard? How long have they been going on for, and can you still hear them today?"

I replied that they were very much still in existence (if you'd like to hear one click here) and although I had originally thought it was a code name for a small controllable, fire and that shouting "There's a fire but don't panic," would just have people legging it from stations in a panic stricken way. But I believe it's a code for the fact that a fire alarm has been mistakenly set off and that a staff member should go and investigate & turn it off. Well that's my theory and I'm sure someone will correct me.

Wikipedia says "Transport for London and the British Transport Police have not publicly stated what the codeword signifies and so its interpretation has been left to interested travellers."

However, I also wonder how long the London Underground has been using these announcements? I understand that they are also used in theatres and in fact that could have been the origin of them - although instead of Inspector Sands, it was Mr Sands.

Has anyone heard any other calls for Inspectors to sort out things on the Tube? Is there an Inspector Mopp who cleans up after drunks? What about an Inspector Killjoy who removes unauthorised buskers?

UPDATE - A regular commenter has sent me an MP3 of a Mr Sands announcement, asking for Mr Sands to get put out before Mr Inferno takes over! It's very funny and he heard it on the BBC Radio 4 comedy - The Department.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 16, 2006 Permalink

Subway Singer gets last laugh

James Blunt wins two Brit Awards

Despite a variety of people moaning about him and calling him whiney (including many commenters to this blog). Despite Paul Weller saying he would rather eat his own s**t that do a duet with him. James Blunt picked up two Brit Awards last night for Best Pop Act and Best Male Artist. His song You're Beautiful (about having a passing romantic moment with someone on the London Underground) is currently at number two in the American Billboard charts and is tipped to be number one. Shedloads (millions) of this record have been sold around the world now.

Well done James. It's good to see that he hasn't retorted to Weller's comments and also that he takes all the bland comparisons with a massive pinch of salt.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 16, 2006 Permalink

Commuting Colds & Cautionary Tales

Spreading germs on public transport

Fingers crossed I seem to holding off a cold at the moment. Despite the changeable temperatures in London and the whole round of people in the office and on the Tube and trains with their "coughs and sneezes, spreading diseases"


The cartoon above from Metro a few days ago, says it all really. Because you're often in a world of your own on the Tube, you feel as though you can hack and sneeze and sniff away blindly and no one will care! Not so.

As it's half term I had to listen to a mum giving her children a cautionary tale on the Tube about how they shouldn't spend so much time touching things on the Tube, and how they should wash their hands when they got to the Museum (Piccadilly Line, they were getting off at South Kensington).

"Why?" the little darlings said after they finished bouncing around on the seats. Their mum proceeded to then scare me and the rest of the carriage by saying, "Well you know how many people there are on this train. They will have had their hands everywhere. And I bet they don't wash their hands all the time. You've seen how dusty and dirty it is down here. You've seen some of those smelly tramps get on and they don't wash themselves very often, so all of those germs and all of that dirt spreads around. That's why we always have to wash our hands".

Thanks Mum, a little over the top, but it did the trick for the kids who looked like they were going to be sick. We all know how many people believed the urban myth about what's found on London Underground seats, so this was the kids' equivalent of that!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Permalink

Two Valentine's Presents already!

Chocolates and Cuddly Toys

Ahhh, bless. I've just received two surprise Valentines gifts. One was a link to Chocolate Boyfriend from Schmoof who purely co-incidentally I mentioned on Monday with their London Underground "love" song "Northern Line". I lurve their other song Chocolate Boyfriend (Neil's seen me dance to it) and the band - Sarah & Lloyd - kindly sent me the link by email. Enjoy - it rocks big time!

Plus I'm up for another Award that I didn't even know I'd been nominated for - The Satin Pajama afoe European Weblog Awards, where I've been nominated for Best UK Blog from A Fistful of Euros along with Londonist - D'OH. Anyway the logo is a Teddy Bear wrapped in an EU Flag, wearing a Santa Hat! Bizarre. Well you know me, never one to shy away from votes, so many thanks to whoever nominated me. Feel free to vote away. There's lots of other good blogs to vote for including Neil Gaiman (author of Neverwhere and other cult classics), My Boyfriend is a Twat and Tom Coates. I have no idea what the prizes are, or when the voting closes - but hey ho!

Happy Valentine's Day to anyone who's going to be celebrate it. Happy Birthday to Doris one of my elderly relatives. And have a good Tuesday to everyone else.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 14, 2006 Permalink

Manager who took FA Cup home by Tube

You'd never see this on the London Underground today!

On Friday, the back page of The Times caught my eye with this picture of a man carrying a bulky parcel on the Tube and a woman who looked liked she's stepped out of Coronation Street circa 1950's/1960's scowling at him. Probably, no thoughts of bombs with this suspicious looking package though:



As The Times said: "Regular passengers on the London Underground are hard to shock, but Ron Greenwood turned heads in May 1964 when he took the FA Cup home on the Tube"....

"Legend has it that Greenwood wrapped the trophy in a cloth to avoid attracting too much attention. Asked by a fellow passenger what he was hiding, the West Ham manager had the perfect answer. 'Sweet FA,' he said."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 14, 2006 Permalink

Chilling Echo of the London Bombings

Yet another conspiracy theory

I do love the amount of "conspiracy theories" there were around the London Bombings or rather people trying to bring Derek Acorah style psychic powers to stories around them. Firstly, we had that Peter Power PR bloke with his "London Underground Bombing 'Exercises' Took Place at Same Time as Real Attack" nonsense (I refuse to even credit that story with a link, you can find it yourself). But the best I've seen recently is one which Londonist found in the Daily Record:

"BOND PLOT MIRRORS 7/7 KILLING screams the headline:

The plot of James Bond's latest movie mirrors the real life killing of the Brazilian shot by police in London after the 7/7 terror bombings. A leaked script reveals 007 shoots a suspected bomber only to discover later that he got the wrong person and his target was unarmed... chilling echoes of the events of last July when Brazilian Jean Charles de Menzes (sic) was mistaken for a suicide bomber and shot dead.

As Rob from Londonist rightly says: "Chilling echoes? It's the plot of Casino Royale for God's sake.......Now, if the producers had decided to make Daniel Craig go for a piss while he was supposed to watching his suspect and then built a huge soundstage to recreate the magic of Stockwell (MI6 is just up the road) we might possibly be able to permit the use of the phrase 'chilling echoes'."

Loving that The Daily Record couldn't even spell Jean Charles de Menezes' surname correctly. But they redeemed themselves by reporting the only outrageously amusing story about the Winter Olympics (yawn) I've heard so far - as Rob reports in the same post - "Curling's for Lezzas says Eddie the Eagle" where "Ski Jump flop Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards has branded Scotland's Olympic-winning curlers a bunch of lesbians."

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 14, 2006 Permalink

Love on the Tube

Love on the London Underground

It's Hallmark Day tomorrow (sorry Valentine's Day), and next week I'm being interviewed as part of a student radio project for the University of Westminster on "Love on the Underground" on Smoke Radio. As I said to the guy who will be interviewing me very few people have reported tales of lurve on the Tube to me.

The best I had was from Rachel Berstone who signed my guestbook: "I actually have friends who met on the Tube and are now married! It helps, I think, that he is French and she is Australian, so the rules about not talking to fellow passengers are somewhat relaxed for foreigners.

It all happened on the Piccadilly line - she was going from home to a class at college in Russell Square, and he was travelling from his girlfriend's house to work. She was curious to see him reading (aloud, in French) excerpts from that very romantic play - Cyrano de Bergerac. He went past his stop to follow her, and invited her to go with him for coffee, on the spot. They did, and a few weeks later they met for dinner, and the rest is history.... now they are married, and live abroad with their three kids - which just goes to show, you can meet your future partner on the Tube!"

On Heart FM today, I heard that some guy fell madly in love instantly with a woman he met on the Tube, he got off the train straight away and got her name tattooed on his leg. Unfortunately he's never seen her since! Perhaps he can track her down with Isawyoutoday.com or use LoveLines on snogLondon to find the most likely liine for lurve.

Metro are also looking for romantic Tube stories and hopefully they will publish these tomorrow!

Don't forget there's the London Underground Tunnel of Love Valentine's Tour tomorrow, and you could always buy you loved one "You're Beautiful" the only Tube related love song I know (well apart from Schmoof's Northern Line, but I don't think you can buy that yet).

If you have any romantic London Underground related tales I'd love to hear them.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, February 13, 2006 Permalink

Anagram London Underground Map

This Rhythmic & Mismate train is stopping at Frog Innard, Tasted Algae and Apt Nodding

Thank you to the dozens of people who have now said "saw this and thought of you" and "have you seen this?" - it's the fantastic London Underground Tube Map where someone has made brilliant anagrams from every Tube station's name.



It rocks - there's not much more to say about it than that really. Originally seen by someone who had the foresight to send it to BoingBoing it went global in a matter of minutes (which is why I spose from Friday onwards a number of you emailed me about it - thanks for taking the time to do that though!)

I really like the way that whoever designed this (Stuart who's now signed in on the comments - yay!), decided to do the names of the lines too.



Anyway, click here for perfect way to while away lots of time. You may never be able to look at your own station name in the same way again! Inch Dorm is highly appropriate for Richmond as the train inches its way into my home (dorm) station, the last stop on the Cist Dirt Line!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Sunday, February 12, 2006 Permalink

The Tunnel of Love

For an unusual Valentine's Gift

Robert Hulse, the brill curator of the Brunel Museum sent me the following email "Hello blog mistress! It's happening again, in all its salacious & suggestive wonder. Do please advertise this unusual Valentine evening..."

How could I not respond to a message like that? Anyone who has been on the excellent innuendo ridden Wapping Shaft Thames Tunnel tour between Rotherhithe and Wapping stations will know it should be fun. So I will hand over to Robert:


"Many beautiful women and handsome young men have entered the Thames Tunnel
before you. The first was Fanny Kemble, who in 1827 descended what she called 'the
beautiful road to Hades' to meet Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

'But I must tell you what this tunnel is like, or at least try to do so. You enter, by flights of stairs, the first door, and find yourself on a circular platform, which surrounds the top of a well or shaft, of about two hundred feet in circumference and five hundred in depth. This well is an immense iron frame of cylindrical form, filled in with bricks; it was constructed on level ground, and then, by some wonderful mechanical process, sunk into the earth. In the midst of this is a steam engine, and above, or below, as far as your eye can see, huge arms are working up and down while the creaking, crashing, whirring noises, and the swift whirling of innumerable wheels all around you, make you feel for the first few minutes as if you were going distracted.'

Above is an extract from her story. The full text, in embossed souvenir folder, with a print of the Underwater Banquet held the same year, is offered as an unusual Valentine Card for your partner. The Brunel Engine House is releasing fifty prints, complete with a certificate of authenticity, and signed by another actress from our time, Zoë Wanamaker. The card can be ordered from the shop on the website for £15, please specify collection on Valentine's Day.

We look forward to welcoming you on 14th!"

For full details visit the Brunel Engine House website.

Robert also says if you are otherwise engaged on Valentine's Day: "The Museum is also launching a new paperback version of the classic 'Brunel's Britain' by Derrick Beckett. Copies will be available, ahead of publication and at a reduced price of £10 for visitors to the Museum. This is the perfect Valentine gift for the Tunneller in your life!

On Valentine's Day we remember that science and love are both hard mistresses. This is a book and gazetteer with excellent technical appendices. Students will find help and formulae on launching monster ships, tunnelling deeply but safely and making perfect arches...

Remember 'Little Man, Big Cigar!'

Visit the website for information on other available dates. These include Thames Tunnel tours during Science Week (March 11, 12 and 18, 19) and on March 25, the Anniversary of the Tunnel's opening in 1843."

Cheers Robert!!!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Sunday, February 12, 2006 Permalink

Friday Quiz and Competition - Victoriana

What are these Victorian railway gadgets?

This week's competition has the very generous sponsor of Graham O'Mara, regular commenter on this blog, who has kindly offered a great prize. A few weeks ago me and Neil went to a small exhibition in the London area where there were lots of weird and wonderful gadgets from Victorian times up to the 20th century. I took a picture of a couple of "gadgets" that could have been used on the railway or in one case, even on the London Underground at the time. I'd like you to try to identify them.



No wise cracks about being able to see my Samsung camera in the background of the first picture!

And here's picture two:



So what are they? As usual, please make one attempt at a guess only. Points will be given to the most accurate answers. You have until 23.59 GMT on the 19th February to make your guess and to enter please leave either your email addres and/or website/blog in the comments below.

Oh and the prize. It's a copy of the "The London Underground: A diagrammatic history" by Douglas Rose. It's not exactly a book but a large format "map of the London Underground showing exactly when every line (and segment of line) and every station was opened and any subsequent closures, as well as all the changes in station names. There are a few odd explanatory paragraphs, but most of the information lies in the map"

"This is a must have for anyone studying the history of the London Underground as it clearly shows what happened and makes it much easier to see and understand."

Once again, thanks to Graham for sponsoring the quiz and have fun with competition!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 10, 2006 Permalink

London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

Here's my regular Friday look at commuters spotted on the London Underground who could be considered to be slaves to fashion. It's often people who have taken a fashionable look and "made it their own" (apologies to Louis Walsh off X Factor), regardless of whether or not it looks good on them. However, this week I'm going to start with one from National Rail but with a Tube connection.

Brand Boy

The guy below was very brand conscious, Apple iPod, tick, Nike jacket, tick, London Underground baseball cap, tick



I've only ever seen one guy with one of these caps on before and people assured me then that they're very popular with the yoof of today. Although you can't really see from this photo, there's not a station name inside the Tube Roundel on the cap but the word "South" to signify what part of London he's from.

Metallic trainers and Diamond tights

It's probably just me here, but I just think this look is sooooo WRONG. As regular readers know, I'm not wild about metallic anything when it comes to clothing and footwear. But I didn't like this mix of the fairly casual trainers with the smart black trousers and the diamond tights added insult to injury for me. It's probably because I'm a socks with trousers kind of girl.



Metallic Trousers and Platform Boots

Very weird look here, and just in case anyone thinks that the woman wearing these loose shiny trousers was Asian, she wasn't! I marvelled as to how she'd be able to walk in those platforms and on those heels.



The Low Slung Trouser Girls

Not really too much for me to say here, but a good example of Low slung waisted trousers working in unison. On the left we have the Low Slung Twiggy Shorts. On the right the more traditional length of low slung trousers.



To their credit though at least their G Strings or knickers weren't riding up above the waistbands of their trousers.

That's it for this week. The previous entry for London Underground fashion victims is here and all of them together can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 10, 2006 Permalink

The next stop is Piccadilly Circus ....... Toronto

Pubs named after Tube Stations

My friend Richard from clickairport.com was looking at my blog recently and prompted by the post where people had sent me pictures of the London Underground roundel in strange places, remembered that he had one from Toronto.



As you can see it's the neon sign of a pub/club called the Piccadilly Circus.

I checked out the pub on the net and it's an English theme pub or rather "From pub food and drinks in the evening to club DJ and dancing at night, Piccadilly Circus is equipped to be Toronto's #1 entertainment center. With a games room, DJ & dance floor, authentic double decker bus, surround televisions with satellite, insane and ingenious theme nights, and affordable and competitive prices Piccadilly Circus caters to all your partying needs." It rocks!

I particularly like the picture of some of the insane party goers with the Jordan/Pete Burns lookalike on the right:



It was also voted voted Best College Bar in 2004 by toronto.com. I also love the following promotion on the 16th February which is so good it's in block capitals:

"NEVER HEARD OF IN NORTH AMERICA BEFORE
YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT YOUR EYES ARE ABOUT TO SEE
REVERSE COVER THATS RIGHT PICCADILLY CIRCUS & INSANE PROMOTIONS WANT TO HELP UNIVERSITY STUDENTS RELIEVE THE STRESS OF PAYING COVER ON YOUR FAVOURITE PUB NITE OUT
'WE WILL PAY YOU $5.00' WHEN ENTERING PICCADILLY CIRCUS VOTED THE NUMBER 1 COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY BAR NOW YOU KNOW WHY LIMIT ONE PER PERSON & ARRIVE EARLY TO AVOID BANKRUPTCY"

That's right, they pay YOU to go to the pub. I'm booking my flight to Toronto right now!

Cheers Richard, you never actually told me whether you ventured in to check out Piccadilly Circus's insanity.

On a separate point, I wonder how many other pubs around the world are named after Tube Stations or share the same name? Elephant and Castle seems to get about a bit, both in the UK and abroad. We also have brand new King George V on the City Airport extension of the DLR, where a pub name could have influenced the station name!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 09, 2006 Permalink

Tube Strike Latest - Walkouts announced for February and March

Two London Underground Tube Strikes on the Way

At 2.30pm today RMT leader Bob Crow announced the ballot results of a vote amongst 1,500 Tube drivers in the ongoing London Underground Strike saga.

So I'm sorry to report that there was a six to one majority vote in favour of the strikes. In a separate vote Aslef drivers also voted in favour of the strike, so we are set for two 24-hour walkouts on 21st February and 2nd March.

Both unions accuse London Underground of a "breakdown in industrial relations".

London Underground say they are "not imposing anything on Tube staff. The fact is that we launched a consultation with all our trade unions on new harassment, discipline and attendance procedures before Christmas. That consultation continues".

Unlike the strikes earlier this year and on New Year's Eve, these ones are likely to have an effect on commuters' travel as we're actually now talking about the people who operate the trains walking out. Check out the BBC for more on this.

So looks like I'll be walking from Waterloo again. Just hope it doesn't rain!

Surprisingly there is no triumphant trumpeting on the RMT's website about this yet! Perhaps Bob and his RMT union official mates are looking for a pub that they're still allowed to drink in to celebrate (Bob and his mates have been banned from their local)!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 09, 2006 Permalink

A moment's diversion.....Snickers Pie

Snicker, snicker, snicker

I never knew that a comment I made on Londonist would lead Londonist's resident chef Ken Yau getting a bit handy with a whisk, some eggs, puff pastry, cream cheese, sugar, butter and a handful of Snickers and making Anthony Worrall Thompson's Snickers Pie. In a nutshell, they had made a brill post about kids being educated on the unhealthy eating with the aid of fun competition designed to get kids educating each other (far better than Jamie Oliver's moralising bollox). I said that Anythony Worrall Thompson's kids should enter. AWT is the inventor the Snickers Pie - blasted as the most unhealthiest dessert with 1,250 calories per slice.

After the slamming, the BBC removed the recipe from their website, but the guys at Londonist found it on a Google cache and set about making the pie. You can see the results of the Snickers Pie here.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 09, 2006 Permalink

The case of the missing K on the Piccadilly Line

Quick get Miss Marple...... one of our K's is missing

Spotted by Neil when we were going into town on Saturday



Not only was the K on "Keep all your personal belongings with you" missing, but the in-carriage indicator also seemed to have forgotten where it was heading. "This train is for ........" ran in nicely to "eep all your personal belongings with you"

At least we didn't have an automated voice repeating it too. The Sonia (she gets on yer nerves) woman on the new District Line trains drives me mad.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, February 08, 2006 Permalink

Pencil Case Competition Winner

And the winner is......



Speaking of missing things......guessing what was wrong with the London Underground Map on the pencil case above, proved to be a very popular competition. Thirty five of you guessed mainly different things. So Neil had to select a winner from the names below:

PkerUno
Compsci
Carina
Mike Scott
J Sexton
alantan
Pedantic of Purley
Roblo
Pashmina
Robert John Kaper
Chris Boyle
Andrew B
Somewhat
Lee Sowden
Matt
Jamesthegill
Chz
JJC
The Dunce
Pete
Ewan
RobbieK
Alex
IanD
Jo Oakley
alto2
Ian
ed
Sam
jon.justice
N Nerode
Jon Allen
Jonny Lyon
Russ Williams
Martin

Using whatever means he did "after a complicated system of choosing paperclips", the winner is Robert John Kaper

Congratulations Robert. I'll be in touch for your address and the pencil case and London Transport Roundel pencil will be winging their way to you soon.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, February 08, 2006 Permalink

London Underground Map up for Best Loved Design Icon

Your chance to vote for Britain's Best Design Icons

My friend Liz told me that the Tube Map was one of the many design icons up for a vote in the quest to find "Britain's Best Loved Design Icon". Harry Beck's map sits alongside other classic British icons such as the Routemaster bus, the A-Z, the Penguin paperback, the Mini (both skirt and car), the Raleigh chopper, the Dr Marten's boot and strangely enough the World Wide Web, Tomb Raider and the Dyson vacuum cleaner.



Of the London Underground Map the Design Museum said: "Harry Beck's map has created such a powerful impression that it dominates our perceptions of London's geography. A variation of his original design is still used by London Underground today, and Beck's concept of a diagrammatic map has been imitated all over the world." As we saw in Mark Ovenden's and Max Robert's fascinating talks on the subject.

You have until midnight 9th February to cast your votes in the first stage and then the top 10 go into another public voting, leading to a top 3 and then the winner will be announced on The Culture Show on BBC Two at 7pm on the 16th March

So get clicking!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 07, 2006 Permalink

Tube Strike Latest

Results of latest strike ballot out on Thursday 9th Feb

If anyone hasn't yet lost the will to live over the ongoing Tube strike saga, the latest is that Bob Crow is effectively balloting everyone about everything!

The 1,500 Tube drivers were already balloted and on Monday RMT leader Crow announced the he'll be balloting all 5,000 RMT members about "LUL's attempts to impose, without negotiation, changes in attendance, disciplinary and harassment procedures.

"After months of trying to stop these attacks, it has become clear that the only path left open to us is to ballot our entire Tube membership for industrial action, and we have given London Underground notice to that effect"

Results of the larger ballot will be announced on February 23.

Of course London Underground have responded by saying that Bob Crow is being extreme by calling for strike action over this: "If any employee or union has a genuine grievance ... the only way to resolve the matter is through discussions, using procedures agreed by unions and management. It is regrettable that once again the RMT is misleading its members and ignoring agreed procedures." said Mike Brown. Check out Reuters for the full story.

Also don't forget ASLEF are balloting their drivers over similar issues.

Poor, poor new London Transport boss Peter Hendry (who actually sounds like a bit of a laugh - see his recent interview with The Guardian "I'll look poncey," he says, when asked to put his hat on for the photo. ), I don't envy him at all.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 07, 2006 Permalink

Unhappy? Time to begin a blog

It's official - Blogging can make you happy!

On the 2nd February the Evening Standard published an article titled "Unhappy? Time to begin a blog" with the following observation:

"Revealing your innermost feelings on the internet is good for you, psychologists said today. A study of the phenomenon of blogs - or online diaries - found people writing them feel happier and more organised.

"Feeling that you have a forum for expressing yourself can make a huge difference to your psychological well-being," said psychologist Honey Langcaster-James, a Big Brother analyst."

As Celebrity Big Brother has only just finished screening in the UK, this was a very timely observation! The article in the Evening Standard continued:

"Nearly half of the 2,000 people surveyed online believed that a blog helped them get through life as it allowed them to relax and de-stress after a day at work.

"Big Brother housemates go into the legendary 'diary room' all the time just to let off steam, a vital coping strategy for them," said Ms Langcaster-James."......

"Keeping an online diary could prove to be highly rewarding and have psychological and emotional benefits. It also helps people feel wanted - those with blogs often keep a very close eye on the number of people visiting [it]. "

Lastminuteliving.com, which commissioned the study, managed to drop in the fact that they have a lot of bloggers: "Creating a blog can be a way to get more out of your life. Judging by the amount of users we have, people like sharing their photos, videos and personal thoughts with others."

(Originally written by me for agora-vox.com)

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Tuesday, February 07, 2006 Permalink

Sounds of the Underground

"Musical" Sounds of London

A regular contributor sent me some mp3s from an album of Favourite London Sounds, which include a number from the Underground. These particular Sounds of the Underground are nothing like Girls Aloud's debut single & album (the best they ever did in my opinion), but are recordings of sounds which "typify" London. So you have Mind the Gap announcements at Bank, a rather squeaky sounding escalator at King's Cross Tube station, plus a journey on the Bakerloo Line from Regent's Park to Oxford Circus, complete with a security announcement.

However my favourite is the one of Brixton London Underground Station, as it's the only one that (to my ears at least) sounds musical. You will hear an official Tube announcement but it's hard to make it all out amongst the general ravings of religious "preachers", someone "singing" a rather strange song, and the cries of the incense seller. It's like a market scene from My Fair Lady (The Flower Market) or Oliver! (Who Will Buy) for the 21st century. Download the Brixton Tube mp3 here - it rocks!

A review of the album on the BBC's music site says

"There's even a spot of nostalgia with the once familiar tattoo of massed train doors being shut, a sound which Cusack ruefully notes is disappearing from London's mainline stations to be replaced by the gentle sibilances of automatic doors."

I totally agreee and if you listen to the sounds of train doors being slammed at Victoria Station, you do realise that it's a sound that we're not going to hear for much longer.

The BBC review concludes "London's getting quieter it would seem, but there's still enough noise left in the 21st century to make up this fascinating CD." If you want to get hold of the Favourite London Sounds CD, it takes 4-6 weeks through amazon but there are a couple of marketplace ones too which will deliver faster.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, February 06, 2006 Permalink

Would you like to change a Tube Station's name?

Change Arsenal to Gillespie Road

From the ever resourceful Londonist, I learnt that there's currently a petition to Ken Livingstone going round to revert Arsenal Tube station back to its original name of Gillespie Road. "There's no such place as Arsenal and as far as I know it's the only football club that has a station named after it. If they are prepared to move down the road to Cash Burden Grave then surely they should have to give up naming rights to their own station." says a guy from Islington.

Londonist writes : "Arsenal station has been so-named since 1932, when 'pressure from the club' persuaded the transport authorities to ditch 'Gillespie Road' in favour of the current name. The station retains signage for its former identity, however, and there seems to be a groundswell demanding a reversion."

Mainly as I have little interest in football, and as the football club is moving away, why should Arsenal be the only club to have a tube station named after it? It's not as if naming the station after a club helps you find the club. Fulham Broadway has never been called Chelsea. Queens Park Tube station is nowhere near Queens Park Rangers football ground (White City is actually the nearest Tube to QPR). Thousands of fans seem to find them OK.

So what do you reckon? Are the residents getting arsey about Arsenal? Or should we return to Gillespie Road? Also, are there any other Tube stations you think are inappropriately named?

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Monday, February 06, 2006 Permalink

Brixton London Underground Results

Lost in Brixton Competition Winners

As many of you correctly guessed, the still of a very unusual looking Brixton station was taken from the popular US TV drama Lost and harks back to the English hobbit guy's days as a fledging rock star in London. Even though it may have been mentioned on other blogs, I discovered it on the brill Londonist.

One of the funny things they discovered was a forum where some people who had clearly never been to London were discussing the significance of the strange "underground" sign. Londonist's favourite is one from Lost scholar JayJay:

'Underground inside big red O- The "O"thers live "underground". That is why Micheal want find them, why their dirty and how they move around island so swiftly." Classic!

Anyway, I promised a London Underground coaster to the most accurate and the funniest answers as to where the still came from (ie which blog, which show) and why it was so funny.

The winners are Benny for most accurate "The Londonist and its from Lost 2x12 and was filmed in a Hawaiian backlot. You know I live by Brixton and I am yet to see a burning 40 (or however many) gallon drum. I really must be visiting at the wrong times ... does that happen during that day *g* "

Anthony's answer was a close second for the inaccuracies of the Brixton Tube sign!

The funniest in the end went to quin:

"Take a look at the big white wall next to the station sign. If this really were Brixton, five seconds later it would be covered in billstickers, assuming TOX hasn't got there first."

Well done guys, I'll be in touch about sending your prize to you!

Don't forget that the pencil case competition is still open to enter, deadline - 5th February 23.59 GMT. Although Neil is going to have to find a lot of paper clips to choose the winning entry about 40 of you have made correct guesses so far!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Saturday, February 04, 2006 Permalink

London Underground Tube Map of Music

Now The Guardian have created an alternative Music London Underground Map

We've seen loads of "maps" based on Harry Beck's iconic Tube map - the most famous being The Great Bear based on philosophers, comedians, sporting heros and more and there was also a cool one in Have I Got News For You's Diary. Now the Guardian have got in on the act with one based on connections between 20th century bands and musicians



They said "Could we chart the branches and connections of 100 years of music using the London Underground map? Dorian Lynskey explains how a box of coloured crayons and lot of swearing helped.

It seems like a deeply implausible project: to plot the history of 20th century music on the London Underground map devised by Harry Beck in 1933."

London Transport who sanctioned the use of the map for this project also said "Every intersection provides an opportunity to celebrate those who mix and transcend musical styles.

For example, where the Pop (Circle), Rock (District) and Reggae (Central) lines intersect, you find The Specials (at Notting Hill Gate). Or at the junction of Funk (Victoria) and Blues & Country (Piccadilly), one finds James Brown (at Finsbury Park). "

The guy who devised it clearly had some fun with the project - "The different character of each line lent itself to a certain genre. Pop, for example, intersects with everything else so that had to be the Circle line. On the other hand, classical music tends to occupy its own sphere, which made it perfect for the Docklands Light Railway."

Posters of the Musical Underground map are now available from London's Transport Museum's website and gift shop priced £7.95.

All profits from sales will aid the current renovation of the Museum which is currently closed and will re-open in 2007.

I love the rather enthusiastic description on the LT Museum site - "Transport for London's great new Tube map showing Musicians and Bands instead of stations. Is your favourite musician here? Punk or Funk? This map is officially exciting!"

Londonist have also blogged this - with the inspired heading - "I Live In Busta Rhymes. Right Next To Cameo."

UPDATE - a question that Wayne asked, in the comments below, about the map and Saint Etienne who feature on it, reminded me that Saint Etienne use the London Underground map as a site map for their website:

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 03, 2006 Permalink

Pigeon Bloggers take to the skies

Please let London Underground pigeons start blogging

I know some of you will have certain view about pigeons calling the rats with wings, flying rats, and vermin. But I like pigeons, I've always liked them and I particularly like the way they travel on the Tube.

However, yesterday a lot of the press including Metro were all over the fact that pigeons will be blogging and sending text messages when they are sent out to monitor air pollution:



"20 pigeons will be released into the skies over San Jose, California, in August.

Each bird will carry a GPS satellite tracking receiver, air pollution sensors and a basic mobile phone.

Text messages on air quality will be beamed back in real time to a special pigeon "blog", a journal accessible on the Internet.

Miniature cameras slung around the pigeons' necks will also post aerial pictures."

Check out the full story which was in Wednesday's New Scientist on Reuters.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 03, 2006 Permalink

61 year old Bus and Train Spotter suspected of Terrorism

Bus spotter banned

Watch out if you take lots of pictures of trains and buses as you could find yourself accused of being a terrorist and thrown out of the station or terminus:

"Alan Turnock has spent 50 years collecting 200,000 pictures of buses and trains across Britain.

But the 61-year-old was stunned when staff told him to put down his camera and stop taking photos because they feared he could be a suicide bomber." said the Daily Mirror today.

Some regular readers will remember by "brush with the law" last year for taking pictures of transport police at my local station, so I have sympathy for Alan!

Staff from bus operator Nexus ordered him to leave because of increased security measures following last July's terrorist attacks on the London Underground and a bus. Alan said "I explained I was not doing any harm but he just said I would have to stop. I felt as if they were accusing me of being a terrorist, which is ludicrous.

"I was embarrassed and there are no signs to say you can't take pictures of buses coming in or out."

Poor old Alan, looks like it's time for him to find a new hobby!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 03, 2006 Permalink

London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

Here's my regular end of the week at commuters spotted on the London Underground who could be considered to be somewhat fashionably challenged. It's often people who have slavishly followed a fashion trend regardless of whether or not it looks good on them. However, this week it's a couple of women who seem to be challenging the realms of good taste.

Leopard Skin Jacket and White Shoes

I know it's remarkably cruel to say this, but I will say it anyway and hope that God forgives me, but just how much does this woman look like a lady of the night. I actually took it on the way into work one morning, so it's not as if she was coming home from a club (or perhaps she was and had a very, very good night!)



I particularly like the black footless tights/leggings thing going on with the white high heels.

Deckchair Shoes

I'm starting from the bottom up here. There's few occaisions when these shoes would work. On a hot sunny beach perhaps. Or walking round a Mediterranean city, but not standing on a cold Tube platform in West London at the end of January



Now if we pan out we can see the whole outfit:



I'm fairly speechless here. It's one of those times when someone is put in front of you and their outfit really defies description!

That's it for this week. The previous entry for London Underground fashion victims is here and all of them together can be seen on the following Flickr set.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Friday, February 03, 2006 Permalink

It's a Dog's Life - the London Underground seeks dog photographs

Platform for Art celebrates the Year of the Dog

"To celebrate the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Dog 2006, Platform for Art and the Photographers' Gallery are delighted to present ten portraits of dogs and their owners by photographer Suki Dhanda. These photographs will be displayed in poster frames at London Underground stations across zones 1 - 3 for two months."

However, "Platform for Art is also inviting the public to submit photographs of friends and family with their dogs for a special exhibition on the Platform for Art website. Visitors to this website will be able to submit their photographs between 29 January and 28 February 2006. The selected pictures will then be exhibited on the site for one year."

I might give it a try as I know a few people with dogs, but in the meantime here's my own dog related/ Tube related pictures:



I saw this huge dog last summer and never had a chance to blog it until now! Looks like the lady petting it should have been a "London Underground Fashion Victim" submission at the time!



I wasn't sure what these items in the London Transport Museum shop were first of all. They looked a bit like bags but with openings at each end - which wouldn't make sense. Then the penny dropped and I remembered that some dog coats had been made from London Underground seat upholstery or moquette and here they were!

Finally, I just like to call this picture taken on the District Line last week "Dog Tired"

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 02, 2006 Permalink

Travels With My Beard on BBC3 tonight

Remember when Asian men with beards got dodgy looks on the Tube?

In the immediate aftermath of the London bombings many people who "looked a bit foreign" felt that they were treated with suspicion by their fellow commuters.

At the weekend Rajesh Thind sent me an email to let me know that the documentary he made about his experiences with his beard last summer was finally being aired tonight. He said: "As you were the first to have picked up on my documentary, "Travels with My Beard" back in September when I went to see the maker of the Freedom Bags, Bob Fitzjohn (as per Rajesh's diary), I wanted to let you that it's on telly this Thursday, 2nd February at 10.30pm on BBC3 as part of a series called 'Mischief'. The chat with Bob hasn't made the final cut unfortunately, but the Freedom Bags have."

Should be a very interesting program and I'm actually glad his chat with see through rucksack maker - Mr Fitzjohn didn't make it through, as he was rather ..... er... strange, to say the least (see our experience with him here).

Here's a quote from Rajesh "It was a week after 7 July and I'd just got on an east London bus. I was on my way to buy razors as I hadn't shaved for days.

A couple of stops later a middle-aged Rasta guy got on, sat down next to me and asked: "So how's it feel brethren?" "Erm, how's what feel?" I replied. "How's it feel now it's your turn to be bottom of the pile?" he said.....

When I got to Liverpool Street and I went into the station to catch the Tube, I was stopped and searched under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act. It had never happened to me before and I had always felt perfectly at ease in the UK, my home.

So I decided to find out whether the Rasta was right; had the 7 July bombings - carried out by three British Muslims and a Jamaican-born UK resident who had converted to Islam - changed British society and put me 'bottom of the pile'?"

For more on Travels With My Beard, check out the BBC link that Ian also kindly sent me.

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Thursday, February 02, 2006 Permalink

Midweek Quiz - Where is the picture of this Tube Station from?

Err ..... Brixton London Underground Station? I think not!



Someone from my blog roll sent me a link to an entry they had made about the picture above. I said I might make a post about it at some point, but that a lot you would be laughing so much about the inaccuracies in the above picture that you might not be able to comment. But then again, maybe not!

So I thought it might make a little midweek quiz, just to see how well (or not) you look at some of the sites in my "blog roll" or the "blogs that mention mine" links on the right.

Where is the picture above from and, by that, I mean, which site blogged about it, OR where did they find the picture itself? You could also tell us what is so funny about it.

And because I'm feeling generous I'll throw in a prize for the most accurate answer (please don't give the exact link to the website that mentioned it - I will reveal that at the end of the competition), plus there's another prize for the funniest (my generosity knows no bounds this week). You've got until Friday 3rd February 18.00 GMT to make your guesses. ONE attempt only please! Please leave your email address and/or website or blog in the comments below to enter.

The prize - a very lovely London Underground coaster. It will be either "No Smoking" or "Mind the Gap". They also make cool mini ashtrays!



Have fun!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, February 01, 2006 Permalink

New Seventh Carriage on Jubilee Line London Underground Trains

Spot the 7th Carriage

Many thanks to Version3point1 for reminding me that the new 7th carriages were officially introduced on the Jubilee Line yesterday.



She blogs about the official launch far more effectively than I could (as she was there!), so please check out her blog! She also has some other good pictures of it like the one above!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, February 01, 2006 Permalink

Welcome to Peter Hendy - London Transport's New Boss

I don't envy his job

Peter Hendy the new London Transport Commissioner starts work today:

"Peter Hendy was Transport for London's managing director of surface transport before stepping up to the top job of Commissioner after the surprise departure of Bob Kiley." says Yahoo! News

"At the top of Hendy's "to do" list is likely to be making sure the transport infrastructures connected with the London Olympic Games are in place.

One of the key reservations of the Olympic selectors was concern that London would not be able to transport all the athletes and spectators to the various sporting sites (my views on this here).

Early signs that some underground train drivers might engage in industrial unrest during the games will be an added worry."

There's a surprise. Good luck Peter, you'll need it!

London Underground; Tube Posted by Annie Mole Wednesday, February 01, 2006 Permalink