Friday, March 31, 2006
Scavenger Hunt London Underground Quiz
London Underground Anagram Tube Map Mug kindly donated by regular contributor Fimb.
Fimb had the foresight to buy this mug before Transport for London got in touch with Cafe Press to get it pulled. So it is a very, very, limited edition. Hopefully someone from the Tube or their lawyers will win it, so they can smash it smithereens!
Not only has Fimb donated the prize but she's also created the quiz & it's a goodie. As you know if you search hard enough (or rather with hardly any effort) you can still find the "banned" Tube maps - so we want you to search the net and find the following items:
1) A Tube train you can eat
2) A Tube map you can wear (official or unofficial)
3) A Tube related tattoo
4) A pre 20th Century picture of the London Underground
5) A picture of someone famous travelling on the Tube
6) The lyrics to a song that contain the FULL name of a station on the London Underground. It mustn't be something that was written specifically as a spoof like the "Going Underground London Underground Song" or any of Anthony's songs, or any of the songs featured on this site.
As my haloscan commenting system only lets you put three links in each comment, you will have to make two comments if you want to enter.
There is a bonus point if your answer to 1-5 is different from the person who guessed immediately before you.
Plus each answer to number 6 MUST be different - so you can't make the same guess as someone else. There are tons of songs that feature station names so you shouldn't be hard pressed to find them.
You have until 23.59 GMT Sunday 9th April to make your guesses and please leave either your email address and/or blog or website in the comments when you make your two posts. As usual Neil's paperclip selection will come into play in the event of several people getting the same high point score.
Have fun and thanks again to Fimb for donating the prize and devising the quiz!
UPDATE - me and Fimb are loving the answers we've had so far. So much so, that we are going to give some runner up prizes (fridge magnet calendars, badges and whatever else I can find in my goody bag) for originality. So if you manage to find different pictures to 1-5 eg celebs on the Tube other than Ken Livingstone, a different answer to the Tube train you can eat, a good Tube related tattoo etc, you could be up for a runner up prize.
PS - don't forget the Tube Seat Upholstery Pencil Case Quiz closes on the 2nd April 23.59 GMT. At the time of writing no one has all 5 answers correct, so there's still a chance someone could sneak in and win it - otherwise it will be judged on points!
London Underground Fashion Victims
Ugg(ly)ness of Uggs.
Here's a variety of Ugg style boots spotted this week:
Uggs and Furry Wedges
The woman in the foreground is wearing a pair of real Ugg boots as I could spot the branding on the back of her heel - not that that makes them any better. But I was particularly transfixed by the woman wearing a pair of wedge heeled boots with a furry top and some Twiggy jeans
I suppose unless you are wearing a skirt, Twiggy jeans "sort of work" with the furry wedges, but I think if I were her, I would have worn drainpipes and tucked them into the boots. But then again, if I were her, I wouldn't have bought the hideous things in the first place and I certainly wouldn't go out in a bright orange coat.
Still then, anyone who has Marilyn Monroe luggage doesn't really stand much of a chance on this blog.
It was actually quite kind of her to move her suitcase round like that, as it stopped me staring in a "car crash TV" kind of way at her boots!
Furry Bobbly Uggs
I think these boots speak for themselves:
Possibly if they could speak, they'd be saying "Get us back to the set of the Muppets. We're puppets we're not supposed to be on this girl's feet!".
Steady on guys, hold yourselves back
Quite simply the most unattractive backside I've seen for some time
If the ill fittingness of these "combats" wasn't enough she topped it off with a large metallic back. Unfortunately I managed to get the bag in the glare of its own brightness so you can't see the true metallicness of it.
Metrosexual?
Here's a guy (yes it's a man) who's clearly in touch with his feminine side with a very vibrant green cardigan and a Harvey Nicks patterned shoulder bag:
I think the phrase "just gay enough" would be slightly err.... wasted on him.
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.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Commuter Cupid returns to Metro
Metro announced the rebirth of their Commuter Cupid section, where people can post messages or write in about people that they've seen on public transport that they fancy, in the hope that the person may be reading Metro and respond.
Here's my favourite ones from the London Underground:
"To the hot bloke I sat next to on the Northern Line on the evening of Thursday March 9. You got off at Colliers Wood and were wearing a navy pinstripe suit and let me read your newspaper over your shoulder. You caught me looking at you as I looked back one last time" (Very much a James Blunt moment) "You have a very sexy smile."
"To the girl who gets on the Bakerloo Line at Elephant & Castle at about 8.15am. You have long brown hair and it's silky and straight. I think you are gorgeous and would love to get to know you better. Even if you don't swing my way, we could still be friends, right?"
Interesting. I suppose if she did "swing her way" there'd be more chance of success. Otherwise it might be a tad awkward striking up a friendship with someone the same sex as you, when you knew they fancied you. Specially if the only thing in common is that you travel on the same train. But you never know!
Finally, "To the girl struggling with her copy of Metro in a jam packed Central Line carriage on Monday March 6. You had black hair in a bob, dark brown eyes and a long black jacket. I was the guy reading an oversized book from under a beanie hat". (Strange place to read a book, perhaps he's a alien with eyes in the top of his head) "I tried to get out of the way so you could fold the page over - to which you flashed me an amazing smile and whispered 'thanks'. You got off at Bank, but made my day".
I think that one has the most chance of success, as at least she actually spoke to him which puts him streets ahead of the other love struck commuters!
Ian Marchant in his interesting book Parallel Lines or Journeys on the Railway of Dreams says that "Romance is hardly to be found on the Underground. In its place you have over-sexualisation. Passengers are crammed into tunnels like sperm in a fallopian tube. Posters depicting giant women with vice like thighs and ballooning breasts leer down from the walls. The sight of a well turned ankle climbing on to a train still fills the male passenger with enough fluttering excitement to last all eight hours in the office. The Underground is horny".
Well is it? I can see his point and in a previous post I was interviewed about my thoughts on "romance" on the Tube. It's ripe for close encounters, but even with Metro and sites like Isawyoutoday.com can true love ever blossom, or is the Tube just horny?
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Are these cleaning Tubes?
Frankie Roberto asked me a while back if anyone could throw any light as to what these yellow trains were
He said "This was spotted at Euston station. A few friends have seen these trains around too - kinda spooky when you're expecting a regular Tube to turn up..."
I did a bit of searching around and found some pictures of the Tunnel Cleaning Trains (or Big Yellow Dusters - as they're apparently known as) on District Dave's site and it looked similar to the above, (well it was yellow) but had enough differences for it not to be exactly the same!
If anyone could confirm what the first picture is that would be great.
Then with this talk of cleaning reminded me of the London Underground Fluffer. A band of night-time workers called Fluffers or Fluffies used to go into the tunnels and shift all of the hair and skin cells that we deposit on the Tube every day. They actually removed all of the dust, dirt and debris by hand with brushes and brooms.
There's a fascinating little film of their work on the ITN archives' website (you need to register to view the film). Thanks to Helena Wojtczak who wrote the fab book Railwaywomen for pointing this film out to me.
 
Although the film makes the women look as they had a fun time in their work, but that has to be quite simply one of the worst jobs in the world!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Playstation Ads banned from the Underground
Tom Reynolds sent me a link to a story about a Playstation ad being banned from the Underground in Manchester as it was thought it might encourage people to jump onto train lines. It said "Take a Running Jump here". The ad had been on the platform in the underground station at Piccadilly and a spokesperson from Network Rail said: "An employee spotted it and said it was a bit inappropriate. The message goes completely against all our safety messages, particularly because Playstation is aimed at youngsters and we are constantly telling them not to trespass."
Now this ad from Playstation seems to be OK as I only took this picture yesterday. Maybe it's just me, but isn't that an open invitation to do something fairly unsavoury in public? I say, in my best Daily Mail voice, "ban it" we don't want our youngsters to be corrupted in this way.
 Seriously though, I can see the point of how an advertisement telling someone to "take a running jump" might possibly be seen by someone who was feeling a bit suicidal, and might seem like a "message from above".
Also Gigi sent me a link to an ad on the Berlin subway "tempting strap hangers to come a little closer". But if the excuse from Manchester, is to ban the ads just to stop kids from tresspassing, I think it's a bit lame.
Are we so "controlled" by ads that we feel we have to do everything they tell us to? I like to think we all (including kids) have a bit more judgement than that, otherwise we'd all be bankrupt!
Name that bar. The winner is..........
suggested name for the bar that Ian (of whoknowswherethoughtscomefrom) is building at the bottom of his garden.
Over to Ian: "I think the winner should be The Flying Aspidistra, by... err you. But if you can't give a prize to yourself, then I think IanD's "Always Touch Inn" must be the winner!"
As I couldn't really give the prize to myself that means that IanD will be the lucky owner of the delightful Mind the Gap Spillage Beer Mat pictured above!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Metropolitan delays mean Wembley Park unveiling not quite on time
 "The work has been delivered on time and on budget"
According to Ken Livingstone, so there was much trumpeting at how the new Wembley Park Tube "gives London a world-class station to serve a world-class sporting venue and provides local residents in Brent with a substantially improved transport link". Just a shame the Metropolitan Line had severe delays this morning. As the Edinburgh Evening News said "Once guests finally reached Wembley they were greeted by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and former England goalkeeper David Seaman who together opened the station."
David Seaman said "It's great to see the Wembley Park Tube station in action today. Millions of fans are going to be travelling to sport and music events at Wembley Stadium in the next few years and they now have the public transport they need to get them there.
"The national stadium will be the envy of the rest of the world and we have equally impressive transport facilities to get fans to and from the stadium. Wembley Park will certainly be a fans'favourite. "
Seaman then spent time to "test out the new, larger ticket hall" with local school kids who used the station to carry out penalty shoot outs with him. Let's hope that's just for today's unveiling.
Other improvements at the station include:
A new events ticket hall
Widened stairs to Olympic Way for use during events
Extended roofs on platforms 4 and 5
Five new lifts, providing full accessibility to all platforms
Upgrade and expansion of CCTV
New Help point and information systems
Not quite sure why a station would need "extended roofs" - perhaps someone can enlighten me.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Pocket Planet Radio Podcast Interview
 Going Underground Podcast Interview
Back from France now, and I remembered that a few weeks ago I did an interiew with Chris Vallance who does a daily slot on BBC Radio Five about blogs and podcasts but also has his own podcast and blog called Pocket Planet Radio. Chris had now posted it on his blog. As you may remember he interviewed Geoff about all of the Tube Map Mashing stuff, and Chris also has great podcast with Russell Davies the guy behind the fab Eggbaconchipsandbeans blog which has now been made into a book.
If I sound a bit peculiar at the start of the interview, it's because we were walking quite quickly down the street, as I had a train to catch (not helped by bumping into two work colleagues who shouted out hello). We continue the interview on the Northern Line and then finish at Waterloo (where we were getting VERY suspcious looks from one of the transport police there, so apologies for my Ummm, and Err, quota rising, as I thought we were going to be stopped by the police for some reason - he seemed happy that we weren't filming though).
Cheers Chris for the post and the podcast - and yes, yes, he knows that it was Marc Brunel who designed the Wapping Tunnel and not his son Isambard.
Final impressions of Paris Metro
put their money where their mouth is), but this is nothing like some of the ad spaces on the Metro
That was a bit of an assault on the eyes and hard to take in, but I liked the larger ones they had in the corridors with the ornate framing around them:
I thought the next ad looked a little like a black and white version of the ad for Derailed, with a man and woman in the foreground and the subway scene beneath.
But it's for a film called Renaissance and is set in Paris in 2054. Quite a stylish looking animated black and white film which reminds me slightly of the animation in Sin City.
 Finally when leaving Paris and travelling to Gare du Nord, I got onto a high speed train that wasn't part of the Metro but still runs through Paris.
It's one of those "monster" three story trains, where you can go upstairs or in a "basement" section below platform level too.
I went upstairs as it was the only place to get a seat. It all felt a bit weird, travelling at such a high speed, looking down the stairs and holding onto my luggage hoping it wouldn't topple down and hit the people below me.
Friday, March 24, 2006
London Underground Fashion Victims
platform Uggs I saw last week.
She's now in a bit of a quandary about which type of bag to choose from the current favourites doing the rounds - the more tasteful patterned look - this one influenced by Mackintosh (Charles Rennie) I think, or the metallic look, borrowing its influence from McLoughlin (Colleen). I know which one I prefer! But well done to her for managing to appear amongst my victims two weeks running.
Socks on display
I know that people will argue with me on these, but I just don't think that these brightly coloured lacy socks work with this woman's tweedy looking shoes
In the fashion victim discussions we've been talking about the merits (or not) of fish net tights and the merits (or not) of bright socks which you want on show. I suppose because I generally wear boots at the moment my socks or under boot wear is never on display.
Turn Ups
Quite simply the biggest turn ups I've seen recently
She's also doing that "my top's so long it's virtually a dress", look over jeans. I can't seem to work out what's going on with her shoes here either and am undecided as to whether I like them or not.
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.
Tube Seat Pencil Case Quiz
London Underground Pencil Case up for grabs
The day before I left for France I picked up a cool pencil case and draught excluder made from Tube Seat upholstery:
They were made by the mother of a regular contributor to this blog and hopefully she is going to start selling them on e-bay - the pencil case will start at seven pounds (plus P & P) and the draught excluder - seventeen pounds (plus P & P).
However, you can win a pencil case by answering the following questions:
1) Which London Underground Line does or did the upholstery come from?
2) Whose mum makes the pencil cases and draught excluders?
3) Which line on the London Underground has the newest design of upholstery?
4) What's the generic term used for this type of upholstery?
5) There was a popular urban myth going round about the sorts of nasty things that were found on Tube seats. Name one of the things supposedly found on them (anybody being a smart alec and naming more than one will be disqualified). There is a bonus point on this answer, if you don't name the same thing as the person who guessed before you.
To enter leave your answers in the comments below with your email address and/or blog/website. Please leave all five answers in one comment - no second guesses! You have until Sunday 2nd April 23.59 GMT to enter. If more than one person has the most points they will go into Neil's paperclip selection.
Good luck!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
My Parisian Commute
I nipped off the train and took a picture of the Eiffel Tower from ground level but also went to the Trocadero and took a lot more pictures as the view from there was fantastic and lots more impressive than from this direction
At the Trocadero though I saw my first "traditional" Metro sign which was quite cool
The sign is loads more atmospheric than the more modern Metro signs
Like every big City though Paris has its stalls selling tourist tat. You could see mini Eiffel Towers everywhere, but so far I only saw one piece that was Metro "branded" - this pretty yucky photoframe
Back on the Metro and again like every major City, Paris isn't without its homeless
I also managed to hear and spot a few buskers, although the Parisians don't seem to have sponsored spots for them to play
Just to finish for today with a shot of one of the trains coming into the station
Back to work now, so more pictures will be up tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Greetings from a very wet Paris
Green Fairy for the sub-title, I'm in our French office for a couple of days and was really pleased that I navigated the Metro like it was the London Underground and then managed to get totally lost when I got to the streets as I stupidly had forgotten to print off the address of my hotel.
Anyway, one of the smarter things I managed to do was buy a two day ticket for Le Metro (which also includes some buses & mainline trains too) while I was at Waterloo & about to get on the Eurostar
So I worked out where I needed to go and where I needed to change on Line 2.
All was well when I arrived at Gare du Nord, I got to my interchange station and found that at least the Parisians have chocolate machines that work and that pigeons seem as much in force over here as in London, although I didn't see any actually get into the carriage like the cheeky little blighters do in London.
Inside the carriages, much was the same as London, not many people talking and everyone looking fairly miserable.
Interesting, however to see ads hanging from the ceiling of the carriages.
Otherwise, the carriages generally seemed cleaner than London's, but the seats were a bit starker looking and much more uncomfortable than our nicely upholstered ones:
I managed to get a quick picture of Rome station, which I'm sure confuses some tourists who may have fallen asleep and wake up in Rome possibly thinking they have travelled for thousands of miles on the subway!
More to follow if I get a chance to explore Le Metro this evening or tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Mind the Zip
The Sun reports today with the understated "Perv yanked down zips" that "A pevert who unzipped women's trousers on Tube trains was banned from the underground yesterday - and told he faces jail.
Bernard Da Conceicao, 35, was released on bail by a judge who told him not to go to any station or travel on trains after assaulting seven victims. The court heard how he used his satchel to hide his hand during attacks on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines in London.
The horrified women only realised what he was doing when they felt a "light pressure" on their groin.."
One of the women he groped said: "I felt something on the zip of the front part of my trousers. The train was very congested and I thought my bags had squashed against that area. There was lots of movement and when I looked down I saw his hand."
I can't believe they'll be able to enforce his ban and the judge says that its likely he will receive a jail sentence when he goes back to court in May.
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy on the Tube
Liz went to a show currently on at the Tate Modern (Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From the Bauhaus to the New World) and bought me back a postcard of the poster pictured below:
As well as the pneumatic doors Moholy-Nagy also created a poster promoting escalators on the Tube. London Transport must have been particularly proud of their new pneumatatic doors though and the poster explained how they worked "The doors which are edged with rubber are kept closed by air-engine arms one for each door. The arms engage in slots in the doors which open when the arms swing round. The doors are held open by the arms. The signal to start cannot be given while the doors are open".
I assume they still work the same way today, given the amount of grief some of you gave me for saying that I sometimes barge into the doors as they are about to close and hold them open so I can squeeze myself in.
Anyway if you're into Bauhaus, the exhibition is on until the 4th June and if you show a valid Oystercard you can get 30% off the adult ticket price and pay £4.90 rather than the standard price of £7.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Puntastic London Underground Ads
Bakerloo Line Centenary) so I was pleased to spot this ad for British Gas last week:
They've certainly packed in as many London station name puns in as possible, when referring to the boiler breakdown cover you can buy from them. As you don't want to get a Wapping bill you need their highly trained engineers who are so good you'll want to Clapham.
My friend works for British Gas in the Marketing Department for services like boiler breakdown cover, so I'd Bank on her being responsbible for these puns. When I next say Harrow to her, I'll see if see knows how Poplar they have been.
Date the Tube Map quiz plus Metro Competition
"Date the Tube Map" quiz
Many of you were in the right ball park with early 1930's making it one of the last pre-Beck maps, but the correct answer was 1932. Take a look at Clive's site which has most of the variants of London Undeground maps dating back to 1889.
In terms of the current names of the lines in the Edwardian Tube map here - between all of you, you guessed most of them:
Central London Railway is today's Central Line
City and South London is part of today's the Northern Line via Bank
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton is the Piccadilly Line
Great Northern and City is the WAGN line or Northern City (which isn't part of the London Underground any more)
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead is the Northern Line via Charing Cross
Baker Street and Waterloo is the Bakerloo Line
and of course the Waterloo & City is now the Waterloo & City Line which was too easy to guess.
Anyway, the two people who guessed 1932 are Jamesthegill and Rich, Neil did his paperclip selection, or tossed a coin, and the winner is Rich. As promised, Rich will receive a copy of Train and Transport - A Collector's Guide, kindly donated by Graham O'Mara.
BTW speaking of the Tube map, the London Underground Map came second to Concorde in the Great British Design Quest to find the best British Design Icon. According to Transport for London over 200,000 votes were cast.
BTW 2 - Metro have a fiendishly difficult competition today where you can win a copy of Mr Beck's Underground Map by Ken Garland and Underground Maps after Beck by Max Roberts (who's been commenting on this blog of late). To win you need to answer "How many copies of the London Underground map are distributed each year?" and email your answer with your name and telephone number to metrocompetitions@tfl.gov.uk by 5pm tonight. The answer is on a link somewhere in this post. The winner will be picked at random from all of the correct entries. Good luck!
Friday, March 17, 2006
London Underground Fashion Victims
Some with a Guinness Theme with a shamrock shape just to rub it in
However my favourite was this girl with very low slung jeans with an Irish flag wrapped round her
Bird Flu Hat
One from South West Trains, but this woman clearly had something against our feathered friends or perhaps it was some strange way of trying to ward off bird flu
Twiggy Trousers and Fishnets
I'm not really sure if these were Twiggy Trousers or Twiggy Shorts (the cropped trouser worn by Twiggy in the M&S campaign which revived the ailing store's sales), either way regular readers know my opinions on fishnet tights and when worn with Twiggy Trousers, or Shorts, I personally don't think it's a great look
21st Century Girl
It's the metallic bags AGAIN, but she had a nice 21st century twist with them here as she was scribbling away on her palm pilot electronic notebook thingy
I quite like the way the bag strap round her wrist looks like a handcuff!
Platform UGGs
The week wouldn't be complete without seeing someone in some UGG boots or pretend UGG boots. These ones were particularly err....attractive with a platform!
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.
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