The South end

Is buying local dying?

I live in the south end I am proud to do so. I would never move out of this area. My job, my family and all my friends are now in this area. I am firmly embedded here, with deep roots that actually extend back by several generations. My friends from north of the river may call me a southern softie, if that’s what I am, I am proud to be so.

As an aware member of my community, I do my best to buy locally to support the local business in my area and to put money back into my local mini economy. However, in the run up to a exhibition that I am attending, when trying to buy some roller banners, I found it impossible to be able to find a local supplier that could help me at a reasonable cost.

 

The thing about buying any kind of banner stands, is that they really are a specialist piece of equiptment. Whilst my local printers could source them, because he would have to go through another supplier to get them in it just works out as far too expensive for me. Whilst I want to support my local businesses, I can’t do so at the expense of fore-fitting my own profit margins. I really like buying local, but in this case I am having to get the things I need in from Manchester.

To be honest, the thing is that it has really worked out for me as well. I bought from these people called the Image Group. They have their production in Manchester itself, and then ship everything out from there. I am very used to dealing with people face to face, and not at all comfortable with making deals long distance and over the phone as much, but actually I’ve come away having had a really good experience with them. They were polite, helpful and upfront about all costs involved. They even as part of the package managed to cut me a deal on a really good pop up display stand to compliment the other stands I’d ordered from them. It all arrived on time, and looked really good when put up.

I feel a little like I am betraying my local community here, but if I were to buy more stands, I am going to go back to people in Manchester for it. I can’t afford to buy it through my local printers, and they did a really good of it all. I’ll continue to buy what I can here, but I wonder if this is the way things are going? Is it going to get the point in a few generations time where ‘local’ doesn’t exist anymore and all we can do is order everything from the specialist supplier where ever they are based?

A rise in south London surgery

Over the past 6 months there has been a significant rise in the amount of people who are having surgical treatments to make themselves look better. I am talking specifically about surgery for cosmetic reasons only, this does not include surgery that is recomeded by a medical doctor for health reasons. There are of course some treatments that are borderline, having a botox headache treatment done can help to reduce or even eliminate migraines, and having seen how crippling migraines can be, I can understand why people would want rid of them for legitimate medical reasons. However I am speaking specifically of the rise in what I will call beauty nip and tucks. As a result of this there has been an increase in the amount of clinics in the south of London.

Treatments for women are now available all along the south of the Thames and as they make money many of them are quickly expanding. Places that started out by just offering waxing, are now giving people quite complex laser therapy. Places that were once manned by women who would only offer essentially safe and simple treatments like a glycolic peel or sensual face packs, now have an in house rhinoplasty surgeon. What is most surprising is the speed at which these businesses have grown. Small nail places that were once run by a few ladies, have over the last few years grown into registered practices that have more medical equipment than several fully fitted brand new ambulances. All of this is now in the south of London at your doorstep. But is this a good thing?

It is always nice when things are being provided locally. Your money is being returned to the community in which you live, and you don’t have to spend time travelling to get what you want. However the question is should we all be getting these treatments? Is having your body altered for aesthetic gain a condonable thing? For many the answer is an outright no. It takes up a large amount of time, is a big expense, and doesn’t change who you are as a person. Many people are happy with who they are and would never consider it. However those people who DO consider it are the people who aren’t happy with the way they look. Yes perhaps it is sending an unconstructive message about the importance of looks, but if it’s going to make a significant difference to peoples happiness levels...? I don’t think that I can judge this here, and each case will have to be decided individually by the person looking to have a treatment. What I can say that it is now easily available, which means more and more people are going to have to decide where they stand on this issue.

Thank goodness for the Congestion Charge

Driving in London is something that many people realise is an exercise in futility.  Using the car to get from A-B is often no quicker that getting on a bicycle or even walking.  And for distances slightly further afield there are enough roads and rails to keep the city moving slightly faster than the four wheeled monster.  Unsurprising that London is one of only two cities in the UK to have an area where motorists are charged for the privilege of driving through it.  The Central London congestion charge zone is the largest in the world and given London’s street pattern is also the most complex to enforce.  However, at £8 each weekday from 7am-6pm, it has probably been the one fact that has been significant in halting the inevitable gridlock that would have come about if London’s traffic was left unchecked.

There are many benefits to the scheme.  It covers the part of the city with the best transport provision.  More rail lines pass through this part of London than anywhere else in the country.  The bus network has been bolstered to provide extra capacity and the congestion charge has actually managed to keep bus fares low enough to make them a more appealing way to travel.  Cycle lanes have also been improved that has allowed a large proportion of the city to get onto their bikes and out of their cars.  Pollution, while always a problem has decreased as has the number of accidents.  And the people who want to drive through it have to pay, an excellent use of the principle of supply and demand.

So why, after nearly five years of success is there still such opposition to the scheme.  How come so many politicians jump on the bandwagon to remove the charge as soon as they get into office.  The Congestion Charge and its introduction was one of the braver decision made by any politician in the face if fierce opposition to the car lobby.  It is interesting that many of the protests came from outside London, those that use their cars the most in order to drive into the capital.  They do not pay the local councils the privilege of using the roads and yet the demand their right to drive.  What about the rights of the children in Inner London suffering from asthma as a result of their gas guzzlers.  It also surprises me that newspapers have often been vitriolic in their opposition to road charging.  Well, here is some news for them.  On public transport, people are able to read newspapers.  In cars, people cannot read.

One thing, if the Congestion Charge is ever scrapped, who will pay for all the improvements that have been made to London’s public transport.  And realistically, do we really want a return a city where increasing traffic was slowly becoming a part of the norm?

The evolution of East London

With the collapse of London’s docks in the latter part of the twentieth century, it seemed that the East End of the city had finally bitten the dust.  After weathering floods, poverty and the blitz, time it seemed, had been called on East London.  in the 1980’s vast swathes of riverside were derelict, and were nothing more than a memory of a bygone age.

But no one has seemed to tell the inhabitants of this area.  Along with plenty of no-nonsense government freewheeling, today the focus of the capital seems to be very much heading out towards the east.  New projects are being completed all the time, the most evident of which, the Canary Wharf complex, stands as a testament to the virility of London’s east.  More new businesses start up in this part of the city than anywhere else in the UK.  East London has become a cultural hub with artists joining capitalists in the regeneration of the area.  The East End is also the focus of London’s 2012 Olympics, which will centre around the River Lea that runs through East London.  It seems that it has never been this god for the East End (Exspecaily if you are looking to sell your house).

In fact, East London is merely following what has always been a continuing feature of its development.  Overspill.  From Medieval times, East London has served as the area where London has expanded industrially.  Dirty industries moved beyond the city walls as is evidenced today by the existence (still) of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, suppliers of the famed Big Ben in the Houses of Parliament and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.  It was the same for London’s docks.  As the original Pool of London downstream of London Bridge became too crowded, the ships moved to newly open docks on the marshes to the east of the city.  Today, it is the overspill of the financial industry.  Housing is also now part of the overspill with key areas such as Stratford, the Royal Docks and Dagenham acting as nodes of new residences.  The artist themselves are an overspill from the crowded West End.  Forced out by high prices they have found new homes and reinvigorated themselves within the cultural mix of the city.

The East of London is booming and is intricately tied to the city’s development as a whole.  It has always served as the area in which the Capital has been able to grow and eventually position itself as a part of the World Economy.  What will the future hold?  Well, after a wander round the East End, some may say that the future has already arrived.

Don't Celebrities Know How to Do Glamour Themselves Anymore?

At one time it seemed that celebrity women had elegance and grace for the most part yes, but they also had a sense of glamour.  Today’s celebrities may look the part of the glamour puss, but how much of it is their own natural flair, and how much of it is professional advised? 

For decades the stars of entertainment have given their names to fashion trends and although in some cases it’s quite possible that they were advised on this by professionals in the fashion industry, they still had enough >   A young person who wants to emulate a celebrity really needs the one thing that they have – and that’s someone else who goes out and finds the great clothes that will look perfect on them.  I’m sure that the celebrities will say that they just don’t have the time to tour fashion houses, but even if they did, would they really know what suits them best?  I doubt it.  If they did, why would they put their all important appearance in the hands of someone else? 

Celebrities are, by the nature of the profession they’ve chose, automatic role models.  As such is it really necessary to require a team of people to make you look good on the red carpet?  Somewhere tucked away at this year’s awards ceremonies were an army of stylists, personal shoppers, make-up professionals, hair stylists – and of course plastic surgeons – who were responsible for that glamour we were presented.  We are so used to air brushed images of famous people in magazines, that it would be refreshing to see how they really looked.  However, rather than see a real person on the red carpet, we are given an act, another piece of make believe – yet another glimpse at the "air brushed" façade rather than a genuine look at the real people who make magic on screen.

Halloween

The holiday of Halloween is something that has recently arisen in the consciousness of British society.  Five years ago, the concept of ‘Trick or Treat’ was something still viewed with amusement and fifteen years ago was pretty much unheard of.  At least in the past, the children that asked for sweets, actually got sweets and so were able to spend the remainder of their October celebrating the delights of a massive sugar rush.  Today, trick or treating now involves gangs of teenagers threatening house owners for money and then proceeding to egg their doorways whether or not they receive money.

Halloween in the UK has gone from being a relatively harmless bit of American adopted fun to another night when screaming teenagers can legitimately vandalise whatever and whoever they please.  Possibly the only winners is Britain’s egg industry as sales of their product reaches epic proportions that even beat the Easter season.  So how did this transformation occur?  And why is nothing done about it.

To run the gauntlet of Halloween, you need to make sure your car is parked far away from your own home.  No lights should be lit within the house as you cower away and hide from the relentless slaughter of eggs and flour.  To escape with a minor bruising should be considered a victory for all members of the public.  Anyone travelling on a bus that night is witness to the new decorations that adorn these vehicles and one should feel sorry for the cleaners at the depots that have to deal with the aftermath of this torrid holiday.

One thing that is also surprising is how much Halloween tat is readily available in the shops during this part of Autumn.  Pumpkins, both real and fake as well as witch costumes and tacky masks are readily available for all to use for their one night of fun.  I swear that the price of eggs also rises during this time.

All the more surprising, as during this time of the year there is a perfectly good holiday available in the UK and in itself has a long and proud tradition - Guy Fawkes day.  It seems that while Halloween is in ascendancy, the traditional Bonfire Night has become something a bit passé and is now a much less marketed event than the ‘night of the undead’.  It is a sad passing when plastic witch hats and hollowed out pumpkins hold more appeal than a display of fireworks.