Starting today in Pimlico’s Tate Britain Art Gallery – an exhibition of the works of radical, experimental and avant-garde, Henry Moore (1898–1986), one of Britain’s greatest artists. The exhibition takes a fresh look at his work and legacy, presenting over 150 stone sculptures, wood carvings, bronzes and drawings.
Moore rebelled against his teachers’ traditional views of sculpture, instead taking inspiration from non-Western works he saw in museums. He pioneered carving directly from materials, evolving his signature abstract forms derived from the human body. This exhibition presents examples of the defining subjects of his work, such as the reclining figure, mother and child, abstract compositions and drawings of wartime London. The works are situated in the turbulent ebb and flow of twentieth-century history, sometimes uncovering a dark and erotically charged dimension that makes us look at them in a new light. Exhibition Tickets cost £12.50p.
An additional date for your diary could be Thursday 11 March 2010, 13.00–14.00 when Chris Stephens, curator of the Henry Moore exhibition, discusses Moore’s work in the context of twentieth-century history. Situated in relation to the trauma of war, the advent of psychoanalysis, new ideas of sexuality, primitive art and Surrealism. Tickets are £5.
Londonist has prepared a map of Moore sculptures to be seen for free around London generally, with blue pins representing outdoor works and red indicating indoor pieces
This article isn’t to teach you about Internet marketing, but to share my amusement at some of the searches which have brought people to my site this week.
The long tail is a type of statistical distribution where a high-frequency population is followed by a low-frequency population which gradually “tails off”. The idea of blogging for Internet Marketing is to provide articles which will attract readers who are not undertaking obvious searches to your website where hopefully they will click on your advertising or buy your product (please take that as a hint!). These phrases individually are unlikely to account for a great deal of searches, but when taken as a whole, can provide significant traffic.
Here are some of the searches which I found amusing and brought people to this site this week:
put+laminate+floor+in+the+wrong++way
venting from a bathroom
pimlico flats screaming headline
? qns eqbt
where to get cement from in pimlico
victorian style flats that need work london
weird lettings london
address of sex place in london
anyone got frauded renting house in pimlico
best places to have sex in london
how much does it cost to run a vent axia kitchen fan
Pimlico People is a new community website where you can chat about all the local issues with like-minded people; read – and write! – all the local news that’s relevant to you; be the first to know what’s on locally and track down those hidden gems; and find businesses in your area from pet shops to plumbers.
Registering on the site is quick, easy, and free. Once you have registered you’ll be able to personalise your profile, comment on the stories that are live, create or join discussions, and upload your own stories or photos. You’ll be able to create a group that is unique to you as well. By selecting the groups most relevant to you and stating that you wish to receive emails, you will get a weekly newsletter with the latest stories to have gone live on the site.
If you have a Pimlico story to tell, click on the Write button at the top of the screen. It’s easy and you’ll be able to get your voice heard in the community. You can browse through some great photos of the area by clicking on the Galleries button. You can rate the pictures too if you want. If you consider yourself a bit of a photographer and wish to have your local pictures displayed on the site then click on the ‘upload your local photos here’ link. Follow the simple instructions, give the photos a caption once they’ve been loaded , and save. Everyone will then be able to view your great pictures.
You can search for local businesses in Pimlico via the directory at the top of the page. Alternatively if you own a business in the area, it’s most likely already listed in our directory. If you find it listed on our site then claim it (again this is free to do). Once you have claimed your business you can promote it further by loading your own images to make it stand out. It’s also worth noting that you could earn £10 M&S vouchers by reviewing 10 local businesses!
There’s so much more that you can do on the site: find out what events will be taking place, where and when; need to move? Click on the property tab to find the right place for you in Pimlico – buying or renting; you’ll even be able to check the weather on the site! You can follow the site on twitter as well.
Reading a Letting Agent describing her embarrassment at slamming a door on the fingers of a prospective tenant, and then walking into the flat to see on the walls framed full frontal nude pictures of the current tenants, reminded me of my own flat hunting funny and embarrassing moment. We had arrived at the flat promptly at 10:00 on a Saturday where we were met by the agent. Ringing the bell the agent was a little flummoxed when the tenant opened the door in dressing gown, clearly having just rolled out of bed. She assured us it was fine to view as arranged and asked the agent to conduct the viewing for her, but said it was fine to come in the bedroom where she was going back to bed. The agent took us round the flat, which was actually very nice, but a little spoilt by wedding photos absolutely everywhere – framed on the walls, free standing on the coffee table, mousemats, coasters, mugs, whatever it was there she was with her new bridegroom.
Finally as our last port of call in the viewing we knocked on the bedroom door and walked in. As expected she was back in bed and dozing. The big surprise was – the man in bed with her wasn’t the man in all the wedding photos!
Blogging frequently involves getting inspiration and sometimes content from elsewhere, and the conventions of attribution should be followed. I have in my past on one occasion not done this, and I am ashamed of myself and the article is no longer on the website. If you are reading something on this website that you feel is valuable and bears repeating please feel free to do so. Please include an attribution with anything that you copy – and to help you do this I have installed Tynt which will do the attribution for you. Also please feel free to use any of our photos and videos with attribution, the hotlinking block was put on because I got annoyed by some people just using my photographs without saying “Thank You”, and to prevent scamming websites use my content to rob tenants by pretending to be a landlord. Guest Bloggers here retain copyright for their work, and if it isn’t too much trouble please could you acknowledge the Guest as well as this site.
I was prompted to write this blog after reading Leo’s Zenhabits, one of the top 100 blogs on the internet. I’ve copied my summary of his words, and you can link to the full text by clicking Vitruvian Man. I would recommend that you read his blog as I find superb tips for modern living there.
Zen & Vitruvian Man
“I’m granting full permission to use any of my content on Zen Habits or in my ebook, Zen To Done, in any way you like. From now on, there is no need to email me for permission. Use it however you want! Email it, share it, reprint it with or without credit. Change it around, put in a bunch of swear words and attribute them to me. It’s OK. While you are under no obligation to do so, I would appreciate it if you give me credit for any work of mine that you use, and ideally, link back to the original. If you feel like spreading a copy of my ebook, I’d appreciate payment. I’d prefer people buy my ebook, but if they want to share with friends, they have every right to do so. I’m not a big fan of copyright laws anyway, especially as they’re being applied these days by corporations, used to crack down on the little guys so they can continue their large profits.
Copyrights are often touted as protecting the artist, but in most cases the artist gets very little while the corporations make most of the money. I’m trying this experiment to see whether releasing copyright really hurts the creator of the content.
I think, in most cases, the protectionism that is touted by “anti-piracy” campaigns and lawsuits and lobbying actually hurts the artist. Limiting distribution to protect profits isn’t a good thing.
The lack of copyright, and blatant copying by other artists and even businesses, never hurt Leonardo da Vinci when it comes to images such as the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, or the Vitruvian Man. It’s never hurt Shakespeare. I doubt that it’s ever really hurt any artist (although I might just be ignorant here).”
Yes Pimlico Flats are going to let a couple have a flat in Central London free for a month.
We keep telling people that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and that if it’s too good to be true then it is …… and then we go and do this!
So yes – terms and conditions apply, so make sure that you understand what you have to do to get your flat free for a month. Last time we did this we had a pile of people who just wanted the free month – it doesn’t quite work like that! Here is the deal …..
This is available for couples who enter into a tenancy during January only.
It applies to any of our advertised flats.
This is for 8 month tenancies only.
To qualify for the free month you have to pay the preceding 7 months rent on time, meet all the tenancy obligations, and look after the flat (i.e. make good any damage that isn’t fair wear and tear).
To qualify for the free month you must be able to show that you have promoted Pimlico Flats
There are no other fancy tricks, it’s a straight up and down offer from a straight up and down business. Look at one of our vacant flats, like it, sign up for the tenancy, get the 8th month free.
FAQ
What if I don’t want to stay as long as 8 months? – Then the offer isn’t available.
What if i want to stay longer than 8 months? – Then the tenancy continues and we welcome you as a long term tenant. You still get that 8th month free, then you carry on paying the rent.
How can I be sure that I will get my free month? – Because we promised it to you. There are no tricks. Come and meet us, talk to existing tenants.
Why are you doing this? – Because we have just built 9 flats and for marketing reasons want some vacant flats in October 2010, so rather than hold them empty until then we are making this offer.
Why is it only available to couples? – Because it’s a great deal, and we would rather 2 people benefited than one person.
What do you mean by “Promoted Pimlico Flats”? – Write a blog about us, link your website to our website, retweet our tweets. Come on people – this is free accommodation! We have to get something out of this too!
Pimlico Flats – the Premier Blog, but not the First!
Whilst a quick check on Google confirms that Pimlico Flats (this blog) is the premier Pimlico Blog on the internet it is forgotten that people like Samuel Pepys have been blogging for centuries, and in fact there was another Pimlico Blog nearly 200 years ago. The blog of Nathaniel Bryceson runs from 1 January to 12 December 1846 and gives a fascinating insight into the daily life of a Victorian clerk, including details of his job at the coal wharf which you can still see from the embankment, and the diverse places he visits across London, the numerous mentions of family ailments and his assessment of the weather, local events (especially murders, sudden deaths of famous people and the execution of criminals).
Illegitimate Scandal
The Blog is being serialised by Westminster City Council Archives service who have been a little coy about Nathaniel’s provenance - he was born in St Marylebone on 5 June 1826 – his mother Mary (born in 1797) had been married to John Bryceson who had died two years previously, and from Nathaniel’s baptism entry on 4 July 1826 we can see that his father was Nathaniel White, a pauper in the St Marylebone Workhouse. Mary was married again in 1841 to Matthew Ward (‘Mattie’), a tailor 13 years her senior, and it would appear that in pre-Victorian times, as now, legitimacy was not the stigma it later became.
The Pimlico Blog of 1846
During the time of the Blog Nathaniel is employed as a clerk at Lea’s Coal Wharf (Eccleston Wharf) situated off Buckingham Palace Road – about 200 yards from Pimlico Flats. He was related to the proprietor, George Lea, through his grandmother, and the coal business at Eccleston Wharf was established in 1844. The blog suggests that it was not a flourishing enterprise, partly due to George’s neglect of the wharf in pursuit of a good social life. In 1851 the business failed and George was declared bankrupt.
The blog is written in longhand, interspersed with Pitman’s shorthand entries embracing private matters such as his financial affairs, his observations on the proprietor, colleagues and activities at Eccleston Wharf, and most of all his relationship with Ann Fox, his only regular companion. Some of the references to his sexual behaviour with her are written in surprisingly explicit language!
Last week we looked at methods for making tiling and silicone in bathrooms withstand the rigours imposed upon them in tenanted flats. This week I’ll look at making shower screens and other fixtures tenant-proof too.
Shower screens, loo roll holders, towel rails, curtain poles and ready-made shelves all have a way of working loose from the wall, even in normal use, so it’s not necessarily the fault of the tenant. This is because the fixings provided are often far too small and don’t penetrate a part of the wall which is strong. My first advice is, throw away the fixing screws and plugs provided. They will soon come loose and the tenants will be on the phone to you to fix it – a situation which pleases nobody.
3" No. 10 screw, and typical fixing screw provided
To be really effective a screw in a plastic wall-plug needs at least 1” of penetration into solid masonry – not just the plaster. Older houses often have an inch or more of lime plaster on the walls, so effectively this means you need a 2” screw to fix a flat metal plate to a wall, and a 3” screw to fix a 1” thick batten. I use number 10 screws with brown plugs – you need a 7mm masonry drill bit for these. You may have to make the fixing holes in the shower screen etc slightly larger with a drill to take the bigger screws. You can also get a special drill bit for drilling tiles. Or drill SLOWLY with a tungsten-tipped masonry bit and the drill set OFF hammer to prevent the tile cracking. Use a dust mask – tile dust is harmful.
The other problem you might encounter when fixing into a wall is that it’s not solid, e.g. plasterboard on timber framing. In an ideal world whoever built the wall would have pre-planned this and put in a timber nogging (a short horizontal bit of wood) between the uprights to fix your screen to. Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world, but there are a number of fixings specially designed for fixing to surfaces such as plasterboard, of various strength and quality. Just screwing straight into plasterboard and hoping for the best won’t do! A specialist plasterboard plug used into tile backing-board, which is much harder than plasterboard, can be a pretty good fixing, but it’s important not to over-tighten them.
I’ve run out of space to talk about best practice when grouting tiles, so we’ll have a look at that next week in Getting a Grip on your Tiling!
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While you are under no obligation to do so, I would appreciate it if you give me credit for any work of mine that you use, and ideally, link back to the original. If you feel like spreading a copy of my ebook, I’d appreciate payment. I’d prefer people buy my ebook, but if they want to share with friends, they have every right to do so. I’m not a big fan of copyright laws anyway, especially as they’re being applied these days by corporations, used to crack down on the little guys so they can continue their large profits.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=aa3b5067-1ef3-41c0-ab26-7dd9ba7201be)
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