Pink Sauce

In a bit to avoid the wall-to-wall coverage of a certain event taking place in Westminster this morning, I had to take refuge in the gym (which was thankfully open). In the afternoon, however things took a more subversive turn. First with an aborted queer zombies flashmob organised by Queer Resistance in Soho Square. The aim was to protest the current budget cuts made by the government and affecting various part of the LGBT community. Unfortunately the police seems to arbitrarily decide that such a gathering would be an inconvenience to the more conventional revelers and gave the handful of peaceful protesters five minutes to leave the Square under threat of being arrested. This really did smack of an abuse of power worthy of the worst police state. Later I joined a group of members of the London Gay Men's Chorus who had dragged up as bride to enjoy a little pub crawl around Soho. This happened without any problem and was met with cheers and many requests for photographs for the c...

My pictures of the second kiss-in which took place on 21 April can be found on flickr here . Don't forget to sign the petition here . (My pics of the first kiss in can be found here .)

You can join us in this by signing the petition on Facebook. (click here if you are not on Facebook) On the evening of Wednesday 13 April 2011, Jonathan Williams, 26, and James Bull, 23, were asked to leave the John Snow public house for kissing while on their first date. A member of staff allegedly described the couple’s behaviour as obscene and evicted them from the establishment. The media have reported several accounts of this incident. The general consensus has been that the couple's behaviour was entirely appropriate for a couple enjoying their first romantic evening together. The strength of feeling that this mistreatment of a gay couple raised in London’s LGBT community was such that in the course of less than 30 hours, a gay kiss-in was organised with several hundred participants at the John Snow on the evening of 15 April 2011. Another kiss-in followed the next week on 21 April 2011. Rather than allow the LGBT protesters into or around the pub, the John Snow closed its ...

Musings on the John Snow pub events - The Events There are of course always two sides to a story and it would be very interesting indeed to hear the management's side of this particular one. The problem is that the management has shown a remarkable lack of PR savvy throughout the whole story. Not only have they consistently refused to answer enquiries from the press or issuing pithy comments like “I have every right to kick people out if I wish.” or “Can you just stop calling this number please, or we’ll have you done for harassment.” but the Samuel Smith Brewery, who owns the pub has been equally silent (although this is apparently normally policy from the company in the face of crisis). What is utterly astounding, and, in the mind of many, further proof of foul play, is that the landlord, cutting his nose to spite his face, should have deemed it preferable to close the pub on a Friday night, on what would no doubt be a very busy and profitable night, rather than let openly and vi...

Last night about 600 people gathered outside a pub at the heart of Soho to protest against homophobia, of all things. On Wednesday night, a young couple was having their first date. After pizza, they went to a favourite pub, the John Snow, and as the night progressed and they enjoyed each other's company, they started kissing. Independent witnesses have assured us that this was all very light stuff. Nothing that should worry anyone in a Soho pub. Yet Jonathan Williams and James Bull (pictured), both in their 20s say they were asked to stop by a customer who identified himself as the landlord and professed himself "bothered". A couple of hours later, as Bull was preparing to leave, he gave, Williams "a peck on the lips". A woman claiming to be the landlady apparently asked them to leave at this point calling their behaviour "obscene"; the earlier customer/landlord allegedly lending her support and grabbing Bull by the lapel of his jacket. The couple lef...

This is a poem I studied at school when I was in my mid to late teens. I love the music of it. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may, go marry: For having lost but once your prime, You may for ever tarry. by Robert Herrick, Hesperides , 1648

Someone I know who believes in reincarnation once told me that each new incarnation is some sort of long experiment for our being to try to learn about and correct some specific deficiency that prevents it from reaching perfection. The whole incarnation is geared up to test that deficiency and allow the being to challenge and overcome it. Although it sounds far-fetched, moments of indulgent introspection sometimes make the proposition rather seductive. If I were to say what challenge it is that I have to tackle in this lifetime, what cross I have to bear (to use a rhetoric more relevant to my upbringing), the obvious choice would be communication. Facets of it imbue most aspects of my life, from my professional life (Internet, branding, graphic design, marketing) to my interests (photography, singing, reading, blogging), via my personal life ("spinsterhood" and chronic deficit of social skills) or my life away from my mother tongue. It is the overarching narrative in my life....

Yesterday, I took my camera around the neighbouring Heygate Estate. You can read about it in Londonist here . All the pictures of my visit can be found on my flickr account here . -------------------------- The Londonist article has been picked up in the Guardian's list of top London blogs .