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 Locals of the Forest Hill area have raised concerns over the near-fatal police shooting in the area on 21 February. Police held a meeting on Sunday to allow members of the community to voice their concerns over the legitimacy of such a high level of force.
The man shot remains in hospital suffering from three gunshot wounds in the stomach, hand and leg. Initial 999 calls were placed after locals spotted someone attempting to break into a parked vehicle. Subsequent calls revealed that the man was armed with a knife-like object. No official report has been released and the case is currently with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). It is yet unclear why the police on the scene deemed it necessary to use their firearms following the use of tasers to subdue the immediate threat. The ballistics report will shed some light onto the chain of events, during which five shots were fired.
At the meeting on Sunday many residents were frustrated by the dearth of information or justification for the use of firearms. One resident who witnessed the shooting was astounded by the lack of ambulances present at the scene. Questioning why, when an armed response unit is called with the obvious potential to cause bodily harm, ambulances are not deployed with them. The IPCC report will aim to answer many of the questions raised but this is starting to look like another breakdown in communication between the Met and a local community.
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 It’s been a relatively quiet week for London gig announcements, but here’s our choice of tickets on sale on this Friday.
If you don’t mind their poor timekeeping and can cope with Axl Rose’s Cartman voice, head for The O2 on 31 May to see Guns N’ Roses. Tickets from £45 + bf, from 9am. Don’t arrive early.
There’s a more intimate experience in store at the Boston Arms in Tufnell Park on 17 May, when tribal-poppers Zulu Winter will take to the stage. If things go well they’ll grace much bigger venues soon, so catch them here while you can. Tickets £10.50 + bf, from 9am.
East London hipsters Spector have drawn comparisons with The Strokes, and if you missed their gig this week at the 100 Club, try the Electric Ballroom on 17 May. Tickets £10 + bf, from 9am.
Finally, Islington’s Union Chapel has some interesting gigs coming up. Not least among them is Duke Special. The dreadlocked pianist-songwriter brings his theatrical show to these religious surroundings on 24 May. Tickets £15 + bf, from 9am.
Also booking now: Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Marina and the Diamonds, The Damned and the Camden Crawl.
Image from Edvill under Creative Commons on Flickr.
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While the near-complete Shard steals most of the attention, two of the City’s daftly nicknamed skyscrapers are reaching noteworthy heights.
The Leadenhall Building, affectionately known as the Cheese Grater because of its eventual profile, recently started to climb above street level. The Richard Rogers-designed tower should be five storeys high by the end of the month, and contains the chunkiest girders outside of an Irn Bru factory. The skyscraper will eventually stand 225 metres tall, roughly the same height as the Heron Tower, the tallest structure in the City. The neighbouring Pinnacle, which would be even taller, remains stalled at the sixth floor due to lack of funding.
Meanwhile, the core of 20 Fenchurch Street, commonly called the Walkie Taklie, is reaching its full height. 34 of the eventual 36 floors are currently visible, and the final core levels are in the process of completion. The surrounding steelwork will then be constructed around and above the core, eventually giving the building its distinctive (and divisive) top-heavy appearance. Viewed from across the Thames, the structure already makes its presence felt, being much closer to the water than the other City towers.
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 It says a lot about the nature of the Mayorship that the three of the main candidates have books about their lives. Both Boris and Ken have been the subject of various biographies: the latest to study Boris is Sonia Purnell’s Just Boris, whereas Ken’s brought out his own version of events, You Can’t Say That. Brian Paddick’s autobiography, Line of Fire, was published in 2008 just as he prepared to run as Lib Dem candidate.
Obviously, autobiographies are biased in favour of the author and a biography is dependent on the view of the author. However, even though Sonia Purnell’s Twitter feed is a bit left wing, the book is fair, including plenty of quotes from friends and sympathisers, and not at all the hatchet job Team Boris suggested on release.
So! Let’s compare:
Childhood:
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is the eldest child of Charlotte and Stanley Johnson, born in New York on 19 June 1964. The growing family (sister Rachel and brothers Jo and Leo followed) moved around a lot, living in various parts of the UK, Washington DC and Brussels. The young Boris was sent to boarding school before Eton. His father had affairs and his mother suffered from depression; they separated in 1978.
Kenneth Robert Livingstone was born on 17 June 1945 in Streatham to a former dancer mother and Scottish father. He nearly died of gastro-enteritis as a toddler and his love of amphibians started in his early teenage years.
Brian Leonard Paddick was born on 24 April 1958, 11 years after his older brother Graham and an hour after his twin John. He grew up in Mitcham and Tooting.
Education:
Despite Boris’s penchant for Latin phrases and classical metaphor, Brian is actually the most educated of the three. He went to Sutton Manor High School, failed to get into medical school and joined the police at 18. The Met gave him the opportunity to study PPE at Oxford (he got a 2:1), an MBA at Warwick and a postgraduate diploma at Cambridge. Boris was a King’s Scholar at Eton (a kind of scholarship; despite the image Boris and his family are nowhere near as rich as some of the other Bullingdon Club members in the cabinet) and followed it up with a 2:1 in Classics at Oxford. Ken failed his 11+ and went to the local comprehensive where he got four O Levels. He later studied in Social Biology at a teacher training college.
Career:
After working at a cancer research lab Ken got involved in politics, getting elected to Lambeth Council in 1971 where he immediately got onto the housing committee. He was elected to the GLC in 1973, becoming leader in 1981 until Thatcher abolished it in 1986. He was then elected MP for Brent East, standing down at the 2001 election after becoming Mayor in May 2000.
Brian Paddick served his time as a bobby on the beat but was one of the officers selected for fast tracking through the ranks. He’s done his share of administrative and policy roles, but it was as Commander at Lambeth that he became well known. The press went to town over his engagement with Brixton’s Urban 75 website and Lambeth’s policy of issuing spot fines for cannabis rather than arresting people. He reached the rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner before resigning after disagreements with Commissioner Ian Blair about who knew what and when about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Interestingly, both Ken and Brian had the opportunity to take positions outside London that could have made their career rises easier or faster, but both wanted to stay in the capital.
Boris started out as a journalist and, after being sacked from The Times for making up a quote, moved to the Telegraph where he coined that brand of ‘straight cucumbers’ anti-EU story beloved of the right-wing press. He was editor of The Spectator from 1999 until becoming Shadow Minister for Higher Education in 2005. (Boris became Henley’s MP in 2001 after failing to win Clwyd South in 1997.) He’d also been Shadow Minister for Arts and Tory party vice chair until being sacked in 2004 over his affair with Petronella Wyatt. He currently gets £250,000 a year for writing his Telegraph column.
Sex:
This is what we read biographies for, right? Screw the politics (pun sort-of intended). Boris is renowned for his affairs, but the section about Petronella Wyatt’s abortions still makes for very uncomfortable reading. Rumours of an affair ruined the career of journalist Anna Fazackerley; and Pierre Rolin, who put up money for the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower, is fuming over his (now former) girlfriend Helen McIntyre’s baby, who bears a distinct resemblance to the Mayor. All of these women, including his wife Marina, remain fiercely loyal to the blond one.
Ken Livingstone offered his sperm to two female friends to father three children before having two with his now wife, Emma. Despite tabloid rumbles about absent dads, he’s taken an active interest in their upbringing.
Despite being gay, Brian Paddick was married ? to a woman ? for five years while he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. He’s also remarkably open about suffering domestic abuse at the hands of the boyfriend who later sold lurid tales to the tabloids during the Brixton/Urban 75 feeding frenzy.
Controversy:
Both Boris and Ken are no stranger to everyone and his goat having an opinion about them. No doubt when Boris writes his own autobiography (we’re in no doubt he eventually will) he’ll set a number of records straight. Until then we turn to Ken, who is unmatched in his ability to inspire loathing in print. Much of the vitriol seems to have its roots in the Left’s People’s Front of Judea-style infighting back in the 70s and 80s; reading the smears coming out of the Labour party during the 2000 election we can’t believe he ever rejoined.
Meanwhile, most of the stuff thrown at Brian during his years in Lambeth and during the Stockwell investigation seems likely to have its roots either in homophobia or just the tabloid love of making shit up to sell papers.
What are they like?:
Boris comes across as a highly intelligent man who’s grown used to coasting along on his brains and charm: perenially late in person and for deadlines, he often dumps work and inconvenience on others ? but they forgive him every single time. That must be some powerful personality the Mayor’s got. Don’t be entirely fooled by the bumbling persona. He’s got a core of steel and can be utterly ruthless.
Brian is at such pains to come across as an open, honest, decent guy that part of us wonders if he protests too much. Being liked seems important to him, and he’s definitely the least likely of the three to stab you in the back.
And Ken? He’s massively nerdy, has an excellently dry wit and a nice line in self-deprecation (surprising to anyone steeped in the lore of his arrogance) and seems like he can harbour a grudge. His real self, however, remains a mystery.
We didn’t know that:
Brian Paddick is mates with David Furnish, in his youth Ken Livingstone nearly died of dysentry as he hitch-hiked across Africa (for a while in the company of an ostrich) and Boris Johnson was severely deaf until he was about eight years old when operations solved the problem.
Which should you read?:
Each book has its merits. Line of Fire isn’t going to win any literary awards but is an interesting insight into the Met during some of its recent crises. If you’re really into local government, You Can’t Say That’s first half will be your meat and drink; but otherwise we recommend you read up to when Ken gets back from Africa then skip forward to c1997. As a book, Just Boris is an easily readable treat. As an insight into our Mayor, it’s fascinating.
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It’s a little tricky to categorise this new book of illustrations. Work of art, puzzle book, novelty guide to London…it could be any. Fortunately, we’re not a library and can invent our own categories. We’d file this one under A for Awesome.
The premise is simple. Artist Christopher Brown has created a linocut illustration for each letter of the alphabet, choosing five or six Londony things beginning with that letter. It’s not exactly an original idea (as we’ll see below), but the execution is superb. The choice of subjects is perfectly pitched, with some very obvious inclusions and a few posers that will have even cab drivers scratching their heads. The letter H, for example, is represented by the eminently guessable Hampton Court, Henry VIII and Hammersmith Bridge. But only true London explorers would identify Hodge the Cat (feline friend of Samuel Johnson) or the Hoover Building.
So, how well would you do? The publisher has kindly granted us permission to reproduce two of the letters below. Leave answers in the comments section (but only one guess per person, so that everyone gets a chance).
Christopher Brown is not the only one playing with a capital alphabet. A year ago, we discovered an entire set of letters in a Google satellite view of London. Street artist Ben Eine recently painted a row of Spitalfields shutters with a complete A-Z. Then there’s Tobias Till, who created this wonderful collection of letter-inspired designs. Finally, Helen Lang has made an alphabetical print where each letter bends into the shape of a London landmark or feature (see third image on the link).
An Alphabet of London by Christopher Brown with an introduction by Jasper Conran is out now from Merrell Publishers. Buy here.
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Coming all the way from Vegas, Dutch magician Hans Klok brings us his quick-fire brasher-than-brash style-over-substance blink-and-you missed-it holy-cow-did-you-just-see-that show modestly titled The Houdini Experience.
Like an unexpected punch to the stomach, the show?s running time of two-and-a-half hours is longer than most people seeing this show will have bargained for but there?s an abundance of no-money-spared razzamatazz to keep us entertained. Ok, so the tricks may get a little repetitive towards the end, but never mind the quality, feel the length!
Mr Klok himself is an interesting specimen with abundant charisma, a blinding smile and a hairdo that we?re sure we saw being valued recently on The Antiques Roadshow. The press night audience included Paul Daniels and wife Debbie McGee, ex-Ewok Warwick Davis and more Z-listers than in a doctor?s surgery worth of glamour mags. Quite what attracted Ms McGee to this high-profile magic show, we unfortunately didn’t find out.
As one would expect from the high production values, the many cunning stunts are gobsmackingly astounding but thankfully leavened with equally eye-popping acrobatic turns from gymnasts, contortionists and a trapeze artist. By the end, pretty much everyone in the audience was a Klok-watcher of one kind or another and we were left thinking that all Mr Klok could do to improve this gloriously over-the-top show was to get Her Majesty to parachute in at the last minute.
This is undoubtably the biggest and brightest magic show in London right now ? and maybe all year ? but not your only option. La Soiree?s Ursula Martinez is at the Soho Theatre with a new show about her (definitely not safe for work) Hanky Panky routine, something which even the talented Mr Klok would find impossible to reproduce. Close-up experts like the flame-haired Laura London and the snarky sorceror Piff The Magic Dragon are regulars on the cabaret circuit while there are monthly events at Madame Jojo?s and Ealing?s Conjuring At The Court.
The Houdini Experience is at the Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street WC2 until 25 March. Tickets cost £19-£52.
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All weekend
 Go egg hunting this weekend Friday:
- The Vintage Kilo Sale is open from 4-7pm at York Hall, Bethnal Green (£1 entry, also open Saturday, 11am-4pm).
- Escape reality with Fable at Battersea Arts Centre, a fabulous, massive arts party in SW11 (Friday and Saturday at 8pm, £18 adv).
Saturday:
- Discover Westminster’s Top Ten with a guided walk at 11am (£8).
- Register in advance and it’s free entry to the TNT Travel Show at Earl’s Court from 9.30am-5.30pm.
- Watch and listen to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in rehearsal for their evening Bach concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall from 1.30pm (£5).
- Tea Dance in Greenwich from 2-4.30pm (£5).
- Experience songs and storytelling on the rooftop of the empty Brandon Estate, SE17 with Nigel of Bermondsey and Vanessa Woolf-Hoyle from 9.30pm (£2).
Sunday:
- See famous telly cars like Knight Rider’s KITT and … park up on Queensway for Pit Stop
- Reverb comes to a choral climax at the Roundhouse with the free Voices Now event (free).
- It’s Bonsai Day at the Garden Museum with an exhibition, demonstrations and the opportunity to create a bonsai (free event, normal museum admission applies).
- Purim mask-making is the aim of the family art workshop at Ben Uri Gallery, St John’s Wood from 2-4pm (free but donations appreciated).
Other good stuff:
Browse all latest arts and events features and make your tummy rumble with our latest food and drink content.
Photo by Bob Comics via the Londonist Flickrpool
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 In the latest of his series of pledges, former mayor Ken Livingstone has promised to restore the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in London if he’s re-elected.
The EMA was cut by the government in 2010, sparking student protests across the country, as well as being blamed for a drop in student numbers, especially those from poorer backgrounds. Ken has said he’ll introduce a London EMA of up to £30 per week to encourage teenagers to stay on at school or college. How does he plan to fund it though? According to the BBC report, Ken says funding would come from ‘existing funds in colleges, universities, and local authorities and working with the Association of Colleges, London Higher and local councils’.
‘Existing funds’ — where have we heard that before? Oh yes, Ken made a similar pledge over reducing tube fares by 7%, paid for out of a mysteriously unallocated £729m, money which TfL say isn’t there. Boris Johnson’s office were quick to point out further shortcomings of the EMA pledge:
“Ken Livingstone is at it again, making yet another un-costed, un-funded promise. He has already been forced to admit that if London’s councils don’t stump up the cash, City Hall will have to.”
While Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick sang a similar tune:
“Ken Livingstone’s proposal speaks of getting London councils to help fund it, but how many have agreed to do this? And what happens to people in boroughs which won’t help in funding the proposal?”
In addition to the EMA and tube fares pledges, other pre-election promises from the former mayor include resigning if he doesn’t manage to cut fares, winding up the company which was the subject of Gilligan-at-the-Telegraph-led accusations of tax avoidance, taking a 5% pay cut, establishing a non-profit letting agency and campaigning for a London living rent, reducing our energy bills and taking over suburban rail services. Phew. Let’s hope he’s had three Shredded Wheat for breakfast.
Photo by bobaliciouslondon in the Londonist Flickr pool
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Now open at Broadway Market is a retro caff done delicious: Market Cafe. Basically it’s Formica + an old school caff menu but fresher and more gastro-y. That’s a winning concept, especially so close to the Regent’s Canal and London Fields and amid Broadway Market’s buzzing atmo. A labour of love for Hugo Warner (ex-Benugo) and chef James Adams (ex-Canteen, Fifteen, St John, River Cafe), Market Cafe’s been enticing diners a bunch of soft launch yummy incentives. For example, the first 50 folk to book tonight will get 50% off their food bill. FYI: the handcut tagliatelle and meat sauce is particularly tasty. They serve nice cocktails too.
Hawksmoor Spitalfields has revealed a new downstairs bar (official opening is this Saturday the 3rd). Another Victorian speakeasy kinda place, come here to schmooze over classic cocktails and eat unhealthy yet novel bar food a la short rib nuggets and jalapeńo coleslaw. Think of it as an American sports bar ravaged by a Shoreditch interior designer (and minus all the TVs) ? a Bodean’s chic if you will. Intriguing.
Another intriguing new bar with a Victorian air is Ruby’s in Dalsnewington. Local Stokie bloggers, London on the Inside, were ?pretty darn pleased? with their visit to this ?great cocktail joint?.
Celebrating Holi next week? A few notable Indian restaurants will feature special menus to help you make the most of this festival of colour.
On now and until 10 March, Cinnamon Kitchen is offering a free ?Holi water? cocktail and a £35 tasting menu (black leg chicken and curry leaf quinoa? Okay!). Sister restaurant, Cinnamon Club has a £50 special for the same dates. Dishes include crisp Portobello mushroom with apple and fennel chutney, smoked Herdwick lamb rack with mint and onion sauce and saffron pilau; and Thandai and goji berry parfait, rice kheer and chocolate mandarin pudding.
From 5 to 11 March, Trishna will offer a special Holi tasting menu (£35.50 for four courses, £64 including wine pairings, or £45.50 for six courses, £88 with wine pairings) with dishes along the delectable lines of crab and pollack tikkas with curry leaf, mustard seed and crab chutney.
On the 8th and 9th, Dishoom will ?go rainbow-bright? with the pavement outside the resto ?given the Holi treatment? and the staff covered in bright powders.
Shayona, at the Neasden Hindu Temple, is marking Holi on the 8th and 9th as well with their own “colourful menu of traditional treats” including paneer dholak (crispy fried paneer and sweetcorn), Rang-Berangi aloo mirch (smoked potatoes cooked with sweet red and green chillies) and thandai (a milkshake made with spices, seeds and rose petals).
Photo/Dusty sevens
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 Asian Dub Foundation will be playing on 12 April. The Southbank Centre?s third Alchemy Festival lands next month with its wide-ranging pan-Asian blend of entertainment including the chance to appear in a Bollywood-style movie. Using the Centre?s scenic location as a backdrop, festivalgoers can enrol as dancing and singing extras with the finished film screened as a festival finale.
Before getting ready for your close-up, there are opportunities to get into character (and maybe shape) with the free classes in Bollywood dance and folk dance, free yoga sessions in the Clore Ballroom plus gratis tuition in calligraphy and poetry.
Those of a more sedate nature may want to book their place in the underground labyrinth that is the Centre?s boiler room for one-woman play Looking For Kool, explore Soumik Dutta?s multimedia exploration Sounds Of Bengal, explore the Taste Of Indian food market or see a lively debate between Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Amartya Sen and climate change evangelist Baron Nicholas Stern.
There?s also plenty of chances to get your groove on. Asian Dub Foundation will be rocking the Royal Festival Hall, percussionist Pete Lockett will be jamming with traditional Rajasthani artists, there?s more modern fare at DJ Nihal?s Burban Mela as well as the world premiere of YouTube sensations Sachal Jazz Orchestra.
The Alchemy Festival runs from 12-22 April. More information on the festival can be found here.
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