Thank you.

Hi everyone. As 2007 draws to a close I just thought I'd drop you all a little note.

I would like to thank each and everyone of you for the support you have given me and my podcast over the last year. I'm touched by the emails, comments, Skype calls and Skype conversations we have had and it moves me whenever I get something from one of you.

I do reply to each and every one of them and I'm so sorry when I get a call or Skype chat from someone and I can't talk to you as soon as I get it. The day job does get in the way of the fun parts sometimes! I would like to encourage all of you to comment or email me about the show or London or anything really - it's good to talk!

Finally, to recap - thank you for your support over the past year. I love doing the show, I love the support I get from you guys and when you get in touch it makes me a very happy man.

I hope Christmas (or your late December festivities) brought you all the things you wanted it to and that 2008 will be a happy, successful and healthy year.

I will be doing a show over the next few days and will be giving you all one. last. try. to enter the competition (details below). I'll announce the winner in the New Year. Thanks.

Paul

This Week in London 25 - The Houses of Parliament

Greetings and Happy Christmas to you all!

Today's show covers the Houses of Parliament - the House of Commons and the House of Lords. I talk about some of the quirks of the place, how to get into it and what it all means. I touch on PMQ's and include some sound bites from that venerable institution. I particularly liked the Stalin / Gordon Brown / Mr. Bean comparison!

You can listen to the show here:


I clarify the end date of the competition I kicked off last show - you need to tell me what those five companies have in common by the time I do a show in the first week of the New Year. There's fifty dollars up for grabs here so hopefully I've made it tricky but meaningful.

The companies are: Bentley Motors; Calders and Grandidge, Colmans of Norwich, Kimberly-Clark and Weetabix.

Over to you.

Music today was by Candy Butchers who you can find here. Don't worry, Mike Viola WAS half of Candy Butchers. His new stuff is good and you can still buy the Candy Butchers stuff.

I think that all - I'll edit and add anything else!

Edit 1: I have updated and corrected a post for TWiL #21 Nelsons Column which for some reason had gone AWOL. Try this link and let me know if it works eh?

Live This Week in London....

I am seriously considering doing a live This Week In London on something like Talkshoe or something similar. Trouble is don't want to be a Billy-No-Mates and have a party and have no-one show up.

It'll be on a weekend and late European time so I can get all the American listeners at a reasonable time on their side of the pond. If I had a party would anyone come?

I'd really appreciate you feeding back to me on this one via the comments to this post. If you really don't want to publicly say so then by all means send me a mail but I want to make this as open as possible.

Over to you!

And don't forget TWiL #24 - Strand is available too... with a US$50 competition built in...

This Week in London #24 - The Strand - Competition Show

Greetings one and all. Here is the latest This Week in London - number 24. This time I'm putting one of London's most famous streets under the spotlight, The Strand and giving away fifty dollars in Amazon vouchers for answering a simple question. Well, okay, it's probably not so "simple" but give me a chance eh?

You can listen to the show here:



I also take a look at the Savoy Hotel, Royal Courts of Justice, Somerset House and Simpsons On The Strand. I really enjoyed doing this show and hope you enjoy listening to it too!

Music is by

46 Bliss with "In A Long Time" (Podsafe Music Network)

Jamie Cullum
"I Want To Be A Popstar" (mp3)
from "Pointless Nostalgic"
(Candid Productions)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

Jamie Cullum? - yes that Jamie Cullum!

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros with "Coma Girl" (Podsafe Music Network)
Yes that Joe Strummer. Of the Clash.

Good music, a good vibe AND a competition.

Towards the end of the show I give you the names of 5 companies. All you have to do is tell me why they are connected. I have a specific reason in mind. You should be able to work it out with a little Googling . There is a US$50 Amazon voucher (or equivalent) prize up for grabs for the winner (I'll draw from the correct answers if lots of you get it right). Yep fifty bucks. For listening to the show. Works for me - does it work for you?


Have fun people. Don't forget to write!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US listeners

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving to all my listeners celebrating this third Thursday of November. I hope you spend time with family today and tell them you love them.

P. W. Fenton (P_Dub) has it down right in his latest Digital Flotsam so take a listen to Episode 52 of that wonderful podcast series if you don't fancy spending the afternoon in front of the gogglebox watching (American) Football. I *really* enjoy P-Dub's podcast. It's one I get very excited about when it comes out and is recommended listening to all my listeners!

Alternatively you could spend an interesting half hour with The History Channel which goes into the history of Thanksgiving.

Did you know that 50 MILLION turkeys will be served today in America alone? I reckon there are more households than that over there so someone, somewhere isn't eating turkey today? Is it you? Why? Answers in the comments please!

Finally, I am working on the next TWiL where I cover The Strand and some of the sights and places of interest along this fascinating street. Up at the weekend hopefully.

If you have asked me for a Starbucks Card and HAVEN'T had it by the weekend can you drop me an email and I'll resend it. Thanks. I've still got a couple left so let me know if you want one.

TWIL #23 - Remember Guido Fawkes

Parental Guidance on elements of this show folks. Hanging, drawing and quartering is not a nice way to execute someone! Listen here or play it here:



Background and information on the Gunpowder Plot - who, what, where and when. Take a look at this recreation of the explosion!



Music by Amplifico and New London Fire. Enjoy the sounds and if you like the music let me know! If you really like it let the bands know too! Oh - could you let the bands know where you heard it too!

If you want to know what a Starbucks Card looks like - check the post below.

Have a great time until next time when I cover The Strand and the Law Courts.. TTFN

TWiL #22 - Chelsea Chelsea!

Greetings one and all.

Here is TWiL #20. It's a little early after the last show for two reasons. Reason (1) is that I try to get two out each month and what with colds, flu (proper flu - full on MAN flu!), half term and repeated trips to the local ski centre I've nearly only done one. The other reason (2) I'm travelling a fair bit over the next week or two so wanted to keep you all enthused!

This time I'm covering Chelsea. The area in south west London which contains Chelsea FC, The Chelsea Pensioners, The Chelsea Flower Show (tickets are on sale now for next May!) and the Kings Road. I feel like I need to do a part 2 on this so I expect I'll revisit it another time. Don't forget the Shady Old Lady and the restaurant!

Music on the show was:

Ann Wilson singing "Where to now St. Peter?" and "Immigrant Song". You can find Ann Wilson here and here

I also played Cruisebox's "On a Podcast" which was originally uploaded to the Podsafe Music Network in July 2005 and not '06 and I said in the show.

Finally I played a clip from Chelsea's "Blue Is The Colour" theme song which you can buy on iTunes.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the show. Comments here or by email please! I do love getting a note from you and I reply to every one!

Play it here:



Or in the players at the top of the page. You can get this podcast in iTunes - just search for "This Week in London". EMail me if you get into a pickle!

Starbuckscard - London edition

I have acquired several of the limited edition Starbucks London "StarbucksCard" prepay cards. [NB Update - I have 5 left...]

On a first-come first-served basis I will send one to each person who emails me their mailing address.

Free. Gratis.


This Week In London number 22 - Chelsea Chelsea will be finished this evening...

This Week in London #21 - Nelsons Column

Greetings everyone! I seem to have picked up a few hundred more listeners since the last time I checked so welcome to all the new peeps who have found me out!

You can listen to this show by clicking one of the players at the top, by clicking the header to this post or even by clicking here...



Once again the show is being distributed into the Red Carnation Hotel group podcast pages so thanks for their support!

First up in todays show is an unashamed plug for a band i used to go and see 25 years ago. I keep in touch with other fans via a mailing list thingy and via their website which is www.twelfthnight.info . I don't think I came across on the show as excited about this as I actually am. I am sooo looking forwards to this gig - it's unreasonably exciting! So, if you're in London on the 24th November please do come to Deptford/New Cross for the amazing Twelfth Night reunion gig.

I played "The Ceiling Speaks" from their Live and Let Live album which you can buy at Amazon. There should be a full merchandising page on the TN web site real soon.

The two middle track in the show were by Ben Godwin who you can find here. I don't normally get too excited about male solo vocal - it doesn't seem to "get" to me. However, Ben's songs do and I'd encourage you to listen to more of his stuff and certainly at lease consider buying the album.

The final track was from Esteban who played at the Podcamp UK event earlier this year. More info here and again the quality of this music is second to none. A real groove. They really rocked the place and their website is here. Be warned though - the music starts as soon as the page loads so watch the volume!

So - I covered a bit on Nelsons Column and on Trafalgar Square (main page here) and you can find more here and here.

Don't forget my Skype In number or to email me!

Thanks and see you next time...

Next Show

As you may already know (follow me on Twitter "parkylondon" to keep bang up to date) I have been a tad under the weather. This has meant I have been physically unable to do a show until this late in the month so apologies for that.

My intention is to have it out by the weekend.

Furthermore I will be going with my sponsor/distributor Red Carnation Hotels (please do visit their website and if youre visiting London try them out - and also take a look at their other podcasts) to the Champions League football/soccer game between Chelsea and some foreign lot at Stamford Bridge later in the month. Suffice it to say I will be taking the old Edirol with me for that little shindig. Plenty of sound seeing to do there!

So, look forward to a show at the weekend - it's probably going to cover Trafalgar Square and Nelsons column; I also suspect I will get quite cross with Mr Livingstone about the pigeons...

TWiL #20 - St. Pancras

Welcome to This Week in London #20 - St Pancras. Play it direct from here, via the players at the top of the page or below.




This time I talk about St Pancras station and what they've done to it. With the coming of Eurostar to North London and the demise of Waterloo International, lets get a little closer to one of the best looking stations in London.

I talk about another London related book - this time it's "The London Cabbie" by Alf Townsend.You can buy it here.

Music provided courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network who pointed me towards:

Elana Arian - This Time (actually, I got this ages ago - its a golden oldie in podcasting terms but I still love it)

Jimmie Bratcher - Restless for the sun - a lesser played number from Jimmie here. Very nice. Watch out for the auto play music on Jimmie's site - excellent but loud.

Please do visit the websites of these (and all the) musicians and singers I play on this podcast. It's your support that keeps them going. Don't forget "support" here could mean anything from an email saying how much you enjoyed the track to actually buying their CD's! If you're thinking of telling me then c.c. them too!

Finally I repay some compliments by playing some podcast promos for people who have done the same for me....

Have a great time till next time.

P


Promos:
Mikethinks
DigiVegas
AmericanTalk USA
ShadowFalls: Badlands
Number One with a Bullet

This is so wonderfully eccentric and it has London connection

This Youtube clip is a perfect combination of English eccentricity and the London Underground! I love it. I'll be doing a show at the weekend so look out for that, so until then enjoy this wonderful clip.

Wider distribution for This Week In London

I made a rather abstract posting on Twitter last night and said I'd explain with more details here - so here goes...

I am delighted to be able to announce that This Week In London is partnering with the Red Carnation Hotel (RCH) group to distribute the This Week In London podcast through the RCH website.

I'll be doing the show as normal, no changes to the way you get my shows, no change to the content you like and no glaring adverts in the show. What will happen is that TWiL will also be available from the podcast area on their website alongside their existing home-grown podcast content - take a look if you have time. TWiL isn't there yet as I need to do some admin to get the files over to them.

I'd like to record here my thanks to David and his team at Red Carnation Hotels for doing this and for showing support to the independant podcasting community. I look forward to a long and successful partnership with RCH - it's always nice doing business with nice people.

TWIL 19 - Hampton Court

Greetings all and an extra special welcome to the hundreds of new people downloading this show. I've seen the download numbers rocket over the past few weeks so welcome one and all!

This is This Week In London number 19. You can listen here by using the player here:



or by using the players above in the usual way...

In this episode I talk quite a bit about Hampton Court Palace and a bit about the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. I totally mess up a review of a Japanese restaurant - hey, at least I got the address right!

Music is at opposite ends of the spectrum:

1. Mark Vidler, Go Home Productions... "Ray of Gob" - Mash Up of Madonna and the Sex Pistols. A ballsy mash up of epic proportions. Fast forward to about 4 minutes if you want to avoid it... lolz...

2. Catie McKinney - Angel On Your Shoulder
A wonderful song from a wonderful voice. The most amazing thing? Her age. She's only 14! Amazing

3. Slashed Seat Affair - Immune
I just cannot get enough of this lot. I want go and see them play and I want to buy their CD.

I hope you enjoy this show. Please fell free to leave comments or send me an email. I always reply to every one...

Back from hols

Well, we're back from holiday.. 2 1/2 days of rain and 3 1/2 days of brilliant sunshine which more than made up for the rain. Even got a tan. Bursting to do a TWiL so hopefully I'll get down to business tonight.

Keep an eye on my Flickr pages for the pix.

We went to family (in-laws) reunion yesterday - BBQ's for ~40 people which was a lot of fun. I enjoy that. FLickr is being a 8itch as regards the uploading of the EOS400D pictures. it doesn't like the 4.5Mb files even though I have a Pro Account and the file limit is 10Mb... Grrrr..

Testing an in-line player

Parky from TWiL - marooned on a desert island!

It's a bit of a shocker this. I've been marooned on a Desert Island with only a book, a piece of music and some gadgets. The Senior Customs Officer of the Desert Island was a jolly decent chap though...

More details can be found about my marooning at Desert Island Geek... There is a play button there so you can here my immigration interview. Have fun.

TWIL 18 - Big Bens Bong

Greetings one and all and welcome to This Week in London #18 - Big Bens Bong. I spend most of my time in and around the Big Ben area talking about the big bell thats bloomin' lost its bong!

You can play the show by clicking here or by clicking one of the players above or even the header of this post. Better still you can subscribe in your favourite news reader (e.g. Google Reader) right HERE and never miss another show!

Don't forget the UK Podcamp next month - all the details are here. Important news: it's free!

This link is where I cribbed the stats on the Clock Tower and here is where you'll find the cider Pub, Chimes of Pimlico.

To save you the google here is Dissident Vox and here is the episode with Mr. Haw... and Brian Haw's website.


Music is by these bands from IodaPromonet:

"When Jokers Attack" (mp3)
from "Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Napster
More On This Album


"Soul Shakedown Party" (mp3) from "Roots, Rock, Remixed"
by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Buy at Amazon.com
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

But LOOOK!!!!
The last track was from Black Lab from their most recent album "Technologie" called "Transformers Theme".

TWiL #17 Upriver top rankin

Greetings! You can listen to this show here, by clicking on the Title above or by using one of the players at the top of the page. Better still subscribe via your favourite RSS reader or iTunes!

This show is part 2 of my trip upriver calling at the bridges on the way through. Lots of tourhistry (tourist history - geddit?) and interesting info.

I introduce the Parky's Picks book review - well, I've read a few good books with a London link recently and I was going to review one this time. Well, that one will have to wait as the one I am reading at the moment moved me to put it in the show before I have even finished it! You really must check out Rachel North's Out Of The Tunnel, available at all good bookshops or at Amazon. Watch the video directly below this posting for more information. Moving, sad, happy, disturbing and funny - and all at the same time. I am struggling to put this book down.

Music in this show was:

Balance by Sara Tavares from the Ioda Promonet - link here
and check out the groovy blogger posting thingy they gave me below. You can buy it!

I Do by Rob Costlow from the PMN and also from his own website here

Track after the end theme was Emily Has Compassion Fatigue played at the right speed from Three Blind Mice

Please do email me or leave comments - I reply to everything! And thanks to Steven C for the :::gentle nudge::: on the show notes!

"Balance" (mp3)
from "Balance"
by Sara Tavares
(World Connection BV / Times Square)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Napster
Buy at Rhapsody

Rachel North and her father on the Richard and Judy show

I'd like you to watch this before you listen to TWiL#17. I spend time talking about Rachel's book "Out Of The Tunnel"....

PC problems

Just to let you all know I am working on a new TWiL but I am having computer problems. Apparently NTLDR has gone on holiday and hasn't got a temp in to cover. I am enjoying several Blue Screens of Death at the moment.

Feedburner Feed Now Available

Greetings one and all. I have (finally) managed to get a Feedburner RSS feed working here.

You don't need to do anything but if you were feeling all fluffy and charitable you could test the Feedburner feed for me in your Podcast Catcher (itunes, Juice et al) or your RSS reader (Google, Yahoo etc)! If you do can you let me know if it works okay? Or not. As the case may be!

The reason for this is that I am trying to improve the stats I get from the site and how many people actually visit me here. Any help etc etc greatfully received.

I feel another podcast bubbling up inside me. I was meant to go out on the lash tonight but it's been cancelled (probably A. Good. Thing.) so I have an evening at home. Its Podcasting Time. Probably. Maybe. Unless I have chores to do.

TWiL #16 - Bridges

Well, this really is number 16. All about the River Thames crossings - I go from the North Sea / Thames Estuary up as far as Rotherhithe.

Available to listen to by clicking here, the heading above or by using the players above. You can also subscribe by clicking the RSS / iTunes links over there on the left.

Please don't swim in the Thames....

I really enjoyed the music in this show:

3 Blind Mice with Emily Has Compassion Fatigue,
Amplifico with Just To Pause This (from my collection) and
Punam Verma with Hush

[I know you probably get sick and tired of me saying this but if you like the music you hear here please tell the band - or even better buy it from them. I like to get email about my work (don't be scared of writing me) but the bands LOVE IT when people buy their work. Even from iTunes.

TWiL #15 - Enter The Lady

Greetings! Welcome to This Week In London #15 - Enter The Lady. As you might have noticed I have posted about the Shady Old Lady web site below. Feel free to potter over there for a look round.

You can listen to this podcast by clicking the header to this post, by clicking one of the players at the top of the page or even by clicking here

Music in this show is provided by:

Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I am
Courtney Jones - Ride
David Ippolito - Tom Cruise Scares Me.

Just follow the links to their web sites above. Buy the songs if you like them! Even if you don't part with your cash, send them an email - it's almost as good!

Here are the links to the places covered this time:

Benugo
London Underground videos
The Monument

Diving into the Shady Old Lady website we visited:

The Pillars of Hercules or via Shady Old Lady
Shakespears Ireland Yard or via Shady Old Lady
The Grapes or via the Shady Old Lady

I hope you enjoyed this edition of TWiL - please do write in and let me know what you think or leave a comment here on the blog. You can also call me on +1 949 544 1277 and leave a message if I'm not there when you call.

All the best

Parky

Shady Old Lady

I am delighted to announce that I am now able to take advantage of a great resource for London based information, the Shady Old Lady.



SOL is a great site which digs deeper into the underside of London for a better taste and feel of the Capital. I will be taking advantage of this great resource over the next few months adding my own spin or take on the information provided. Enjoy.

Woman comes second in competition but...

This is a wonderfully British story! A grandmother won second prize in a cake-baking contest at a fete, only to discover she was the only entrant.


Full details here or by clicking the heading.

Did Prince Philip fart?

Call it disrespectful, call it what you will. I think he did. Look at their faces. Priceless!

To all my American friends, listeners and acquaintences...

Happy 4th July!

Obviously the "4th" should be in white but white on a white background doesn't work so well!

TWiL Episode 14 - Winding Up Berwick Street

Greetings podfans! Happy to get TWiL #14 out of the door between trips AND keep to my target of two TWiL's a month. You can listen by clicking here or (better) clicking the left hand player (the PuPu player) above. Best of all you can subscribe via RSS and never miss an episode.

[Edit] Before I go and put my foot in it, the "Advice for American tourists" below is meant to be tongue in cheek! The langauge in it is a little rosier than the 100% G-rating I usually maintain but it should be still suitable for a mixed audience. If you think it's too much PLEASE do let me know and I'll go through it and reissue it with bleeps....[/Edit]

This show has some GREAT advice for American tourists on how to behave and get the best out of London - it's a must listen! And I follow that up with a sound-seeing tour of Berwick Street, Soho and Wardour Street as I try to locate the original Marquee Club.

Music is by Howard Jones courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network - track were "Building Our Own Future" and "Revolution Of The Heart".


Please do email me (links over there) or comment on the show here (just click the comments thing below). Thanks for joining me once again - and special thanks to my regular listeners and emailers - especially when I am abroad, you keep me company while I'm away from the family. Thanks.

Mini Competition

Just a bit of fun while I'm away.

Send me an email with your funny, sad, happy, weird or wonderful story about London and I'll read the best out on the show and send a "London Street Guide" by the "London Evening Standard" to the first four I pull out of the proverbial hat. I pay postage. Wooo.... Go for it :-D

This Week In London #13 - Tower and Weird Stone

Welcome once again to This Week In London and the 13th Episode of this podcast. As usual you can play the show via the players at the top of the page here, by clicking this link or the heading of this post. Enjoy!

This time out I talk about the Tower of London and the London Stone.

Music is courtesy of

Craig Cardiff with Emm and May
Simon Apple with Weight of the World and
Jonathan Coulton with the strangely named but very good "Skullcrusher Mountain".

Contact me on email, skype and phone details to our left <----- and in the show.
Keep the emails coming in - I do reply to all of them but if you don;t feel like writing to me, write to the bands and let them know where you heard their music.

Have good time till next time. I'm taking the recording gear with me to South Africa so you never know, you just never know!

Olympic Logo

Just back from Amsterdam where I saw the "logo" for the 2012 Olympics. What a joke.

I would like to encourage all my listeners and readers to visit the site below

Online petition - Change The London 2012 Logo

to help change the logo. We MUST change this. It's an embarrassment to the UK, to the Olympic movement and to team that won the games for London in the first place..

Oh and if you can mention www.thisweekinlondon.co.uk in the comments field that would be cool too ;-) [cheeky eh!]

My Trip to Kuwait

A bit of an audio diary I made whilst on a business trip to Kuwait. Listen here or click the right hand player (Libsyn) above... Enjoy.

It really was this beautiful

And now it's gone... see below...

Arthur Dent - I feel like Arthur Dent

This place is around the corner from mine. It was built around 1841 as it says that date above the door (I'm not sure you can make it out) which makes it 166 years old. Now get this. It's been destroyed, squidged and is now going to built over.

Now, not surprisingly, because of its location (prime) it has been bought by a developer who is going to squidge it, build "executive homes" on the land and we lose a piece of local history...

[rant] How can this be? We protect (List) buildings which are younger, uglier, less everything than this one and yet some git of a builder can toss it out at stroke. Unfair!!!! [/rant]

Two rants in one day - I am doing well...

You know what? I like Trafalgar Square all grassy...

We should keep it like this. Excellent!

But I'm sure health and Safety would have something to say about it... What a waste of space our illustrious Health And Safety Executive are. I mean, what is the point of them now? I'll tell you eh? It's to keep themselves employed and they do that by rolling out every more "safety concious" crud that turns our lives into a bubble-wrapped constantly observed world.

At my railway station last week three guys with hedge strimmers were at work lopping back the branchlets and leaves that were poking through the fence. One guy was doing the cutting, another guy was blowing the leaves away - any idea what chap #3 was doing? Yep - he was stopping us from walking along the platform - "Sorry mate, Health and Safety". WHAT? You're protecting me from the evil killer leaf that might slice my neck open? The twig that, having been cut off by a super-mega-high-speed-laser-guided *hedge strimmer* would embed itself in my chest and cause death by twig? Come off it. It's pathetic.

The HSE are de-risking our lives here - and in so doing are making our lives more dangerous by desensitizing us to risk - therefore THEY are cause of increased risk and should, therefore, be abolished!

Come the day of the Glorious Revolution Brothers and Sisters and the Health And Safety Executive *will* be first up against the wall!

A wary tale for bloggers everywhere...

Or do they? Answers by email please or comments below!

TWiL Episode 12 - Cutty Sark

Well hello everyone and welcome to Show 12 of the This Week In London podcast. I had a show planned for tonight but news events overtook it so instead of that one I'm kind of winging it with a show about the Cutty Sark and the events of today. A terribly sad day for Londoners and specifically those of us who have lived in Greenwich. I hope I do the old girl justice....

Click the players above, the heading of this post or HERE to listen!

Here are some videos:







Music tonight is by:

Ingrid Michaelson with Breakable
Patricia Paay and the Star Sisters with the Medley 2007 and
Finniston with Changes

Please do visit the bands websites and let them know you heard the music here. More importantly let them know you liked their music. That's more important...

Comment on todays show here or via email - the address is in the panel to the left! Thanks for letting me take 30 minutes or so from your day...

PS - Next time I am aiming to bring you a competition cast. Keep yours ears open!

Corrections to TWiL #11

In the show I did last night I made a couple of faux pas. Russell Square tube is of course on the Piccadilly Line and not the Central Line and JM Barrie wrote Peter Pan.... Thanks to Dean Whitbread for the correction.

TWIL Episode11 - Bloomin' Bloomsbury

Hi once again and thanks for joining me for another This Week In London. I hope you enjoy the show. Keep the emails coming in - details to the left. You can listen to this show by clicking the heading of this post, by clicking here or by using the green PuPu player about. Just click to listen!

This time we're in Bloomsbury, thanks to a listener who emailed in with the suggestion. That makes two on the trot - and next times will be listener selected too! Thanks!

I appreciate that you take 30 minutes or so out of your valuable time to listen to the show. If you have comments, criticism or (blush) praise then please do email me - the links are to the left of this post. You can of course leave a comment if you prefer!

On with the show!

Locations
The Lamb at Lambs Conduit Street - info here
The British Museum is available here
Great Ormond Street Hospital - you should give generously here
A 360 degree round and round view of Bedford Square
And a site all about Blue Plaques - apparently you can buy books about them too!

Music
Ellie Myles, Connected at www.elliemyles.com which takes you to Slashed Seat Affair
Daize Shayne, No Way Out at www.daize.com
Jill Parr, Do you Hear What I Hear? from www.jillparr.com



Off to Kuwait on Saturday. Hot.... very hot. No beer. None. Zip. Nada. No alcohol. At All... Arghhhhh!

Question

I've put a little cash aside for a question I posted up at www.theflashing12.com... I think my money's safe. What do you think?

This Week In London #10 - Mayfair, A May Fair

Many thanks to Steven Crosby for suggesting our destination this week. We're in Mayfair this time, spending time looking in the shops, pubs and restaurants with a little diversion into the arboretum.

Music is provided by The Tacticians with their lovely song "London's Alright", 3 Blind Mice with Watchstar and Hungry Lucy with Shine. I forgot how good these bands were. I've really got to play more Hungry Lucy...

You can play the show by clicking the left hand player (the green PuPu player) at the top or the heading at the top of this posting or you could even press here and listen.

I'm thinking of going on location next time and doing another WhereTheHeckIsHe? Competition. Harder this time. Much Much Harder. What do you think? Was it fun or was it rubbish last time? Let me know eh?

Keep the emails coming in - I do answer all of them and they are all welcome. If you have a favo(u)rite area of London why don't you email me and tell me why you like it? I very well might feature it!

If you want to Skype me, please do - just call Parkylondon!

Thanks for letting me take 30 minutes of your time today. Much appreciated. Have a nice one.

TWIL Episode 9 - Shakespeares Sprinklers

Hi there. Welcome to Episode 9 (Nine) of This Week In London. If you're here from my Podshow page then this IS Episode 9 and not 8 as advertised.. I'm tired. I'm sorry....

Direct link to the show here and don't forget you can use the players at the top of this page to listen as well. You can also subscribe (for free!) via iTunes or using your favourite podcatching software.

On with the shownotes then. I kick off with a track call Dislocated which is actually by Ellie Myles and Slashed Seat Affair. Thanks go out to Paul Nicholls for sending the track over and then following tout suite with the artiste - I really had no idea who it was! You can find Slashed Seat Affair here and Ellie Myles here.

I'm on the South Bank this time with a family stroll on a wonderful spring afternoon from London Bridge; we take in a reprise of Borough Market on a very busy afternoon and then on to The Globe Theatre and past the Royal Festival Hall on to the London Eye. A lovely walk and well worth you going on if you have a spare hour or so to kill.

Other music is provided by The Amateur Transplants with London Underground (cleaned up mix) and you can find the *explicit* (I mean it - you have been warned) here.

I'm a bit naughty with the last track and play a track by Jonas Hellborg which I think is awesome - it's Touch My Soul from the album Axis. It's kind of hard to come by but there is a link on Amazon here... Sixty six quid seems a bit steep but then again it's not on Ebay...

There you have it - hope you enjoy it. Please do keep the emails coming in I do appreciate it. Link on the side to get in touch. You can Skype me at "Parkylondon"!

Brace yourselves...

I'm doing a show tonight. Items to be covered are: Derelict London and Cockney Rhyming Slang... plus I'll do a run down of the top attractions in London. I'm sure I'll have an anecdote or two too!

Greetings from Abu Dhabi

I'll be posting information about my trip to Abu Dhabi on www.theflashing12.com - I won't pollute this London blog with that kind of info!

TWIL Episode 8 - Grinnidge

Here's the latest show - I'm packing for a business trip to Abu Dhabi and Dubai right now so will be out of touch (pretty much) until this time next week. I'll do full show notes while I'm away from the business centre at the hotel - I hope.

As you might guess this show is about Greenwich in London. I'll definately be revisiting this in the future as I barely scatched the surface of the wonderful place.

I. Got. Guinness. Marmite. Tasting. On. The. Show. Huzzah...

Congrats to Mark Yoshimoto Nemkoff for BRTC. Looks like it was a BIG success!

More from Abu Dhabi where I hope to meet up with "Malcolm from Abu Dhabi" as featured on the DSC...

Bum Rush

I just posted this on Digg under the BRTC item

Quote

Black Lab are NOT signed to a label. They used to be and had a huge fight with the labels to get their music back. it is for that reason that Black Lab were chosen.

The point in using a large, mainstream, music delivery channel (iTunes) was to maximise the chance of getting notice. iTunes may have DRM embedded in its very soul (and I think it sucks they can't let CC or freeware tracks through without adding it) but iTunes reports to the "charts" so it's important to take advantage of that fact. If we can get enough people to buy or gift the track to someone else then it'll chart and send a message to BigMedia about how podcasting and podcasters can move the market.

BRTC is all about podcasting and getting BigMedia to sit up and take notice of the power of podcasting. It's not necessarily about "sticking it to the man" although that would be nice.
Black Lab are giving half their income to the charitable cause behind this. I think that's commendable. They didn't have to.

I fully support BRTC and will be buying the track as soon as I get home this evening. The people behind this are honest decent hardworking people. There is no hidden agenda here. There is no scam.

At the end of the day if you don't agree with it don't do it. Nobody is forcing you.

Paul Parkinson
Editor, Podcast User Magazine
Unquote

I'll probably get tons of flak for it but it needed to be summarised.

BUM RUSH NOW!

Go to http://bumrushthecharts.blogspot.com/ and hit the BIG RED BUTTON.

Let's do it folks!

It's arrived....

My Guinness Marmite has arrived.... Mmmmm. Guinness. Mmmmm. Marmite. Arghughugh...

TWIL Episode 7 - Suicide Girl

Welcome to the shownotes of the 7th episode of the This Week In London podcast. Direct link here or you can listen in the sidebar!

I'm happy to announce Brendan as the winner of the competition as he accurately worked out I was in Hoxton Square. Well done Brendan - I've sent you an email to confirm the details.

In this weeks show I played Mine Again by Black Lab, the song chosen for the Bum Rush The Charts take over. No link to the song here - please buy it on the 22nd March and make a difference. Black Lab are donating half their earnings from the sales of the song so credit and kudos to them for that.

I play a radio interview that Mark Yoshimoto Nemkoff and I did on BBC Radio 5 Live about BRTC which was a lot of fun. Sorry about my voice on this interview - I was getting over a really bad throat infection. There is a picture (NOT for the faint hearted) here.

One of the hosts of the radio show (not Chris Vallance, an altogether Good Chap) is a bit of an arse at the end of the piece but whatever - it's up to us to prove him wrong.



Finally, I tell a story about an incident I personally experienced on the London Underground. It was a lot harder to tell than I thought it would be. I think, listening to it again, you can appreciate how hard. The story is where I get the title for this show. At least she lived.

Stay tuned - I've got a great show planned covering Berwick Street in the next couple of weeks. Celebrity interviews no less! woot!!

This Week In London #6 - Driving To Distraction

Hi there

Sorry for the delay in getting these shownotes out to you all. I’ve been pretty unwell and haven’t had the energy to do anything much. Anyways – better late than never eh!

Here is the direct link to the show

If you want to Digg This Week In London please do! You can find the page for it here

The Congestion Charge - here is the map of the congestion charge zone

For those of you who want to learn more about the Love/Hate relationship we have with
Marmite - follow the link!

Featured tracks this time are from

Bloom with Shoulder To Cry On

and

Small Town Sleeper with Car Crash

This last track (played first in the show) is a special, one-off show for Rorin after the event of the tracks name! Best of luck getting the car back on the road Rorin and give Saskia a big hug from me eh?

Competition Number 1 will close this Friday 9^th 2007

Shownotes delayed

I'm feeling ruddy awful at the moment - I have some sort of ear nose and throat infection which has knocked me sideways for a few days. Shownotes for TWiL#6 will follow shortly.

There will now be a short intermission.

Bum Rush The Charts

Not sure our American friends really know the meaning of a bum rush but the concept is good. Glad they've chosen a Black Lab track - Neil Bearse, BL's podcast marketing manager (yeah, yeah, Neil I know it's a made up title - but it's a great one donchafink?) is a good guy and I WILL get that interview one day!

More information here...

The best Marmite ever?! !?

For those of you who are haters look away! For those of us who are lovers of its creamy, sticky texture and throat searing strength, the World that is Marmite just took an unexpected, but very welcome turn.That's right. Marmite Guinness. Guinness flavoured Marmite. It is just screaming "BUY ME". I can't wait. But then I don't have to. All I need to do is get myself down to a supermarket and buy it. It's a 300,000 jar limited edition available in the UK for £2.49 (about $5) and I will be buying a few, one of which will be winging its way to the US for Dave to try out.

OMG. Guinness flavoured Marmite. Yay. Needless to say this delicacy will be appearing in the next This Week In London - if I can find it....

Competition entries

Hi there from Grenoble in South Eastern France - the land of the AZERTY keyboqrd; it takes for ever to type qs every A comes out qs q A! The keyboard layout reverses the letter Q qnd the letter A... Arghhh...

I an delighted to say there have been many entries to the Where Am I competition! Plenty of time to enter the competition though as I'll be drqwing the winner in time for the podcqst I aim to do over next weekend.

James, as featured in the competition, has been skiing and snowboarding for the lasr couple of days and is now exhausted!

See you all later

Paul

This Week In London #5 - First Competition

==>Sorry about the faux pas on the files front. The links here are correct. More haste less speed is the old saying. So true. So very very true....
==============

Welcome and here is This Week In London #5. In this episode I launch the first TWiL competition - all you need are keen ears and and encyclopaedic knowledge of London. Or Google. Whatever.

I'll give USD20 (twennybucks) as an Amazon voucher or equivalent to the lucky winner. If there's more than one I'll have a draw. Just tell me where I am in London. S'easy!

On tonight's show I play London by The Tragedy Kings from the Podsafe Music Network. You can find their MySpace account here.

Borough Market threatened....

The following was sent to me by a listener and by someone who works near the market.

"Borough Market is London's oldest market. It was established on the south bank of the Thames when the Romans build the first London Bridge and people have been trading on this site for over 2000 years.

Some bright spark has decided to expand the railway line running through the roof of the market, which will also involve knocking down 23 of the beautiful listed and unlisted buildings in the closely surrounding area.

They already have planning permission, but are waiting funding and there is a strong local campaign to put a stop to it.

If you know and love the market in its present state, please sign the petition to prevent this from happening. The plans, photographs and the petition are HERE.

Unfortunately not a lot of people are aware of it so please sign it and pass it on to anyone else you know who loves this great bit of London heritage."

Now for my (Parky's) twopenn'rth:-

As well as being an amazing place in its own right, the streets round the market have been in many films. One, Park Street, which will be devastated by these developments was featured in Snatch and key buildings near the market featured in the Knight Bus sequence from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Finally, Bridget Jones' Diary 2 was filmed in the Market. All those great films were made in Borough Market because of its unique location. Why ruin it?

Do not pass go. Do not collect £200. Go straight to the petition site and do your best to protect the market!

Steady progress in iTunes....

Just noticed TWiL is #22 in the Arts page / chart thingy in iTunes. I'm so happy... thanks.

Updated Posting for Show #2

31/01/2007: Edit - I have now included some pictures to give you more of a flavour of Borough Market (sorry about the pun!)

Permalink here

Watch this space!

I'm working on a competition for the show...

"Where Am I in London?"

I'll go somewhere in London and describe it - you email in and tell me where I am.

I'm aiming to get it kicked off in time for the next show.

Not exactly going to be "Win Valuable Prizes" but I might be able to throw an Amazon voucher in for the lucky winner!

This Week in London - Episode 4

Here are the show notes for TWiL #4.

First off I'm very pleased to be on the Staff Picks section of iTunes. Thanks to whoever did that. I'm delighted to have found a format that works for me and that more people are getting in on the act - i.e. getting the podcast. Thanks to the new listeners for trying me out.

Don't be scared to leave a comment (I don't bite) or send me an email - there's a link to the left.

You can listen to the show by clicking HERE or on the PUPU player on the left, below the show picture.

I play a couple of corking tracks in this episode -

London Girl by Lato who have their own web page here
and
londontown by the divineMAGgees who have their own web page here

If you are a band recording in London, based in London or have a song about London please do point me towards it or send me an MP3. I'll take a listen and slot it into the show. I'm not scared of different types of music - so don't be shy.

In this show I finish off the Airport transfer round up (well nearly I forgot Stanstead but that's easy - just take the Stanstead Express to Liverpool Street Station) and talk about black cabs, measuring distance to London and I have a bit of a rant about The O2... I enjoyed doing this show a lot and I think the format is developing nicely.

If you have any ideas of what I can talk about, sections I can include or anything that would make the show better please do get in touch.

I'll tell a few more stories about Hammersmith Odeon next time. As I recall all of them seem to involve alcohol, loud (very loud) heavy metal and Underground trains.

Thanks for looking, thanks for listening.

Have a great time until next time.

Parky

What is it with the trains?

I love London. Everything about it - to quote The Diamond Geezer (a blogger I respect) "Life, nightlife, the sense of history, the Underground, the view from Greenwich Park, the fact there's always somewhere new to discover, Oxford Street, the sound of Big Ben, nightbuses, sunlight on the Thames, buying your Sunday paper on Saturday evening, the museums in South Kensington, the wobbly Millennium bridge, being able to choose from more than two local radio stations, Tate Modern, not needing a car, the view from Hampstead Heath, Arsenal shirts, Trafalgar Square, the top pod on the London Eye, St Pancras station, decent mobile phone reception, Routemasters, the East End, 24 hour bagel shops, culture on your doorstep, Hungerford Bridge, Old Compton Street, deckchairs in Green Park, the DLR, 0° longitude, the City, Covent Garden, decent record shops, St Paul's Cathedral, walking faster than the traffic, crossing Westminster Bridge at night on the back of a bike, the sheer variety of Theatreland, the British Museum, just living here."

Now - one thing that actually bugs me is the trains. Here is a rant which I have toned down on reflection and added the above words:


I live in North West Kent in a 'burb called Sidcup. It's around 25-30 minutes from London by train. The above (and sorry for the shakey picture - I was a little cold!) was taken at my local railway station after the South East had its first snow of the Winter this morning.

Why is it then that when it snows even just a little bit like today (an inch for goodness sakes) that the railways crumple in a messy heap? My journey from home to the office (just over an hour normally) took nigh on three hours today. The picture was taken at 08h16 - I had been at the station for half an hour by then...

Arghhhh. If the fat cat railway management (Fat Controller anyone?) took less out of their company's in bonusses, salaries, jollies and benefits perhaps they would be able to maintain their trains and keep them running when the weather decides we deserve a little snow....

Of course, the snow will be gone this evening but the trains will be up the shoot because of this mornings debacle. Ho hum.

PS I'm aiming to do a show tonight. Lots of goodies to look forward to.

iTunes - Staff Picks

Great news! Looks like one those nice people at the Apple iTunes store have picked up the show and it is featured on the iTunes Staff Picks page.


From iTunes got to Podcasts>Staff Favourites>Page 4 and Roberts your father brother.


Lumping great spike in the downloads so thanks to everyone coming over. Feel free to let me know what you think. Use the comments here or send me an email. All the details are in the side bar to the left hand side of the page

Ta!

This Week In London #3 - Airpots, Dumps and Cardboard

This is This Week In London Number 3. I spend some time helping folk to get into London from the two key airports and also give a London Underground 101 for those who haven't really used it before.

Dumps and Cardboard are special. You'll have to listen in to hear about them!

Music is provided by New London Fire which you can find at music.podshow.com.

Feedback is welcome at thisweekinlondon ==aT== gmail :::d_o_t::: com or you can leave feedback here. Just click comments below!

Direct Link to Show

Podshow

Feedback

Next Time

Have a good time till next time when I'll talk about some of the other airports in London, Eurostar and the darker side of London with Derilict London.

I'll also be doing the monthly whats on and what coming up

Parky

TWIL Episode 2 - Christmas Eve

31/01/2007: Edit - I have now included some pictures to give you more of a flavour of Borough Market (sorry about the pun!)

First of a big thanks to everyone who is tuning in to This Week in London. I'm having a lot of fun doing this and I hope you're enjoying it - please do contact me at thisweekinlondon@gmail.com if you have any stories of Life or Travel in London.

This time we're exploring Borough Market, the foodies heaven and associated pubs, restaurants and foody shops. Well worth a visit if you have time.

As we move into the Christmas Holiday itself I give a little history on the Christmas Tree in Traflagar Sqaure, where it came from and why. Also be on the look out for the New Year Fireworks display after the midnight bongs from the main bell in St. Stephens Tower at the Houses of Parliament aka Big Ben. FWIW - Big Ben ONLY refers to the bell, not the clock, not the tower....

I also talk about the Flickr stream I have on Flat Stan (just Google Flat Stan if you have no idea what this means) and his travels in London. You can find the stream here

Music this week sourced at the Podshow Music Network and provided courtesy of the Bands:

Satelite Dub with London has more Lights

and

The Bridge Gang with "London Sky Tonigh" demo0

Special thanks to Ed at Ed's Mixed Bag for playing the promo - cheers Ed. If you haven't already please do check out Ed's show at www.edsmixedbag.com

So, a Happy Christmas to everyone out there and Happy New Year too

[PS I forgot to post this here.... sorry]