Saturday, October 23, 2010
Yoko Ono Unveils John Lennon Blue Plaque
I've stuck up an album of photos from the unveiling today of an English Heritage Blue Plaque at 34 Montagu Square, where Yoko Ono and the late John Lennon lived, and where the Two Virgins naked record cover was photographed. Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Ringo Starr and William Burrows also lived there.
The album is here - I'll add the Blackberry photos later.
Yoko Ono was charming, but her security awful - they bullied / threatened local residents trying to get home, and a complaint to the police didn't help (apparently the Metropolitan Police think it's okay for hired thugs to threaten people).
The album is here - I'll add the Blackberry photos later.
Yoko Ono was charming, but her security awful - they bullied / threatened local residents trying to get home, and a complaint to the police didn't help (apparently the Metropolitan Police think it's okay for hired thugs to threaten people).
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Turkish dam plan threatens 'remarkable' Roman ruins - CNN.com
Turkish dam plan threatens 'remarkable' Roman ruins - CNN.com
This slide show brings back memories. My photos date from a visit in 2002, and I wrote about the campaign to save Allianoi that year ... it's sad to see that it has all been in vein, but one can draw strong parallels to Zeugma, another Turkish site.
This slide show brings back memories. My photos date from a visit in 2002, and I wrote about the campaign to save Allianoi that year ... it's sad to see that it has all been in vein, but one can draw strong parallels to Zeugma, another Turkish site.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Greek police storm the Acropolis
It was originally designed as a fortress - though that didn't keep Xerxes and Artemisia I of Halicarnassus out - so it's interesting to see it still being used in that way. There's an old quote about the beseiged having eaten everything but Pheidias' horses - though luckily it didn't come to that this time!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Skip That Broke The Road
Some builders over-filled a skip on Chester Row (London SW1), and on Friday night it went crashing through the paving of the street into the old coal cellars below. It was a disaster for local residents who lost water (still not fully restored).
This morning ITN, BBC and Sky News crews were filming, trying to find residents who would go on camera. For me, as an archaeologist it was fascinating and I asked a friend if I could look into the hole from her house. "There's nothing to see, just a hole full of rubbish" she replied. What on earth do you think archaeology is!?! - was my answer.
What interested me more is that she hadn't realised most houses in Belgravia - and elsewhere in London - have deep cellars under the pavement (sidewalk for American readers). These used to be used to store coal for heating in Georgian and Victorian times. Today they got converted into spare bathrooms, storage or wine cellars.
I'll try to get better photos in daylight, but the plastered walls and ceiling of the brick cellar are visible now that the debris from the skip has been cleared away.
Update -
I've started a Facebook album that I'll be adding to here.
This really is a scandal - any archaeologist or person with a shred of common sense could have seen that Victorian brick vaults cannot support that much weight. I suspect even a Hummer parking above them could be an issue.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
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