Islamabad? Not at all. Sam Kekovich is back with this year’s installment of his Australia Day lamb TVCs.

Trafalgar Square
23 January 2010
12 noon

I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist! (PHNAT) invite all Photographers to a mass photo gathering in defence of street photography.

Following a series of high profile detentions under S44 of the Terrorism Act, including 7 armed police detaining an award winning architectural photographer in the City of London, the arrest of a press photographer covering campaigning santas at City Airport and the stop and search of a BBC photographer at St Pauls Cathedral and many others. PHNAT feels now is the time for a mass turnout of Photographers, professional and amateur to defend our rights and stop the abuse of the terror laws.

It seems like our ads for Russia Today (here shown in outdoor/print format) are causing some controversy. Which was ultimately the idea.

Major US airports have refused to display the two creative executions below.

What do you think? With the refusal to publish this content in the US, I am thinking that that the powers that be in the “land of the free” are just patriotic and supportive of their leader and oppose the obvious threat (albeit a threat of an unknown degree), whilst the US still holds a massive nuclear arsenal.

Who really is the greater threat?

N.B.: I am thoroughly enjoying the diversity in press over here. I have Russia Today on TV, in addition to BBC. I think I’ve got CNN, but I’d only watch it if I had no news whatsoever, and unfortunately no Al-Jazeera. Add this to publications such as The Guardian and The Independant, and you wonderful cross-section of left-to-right. Oh and the Sunday Times now features as my weekend “spread the paper across the living room” read. It also means no more Sydney Morning Herald, which is heading downhill rapidly – fast becoming tabloid-trash, as apparentlythis is news.

Sunset over the snow

I’ve only just got an Internet connection at home again, but it’s a mobile connection. I wont get BT in to get the phone line sorted until mid-January! So I can at least make updates from home now! Until I have a few moments more, here’s a magical sunset I captured last weekend in Goodnestone, Kent, just over an hour out of London.

Have a great Christmas folks.

Snow falling on my balcony in Islington earlier tonight at around 2200.

Could we have a white Christmas?

…and I promise. Week 2 update coming shortly!

Wishing you a merry Christmas…

Mushrooms at Borough Market

It was my first week living in London as opposed to holidaying. A mental week at that.

Here’s the redux.

Twenty-seven flat and houses viewed. 27! And now pending reference clearance I’ll be a North Londoner. There’s a real estate company here called Foxtons. Don’t waste your time dealing with them. Especially if you’re prone to getting your arm twisted. They’ve got a great skill in showing you a handful of properties. One will be 20% under your budget, and it will be the worst they have to show. The next will be 15% over, and they’ll tell you they can get it down to your price, even though it should be 10% under your asking price. Then they’ll show you a property that’s 40% above your budget. Seriously, do you think I’m going to spend 40% over my rental budget? Admittedly, I was warned but I didn’t think they would be that bad.

Now that I’m just about to move – I wonder if I now have to become an Arsenal supporter since the stadium is just up the road. I’ve never had a team, and I do have a few mad footballer friends. We’ll see. Aussie Rules will remain my favourite football code.

Public transport is fantastic. I don’t care what the locals say. When you’ve lived in Sydney, you’ll understand why it’s so good. Except the fact that I’m a 21 minute ride train ride from Victoria at the moment – which is OK, but trains only run every half hour, and that can be painful. However, with that public transport, I’ve been everywhere man. Well not quite, but across a lot of places in central London already. Brixton Markets and Borough Markets – there couldn’t be a greater contrast, but wonderfully lively. I don’t know what the corn bread pocket full of pork goodness with a habanero chilli, spring onion and coriander sauce liberally added to the top. My lips were smarting for the next 20 minutes. I love the fact that so many areas are new areas for me to explore. Friday night dinner at Village East in Bermondsey was excellent – my hankering for offal was well sorted with a calf’s liver and pancetta dish. Cool neighbourhood at first view as well. Leather Lane Market was a surprise, I stumbled across it on Friday as I was making my way to Farringdon, and it just reinforced the fact that you’ll never see everything in this city as there is so much on offer. I also just love the fact that I can buy a punnet of raspberries for £1.

Where else? A good pint and a salt beef sandwich at The Old White Lion in Finchely was pleasant. The open fire more than welcoming, but a thirty minute wait for a sandwich when there was only three other people awaiting food? I think that’s a slight problem.

The Rake tells it like it is

As this city makes a fine drop, I’ve had a couple since I’ve been here. And I’m an Aussie whom has no issue in drinking warm beer. Bring it on I say. I returned to The Rake – and I need to find some more pubs around that have the ‘no crap on tap’ attitude. Any suggestions? A brilliant selection here with a rotating supply on tap, the Cantillon Lambic being one of the most unusual and amazing beers I’ve ever had. Lastly (for now) on beer, £1.50 for Chimay Red? Unbelievable. And that’s from Tescos.

South Molton Street Arches

With Christmas just around the corner, Oxford Street is chock full of people. With the sun setting just before 4pm, all the Christmas lights come out to play in the night sky. Not that this is the only reason, but I can see why this time of year is enjoyed by so many here. I’ll have to take my camera out and capture some of this. Upper Street in Islington also has a bit of treatment as well. (edit: See photo above)

With that, I had my Christmas party on Wednesday night. Sure – it was before I started, but a great way to meet the team. Unfortunately, I had to cut it short otherwise there was no way to make it home easily, and I had more apartments to view the next day, and a heavy head would not have helped the process.

It’s cold, but not as cold as it gets. And let’s just say that my wardrobe is ill-prepared for the weather. Gloves were a quick and essential purchase. No snow yet, and that’s unlikely for some time. It’s not that cold just yet.

There’s a glut of activity here, so much on my head just spins. I visited the Ed Ruscha – Fifty Years of Painting exhibition at the Hayward Gallery yesterday. A must for fans of all things ‘type’.

And lastly, I don’t understand this whole orange make up thing. I’m sure you’ll know where I’m going here, but all I can think of is Gene Wilder and little folk with green hair.

The new job starts tomorrow, and I’m going to be just a little busy. It’s nil all in the Spurs v Everton game and the grandparents are coming around for tea. Time to open a Grimberger Dubbel… yes, I know that should be an ale or a bitter.

Disclaimer: If you are at all squeamish, do not go any further with this post.

After my last post, I received some interesting posts on Facebook and some live discussion around ethics of eating live animals. I do not condone eating live animals for one minute, and the Sannakji I posted previously was an example of a lingering electrochemical reaction that causes the tentacles to wiggle across the plate. They were not alive – anymore.

The footage below takes the cake for the abhorrent treatment of animals.

This video of a deep-fried, yet still breathing gasping fish at a restaurant. The footage is understood to be of Chinese origin, and this is one of the most disturbing things I have seen. Whether you’re a carnivore or not, the indifference to the suffering of this animal shown is unfathomable.

I’m heading to South Korea in a few weeks for a couple of days en route to London.

I’m normally pretty good when it comes to eating interesting or different foods, but Sannakji is one thing I’ll give a miss.

So, what is Sannakji? It consists of baby octopus that has been cut into small pieces and served immediately, usually lightly seasoned with sesame and sesame oil. The octopus pieces are usually still squirming on the plate. Check out the video below for the squirming action!

Because the suction cups on the arm pieces are still active when the dish is served, special care needs to taken when eating Sannakji. The active suction cups can cause swallowed pieces of arm to stick to the mouth or throat. This can also present a choking hazard for some people, particularly if they are intoxicated.

I may have eaten wasp larvae and Witchetty grubs, but items that are so fresh they are still moving are off my list – this is truly stunt eating.

Strange light fell over Australia on 23 September 2009. An unexpected dust storm blanketed New South Wales and Queensland, turning everything an eerie shade of amber. At its peak, the storm swept up 140,000 tons of soil per hour. In spite of the worst dust storm in 70 years, intrepid photographers ventured outside to document what was happening to their homes, neighborhoods, and country.

Long time Internet geek blogger/publisher Derek Powazek has collated images from the day and produced the book “Strange Light”. Two of my pictures have been featured in the publication.

You can purchase your copy at Magcloud.