Category Archives: topographical

pleasures, topographical

The Tubes are Alive!

Thanks to Annie Mole’s London Underground blog, I’ve just spotted that Matthew Somerville and friends have used the recently opened up Transport for London API to create an (almost) real time map of all the trains on the London Underground.  The picture above is a horribly fuzzy screen capture from the real-time map. OK so the application it still needs some refinement – as Matthew says there are “some unresolved (a small number of stations are misplaced or missing; inter-station journey times need improvement; occasional trains behave oddly due to duplicate IDs)”.  This latter comment is indeed true as I was amused to see a District Line train hacking across country between Wimbledon and Richmond!

As a proof of concept – no, it’s better than that! – this brilliantly shows what can be done by skilled programmers in just a few hours.  In my book it is already a useful resource for Londoners, and has the potential to become much, much more especially if the DLR and London Overground data is accessible and they can be included.  Let’s hope Matthew and Co are able to continue developing the application.

Now what we need is a complete real-time map of all trains on the rail network – Matthew already has some prototype segments working.  Now that would be interesting.

arts, history, photography, science, topographical

Queen's Beasts at Kew


Queen’s Beasts at Kew, originally uploaded by kcm76.

You’ll probably want to look at this in a larger size.

We went to Kew Gardens last week, with an American friend who was staying and had a free afternoon to do something different. While there I fulfilled by wish to photograph the ten Queen’s Beasts in front of the Palm House. The beasts represent the genealogy of Queen Elizabeth II. They are (from L to R):
• White Greyhound of Richmond
• Yale of Beaufort
• Red Dragon of Wales
• White Horse of Hanover
• Lion of England
• White Lion of Mortimer
• Unicorn of Scotland
• Griffin of Edward III
• Black Bull of Clarence
• Falcon of the Plantagenet

These aren’t great photos, so I’ll probably redo them next I go to Kew.

And there’s a bit more about the Queen’s Beasts on Wikipedia.

amusements, current affairs, topographical

Unseemly Mess

3 Comments

So the great British people (well about 65% of them) have spoken through the ballot box.  The outcome reminds me rather of two things:

(a) A small Afghan puppy invented by Frank Muir: What-a-mess

(b) The Victorian hatter’s advert: You may have it cocked up in the latest style.

I’m still predicting a Labour-LibDem minority government with another general election probably next February but may be as early as October/November.

Unedifying.  But that’s democracy.

books, music, topographical

The Power of Okinawa

Anyone who is interested in “roots” music and who doesn’t already know the music of Okinawa and the sub-tropical Ryukyu Islands of Japan really should check it out.  And this is now a lot easier with the new website and weblog, The Power of Okinawa, by my friend John Potter, as well as a second edition of his introductory book, also called The Power of Okinawa (order from the website for ¥2700, about £20 / $30, delivered worldwide).
Potter-san is originally from Norwich (England) but has lived in Japan since 1984, first in Kobe (where he survived the 1995 Kobe earthquake) and then in Mie Prefecture where he was Professor of English at Kogakkan University. He contributes music features to magazines in Japan and the UK; has published articles on literature and education; and written a book on Summerhill School.
His discovery of Okinawan music in the late ’80s led to an abiding interest in the islands and their music.  He has made regular trips to the Ryukyu Islands and travelled extensively in Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama, listening to and meeting many of the musicians there.  John accompanied Shoukichi Kina and his band on a visit to England, and has collaborated on song translations for several artists.  In 2009 the lure of island music finally proved too much and he took early retirement in order to move to Okinawa.

Even with the West’s increased interest in “world music” the Ryukyu Islands have remained far adrift from the musical mainstream. Seldom heard, the islands’ centuries-old colourful tradition of music and dancing reflects the people’s determination to express their own culture.  John Potter’s book and website offer the first definitive guide to this vibrant and exciting music, detailing its history and profiling its major personalities.

And for anyone who thinks they might be interested it is worth trying to get a copy of the Rough Guide to Okinawa music CD.  This is wonderfully eclectic, fun and inspirational music.  Real wacky stuff!

arts, history, memes, photography, topographical

Thing-a-Day #16 : Boys on the Tube


Thing-a-Day #16 : Boys on the Tube, originally uploaded by kcm76.

Today we took our friend Sue and her two boys Sam (with book on head) and Harry to the Museum in (London) Docklands. Here’s a montage of two frames I made of the three of them on the London Underground – with Sam and Harry wrecking their copies of Keri Smith’s This is Not a Book.

The Museum in Docklands is well worth visiting; there was much more to see than I’d expected and it was almost all interesting. It charts the history of the Port of London from Roman times to the present and currently has an exhibition on “London, Sugar and Slavery”. Admission is £5 for adults (which entitles you to free entry for a year!); free for under 16s. Follow the link for museum details.

They also have a good café (called 1802) where we had coffee, lunch and afternoon tea with the boys devouring copious quantities of chocolate brownie. And the café does hand-cut, really chunky chips to die for. We all enjoyed the food and I doubt any of us need to eat again this week!

The downside? The Underground ride home was horrible: unstable, wet (it was pouring with rain all day), stuffy, humid, crowded, hot. Yeuch! It was a good reminder of why I hate the Underground and why I used to have panic attacks when I had to use it regularly. But I got to go on the DLR, which somehow I’ve avoided up to now.

But otherwise a good day!