According to official statistics, the sunniest public holiday in Japan is Culture Day, which is held every 3rd November. And so it turned out earlier this week, when a beautiful autumnal day with blue skies and sunshine drew me and thousands of others to Yoyogi Park to enjoy the leaves that were just beginning to turn […]
Archives for October 2015
‘Greetings from Tim Buckley’, Café 16cc, Amsterdam
Oude Kerk stands impassive and severe, a hulking spiritual presence unperturbed by the Red Light District activities going on in its vicinity. I have often walked past Oude Kerk but never gone in before. This is my first visit, and this great old church turns out to be well worth a visit. When I enter, I’m […]
‘Far North’, Cine Incrível Almada, Lisbon
November has now rolled around. The tourists are long gone from Costa da Caparica. It’s a bright blue morning so I have a walk along the tiny narrow gauge railway which runs along the back of the wonderful beaches between Costa da Caparica and Fonte da Telha a few miles south down the coast. The […]
‘Disputed Passage’, Cinemathek, Brussels
A La Mort Subite on Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères is a Brussels institution, a wonderful café brasserie that retains its original 1928 decor. Its glorious interior is a little faded in a warm, lived-in way. The place has a marble floor, high ceiling, long wooden tables, sturdy old radiators, and elegantly arched mirrors along the […]
‘Classe Tous Risques’, BFI Southbank, London
The walk across Waterloo Bridge offers my favourite view of London. In one direction you can see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, whilst in the other direction stands St Paul’s Cathedral and a jagged high-rise skyline. Below your feet the River Thames powers along with surprising force and speed. But on this dreich […]
‘City Lights’, Pathé Tuschinski, Amsterdam
A passing thunderstorm wakes me just before 5 a.m. Heavy rain batters against my bedroom window. There are occasional flashes of lightning that I can sense through my still-closed eyes, and the long drawn out rumble of thunder. By the time I leave the apartment a couple of hours later the storm has passed and […]