london

Toby, so you guys got to buy the flat you'd been renting? Another couple I know bought from their landlord and it actually wound up at least ten per cent cheaper than the open market.

Yeah, we got various estate agents to give quotes, and agreed a price based on them (with a discount for not having agents fees), discounting the highest and lowest couple - which was good as e.g. Foxtons were suggesting 50k more than we actually paid.

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/shortcuts/2014/feb/18/meet-the-cling-ons-stressed-middle-class

hideous and desperate.

So. Fracking in London: is this a real thing?

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ban-fracking-in-lambeth-1

I have got to the point where I can no longer tell what are actual Tory plans and what are these fiendish cartoon fantasies of What Tories Might Do. There is no difference at this point.

that link should be on Is the Guardian worse than it used to be?

if they manage to find a site in lambeth to stick fracking gear in I say go for it.

Hands up, so who's getting a fifteen metre BOREHOLE drilled outside their bedroom window for the next few weeks.

Oh, just me, then?

Man with the badge has sworn blind it's to control flooding, not for fracking, but do I trust Thames Water? No, I do not.

Can't wait for the Boring Machine to get here. zzzzzzzzz

You need to go to the Thames Water site and see if there's an explanation for the works (which may or may not be translatable into English from corporate BS).

Nah, I've already spoken to the site manager, who spoke plain English. It is for sewer control. He assures me there will be no Boring before 8am. Better not be!

(Thanks for the tip on the website, tho, will go and look at what the hilarious corporate BS for "boring a 15 metre hole outside your bedroom window" is)

The person who invents a humorous app to translate neoliberal corporate BS ----> English will make a well-deserved fortune. Get on it, nerds of ILX.

How many different ways are there to translate "you're fucked"?

Surprisingly many, in my experience.

Hmmm:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/25/just-jam-barbican-cancelled-police?CMP=twt_gu

Barbican ppl I know are furious.

That is bizarre (and shit, obv) - not the main issue but how does a Barbican gig featuring Omar Souleyman/Mt Kimbie/Sophie/RP Boo code as black/dangerous/underage drinking?

good ol' undemocratic, tax avoiding, medieval-guild-run City of London and their racist police

seandalai, p sure they just saw jme & went in, wld be surprised if they know who the rest are. barbican saying they weren't told why... - http://www.thewire.co.uk/news/29413/barbican-cancels-just-jam-event-with-rp-boo_omar-souleyman_loefah_jme-and-others - ...could they just reverse their decision & force the police to do/say something?

Would be tough for a venue owned by the City Of London to defy the 'advice' given by the City Of London police, I think. The whole thing is bizarre.

ah, I was imagining some "we will work w/ the police to address their concerns" ish to get them to try & unpack their prejudice in public, but the ownership makes it less likely

disgusting.

so fucked. those sound like justifications that could be applied to a billion everyday things

one comment on guardian likened this to apartheid

http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/why-did-the-city-of-london-police-can-the-just-jam-event-at-the-barbican

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10744997/Cool-London-is-dead-and-the-rich-kids-are-to-blame.html

lol this guy

They are the kind of people who might buy a Damien Hirst, but would never discover the next Damien Hirst.

Best point yet made in favour of social cleansing.

Someone needs to point out to this trust fund cretin that Peckham is actually closer to the centre of town than Hampstead.

I do enjoy a good whine about the trendification of London from people whose idea of London doesn't extend beyond six postcodes though, it's always good to know your enemy.

astonishing that anyone could so spectacularly miss the open goal of writing about this subject

This starts w/Paris but from this piece Paris doesn't occupy the same space that London does for the UK.

Why you should buy a sports car
Why it's better to be in your 40s than 20s
Why I swapped London for the glorious sticks
We've become a nation of hyper-consumers
Was 1963 the best year to be a man?

the weird specificity of his columns kinda makes him seem like a britisher version of the onion cartoonist

Why you should buy a sports car
Why it's better to be in your 40s than 20s
Why I swapped London for the glorious sticks
We've become a nation of hyper-consumers
Was 1963 the best year to be a man?
When will you take off your clothes?
When will you look at yourself through the grave?
When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?
America why are your libraries full of tears?
America when will you send your eggs to India?
I'm sick of your insane demands.
When can I go into the supermarket and buy what I need with my good looks?
America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.
Your machinery is too much for me.
You made me want to be a saint.
There must be some other way to settle this argument.
Burroughs is in Tangiers I don't think he'll come back it's sinister.
Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke?

Hey Londoners, anyone know anything about cheap zone 6 places to live that are close to Slough? Uxbridge/ Hillingdon area? I'm asking for a Canadian beginning teacher who's taken a job in Slough. She's been told to avoid West Drayton and Hayes. I know zilch about west London.

I'd say I'm familiar. I lived in those parts up until around 2006. Is being close to public transport and London important? You mention zone 6 but that area isn't served by the tube. I lived in West Drayton for five years. Although it wasn't the smartest place it's cheap and relatively convenient for public transport having a train station that covers Slough in 10 mins and Paddington in 25 mins. If you drive or you are happy to live slightly outside it will open up a few more areas.

Sorry, Uxbridge and Hillingdon are on the tube but these don't connect with Slough very well using public transport. Uxbridge is okay. What sort of factors are important?

Not the answer you're looking for: but I'd personally get a place nearish to Paddington and do the 20 minute commute.

Thanks! I think the three most important factors are 1. feeling safe 2. easy to get to Slough (getting to London easily less important as it'll only be once a week or so) 3. cheap, which is probably why the Paddington to Slough commute has been ruled out.

It might be worth considering Windsor or even Maidenhead. Accommodation might be more expensive than Slough, Langley, West Drayton and the like but certainly less than London. I think if I'd come over from Canada and lived in some of those places I would be a bit disappointed. At least with Windsor (5 minute train journey to Slough) you would have something to do in the evenings and weekends and when friends or family visit. All the places mentioned have a relatively low crime rate in most areas, it's commuter belt with not a great deal to offer. If you want a further breakdown I could give one place by place.

mmmm, if you have time to do that I know she would really appreciate it!

I should add that I left these areas and now live in east London!

- West Drayton / Yiewsley - reputation for being a 'rough area'. The best thing about living there is it's train station. I didn't have any problems with crime when I lived there. Working class. Close to Uxbridge.
- Iver - Small village with a train station connecting to Slough. Quiet commuter belt. Would be safe. 10 mins / 3 miles from Slough.
- Langley - a Slough suburb. Nothing of note there really. Sasha Baron Cohen picked up some of his ideas for Ali G here. Dull but close to Slough.
- Slough. Town centre looked pretty depressing when I went there a couple of months back.
- Maidenhead - smallish town, 10 mins or a few miles from Slough. Nice enough. A bit smarter, close to nice river walks - Cookham, Henley, Hurley. Nice place to live.
- Windsor - has a large Castle! lots of tourists! A bit more character. On the river, nice walks. Restaurants and pubs you would actually go in!

All of these are on train lines into Slough. There are buses too but these aren't London buses so a lot less reliable.

Brilliant, I will pass this on. Thank you!

No problem! My general message is you are probably better off thinking along the lines of living in east Berkshire rather than on the edges of west London / zone 6. It's the same travel time to central London and it's generally more pleasant.

I'm giving more serious consideration to buying somewhere now, possibly around Ilford. Is there anywhere near there to particularly avoid?

Kingsway fire is still going twenty hours later. The road is still shut and half the Strand has its power out while they try to make it safe enough to put water on it.

massive power cut in east london twenty minutes into my five a side game last night. what i learned: ootball is an incredibly dangerous game to play in the dark.

Ootball is dangerous in any conditions

In the not too distant future
Wars will no longer exist
But there will be Ootball

Do you know that abroad they call it occer?

i say move to ilford

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ilford,+Greater+London,+UK/@51.557311,0.044935,3a,75y,83.46h,75.86t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sDUJn8xE9FQUidoHw8fxumg!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x47d8a1494a4cce5b:0xd4405940c0cf45ab