Cut & Cover : Leinster Gardens

The world's first underground network now known as the District Line started operation in 1868. The construction of the line was done using the 'Cut & Cover' method where the ground was dug up in order to create the tunnel for the tracks before being covered up.

When developing the line between Paddington and Bayswater, it was necessary to demolish number 23, 24 Leinster Gardens which were part of a stretch of terraced house. History has it that the demolition was necessary because of the usage of steamed trains in the past and a hole was needed to allow steam to be vented. The demolition caused quite an upset with the local residents where a gap was left. A fake facade was then built.



Here you can see a close up view of the fake house complete with windows and everything to match the surrounding houses. The only visible giveaway are the solid windows.



Here on Porchester Gardens you will be able to see the fake facade from the back. As you can see it is only made up of a single front wall made of bricks.



Here are the tracks that runs underneath it. The location where the house formally stood is visible at the tunnel entrance/exit.



A Circle Line C stock Metro-Cammell six car train happened to rumble by.

Map

Shure e2c

My Amazon UK order has finally arrived. Been testing it for a few days now. The sound is a little muddled for now. Am going to give it a few weeks to break in before concluding.



The packaging is impressive. You get three pairs of foams sleeves and three pairs of plastic flex sleeves, a soft carry case, user manual, a set of wax filters and warranty slip.



It is huge when compared to Jenni's Sony MDR-EX71SL.



You will need to apply the wax filter before using it. There are five pairs that comes with the e2c.



All Shures are required to be worn over the ear as shown above. This is pretty comfortable but needs getting used to. Not a perfect set of earphones for people who needs to remove it quickly. The cables then goes through the back of the body instead of the front. (My ears looks greasy - yeeuch..!)



I picked up sounds that I have never heard when I tested it with British Sea Power's The Decline Of British Sea Power album using Jenni's Palm Tungsten T3 (PocketTunes Pro 3.x). The production on this album is very raw so there were many background noises that was picked up even at low 64kbps Ogg compression.

At a lower compression (128kbps) the sound quality improved vastly. Previously I wasn't able to tell any difference between a 64kbps and 128kbps encoded tracks but now it is possible. I will stick with 128kbps for now until I get one of those 4Gb SD cards.

The noise isolation is terrific. I am using it with the smallest pair of plastic flex sleeves and was riding on the tube and hardly heard a thing apart from the occasionally train screeches. The isolation is much better than the EX71SL.

The build quality is extremely well done. The cables are thicker than matches. Very tough. The e2c should be able to cope with very harsh usage. Hopefully.

Film Review: Sin City

I finally got round to watching Sin City last night at a West End theater. It was a toss between Ewan McGregor's Guys & Dolls or the comic adaptation but three weeks of Saturday's Guys & Dolls were sold out.

So we settled for Sin City at 9. We had tome to kill so off to Masala Zone in Soho. This modern curry house has three brances in London and is a reasonable valud priced. Think Wagamama but without the pretense of canteen style dining and slightly cheaper only difference is this is an Indian while Wagamama is Chinese/Japanese. Masala Zone's main speciality is te universal Indian platter (thalis). This is out third time there and the lamb curry was excellent. Not too spicy which is probably to cater the Western tongues.

A 30 minute walk through the back streets of Soho through Covent Garden and back we were finally at Trocadero. That was the UGC cinema we went to. It isn't a celebrity magnet like those theaters on Leicester Square some 200 years away. The condition isn't as good as the Vue or Odean, but compared to the other UGCs I frequent with the exception of West India Quay, it was pretty well presented.

We had screen 2 on the second level. The loos are situated on the third and is only accessable through a pair of escalators. This I think is a gross oversight from the original architects. West India Quay's UGC has loos next to almost every other screen. But the screen itself was huge, clean or any visible markings and probably worth paying a little extra for.

We settled about twelve rows from the front. A couple of adverts filled through and then came the theatrical trailers. The new Orange ad featuring a Make Poverty History plug by Ewan McGregor. It wasn't as funny as previous Orange ads but then again it had a serious subject attached to it.

On to the film. The first sequence commits the tone on how the film will feel with its greyscale colour, CGI look and the limited selection of hue allowed to pass through the black and white filter.

* possible spoilers ahead *

Three stories are told in the film with one of them (the story of Hartigan) being intercutted with the story of Marv ala Pulp Fiction style. It isn't surprising - Quentin Tarantino guest directed.

My favourite was the one where Dwight, an ex-special force (Clive Owen) joined his hooker girlfriend Gail (Rosario Dawson) in combating the dirty coppers led by Michael Clarke Duncan after the killing of Benecio Del Toro. Confrontation ensued with Irish mercenaries which proved to be a funny experience.

Then there was Marv. Mickey Rourke was excellent playing the tough guy convict bent on avenging the death of lover Goldie (Jaime King). A killing spree led to an excellently and disturbingly portrated psycho cannibal geek, Elijah Wood.

The final story (actually the first but down as the climatic main act) of Hartigan (Bruce Willis) was in my humble opinion - the weakest of the three. When Hartigan saves a young girl from the rapist son (Nick Stahl) of a senator, he was betrayed by the law system. Jessica Alba was hot playing the grown up victim Nancy.

This Robert Rodriguez fil has quite an unexpected feel to it, but then again I hardly read comics anymore. I glanced through a couple of issues of Sin City before but never read it. But I do love the film and its LA Confidential meets Once Upon A Time In Mexico meets Daredevil style that the auteur(s) managed to transfix. A very stylish film.

9/10

Religious hate ban

Why not create a law to protect me from evangelists seeking to convert me? And why not repel the outdated blasphemy law?

Personally I think this proposed new legislation is an attack on our freedom of speech.

Nip/Tuck, Joyti De-Laurey, Sugar Rush, Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Nip/Tuck returned to Channel 4 last night under the guise of a second series. Following the sick life of Sean and Christian, the two Miami plastic surgeons (who are both turning 40) this series should prove even more outrageous than the first, if yesterday's episode were to be judged by - which includes a nursering mother insisting her ex to suck milk out of her tits. Christian has no problems practicing on himself in order to remain youthful while Sean has his doubts. Despite my qualms on the unnecessary gory scenes and shock antics, next week just can't come soon enough.

Before that The Secretary Who Stole £4 Million retells the story of City firm personal assistant Joyti De-Laurey who made news last year as a Goldman-Sachs PA who swindled some 4.5 million pounds from her employers - who did not notice because when "you are making an obscene amount of money the fact that a few million here or there might go missing is just not something you would notice." Joyti was excellently portrayed by Meera Syal. The BBC Two drama intercuts with interviews with Joyti's friends, family and colleagues with news footages and was very effective.

Tuesday's Channel 4 original drama Sugar Rush proved to be a winner. The new series follows a 15-year old girl moving to "gay capital" Brighton where she meets the cool Sugar Rush. Lessons in sex and confusion over her sexuality soon takes hold of her as she struggles to lose her virginity while having a crush on her female mentor. Both episodes were great (the following episode aired on E4). Excellent adaptation.

And finally, just got back from the theater. Caught Mr. & Mrs. Smith. A very fun film. The action sequences were terrific, pretty much expected from the director of The Bourne Identity. Enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. The climax was a little too straining and it did drag a little bit towards the end but so far nothing faulty as far as action flicks go. And I love the idea of intercutting the sequences with marriage counseling scenes. Angelina Jolie was as hot as ever and Brad Pitt's usual comedic dialogues are present.

7/10

Karl Marx at Highgate Cemetery

Highgate Cemetery

This is the Eastern side of Highgate Cemetery, opened in 1854. The cemetery is a Grade-II listed park. More pictures here. Map here.

Tube: Archway
Entrance: £2 + £1 with camera permit

Waterlow Park

Waterlow Park is a 26 acre park next to Highgate Cemetery. While it is small, it is a very beautiful garden park with a pond.

Tube: Archway
Entrance: Free