I'm getting a bit of a slow start this morning because I slept a little later than usual. Last night Dave and I went to see our friends Gordon and Donna in Leyton, East London, and we were there until about 11 p.m. That is a positively insane hour for me these days, so now I need some recovery time!
Yesterday was pretty slow, consumed with reading and household errands. I did all the usual stuff -- laundry, gardening -- and read about 30 more pages of John Rechy's "City of Night," which I hadn't picked up all week. I like this book -- I keep thinking it must have created a heck of a scandal when it was published in the early '60s -- but I can see it's going to take me some time.
We didn't head out to Leyton until about 5 p.m., and neither of the most direct tube lines -- the Jubilee and the Central -- were running. I don't know if that was a prelude to the tube strike, which is supposed to start today, or an unrelated problem. We caught the overground instead, which got us to Stratford without too much trouble, and then we started to hoof it to Gordon's. We passed an idling taxi and grabbed that to save ourselves the walk, because Dave was carrying a banoffee pie and schlepping that around East London wasn't the easiest thing. The taxi let us out on Leyton High Road so I could photograph the buildings above, which I've been meaning to do for a while. Isn't that a crazy paint job?
Anyway, Gordon made dinner and we had a great time catching up. I asked if they'd recently seen the neighbor boy with the goldfish, and they weren't sure who I meant, so I read them the last few paragraphs of my post from January 2012. We had a good laugh. That kid is in his mid-20's now. How time flies. But I have never forgotten Alan John the goldfish!
A very 1980s' paint job! It reminds me of the interior of an "Esprit" flagship store in Cologne that I went to with my sister in 1987 on a weekend trip to Cologne for her 20th birthday (I was 19 then).
ReplyDeleteOh, how I love the story about Ben and Alan! Are Gordon and Donna still in touch with Ben (and Alan)? That paint job is wonderful. Broadway Boogie Woogie on steroids.
ReplyDeleteGreat light conditions for the top picture and I can see why you stopped the taxi at that point. Alan is a better name for a fish than Wanda. Steve would be a good name for a squirrel or maybe a ferret.
ReplyDeleteI like the building painting, and the photo looks like a painting.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely cheers the whole street up.
ReplyDeleteI congratulate Dave on successfully transporting a banoffee pie across London with no squashed bits!
ReplyDeleteI love the paint job because it's so unexpected and looks very fresh.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to date myself with this comment, but the painting on those buildings reminds me of 1960's fashion--the Mondrian and Courrege's colorblock look. I had several dresses like that made by my expert seamstress mother using Vogue Patterns. In the "old days" (1960s) we girls were required to wear dresses (or skirts/blouses) to high school as females were not allowed to wear trousers. Hemlines were meant to reach the knees...though most of us tried to push that margin just a bit.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of a banoffee pie but I'm assuming a mix of banana and coffee. I'm not a big fan of coffee flavored anything but I would have no qualms about trying it. I can't think of a pie I've tried that I didn't like.
ReplyDeleteThat building is an absolute work of art, but the practical side of me thinks once it gets tatty, it might end up being simply painted in one block colour. If not it would be a huge job to redo it all. My sons goldfish were always called 'Fish' and 'Finger', he went through three pairings over a five year period, he wasn't very good at keeping them alive, even with help from me.
ReplyDeleteThe painted buildings are fabulous. Do you have any idea when it was done?
ReplyDeleteThat's a fun painting job! And it sounds like a grand evening, good time with friends, laughter and remembering!
ReplyDeleteI love the Alan John Goldfish story so much. Kids are just the best at that literal age.
ReplyDeleteI have learned from your blog that although I have always thought of the British as being rather staid and traditional when it comes to architecture, it is definitely NOT. At least not always.
That's dedicated painting and makes something special of buildings that would otherwise be rather ordinary.
ReplyDeleteI love that paint job. I wonder if the same person owns all those buildings or it the artist/s managed to get them all to agree.
ReplyDeleteThe paint on the building certainly livens up the neighborhood. It looks like a block of many buildings. Hiring a painter to refresh the paint requires skills of an artist. The owner(s) must have a bent toward art.
ReplyDeleteThese buildings could be in Spain or the Canaries, love them.
ReplyDeleteThat building is amazing. What a unique paint job. It looks like it was carefully planned.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to be able to refer to a post from 2012. I've just checked and my first post was December 2007 - wow! Unbelievable how time flies.
ReplyDeleteBanoffee pie! I would love to try that. Those buildings are very artsy. Although I wouldn't like to live there, they're fun to look at.
ReplyDeleteI love the paint job on that building. Really terrific.
ReplyDeleteHow could Dave get the Banoffee pie there in one piece? Didn't the whipped cream get warm?
I love the Mondrian look of those buildings!
ReplyDeleteAny name you give a goldfish other than Goldie, tends to sound funny. I'd name one Brenda if I had one.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the favela painting project. Wonderful. Do you have any history on it?
ReplyDeleteFish receive dramatic names. When I can't tell them apart they're also Fred.
Good friends, good times.
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