Living in China I’d believed that any stories about London’s rioting and any real concern I might have should be put down to the distance and lack of real insight that I can have when so far away. Friends in Palestine, or family in Pakistan must get tired of the frequent calls of concern from well-wishers outside of the country on hearing of news of another suicide bomb or military invasion.

It was this in mind that I’d not really engaged with the riots in London.

I’d always known that riots were a result of a number of things, and in this case it’s (at least) a lack of trust in the authorities (News of the World scandals etc), economic uncertainty (yet another collapse imminent and debts ahoy), unemployment rises, memories of recent student unrest, boredom and lack of prospects for young people (who are currently on school holidays) and of course the shooting of an ethnic minority by the police… but I also blame the fluctuation and ultimate rise in the temperature.

Not to dismiss any of the above, but more to come to terms with the irrational rationally.

Lance Workman, head of the Psychology Department at Bath Spa University College, has linked hot weather to levels of serotonin in the brain, which can cause aggression. “The majority of riots in the USA occur when temperature increases to between 27C and 32C,” he said.

“When the temperature goes over 32C, however, riots level off and begin to fall because people become so hot they can’t be bothered.”`

If you dont know what’s happened in London and the events of the riots, the BBC sums it up here

Interestingly, the Guardian notices the parallels with the 1981 riots of Brixton: Riots taking place against the backdrop of a royal wedding and an economic downturn; riots in some of the same locations, even in some cases the same streets; riots repeating many of the same patterns of events – including the looting of clothes and televisions – and all of it resulting in many of the same public and political responses.

I’ll finish by quoting the smart Matthew Toms from Roadworks Co who gives his frank first hand experience (and he should know a thing or two about the streets of London):

Its almost surreal what is going on. I am ashamed to be here, to look at what is happening. Kids, Ben’s age (8 years old), are marching around like Lord of the Flies, burning up the high streets that they grew up on while the police (under-trained, out-numbered and scared shitless of stoking the fires even more) stand by.  Summer holidays…

Stay safe, and let’s pray for rain.
Or at least the start of the football season – that’ll put an end to the boredom.

Nike GRID has won Grand Prize and Best Use of Innovation in Outdoor at the Clear Channel Outdoor Planning Awards.

Discussing the overall winner, Caroline Marshall, Chair of the judges and Executive Editor at Haymarket Brand Media, said “Nike GRID, a powerful collaboration between Mindshare, Kinetic, Wieden & Kennedy and AKQA, stood out as our overall winner for several reasons.  It was a fresh, impactful and premium idea, dripping with planning insight, built around laser-sharp targeting and making intelligent use of technology.”

Excellent news! Well done everybody who worked on this campaign. Damned fine work, and deserved winners, all.

He pulled together over 1.5 million individual bus rides from Transport for London to create the visualisation.

To view stats on a particular route, use the drop down at the top right. You will also need to click “Show Route”-then you can see the route on the map and the detailed fare and usage stats at the bottom.

Theo Parrish is coming back to Plastic People on April 2nd.

If you know, you know.

If you think you know, but dont really know - read this

If you think you know, and dont think you want to know - read this

If you really dont know, then know this

EF – Live The Language – Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

EF, the foreign language schools, have produced these charming films. After the Paris guide from a few days ago, it made sense to share them. Good for typology geeks too!

Check out Barcelona, London, Beijing and more here.

Interesting article from the owner of Polpo in Soho about the differences and opportunities that exist between New York and London restaurants. He cites all the right things – from the council’s prohbitive and draconian approaches to licensing, to the corporate owners, to the lack of kitchens in appartments… and to my most referred to difference: That eating out in New York (or drinking out for that matter) is an experience.

I dont think that the food is any better in New York than London. In fact I’d go as far as to say that every meal I’ve ever had out there suffered from seemingly either too much salt or too much sugar. Even the damned salads! However the atmosphere, the adventure, the very experience began to affect my opinion way before I’d even sat down to taste the food. New york restauranteurs understand that there’s more to affecting the “taste” of your food than simply the ingredients and preparation. They concentrate on the build up to the event as much as the event itself.

…the restaurant scene in New York has an excitement, energy and dynamism that give power to openings like an engine. And that energy sustains them too.

…New York is vibrant, London is flat. New York is fun, London is serious. In New York it is all about the experience, in London it is (too often) all about the chef… London’s restaurant scene is about ten years behind New York’s.

Let’s look at the reasons for this. Firstly, New York restaurateurs are more imaginative and, consequently, their restaurants more exciting. Jason and Jennifer Denton didn’t let a little thing like the absence of kitchen extract get in their way when opening ‘ino. New York chefs regularly cross boundaries of culture and cuisine with great results; Vietnamese and barbecue coming together in Fatty Cue in Williamsburg, for example.

Secondly, the physical make-up of New York, Manhattan in particular, means that there are many more neighbourhood restaurants operating for their loyal, local catchments. Small apartments with tiny or non-existent kitchens mean that dining out is more deeply ingrained in a New Yorker’s way-of-life. In London, we tend to go out to a restaurant for an ‘occasion’. In the Big Apple, they go out to eat.

Thirdly, New York is exciting for its restaurant design – edgy, urban, cool and thrilling. London, I am saddened to say, trails miserably with bland and limp design. Everything looks the same and no-one seems to be able to break away from the safe and ubiquitous David Collins-influenced standards. (Please, David. No more wallpaper. No more veneers…) Across the pond, you only have to look to Avroko (Stanton Social, Public) or Parts and Labor (Smith & Mills) to see these thrilling designers working in a variety of spaces using innovative techniques and materials. It really does make the scene here in London look weak and insipid.

There is also a problem in London with landlords and with the local authorities, mainly Westminster City Council. Landlords here are an unimaginative bunch who simply want to collect rent from reliable tenants. So you end up with Pizza Express, Nandos, Strada, Café Rouge and Prêt a Manger in places where, frankly, they shouldn’t be. Westminster Council has a rigid policy of granting absolutely no new restaurant planning consents and making existing businesses jump through all sorts of hoops to do the most basic licensable things, like serve a glass of wine. With these parochial, nanny-state constraints, London will struggle to ever be as vibrant and as exciting as New York.

So, what future for London? Well, there is some hope. Small operators such as Fernandez and Wells have shown London that imagination and originality pays off with their excellent charcuterie and wine shop on Lexington Street. The owners of Cay Tre are close to securing a West End site for their superb Shoreditch Vietnamese concept. Hawksmoor, also in the east, a restaurant with all the focus in the right places, is opening in Covent Garden soon. My own humble bacaro in Soho, Polpo, owes much to the places in downtown New York that partly inspired it, and soon Spuntino, also in Soho, will add a little scruffy honesty to the porn-shop alley it will occupy. We need restaurants, and operators, that are original, refreshing and fun if London is ever to get close to New York in terms of the success and vibrancy of its restaurant scene.

In London, as the large restaurant groups continue their corporate march we are in danger of ubiquity and blandness. Compare the titans of New York City: Danny Meyer, Keith McNally and Mario Batali with London’s top operators: Gordon Ramsay Holdings, D&D London and Caprice Holdings; Creative versus Corporate. And news that Caprice Holdings might (or might not) bring McNally’s Balthazar to London leaves me feeling slightly confused. There are lots of mixed messages in that proposition but none that are likely to get me frothy with excitement.

I tell you one thing for sure: I can’t wait to go back to New York.

Have a read of the full article here

Muji always bring the design heat at Christmas. My favourites this year include the Solar System, the London/Paris/New York playing cards that form a map, and of course their city blocks (Edo is a lovely recent edition to the “street”). An honourable mention must also go to the penguin skittles.

If anyone wants to buy me something for Christmas, check out Muji’s website

Over 15 days, 48 postcodes and 192 phoneboxes Nike GRID turned London’s streets into a game board for a second time.

As before, players were given a unique code to register runs between phoneboxes, collect points and ultimately try and win their postcode crown.

Flipping the perception that running is boring, staid, fixed and middle-aged GRID attracted a new, younger audience. This wasnt about running time, or distance, or speed… this reframed the end goal to “points”.

Recruitment was tight and targeted using Student Union media, TV, online media and Guestlist mag.

3,125 people signed up (c.75% were 17-22 years old). 345 teams were created. GRID had 4,560 fans on Facebook.

The real win however was unparalleled levels of engagement. GRID saw:

30,117 runs logged.

Over 12,500 miles run.

90% of players ran over 13 runs during the game.

Individual crowns changed hands over 8,000 times.

The average total distance run was 13.5 miles.

An obsessive community on Facebook (almost 2,000 comments were made).

The community drove the game. GRID fanatics made friends, allegiances and allies all via Facebook. The bonds formed were so strong Gridders even hosted their own post game celebration.

Check out the Nike Grid Facebook page. And check out the data visualization that was updated daily:

In the words of Rhys Rose, 22770 points, 19 badges and a part of Team Audiofuel, winners of 6 postcode crowns:

“And with that done we return the phoneboxes of London to their usual clientele, the tramps and the hookers, the junkies and those caught out for somewhere to go to the loo, people just standing in them to avoid the weather, and god forbid the odd person on a phone call, till next time Gridette!!!!”

Fela! reveals Kuti’s controversial life as an artist and political activist – the true story of the legendary Nigerian musician whose soulful, stirring Afrobeat rhythms ignited a generation.

Inspired by his mother, a civil rights champion, he defied a corrupt and oppresive military government and devoted his life and music to the struggle for freedom and human dignity.

He was also a polygamist, an insighter of violence, and socialist, as well as maker of a unique sound blending psychedelic, highlife, and James Brown funk that later came to be known as Afrobeat. Characterized by a fairly large band with many instruments, vocals, and a musical structure featuring jazzy, funky horn sections. The “endless groove” is used, in which a base rhythm of drums, shekere, muted West African style guitar, and bass guitar melodic riffs are repeated throughout the song

Fela! launches at the National Theatre next month. With his backing band played by Antibalas when performed off Broadway, and winning 11 Tony Nominations (joint highest ever nominations for a production), this is set up to be an amazing performance at the Olivier Theatre.

It was been produced, by the way, in association with Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, and Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, amongst many others.

Everybody say yeah yeah.