I reluctantly booked a swim at Vauxhall for tomorrow morning. A price hike from £2.80 to £5.15 still sits very awkwardly with me. But there’s no such thing as a bad swim. Just an expensive one.
The exercise for Bank Holiday Monday was another Clapham Common run in the rain. I set off early. I didn’t see another runner until the 3km mark.
That’s six consecutive days of running for me. I think the calf injury has finally cleared up.
To the Serpentine Galleries!
I was booked in to see the Steve McQueen Grenfell film along with R. I did plan to walk over to Hyde Park. But the rain had other ideas.
Rather conveniently the No. 2 bus route stops right outside the flat, taking me all the way to Hyde Park Corner.
There was a very noisy and smelly woman on the top deck. I though I could live with this. Even with my AirPods in I couldn’t drown out her mundane phone conversation. I moved downstairs.
The rain had slowed down for the walk along the Serpentine and over to the Galleries. I listened to the latest Snowcast with Armando Iannucci as the guest. He was spot on with his observation about unelected advisors and accountability.
The Serpentine Lido looked uninviting. I hope to return soon once the water reaches 15 degrees. Work had started on the installation of the Summer Pavilion. It’s been a little lame post-Covid.
For once I was on time to meet R. He arrived from the West side of town as I rocked up from the South.
We had some time to spare ahead of the 12:30pm screening of Grenfell. We wandered over to Serpentine North, not quite knowing who was exhibiting. We were rewarded with a stunning exhibition by the sculpture Chase-Riboud.
And then the Grenfell film.
Oh boy.
This was never going to be a Bank Holiday SMASH. It was difficult viewing, but rewarding all the same.
The 24 minute short needs to be experienced on the big screen. Anything else apart from your full attention takes away the visual impact.
What takes places is drone footage from out around the suburbs, panning in across West London and then resting on Grenfell.
It’s very hypnotic for the first few minutes with green fields rather than housing. You find your bearings when the Wembley Arch appears. And then a minute later the burnt out Grenfell can be seen coming into focus.
The majority of the film then focuses on the drone slowing circling the burnt out shell before the hoardings went up. The soundtrack is complete silence.
The camera moves up and down levels of the tower, occasionally zooming in on specific flats. The detail is sharp. You get to see bags of burnt out rubble scattered inside the shell.
Most of the audience left in silence. R and I didn’t speak for a couple of minutes afterwards.
“Do you fancy a coffee?”
We headed back to the Lido and the Serpentine Cafe. I got to use my Serpentine membership and blag some discount. We moved indoors when another rain storm came over. Then we said our farewells and walked off in opposite directions.
Blue skies could be seen in the direction of South London. I decided to walk back down to Stockwell.
A new Garibaldi Reds podcast dropped as I reached Hyde Park Corner. It seems that a turning point has been reached. There was consensus that Forest are fucked and more than likely now to be relegated.
Oh dear.
It was summed up with:
“They can stay up, but I think they will go down.”
Ditto.
Another interesting point was that Forest aren’t even Championship ready. We were promoted by mistake last season, and then spent the summer playing catch up with those crazy signings.
Assuming that most of those crazy signings won’t stick around in the Championship, and you’re left with another summer of trying to sign a custom team on the hoof.
Hey hoe.
I kept on walking.
My route took me past Buckingham Palace. I almost missed this. There is such a disconnect for me. It’s just another posho house, right?
Preparations are underway for the silly Coronation. Seating is being put in place around The Mall. I’ll go for a bicycle ride on the day.
I passed a fancy looking restaurant along Broadway. I raised a smile when a smart waitress came outside and took delivery of a Dominoes pizza. I wasn’t sure if it was for the staff or customers.
There was a windy crossing at Vauxhall Bridge. My cap came close to being Thames bound.
And then it was all about Super Notts County Vs Wrexham.
Another oh dear.
I didn’t have that much emotional investment in the game. I did feel the Notts fans though having to make the long trip back to the Fair City after losing 3-2 under those circumstances.
My camera strap also arrived. It’s a leather BEAUT. It was also a right pain to install. It involved removing the the triangular split ring eyes on the PEN F.
Bank Holiday Monday evening was spent watching Bristol City Vs ‘Boro, and then some lengthy background reading ahead of a Buzz piece.
LIVE the dream, Jase.
