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“An evening of sophistication, glamour and high spirits” was how the promotional material described Intelligent Life’s readers evening that took place last night. With cognac tasting from Martell thrown in, it seemed only reasonable to join in the magazine’s second anniversary celebrations.

Sophistication: that was the location – the luxurious Grosvenor House on Park Lane. Now a Marriott hotel and recently refurbished, the Grosvenor Estate’s origins date back to 1667. Highlights of the 300+ year history were on display to peruse. And, very pleasingly, the book Grosvenor House – The Inheritance + The People formed part of the farewell goody-bag.

Glamour: could that have been the celebrities attending the M&M Awards in The Great Room (someone saw Theo Paphitis in Reception)? No, the glamour came from the sazerac cocktails expertly made by Nick Wykes of IP Bartenders, an entrepreneurial ‘cocktail consultancy’ whose services include innovative bartender training and cocktail events. A big hand to the people who came up with that idea and for executing it so successfully!

High spirits: they were borne of the endless flow of champagne cocktails, individually prepared cocktails and cognac ‘crus’ tasting session led by Martell, and led to some unintelligible life…

They were playing Whitney Houston when we first went in the Peacock Bar last night and that’s not good. That’s really not good at all. I’m a placid person but there’s something about the high-pitched warbling, wailing screeches of Whitney Houston and – even worse – Maria Carey that makes me want to start throwing furniture. It sends me over the edge – I have NO tolerance.

Trying to get to the bar for a compensatory drink didn’t help much. From the info and pictures on their website, I expected the Peacock to be quite big. However, it’s a fairly small pub that – at 8:30pm – was already jam-packed full of hen and birthday parties.

On the plus side, entry’s free, it’s open til 2am, it’s a friendly crowd and fun atmosphere, the busy bar staff are great once you get served, and the entertainment is excellent. The burlesque act on at 10pm was very entertaining: Kiki Kaboom mimed along to numbers like I just want to make love to you and performed a ‘Chav act’ with cheeky charisma and humour.

Later on, we sang along with the rat-pack singer and danced with our feather boers (it was straight onto the stage for Showbiz Soopoo of course!)

Overall, I had a top night out in great company. I’ll go back but I won’t rush.

More:
~ Sue’s visit to London in pictures
~ Kiki Kaboom’s Chav act

In July, Amazon deleted books bought by kindle users including, ironically, Orwell’s 1984. The books were sold illegally as the publisher didn’t have the rights to produce electronic copies. Amazon have since apologised and given refunds to readers who had books deleted – along with any notes and annotations – from their kindles without their consent.

The Free Software Foundation said that “The real issue here is Amazon’s use of DRM and proprietary software. They have unacceptable power over users, and actual respect necessitates more than an apology – it requires abandoning DRM and releasing the Kindle’s software as free software.” (read The Guardian technology blog).

Sign the Free Software Foundation’s ‘We believe in the freedom to read’ petition at:
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/amazon1984

On the other hand, how useful would it be – provided you gave consent – to be able to ‘upgrade’ your book to the latest edition, or access revised or corrected versions of content?

More:
~ Economist article, July 21, 2009: All the news that’s free to print
~ Economist article, Aug 27, 2009: Screen Test – a dust-up over digital dust jackets
~ Economist article, Sep 4, 2009: The internet at forty
~ Intelligent Life article, Autumn 2009: Facts, Errors and the Kindle

Thousands of vibrant costumes dance through the streets; an elaborate blend of green, red, blue and yellow masquerading to competing sounds of pan, calypso, soca, and sound systems. Scantily-clad dancers in plumed head-gear keep smiles in tact while being hugged and mobbed by crowds of revellers in endless photo-shoots. Along the 3.5 mile route, barbequed jerk chicken wafts through the party atmosphere as enterprising folk set up street stalls to sell rice and peas, cans of Red Stripe, whistles and horns.

Am I in the Caribbean? No, this is Notting Hill Carnival, Europe’s largest street festival held every summer in west London. At the 2009 carnival on 31st August over 400,000 visitors joined the main procession featuring dozens of decorated floats and thousands of performing artists.

History
A festival for everyone – of socially and ethnically diverse backgrounds – that pulls all Londoners and visitors together in one big street party, its origins stem from Trinidad. Following immigration to London and tough conditions in the 1950s, Afro-Caribbeans sought a means to celebrate musical traditions and cultures together, and – influenced by the Trinidad Carnival of 1833 celebrating the abolition of slavery – held the first carnival in west London in 1964. Its goal was two-fold: to uplift spirits and encourage all Londoners to free-expression in the street and embrace Caribbean culture. Still continuing the tradition of dressing up in costumes or mas (masquerade) it is estimated that over a million hours are put into creating the flamboyant outfits for the Notting Hill Carnival every year.

Togetherness
Streets are tightly packed but – in the spirit of togetherness – people help each other out to move along with the dancing, cacophonous, flow. A strong police presence blends into the background leaving party-goers to enjoy the festivities in the hot, summer sun.

My forehead burns in temperatures reaching almost 30°C – I’ve forgotten my sun-cream. Is this really London? Or the Caribbean?

Clear Cut Entertainment

More:
~ Notting Hill Carnival photos

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