Always happy to start the year off by covering the New Year's Day swim at the Kenwood Ladies Pond on Hampstead Heath.
It just seems like the right way to start the year somehow, me fully clothed, whilst watching everyone else brave the near freezing waters, all the time using the excuse that I'm not properly attired and anyway I am busy with a camera as a perfectly good reason not to take the plunge myself. There are squeals of joy mixed with fear, mixed with anticipation on the deck as one by one swimmers take the chilly plunge which is always followed by hot drinks, snacks and entertainment; this year three of the regular swimmers (who should have named their band after the water temperature, as I have just done in the title above, but obviously nobody asked my opinion) who gave a rendition of "The 2016 song" which as you can imagine mentions Brexit, numerous celebrity deaths, a reference to the recent building works on the Heath and something quite unflattering about Mr Trump. Without wanting to rush the moment, I just can't help wondering how the 2017 song will go? Few ideas already...

So, let's get this straight...the man who was in charge and told us that we were not a nation of quitters has quit, and the man who told us that we should definitely quit has decided that he doesn't want to be in charge anymore either, and one of the other men who told us to quit has just er.. quit, and now the only person who doesn't want to quit has just been abandoned by the very people who were supposed to be on his side because they too have quit, and are now busy telling him that he should also quit, even though he  doesn't actually want to.

Production shots for "You Should Be So Lucky" at Above The Stag Theatre in Vauxhall directed by Andrew Beckett.
Pictured, Ellen Vernieks as Lenore.
Great Set, lovely cast and crew and the venue is a real life secret gem inside a railway arch in old Vauxhall Town.




Here's a review

Saturday September 6th saw the 3rd annual Pup Aid event on Primrose Hill.
Attractions included the golden retriever display team who sat still while their handlers walked around them in all sorts of directions, then they all marched up and down together for a while before performing the sit and stay thing again. Exciting.
The main event however was the dog show.
This is Ollie, he is dressed as Liberace complete with wig and sparkly cape and arrived at the arena in a handbag.
I did mention that this was Primrose Hill didn't I?

Last week, I went to Eastbourne, camera at the ready at all times in case something happened. Nothing did, so I went somewhere else, and then the moment my back was turned, the pier burns down in spectacular front page style. Typical.

Today, MP and Vicar, both with time on their hands.

Alice Herz Sommer has died. I found out when I was flicking through The Independent earlier this morning. Lovely Alice.
Sometimes I would visit her at her flat, and sometimes she would even let me take her photograph. I first met her when she was 99 years old, and she talked for a while about this and that, and then she told me about the spoon. She said that after the war, a man who had been friends with her husband in Dachau, tracked her down and brought with him the sad tale of her husband's death from typhus, and her husbands spoon, the only thing he possessed in the camp.
After she had told me all this, she got up from her chair and went to a drawer in the dresser and after a moments rummaging she returned clutching her treasure, Alice still had the spoon. We decided we would photograph it.
There are plenty of photos of Alice around in various publications today, some of them mine, but none with the spoon.

Alice Herz Sommer 1903-2014

I've spent a couple of evenings at West End Lane Books recently. First to cover Ian Rankin who was signing copies of his new book "Saints of the Shadow Bible" and the second for the launch of "Decca Records and Klooks Kleek" by local authors Marianne Colloms and Dick Weindling, which charts the history of rock music in humble West Hampstead. NW6 was rocking back in the day, Hendrix, the Zep, and John Mayall were just a few of the bands who played Klooks Kleek at The Railway Hotel, and it's great to see the book finally in print. Some months ago I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon with the authors, the original Klooks promoters and musician Zoot Money, looking at some of the old photos, exploring the now unused club space, and hearing their tales of the glory days, and for me at least, it was one of the most memorable afternoons of the year. If the book comes anywhere near capturing those truly technicolor stories of gig nights, and the palpable fondness for that period that all of those present clearly shared, it's going to be a pleasure to read.

Having a flick through the papers and looking at some of the mostly good reviews for Religion & Anarchy at the Jermyn Street Theatre, and of course it's always fun to see some familiar photos along the way.
The production shots I took a couple of weeks ago are in The Telegraph and Time Out.


Gillian Wright and Clive Mendus in "How to Train an Anti-Semite"