Fencing for the first time (and why I love/hate Groupon)

It all began with a Facebook message. My friend Sophie got an email from Groupon for a beginner 6 week course in fencing. Who wants to join her? I do, I do! I've never done fencing before, but I do love the Princess Bride and Highlander and was in Pirates of Penance three times.

First day arrives and I head to my first class with Fighting Fit Fencing. The studio is a basic concrete shell beside Caledonian Road - it's not glamorous and it's unfinished but full of heart.

Technology and Resistance: Talk on phone hacking & revolutions on Twitter

I got this wind of this brilliant event yesterday and though I'm not usually for regurgitating press releases, I'm busy watching the Select Committee so the full details are below.  Basically, I think you should all go and take part (especially as it's so pertinent to now).

TECHNOLOGY & RESISTANCE
Dingwalls
Middle Yard, Camden Lock, London, NW1 8AB
7:30pm - 9:30pm
FREE

Wikileaks,phone-hacking and revolutions playing out on Twitter. This revolution will not be televised. Come join Mark Simpkins (Creative Technologist at Spring Digital) + James Ball (formerly Wikileaks and now Guardian) and Sarah Morrison (Independent Newspaper – who reported in detail on the use of twitter in organising recent protest).

More details are here:
http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/event_view.php?uid=135506&days=300

MEANWHILE ON
Camden Lock Market Square
6-9pm

BYO-DIY TECH
Mean while on Camden Lock Market you can bring your own home-made tech devices to Camden Lock Market from 6-9pm on July 19th and demonstrate how to make them. Also present will be Netaudios’s sonic tabletennis. Prize for the best DIY tech. Drinks vouchers for Lock 17 for every DIY piece brought along.

Your help needed: What represents a relationship to you?

Excitingly, Michelle Tsen and I have been commissioned to make a short film for the Museum of Broken Relationships which is on from 16th August - 4th September, 2011. The film will be screened outdoors on 27th of August (and you can book tickets here).

But as I love working socially, I wanted your input into the final product. I don't want to give it all away, but we are looking for an answer to this question: "What represents a relationship to you?"

We need things from the beginning of a relationship, the middle parts and most importantly, the end of a relationship. For us, the more your answer is based on sound (and action), the easier it is for us to use. I.e. A drink together (a clink of glasses), the first cup of tea in a new flat (a kettle boiling), stomping and slamming, the last kiss.

And what will you get if we use your suggestion? A special contribution credit will appear on the film and we'll send you a copy of it.

So let the fun begin and drop us your suggestions here!

Moving up North

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Yes. That's right. You've heard it here first. I am making the move back from the South to the North. Of London that is.

Five and a half years ago I left the dirty streets of North London (Archway to be more specific) for the leafy greens of Clapham Common. I can't say it's all golden in the south. If you've ever been on Clapham High Street on a Saturday night somewhere near Infernos, you'd know what I mean.

Moving happens a lot. I know. I've lived in 22 places in the last 30 odd years in 6 different cities. But London is the city I've lived in the longest in any one time and I've lived in my current house longer than I lived in any other house. So you can imagine I'm excited but also a little sad.

In a way I don't want to move. But my landlord gets nothing done and raised the rent by over £300 4 months ago and my flatmate can't afford it.

So I'm going. And before I leave, I am making a list of the things I need to do down south that'll I'll miss when I go.

• Go to a show at the BAC


• Have a picnic and a kick about


• Go to a day of a festival on Clapham Common


• A night of music upstairs at the Ritzy


• A wander through Brixton markets


• A pint on the sunny banks of Richmond


• A day at Hampton Court Palace


• One or two or three more movies at Clapham Picturehouse


• Have a go at as many restaurants and pubs as possible

I know this isn't much but that's where I'll need your help. What things do I need to do in south London before I'll go up North? And yes, I know I'll still be in London but I also know how often my friends visit. So I don't think there will be a lot of trips this way.