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Finding a Job in South London

With the economy going from bad to worse, and seeing a bunch of my friends in London being made redundant, i thought i'd put together some recommendations for finding a job in South London. Some of these suggestions may sound blindingly obvious, but i thought i'd list them nonetheless!

1) Visit the local Job Centre

2) Follow Job Bloggers like Adzuna (the list jobs in london as well as provide information for job seekers + some quirky articles!)

3) Check out classifieds sites like Gumtree, Craigslist, Loot and Friday Ad

4) Submit your CV to Job sites like Monster, Reed and CV library

5) Visit South London job advice centres (this hub in Lambeth is particularly good - http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/JobsCareers/)

Happy job hunting!

Cool Stuff in london

Check out this blog - http://coolstufflondon.weebly.com/

Pretty cool, huh?

Strangers in the night on the N155

Ah, the trusty old N155! My saviour in the dark night when I find myself north of the river past the midnight hours. It's a pleasure to ride and stops conveniently close to home, a mere five to ten minute stroll away through the relative safety of residential Clapham. True enough, it can take up to an hour from Trafalgar Square, but you could always make use of this time to have a friendly chat with the other passengers.

You think I'm taking the piss? No, seriously, I've had some great times on the night bus! One memorable time I was so drunk that I could hardly stand up, but once I was sat down in the bus seat I felt invigorated and I spent the next hour lecturing two of my fellow passengers, two young, unsuspecting Dutch country boys, about the virtues of cycling in London. I don't think I managed to convince them, but I had a great time anyway.

Another time I'd been to a Sunday night clubbing event. It ended quite early, but by the time I'd managed to get myself from Brick Lane down to Trafalgar Square and the N155, it was already past three o'clock. Even Trafalgar Square was quiet then, and I felt a strange sense of solidarity with the handful of people, no doubt also party-goers, who also found themselves on the N155 at this hour. Okay, I was a very drunk when I left the club, but the journey down to Trafalgar Square had sobered me up, and my lengthy heart to heart with this gay German fella was low-key and down to earth and sincere.

Strangers in the night - they could be friends you just don't know yet.

Breakdancing in Brixton

First of all, I have a little confession to make. For all my initial enthusiasm, my plans to learn lindy-hop have now been put on hold for the foreseeable future. It's not that I'm capricious - if it wasn't for the busy schedule of my ballet dancing friend who was supposed to be my partner, I'd be lindy-hopping away every spare minute. But alas, these days my friend only has one evening off a week, and this evening is sorely needed to rest and recover from his many injuries.

Well. What other dance, I thought to myself, could possibly compare to lindy-hop in coolness and impressiveness? Moreover, what dance had these qualities and was also a dance that required no dance partner? The answer is now obvious: Breakdancing!

As it turns out, I've had to trek to Pineapple Studios in Covent Garden to find someone who could teach me this oh-so-cool art. But that doesn't mean that the southside is a stranger to breakdancing. In fact, for years the Brixton Academy has been chosen for the noble purpose of hosting the annual International Bboy Championship. And every summer Clapham Common is the site for the Sprite Urban Games, which has its own b-boying stage both for performances and practice. For those of you who require a more frequent fix, check out Plan B, which hosts regular b-boy throwdowns. The next night will be sometime in February, can't wait!

The tragic demise of Cafe Cairo

Isn’t the end of the year supposed to be an appropriate time for obituaries? Perhaps not, but I’ll serve one up anyway.

Recently, on my way to a house party I walked past Cafe Cairo on Landor Road, a mere stone's throw from the Clapham North tube. To my great distress it was all boarded up, and on the door was a note explaining that in early November Cafe Cairo had been totally wrecked by a fire. Oh no! I had just been thinking that it was about time to pay it another visit, and indeed get it reviewed on Qype, but alas, Cafe Cairo is no more. As the owners explained on the note, Cafe Cairo is unlikely to rise out of the ashes anytime in the near future, because of their difficult financial situation.

The loss of Cafe Cairo is a sad one. Egyptian sheesha-bars don't grow on trees around here, and it was such a wonderfully refreshing alternative to the polished squeaky-clean facade that is Clapham (for the most part at least). The main room could only be reached through a narrow passage, and was small and tent-like, draped with oriental cloth all around (there was a fire, you say?). The seating consisted mainly of small wooden three-legged stools and soft cushions and of various shapes and sizes strewn all over the floor. Here people would sit and contentedly puff on their sheesha pipes. Downstairs was another somewhat larger and more conventional room, with a dance floor and/or stage, hosting various music events, djs or bands, such as free jazz sessions every Thursday.

A sad loss indeed. We can only hope the owners find the funds to reopen!

A Christmas story

Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? Or are you now poised for the big returning-unwanted-presents rush as soon as shops reopen? I heard this story about a Christmas present mishap that happened about a hundred years ago, and I just can't resist passing it on.

There was a young married couple, a man and a woman. They were poor, but very much in love. It was nearing Christmas, and the woman thought to herself that this year, she really wanted to buy her husband something special. He owned an antique golden watch, passed on from father to son for many generations. But the chain was missing. The woman decided to buy her husband a chain for his heirloom watch. She had very beautiful, thick hair down to her waist, and now she cut it and sold it so that she could buy a chain.

The husband also thought to himself that he really wanted to buy his wife something very special this Christmas. What did he do? He sold his beloved antique golden watch, so he could buy his wife a jeweled hair pin for her beautiful long hair...