recreation – The Cultural Exposé

Something you should do… Friday Night Skate

The Cultural Exposé — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 10:00:48 +0000

Walking through the bustle of central London on a Friday night, you’re likely to see all kinds of people on the streets, from tourists to diplomats. Pedestrians share the road with all the familiar wheeled commuters: black cabs ferrying passengers to West End shows, city buses packed on two levels with commuters anxious to get home, cyclists artfully weaving through traffic, and a pack of roller skaters tearing around them all to keep up with the lead marshal. What you’ve just seen gliding past is the latest outing of the London Friday Night Skate. Every week, if the weather is good, skaters on both inline (rollerblades) and quad (traditional roller skates) dart around the streets of London for 2 hours, with a break in the middle of the route. The course changes every week, though it always begins at Hyde Park Corner. From there, skaters might travel over the bridge into Vauxhall or through Regents Park and Oxford Street. The skate is meant to be fun, but also challenging. The LFNS recommends that skaters should be able to stop, start, turn and control their speed on hills with experience street skating. For those looking for a slightly less intense, but no less enjoyable skating session, the folks behind LFNS also host the Sunday Stroll. Again, as long as Mother Nature cooperates, this skates takes off every Sunday from the east end of the Serpentine Road. The course here changes every week too, but the pace is much more relaxed and terrains easier for skaters to negotiate. All skates are free and staffed by volunteers. As long as you’re comfortable moving on the streets in skates, you’re welcome to join in on the fun. (Words: Barbara Cole) For more information visit: www.lfns.co.uk

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What we’ve been up to… Segway driving in Brighton

Matilda — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 10:00:38 +0000

In 1999, an inventor in the US had this crazy idea to change the future of transportation. As if walking, biking, blading, etc. wasn’t enough to go to and fro, Dean Kamen presented the Segway PT, pitched as the “world’s first self-balancing human transporter.” Named after the word “segue” (meaning to make a smooth transition), its aim was to make pedestrian travel that little bit,well, smoother and perhaps something quite appropriate for this increasingly high tech society of ours. 13 years on and Segs haven’t exactly taken the world of mobility by storm, but they’ve now found a more recreational calling- and you can see the two-wheeled scooters popping up all over the country for city tours, experience days, and even as an activity along Brighton Beach that I recently tried out.

In The Spin are based along the Lower Promenade on the seafront and offer a Segway agility course for those looking for a fun way to pass the time and discover how these curious devices work. For my one hour session, I was fitted with a helmet and wrist gloves and given a brief run through of the Segway’s mechanics. Standing upright, you move your body according to the direction you want it to go. Leaning forward is acceleration, leaning backwards is slowing down – and leaning to the left or right turns the vehicle. They only go up to 12 miles per hour too, so there would be no chance of burning rubber if I wanted to.

My first attempt at the course was slow and steady, as I tried to avoid knocking over cones while focusing on manoeurving the Segway smoothly around the wiggly course. But my second attempt was more eventful; I flew off my Seg and soon discovered how sensitive they are to obstructions. Minor grazes aside, I liked the idea of these nifty machines and while they’re probably better for casual strolls than zipping around laps, I suspect they’ll be making their way around the capital’s pavements alot sooner than you think.

Segway experiences are available in London at Alexandra Palace. For more info visit http://www.segwayevents.co.uk. For Brighton’s In A Spin courses, visit http://www.inaspin.com.

This experience comes courtesy of Acer UK. Check out the Acer Intel U-Experience team on our journey and discover more about the challenges at: https://www.facebook.com/AcerUK/app_329103610497351

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Something you should do…Badaude’s London Walks

Matilda — Tue, 31 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

As long as the weather’s behaving itself, a walk around London is a wonderful way to take in the city’s nooks and crannies. It ticks off the exercise quota, gives you a bit of fresh-ish air, and saves you money when you’re feeling particularly hard done by TFL’s premium tariffs (and all the other stuff that’s a nightmare in the morning – like that person under the train *who IS that?!*)

Anywho – in timely fashion, a new guide’s arrived to show us how to explore the capital, penned by artist and writer Badaude (aka Joanna Walsh). Not only has she outlined 21 walks, 3 bus routes – AND a boat trip! – but the good lady’s included charming hand-drawn illustrations to bring to life London’s many colourful characters and traits.

The release of the book is being marked by a series of events, starting with Badaude’s How To Be A Tourist lecture at The Idler Academy on June 1st (£20, including wine, games and nibbles), an alternative walking tour at Foyles Charing Cross Road (June 4th: Free) and finally Drawing London at Tate Modern on June 11th (Free). The final gig sees Badaude graffiti the walls of the galleries’ bookshop with her quirky drawings before signing copies of her book, which seems tipped to put walking back into fashion. (Words: Matilda Egere-Cooper)

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5 reasons why…I ♥ Namco

Matilda — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:30:57 +0000

I’m such a kid at heart – and I imagine when I hit 50, I’ll be joining my kids in whatever skank is all the rage in 2030-somethin. Therefore Namco – the arcade centre near the London Eye that’s sort of similar to the Trocadero’s Funland in Picadilly Circus but without the seediness – always take me to back to my 13-year-old self; especially when I go with my latest batch of trainee journalists who I let run riot before they come back begging me for more pound coins. So here’s why I love it:

1) NBA Hoops – as I’m an American, I’m under the constant delusion that I’m totally kick ass when it comes to basketball, because I had a Larry Bird signed ball when I was 8, and I used to play in amateur tournaments. Well, I really need to get over myself because I can tell you now that I’m no pro – But I feel no way feeding the basketball machine anything up to a fiver for whatever snatch of glory I can claim for the night; victory in defeat and all that (side glance).

2) The bumper cars – I’ve got unnecessary bruises because of this – and last night, my hat flew off after one of my students smashed into me, exposing my extremely, nappy, atrocious head of curls and kinks. Whatever. But alas, if someone can tell me a better method of helping me de-stress than punching my car into someone else’s with reckless abandonment, than e-mail me. Bumper cars are doing it for me right about now (especially if you jump into one right after listening to Tempa T’s Battle Riddim. SMAAAAAAAAAASH!)

3) Tickets – Call it the early signs of a potential gambling addiction (God forbid!) but when I step into Namco, I’ll do almost ANYTHING to cop those tickets that you can earn from some of the games. Yes, I know the prizes hardly match the value of what it costs to win tickets, but it’ll all in the challenge my friends. It’s all in the challenge (mwah, ha haaaaaaaaa! Now spare me a 50p, I beg…)

4) Dancing Stage Supernova – This is otherwise known as the dancing game the Japanese are really good at. As for me, I’m about a 6/10 – but it’s all about adding those little gestures to the otherwise robotic dance steps that black women like me do oh so well. A bit of booty-bump, some “winding of the waist”; I’m taking the Soul Train, shoot!

5) The Annoying Thing Game – in some countries, this is called Whac-A-Mole, but for obvious reasons, Namco have teamed up with the Crazy Frog to produce a new version of a game because most people will find such animated foolishness infuriating and part with their coins accordingly. This game works for me in the same way as the bumper cars. Those little frogs that pop up tend to represent every person that’s vexed me in the past week – and the relief is absolutely euphoric.

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Something you should do…Speed dating

Matilda — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:54:08 +0000

I didn’t realise how taboo speed-dating was until I told people I was gonna do it. But for me, it was no biggie – I’d seen enough movies and TV shows to understand the protocol. You speak to random strangers for a few minutes or so in the hope that a first impression could be the difference between singledom and perhaps, one day, going half on a baby. Aint no thang, surely?

Well! I had a total of 13 dates (each 3 minutes each), and only one stood out as a potential friend – he was very charming, relaxed, cute, intelligent – and we ended up talking into the interval (so, about 10 mins). Safe dude. And here’s the most memorable worst of the bunch:

The spitter – A very peculiar dude who needed a towel to wipe up the excess saliva he was splashing all over my table. He was a bit of an eediot too – when he asked me what I did for a living and I told him, “journalist and photographer” and he said (and I quote): “That’s an interesting job…I hate you already.” Is that so? Next. (And you better hope I don’t spot you on Crimewatch jack!)

The Old City guy – So the maximum age for the fellas at this event had to be 35-years-old. I’m certain homie was 42. And he was nervous. Oh so, nervous. And there were a lot of awkward silence. Poor chap. Possibly a divorcee :-(

Mr Star Sign – His first question was, what’s your star sign, of which I reluctantly said ‘Leo’, and was given a big fat smile afterwards. Ooooookay. And ‘Isn’t it?’ was his favourite response. He did remind me of Apu from the Simpsons, I can’t even lie.

Mr Tipsy – I mean, really? You’re that shook? Dang.

Mr Arrogant – A dude who was extremely forceful, intense, fake – and who leaned into my personal space, ended up coming out for dinner with us (more or less invited himself), and called me an Alpha Female. All in the name of ‘I Like You’ (or so I was told by one of my friends). His presence more or less ruined my evening. You’re not meant to come out of the boundaries of the event – unless dude is like THAT DUDE (and even then, THAT DUDE needs to go through SpeedDaters computer system and match me before we can even contemplate friendship) So that was that.

But hey, I did it :-) Yey, me. I’d do it again too (maybe).

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