I wrote this last September stood in Trafalgar Square after 2 years in Italia. Endless, very contrasting memories walking through in different directions, different people.
The main thing is to create despite the doubts. Overcoming self-criticism is the main thing. Peace 🫶
The Roadman - by Corin Stone.
Original poem for my forth coming collection L'oscurita è Casa.
Voice over, filming and editing all using the Google Pixel 10 📚📝🎥✨
@Worldcuptour@martin_clark1 I think about how the world is shaped either way, by whats not necessarily seen or heard. Peoples outlook impacts us wherever we see it or pretend not to. 'You're free to practice your beliefs as long as you don't push them on me' is a lazy sound bite. 😄
@martin_clark1@Worldcuptour Even if that belief is your death? or morally and philosophically against your principles? Its better to be heard out in the public I guess 🤷🏼
@martin_clark1@Worldcuptour All religious practice is public. Every bit of nonsense directly impacts daily life and discourse. What you practise in private is unfortunately pushed into the world so, you should be very satisfied tbh
I miss Yorkshire. Ive even been thinking or wondering about moving up north. People are very different to london, and theres not much better than an 'aye up'. Or just some basic warmth ☕
Reminds me of the time Caitlin Moran blocked me for giving her credit for reaching the very peak and edges of woke nonsense. Which, btw is a very extensive playing field. Certainly a contender for being insufferable
@mbtrle Yup, shes fit. and funny. i saw that muppet on the marble arch escalator a month back. Had to stop myself calling him a mop head when we locked eyes 😅
Quietly drops the truth and a lot of people lose their minds. Seems like a lot of people would quiet like to nail him (or even chain) him to a ✟ cross. So much irony that Jewish people apparently don't get 😄😄😘
So many people are calling me and saying I should pipe down and let it blow over and while they mean well I'm afraid it's not an option.
Doubling down works for Donald Trump and we share a birthday with Che Guevara, Alan Carr and Paul O'Grady.
What a supergroup that would be. Move over Steps.
What is most shocking is the amount of gay folk attacking me but I am smart enough to realise that what you are cannot disguise who you are. No gay person speaks for an entire community and if you support terrorism you can in the words of Divine 'Take your toolkit and go fuck a garage'.
When I say 'they want to kill every last one of us' I am also talking about us queers not just the Jewish community. When will you wake up?
Regardless of which side you take, I am disgusted by anyone who posts hatred against anyone but refuses to show their face.
If you have something powerful to say then you should have the guts to show the world who you are but most, if not all of you, are unwilling to show your faces and the only reason is self interest.
@kalanighost Very easy to be disparaging to Americans. And I wont. I enjoy your videos. I find it funny in some ways as i travel & see similar things in other countries but to see people do it here is cool. btw with cockles its basically about the sharp vinegar + sea water, & childhood🤘😃
@nicolelampert@BoyGeorge Jesus was a middle aged white trans woman from Palestine by Brighton after all. They'll find the politically correct fit in that direction
typically Italian of the era and creates a nice perception and mood piece.
Whilst promising a traditional detective, 'who dun it' it veers off into reality vs illusion and right up its own backside where, it can still be found with some digging.
I actually like it 😏😄🎥✨8/10
Blow-Up is one of those film's where we're expected to automatically consider it a masterpiece. Theres many elements I love yet usually feel deflated with it, too. The mix of technically beautiful Italian photography with swinging 60s London is a joy. Isolation as a focus is...
Italy or the U.S.- decisions! #OTD in 2007 we lost Michelangelo Antonioni, who made fab films in Italy like The Night; his transition to English language works was mighty suave. Blow Up & Zabriskie Point had his usual cold, cynical, polished modernism. Maybe he was a Howard Hawks
The problem is people like this with zero thought patterns.
Balance is hard and rarely achieved.
All Saints rd, Notting Hill. Once the front line now yuppy heaven.
People not being shot is an upgrade for sure. But, no locals left, no identity, no point.
Where's the balance?
London is de-gentrifying — and that’s far more worrying than gentrification ever was.
The latest figures show the capital has recorded its first real population decline in 37 years, with 420,000 people leaving for other parts of Britain. This is a flashing sign that the nation’s capital is moving in the wrong direction.
In the early 2010s, Brixton was the poster child for urban revival. So much so that, in 2013, anti-gentrification protesters “Yuppies Out” marched on a Champagne and cheese shop. That shop closed last September.
The Dogstar, once a nightlife landmark, and targeted in several earlier riots, was forced to shut in 2024. Squatters moved in within days, while units in Brixton market sit vacant, inviting antisocial behaviour.
Gentrification is one of those archetypal bogeymen: wealthy phonies moving into a poor but cool neighbourhood, forcing out the “true” locals in favour of matcha lattes and yoga studios, destroying an area’s character in the process.
But, in fact, everything you’ve been told about gentrification is wrong: it’s immensely beneficial to all. We’re now seeing the reverse.
Across London we’re seeing disinvestment, declining amenity, fewer homes being built, higher-income residents leaving, and an increasingly hostile attitude towards regeneration. Neighbourhoods that were once symbols of revival are instead becoming symbols of stagnation.
This isn’t authenticity triumphing over capitalism. It isn’t communities being “saved”. It’s decline.
London’s prosperity has never come from freezing neighbourhoods. It came from attracting ambitious people, investment and development. Successful regeneration transformed once crime-ridden and neglected areas into places where people actually wanted to live, work and start businesses.
Contrary to the popular narrative, the evidence that gentrification forces mass displacement has always been remarkably weak. What it overwhelmingly does is improve neighbourhoods and expand opportunity.
Yet we’ve spent the past decade romanticising poverty while treating regeneration as something shameful. Planning applications are blocked. New housing is opposed. Investment is viewed with suspicion. The result is a city that people increasingly choose to leave.
London isn’t Britain’s problem. It’s Britain’s greatest asset. When London grows, the whole country benefits. When London declines, the consequences are felt far beyond the M25.
We’ve run this experiment before. Between 1939 and 1988, London’s population fell by a quarter under policies of managed decline. It took decades to reverse that mistake. The latest figures should be a warning that we may be repeating it.
We should stop fearing gentrification and start fearing de-gentrification. London’s future depends not on managing decline, but on welcoming regeneration once again.
I love London, it has so much. I wouldnt bring children up in the centre though for many reasons. Partly as there's just better options for bringing up kids, open spaces, less bustle, nature. Costs are a big factor too.
O' gawd. Comes to something if im gonna generally agree with Bastani . All the complaints about London, now im back the main reality is: No one can afford it. Locals have left or are leaving. New comers try then leave. Its become heavily transient which then loses identity
The middle class and middle aged can’t afford to raise kids in London.
They’ve been a cohort that’s net leaving the city for some time.
The left needs to come to grips with how badly Khan has failed these people.