Dog Eaters

The soho in london

Posted on 07.05.15 under Das Kapital, gay hussar, karl marx, london, Neville Brody, Ronnie Scott's

Junko and I had the honor to be treated to dinner, drinks and a tour of Soho, London by Neville Brody, the godfather of Mac-based graphic design.

jun,nev

We have known Neville since the late 80s and remained friends through all the ups and downs of the last 25 years. He is now quite up as he is the Dean of the School of Communications (one of 6 schools) at the Royal College of Art in London. RCA is post-graduate only.

The convocation was last Sunday and Ridley Scott, a graduate of RCA, was given an honorary doctorate. Neville gave him a tour of the college and when they came to one of his lecture rooms, Ridley said that that was the room where Vangelis scored BLADE RUNNER. The walls emanate with historically creative vibrations…

nev,mal

During Neville’s days at Face Magazine, Soho was sex shops, live music venues, gay clubs, sex shows, record shops, and gathering places for artists of all expression. Karl Marx lived there when he wrote Das Kapital.

karlmarx

However, like everywhere else, all the cool and culture spots are being exploited by developers and gentrified. The process is done like this: 1) a derelict area is targeted. 2) artists are given the freedom to make studios. 3) The area gets a buzz and becomes a trendy destination for first locals, and then tourists. 4) the developers raise the rents, push the artists out, tear down the old buildings and put up high rises. Rinse and repeat.

There are still elements of the old Soho, but it’s changing fast.

dog&duck

I just like the name of this place. Like the station name: Elephant and Castle. Those English really do use English in a crazy way.

house of ho

The word, “Ho,” is not a reference to what you think, being that it is in Soho. It is a Vietnamese restaurant.

abisinthe

Sounds artistic, but I think this is part of the gentrification process.

ronniescotts

The legendary Ronnie Scott’s.

warning

Yes, duly warned but gay marriage is legal in America, so not a problem, right? ; )

sportssheets

This is hetero, so it must be safe, right? ; )

naturalwellness

You know this is healthy.

adultonly

So we’re just tourists.

letsfillthistown

This is a losing effort.

recklessrecords

sisterray

This shop is closed. Across the street, the vinyl shop is still open, though.

soho street

Everyone drinks on the street outside the pubs in good weather.

3 greyhounds

Outside every pub!

gay

This place really is gay — transvestites, etc.

gay hussar

The Gay Hussar is not gay. It only changed ownership.