sade027

Yesterday I attended an advance screening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier , courtesy of Skype (thanks!). The screening was held at the Odeon Marble Arch and was shown in 3D, perhaps the only two negative things I can make about the evening (okay, three if you count the forgettable soundtrack). I visited that Odeon 14 years ago and it is still as bad as it was back then. As for 3D, well my hatred for the format is well documented. Moving on... After a day to think about it, I can safely say that  The Winter Soldier has elevated itself to perhaps my favourite movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a full rung above the Avengers . Which is pretty neat as the first Captain America movie was pretty meh. Coupled with the fact that the godawful Iron Man 3 and incredibly meh  Thor 2 has me worried on whether MCU is a sustainable franchise. Good thing they got it with Captain America 2 . While CGI heavy in places, The Winter Soldier feels like a much more realistic movi...

So Courtney Love read a plea asking for people to help find that missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane, and she does so, in her own best way. Cue slagging from people, as well as national newspapers, like the Guardian , who in a very Daily-Mail 'ish post, not only  mocked her for trying to help, but also her intelligence. Because she ain't no expert, innit (as if the writer was). She was just trying to help, which is more than I can say for the mass media (who aren't experts as well) who has done nothing but speculate, and more importantly, impend the investigation, whilst taking advantage of a tragic event to generate clicks and advertising revenue. If this isn't an example of gross sexism I do not know what is.

I have a confession. When I was first introduced to Brockley, the area we now live in, it was through the wonder of London's specialty coffee scene. Brockley is an odd place to visit for coffee, but it was how it was. In any case, our chance visit to this part of Lewisham opened our eyes to its lovely Victorian housing stock, many of which were largely ignored, but so many potential. The rest was history. Browns is located conventionality in a row of terrace opposite Brockley railway station, making it an ideal spot to hang out in the wee morning when a train breaks down somewhere down the line. The shop is small and unassuming from the outside, and neutral and unpretentious on the inside. Delicious cakes and bagels greet you as you enter the shop. Oh, and the sweet smell of good coffee. Being a rather tiny shop, you will not escape the sound of the grinder grinding the Square Mile beans and the La Marzocco espresso machine doing its best to pump out delicious black caffeine. And w...

Hibernacula is a pop up art gallery featuring photographs, prints, poetry and fine art by some of East London finest artists. You can find them at an old office beside Leytonstone London Underground station. One of the artist who is exhibiting there is Russell Frost of Hooksmith Press . Originally from New Zeland, Russell has a small selection of his Letterpress prints on display as well as a working vintage letter press and London Underground's famous Johnston typeface press blocks. Up till 26 February, you can have anything you like set in arguably one of the world's famous typeface. So, what are you waiting for? Go.

Lewisham Micro Library is a community book swap micro library located on the border of Lewisham and Brockley. It is located on the south side of Lewisham Way where it meets with Loampit Hill, on the corner of Tyrwhitt Road, just outside Brockley Market. The micro library is made up of a classic K2 red phone box. As with all free book swap libraries, you take a book to read and replace that with an old book you have already ready. Lewisham Micro Library Lewisham Way Brockley SE13 7SZ Railway: St John's, Lewisham

There is hardly a day that goes by without any form of news regarding the housing boom in London and Britain in general. Just over two months ago we completed and moved to a modest Victorian terrace in South East London, I feel that I had to write about our experience. If only I hope that our experience can help others to their advantage during this feeding frenzy, even if it is during this so-called off-peak winter period. We started exploring the idea of moving out from St Albans into London around last year but Visa issues meant we had to delay until this year. That was an expensive mistake, as buying last year would have saved a lot more than what we paid for in the end, but something we had no control of. The reasons to moving to London is plenty, and while I understand that not everyone loves the idea of living in a capital, we just love it here. When we started looking we narrowed down our range to East and South East London, particularly Rotherhithe and Hackney area, but it soo...

Having been using the Nexus 5 for over a month now, I can declare that this is simply one of the best Android smartphones you can get for your money. It isn't perfect. For example the lack of expansion slot is a bit of a downer. But the most galling example has to be the camera. Now, the quality of the camera's output isn't that bad if the conditions are right. But it's auto focus mechanism is iffy, especially on low light, and slow. Despite the inclusion of optical stablisation, you get all sorts of jerks. The white balance can also be a bit off, and the exposure compensation doesn't always work. I have had better pictures taken with the 8-megapixel powered no-OIS HTC 8X than with this device. Thankfully the latest system update Android 4.4.2, aimed at improving the Nexus 5's camera, was released yesterday. Being the brave person I was, I downloaded and installed the update during my train ride home last night. The update was installed without a hitch, and ten...