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December
Food for Thought 29th December 2006
West London eatery falsely labels food organic
Naughty, naughty. Understated celeb eatery, Julie's, in Holland Park has been caught with its ethical trousers round its ankles, passing off common-or-garden sausages, chicken and lamb as organic. After a £7,500 fine (not to mention the adverse publicity) it’s unlikely they’ll be making the same mistake again. I can almost hear the outraged clucking of the west London set, indignant that they might have been fed an additive-ridden banger.

Kensington and Chelsea Council said that the incident had led to a "betrayal of lifestyle" for consumers. Frankly the tale of someone losing their Oystercard inspires more sympathy. The thought of some waif (who really ought to be on a California-beach diet) and her banker boyfriend tucking blindly into a slab of battery meat - believing it has been reared with the same care as a cute kitten - makes me crack a smile, perhaps even giggle a bit. But then again aren’t the lifestyle choices of well-heeled restaurant patrons in West London as important as anybody else’s?

Yet for the more cynically-minded amongst us, it just gets the brain ticking – where else am I getting diddled? Heard the one about the kebab shop serving up late-night meat snacks made from Trafalgar Square’s pigeons? Seen the headlines?

‘Fake designer goods seized on Bond Street’.

‘Shoreditch bar swaps Smirnoff for paint stripper’.

And what about all the halal and kosher butchers – was that lamb really slaughtered by a bona fide rabbi? Has that cow been given a proper blessing? Sorting through the plump apples outside the organic grocers I get the same feeling I do when I stumble across Page Three of the Sun - these are all supposed to be natural but they’re so damn plump and perfectly formed. Suspicious, to say the least!

So far removed are we from our food these days that we have to take people’s promises at face value. I can’t take a chemistry set down to the grocers to check for traces of pesticides, let alone examine a coffee bean for evidence of an ethical supply chain. The only way to know exactly where your food is coming from is to grow it yourself. And a small-holding off the north end of Portobello Road isn’t that practical is it? Although I hear David Cameron is thinking of installing one on his roof.

At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that Julie’s were purposefully trying to fleece customers to cut costs. Chances are the usual organic supplier was out of stock that week and they just couldn’t be bothered to reprint the menus. But examples sometimes have to be made. Restaurants across the capital will now be more careful about how they’re labelling their food in future and maybe us diners will be asking more questions.
Exhibition 7/7
Controversial artists Gilbert and George have produced a series of six artworks based on the 7/7 London terrorist attacks. 'Bomb, Bombs, Bomber, Bombers, Bombing and Terror' will form part of a retrospective of the artists’ work at the Tate Modern, opening on 15th February.
Diana Tribute Concert
Wembley Stadium is to host a concert commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana. Princes William and Harry will attend the ‘Concert for Diana’, scheduled for the 1st July 2007. The line-up is set to include Sir Elton John, Bryan Ferry and Duran Duran.
Positive Thinking
London students will be the first in the country to be given the chance to study the art of happiness. The University of East London’s new Positive Psychology degree course, starting in February 2007, follows on from the results of a study showing that the happier you are the longer you live.
2009
2008
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Merry Christmas
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All The World's A Stage
20th November
Surviving the Crunch
24th October
Boris v Jingjing
17th October
Soaps in Pole Position
23rd September
Chips too Chavvy for Chelsea
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The London Restaurant Awards
26th August
No Smoking, No Ducks, No Barbecues
20th August
The Olympics
24th July
Sandwiched Out
17th July
The Show Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady's on Page 3
26th June
Love All at Wimbledon
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Miller Puts the Heat on Tennant
27th May
Booze Banned on Buses
20th May
Same Again?
23rd April
By George
11th April
Back to the 80s
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How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea?
20th March
Flight Fantastic
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Dark, Satanic Turnmills
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A Diamond in the Drink
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People Wanted for Plinth
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Boo! Hiss!
2007
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Tate That - A Hirst for Art
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Christmas Shopping
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Mind the Gap
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London On A Tray
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Leaving the Station
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The Play Within A Play
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Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks
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Saying Tanks for the Mammaries
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Heathrow under Siege
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Gormless
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Losing Face
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Red Ken versus Blonde Boris
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Last Orders at the Fag Machine
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London the Musical
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What Lurks Beneath
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London’s Walk on the Wild Side
20th April
Stand Behind the Yellow Line
13th April
Like Water for Chocolate
23rd March
So, Another Magazine
16th March
Avoiding iContact
23rd February
Sex and Art...
16th February
C-Charge Protest Fails to Bring Down Government
9th February
Live Earth London
26th January
A Vote for Shilpa is a Vote for Britain
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Carriage on up the West End
2006
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Food for Thought
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A Poisonous Marketing Campaign
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In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds
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Big Department Stores Leave Santa Out in the Cold
10th November
Failing to Save the World
27th October
Frozen Prawns and Melting Icecaps
20th October
Predatory Pelicans and Happy Woodland Folk
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Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street
16th September
Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back
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Of Poles and Twiglets
25th August
Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable
11th August
London Friendly
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Archway To Organic Heaven
21st July
London - Celebrity Frat House
7th July
Out of the Galleries into the Streets
23rd June
Mayors, Nightmares and Marias
16th June
Downright Rude in Paris and London
9th June
Enter the Inferno
26th May
Curvaceous Border
12th May
Vegging Out
21st April
The Camden Crawl
17th April
Down the Pan
13th April
I Want to Break Free
9th April
Big Brother seems to have been left in a bar somewhere
7th April
Don't Box Me In
24th March
Political Correctness Reaches New Heights
24th February
A Stadium's Tale: Cup Final Goes West
17th February
Modern Musicals are Rubbish
10th February
The City-Side Alliance
20th January
February Sales
20th January
Moby Sick
13th January
Glass Half Full
3rd January
Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers
2005
22nd December
January Bites
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A Remarkable Year
25th November
And a Partridge in a JCB
11th November
Driving Miss Sadie
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Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin
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Trick or Treat?
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We Don't Mind a Little Delay...
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Final Resting Place for Young British Artists
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Just a small urn for me, please barman
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DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!
2nd September
The Free Tenor
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Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium
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Getting Behind the Iron Farce
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Mystery Play is No Sell Out
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Moving On From 7/7
22nd July
Get loaded in the park
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Victoire!!
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The End of an Unsightly Era
10th June
The Hooded Law
31st May
Widespread Diso-’Beeb’-ience
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Pass the Pepper Spray
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Black Theatre Breakthrough
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Five More Years
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Dancing with Idiots
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A Youthful Look at the Theatre
30th March
Musical Communion
23rd March
Big Guns Back in Town
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Celebs in the City
28th February
There's no business like showbusiness!
22nd February
Ken You Believe It?
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Make Poverty History
28th January
Loving It!
21st January
The Great West End Ticketing Scandal
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The Triumph of the Ordinary
2004
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Party Pooper
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The Second Battle of Trafalgar
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Sadie's Year
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Ripper-Watch
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Politics Takes Centre Stage
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Journey's End
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Healing Waters
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From Art to Ashes
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One Hurdle Nearer to Gold
 
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