Nelson's Column
Link To Us Bookmark
March
So, Another Magazine 23rd March 2007
Just what affluent Londoners need, isn't it?
When I heard about ‘So London’ - a new weekly magazine dedicated to my favourite city and aimed at the "affluent" Londoner - I thought "Perfect. Those clever marketing men at Associated Newspapers have identified me and tailored a mag just for me!" At least, I’m sure that’s what they wanted me to think which immediately made me suspicious – no one likes to be spoon fed, even if it is from a silver spoon.

Looking at the weekly titles this fledgling mag will be up against, we’ve got the brain-numbing celebrity-soaked glossies(‘New’, ‘Now’, ‘Closer’, ‘Grazia’ et al), the more serious types like ‘The Economist’ and ‘Time’, along with Londoners’ listings mag ‘Time Out’. But ‘So London’ believe they’ve spotted a gap in the market (the marketing men have clearly been hard at work here identifying their USP). Instead of appealing to the lowest common reader ‘So London’ sticks its nose up at such low-brow headlines as ‘Which supermodel has cellulite?’. Instead the magazine employs writers who are as affluent as they intend their readers to be including Charlotte de Rothschild and Charles’ stepson-to-be and ‘Tatler’ food critic, Tom Parker Bowles.

To kick off, Bryan Appleyard - columnist for ‘The Sunday Times’ - previews the V&A’s 'Surreal Things' show. Of course we all know about Dada and Dali (good to know three years studying History of Art wasn’t a complete waste) but it’s always useful to get another point of view on the subject which I can pass off as my own at dinner parties.

I like to think I can at least appear intelligent, but the truth is I do find a thirst for knowledge when it comes to what Kate’s wearing this week. And I’m not alone; some of my most well-educated friends admit they’re guilty of ‘Grazia’ addiction. So what will ‘So London’ do to make us want to pick up a copy and educate ourselves?

First thing that strikes you is the cover, which has the feel of ‘The New Yorker’ and reminded me of a Spitting Image caricature. The popular 80s satire TV show was known for its acerbic political commentary, so borrowing their stylistic mores is a promising start. A flick through the 98 gloriously glossy pages reveals some interesting articles covering the all-important topics of culture, property and galleries. An entry by Lionel Shriver, author of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ (if you haven’t read it, do), critiques the chick-lit fluff in a serious and compelling tone.

Features on the future of organic farming are peppered by glossy ads for Porsche, Blackberry phones and those dreadful Foxtons people – surely the most irritating estate agents in the capital. There’s enough here to keep the city banker occupied, with the focus on billion pound property and an entire section dedicated to ‘Luxury’ on their website.

It’s the sort of mag that you might tuck under your arm on your way to a meeting with your bank manager or city banker boyfriend. And all this for the bargain price of £2.95 – cheaper than a V&T in The Cow and so much more entertaining. So let’s give thanks to the people who bring us our daily ‘Evening Standard’ and ‘Daily Mail’ for fulfilling our weekly reading needs with the upmarket ‘So London’. I feel so much more affluent after just one flick through, think how much more upwardly mobile I’ll feel when I get a subscription.
Smile You’re on Rancid Camera
Ealing Council are to secrete hidden spy cameras in baked bean tins and then hide them in wheelie bins in a bid to catch householders putting rubbish out at the wrong times. The CCTV bugs will capture images of wheelie-bin mis-users, graffiti artists and vandals and email them directly to the council’s surveillance HQ.
Who Says Westminster Workmen are Bone Idle?
Workmen digging up a Westminster street have discovered human remains. The bones, unearthed on Great Peter Street close to the Speaker public house, are said to be “very old” and have been sent off for forensic tests.
Fish Get Frisky
London’s Thames will be teeming with native salmon in only few years thanks to 5,000 fingerlings that have just been reintroduced into the river. The Thames breed died out almost 200 years ago but over recent decades the river has started to clean up its act and has now been declared capable of supporting its own breeding population.
2009
2008
23rd December
January is on the Horizon
20th December
Merry Christmas
26th November
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
16th September
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
16th June
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
28th March
How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea?
20th March
Flight Fantastic
20th February
Dark, Satanic Turnmills
6th February
A Diamond in the Drink
21st January
People Wanted for Plinth
14th January
Boo! Hiss!
2007
28th December
Tate That - A Hirst for Art
20th December
Christmas Shopping
27th November
Mind the Gap
26th November
London On A Tray
26th October
Leaving the Station
14th October
The Sky's the Limit
26th September
The Play Within A Play
19th September
Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks
12th September
Saying Tanks for the Mammaries
24th August
Heathrow under Siege
17th August
Gormless
10th August
Losing Face
24th July
Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer?
13th July
Red Ken versus Blonde Boris
22nd June
Last Orders at the Fag Machine
11th June
London the Musical
21st May
What Lurks Beneath
10th May
The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
27th April
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
18th January
Carriage on up the West End
2006
29th December
Food for Thought
22nd December
A Poisonous Marketing Campaign
15th December
In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds
17th November
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
13th October
Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street
16th September
Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back
9th September
Of Poles and Twiglets
25th August
Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable
11th August
London Friendly
4th August
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
16th December
A Remarkable Year
25th November
And a Partridge in a JCB
11th November
Driving Miss Sadie
4th November
Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin
28th October
Trick or Treat?
21st October
We Don't Mind a Little Delay...
14th October
Final Resting Place for Young British Artists
16th September
Just a small urn for me, please barman
9th September
DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!
2nd September
The Free Tenor
30th August
Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium
20th August
Getting Behind the Iron Farce
10th August
Mystery Play is No Sell Out
29th July
Moving On From 7/7
22nd July
Get loaded in the park
15th July
Victoire!!
24th June
New Balls, Please
17th June
The End of an Unsightly Era
10th June
The Hooded Law
31st May
Widespread Diso-’Beeb’-ience
20th May
Pass the Pepper Spray
20th May
Black Theatre Breakthrough
27th April
Five More Years
20th April
Dancing with Idiots
12th April
A Youthful Look at the Theatre
30th March
Musical Communion
23rd March
Big Guns Back in Town
10th March
Celebs in the City
28th February
There's no business like showbusiness!
22nd February
Ken You Believe It?
10th February
Make Poverty History
28th January
Loving It!
21st January
The Great West End Ticketing Scandal
14th January
The Triumph of the Ordinary
2004
30th December
Party Pooper
23rd December
The Second Battle of Trafalgar
16th December
Sadie's Year
28th November
Ripper-Watch
21st November
Kinky Boots
14th November
Smoked out
22nd October
Yuppie Meal
15th October
Fines of Fury
8th October
No Twist in the Turner
17th September
Battleships, bloodsports and Batman
10th September
Clique Week
3rd September
Return of the Bard
20th August
Politics Takes Centre Stage
13th August
Crisis in Theatreland
6th August
Journey's End
23rd July
Healing Waters
16th July
Mandela Statue in Doubt
9th July
From Art to Ashes
2nd July
One Hurdle Nearer to Gold
 
Link to So, Another Magazine
To link to this page from your website use this code.
 
 
The link will appear on your page as:
 
Home | Contact us | Terms & Conditions | Link to us | Marketing | Partners | Subscriptions
Sponsor
Our favourite London hotels
May Fair Hotel
Luxury Hotels
 
In Trafalgar Square
20% off
 
At Liverpool Street
50% off
 
At Green Park
35% off
 
Near Covent Garden
30% off
 
Cavendish Hotel
Mid-range Hotels
 
Near Parliament
35% off
 
Near National Gallery
47% off
 
Near Tower Bridge
35% off
 
In Little Venice
40% off
 
Discounted theatre tickets
Chicago
57% off
 
29% off
 
42% off
 
56% off
 
47% off
 
38% off
 
Diner & Theatre Deals
Oliver
from £24.50
 
from £29.00
 
from £32.50
 
from £42.50
 
from £45.00
 
from £27.50
 
London Sightseeing
London Eye
10% off
 
10% off
 
10% off
 
from £8.50
 
from £25.00
 
10% off
 
LondonTown.com has special discounts every week. The amount of discount will vary depending on the dates you are coming and how far in advance you book. All discounts are subject to availability.
Recently viewed Favourites
Recently viewed