So, Another Magazine

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.

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