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Yesterday I went to see the Rodchenko exhibition, called Revolution in Photography, at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank.

In truth I didn’t know much about the exhibition or Rodchenko before I went in, I’d just seen the posters on the tube. I soon found out that he was a Russian avant-garde graphic designer and photographer who worked around the 1930s. He produced a lot of work for books and magazines, many of which were collages made from newspaper cuttings.

It turned out to be very good. Many of the photos were taken from interesting viewpoints and had striking angles. They also provided a very interesting insight to post revolution Russia. I think I would have got a lot more out of it if I knew more about photography but I could still appreciate many of the photos and how revolutionary they must have been at the time.

All in all, worth a look if you are interested in Russian history or photography but if not, probably not worth the £7 entrance.

Hayward Gallery website: www.haywardgallery.org.uk
Rodchekno Wikipedia page: wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodchenko

And last night I went to see Elbow!

Bjork the night before is a very hard act to follow but Elbow did a great job.

Sadly I don’t have their most recent album so I didn’t know many of the songs but I did recognise their new single and the classics New Born and Grace Under Pressure. And not knowing the songs didn’t matter too much either as the lots of the tunes were really brilliant. The front man is a fantastic entertainer, interacting fantastically with the crowd and making it much more enjoyable.

The Brixton Academy is quite similar to the Hammersmith Apollo in terms of size and layout but is a bit more run down. We had seated tickets and I did find it odd sitting down for a gig (not too mention being quite far away) but it did mean you could relax into the music a bit more which worked for Elbow.

Sadly we arrived a bit late and missed the support act which turned out to be Two Gallants. Damn!

All in all though a really good evening!

Brixton Academy website - www.brixton-academy.co.uk

On Monday I went to see Bjork!

This was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to!

She came on wearing a fantastic costume with a huge hat made from balls of wool, followed by a brass band each with a flag on each of their heads.

She was hugely entertaining, had an amazing singing voice, was fantastically quirky and played some of her best songs. Quite a few tunes came from Volta, her latest album, and included a duet with Antony from Antony and the Johnsons (who is awesome). She also played classics like Joga, Anchor Song, Hunter and Hyperballad, some of my favourite ever songs!

It all ended quite ravey with the brass band head banging along with her and a huge glitter explosion.

Great stuff! :-D

I was lucky enough to have an invite to this on Wednesday evening. It was an event put on by the Royal Mint to unveil and celebrate the new design for the reverse of all the UK coins. It has been 40 years since the coins had last had a makeover so it was quite a big deal.

It had been quite a big news story throughout the day with articles being published on all the major news websites such as The Independent and BBC News.

The event was held at the Tower of London. A great venue as it is steeped in history, and the original home to the Royal Mint. When we arrived we were given a guided tour by one of the yeoman, who especially loved telling of all the executions that had taken place, and all the headless bodies that are buried around.

The event was drinks and nibbles and was attended by quite a range of people. Lots of senior Mint officials, a few prestigious artists, coin collectors and heads of museums etc. John Snow from Channel 4 news was even there!

There were some speeches from various Mint people and the young artist, Matthew Dent and the designs were unveiled through a DVD presentation. They show the Queen’s coat of arms divided amongst all the coins 1p to 50p and then coming together on the £1 coin. They look great and got a good reception.

Afterwards we were allowed to watch the Ceremony of the Keys, which is the process of locking the gates and takes place every night at 10pm, and has done (i think) since the 14th century. Really interesting!

The best thing about the night was that I got to keep a presentation set of the new coins! They look fantastic! I just hope I dont spend them.

Royal Mint website info: www.royalmint.com/newdesigns/designsRevealed.aspx

I was very keen to visit the Emirates Stadium (home to Arsenal) and last night’s friendly match provided a great opportunity.

Brazil had quite a few stars on show including Anderson (the new Manchester United player), Robinho, Alex (Chelsea defender) and Pato who is an 18 year old striker and a great prospect for the future. Freddy Ljunberg also made his return.

From the outside, the stadium looks bizarre - huge great building rising out of the city. A friend described it as a spaceship which suits it well. Inside it fits about 60,000 people but still seems fairly intimate and enclosed.

The game was exciting, although could have done with more goals. The only one coming from Brazil late on but it was a great strike from Pato (click here to see). The atmosphere was fantastic, especially the noise coming from the Brazilian supporters. It was all trumpets, drums and mexican waves :-D

Emirates Stadium Wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Stadium

The Affordable Art Fair takes place twice a year in Battersea Park. Yesterday I went to have a look around the ’spring collection’ and it was great!

The fair takes place in a huge tent type construction and there are 120 galleries exhibiting from around Britain and Europe. The best thing about the fair is the variety. You can go from one gallery with pop art to the next with traditional landscapes; from mock london bus stop signs to African sunsets.

There are free shuttle buses running from Sloane Square but it’s a nice walk as you cross Chelsea Bridge and pass Battersea Power Station.

I’m definitely going back in the Autumn. The only problem is I should really be writing the name with inverted commas because ‘affordable’ is really down to the eye (or wallet) of the beholder.

AAF website - www.affordableartfair.com

Hello!

Last night I had a friend’s birthday celebration and the plan was to go to Leicester Square and one of the comedy nights that are always being flyered. After a really nice Chinese meal from China Town we ended up getting £5 tickets to the comedy night at the Thistle Hotel and to be honest it was ok but not great.

The room was downstairs in the basement and the seating wasn’t tiered so had the feeling of The Office style motivational speaking event. We didn’t arrive till it was about to start so we had to split up and the seats we found were right near the back.

The main act was Inkey Jones. He reminded me a lot of Radio One’s Scott Mills - cocky and a bit of a pratt. Being Leicester Sq the crowd was very international so he just played the international card for the whole set. He went round the room asking everyone their nationality and bringing out clichéd stereotypes. Some were quite funny but lots weren’t and it is such an easy thing to do.

I can’t even remember the support act’s name but he was no better. A few of his jokes were met with complete silence which was pretty uncomfortable.

So my advice is - stay away!

Inkey Jones website: www.inkeyjones.com