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Last Stop Exhibition Trasport Museum
Weekend Guide

Thursday: head straight to the Stag and Dagger. Friday: struggle through work, then on to typography, fan-fluttering nudity and un-stoned ponies. Saturday: choral beatboxing and mythic post-mullets. Sunday: love, camper vans, reggae, and maybe build a conservatory extension for kicks. There. Weekend sorted.

This weekend's guide is brought to you in association with Last Stop, a photographic exhibition of the Routemaster Bus by Ralf Obergfell. Capturing images during the bus' last eighteen months of service, it pays tribute to its place as a London icon. With Boris' proposed ban of the bendy, we might be seeing more of these old fellas around town.

Last Stop Exhibition Trasport Museum
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FRI HOXTON PONY SAT MYTH SUN ROMEO AND JULIET
FRIDAY

OTHERRandom Presents… Typography Pub Quiz II
In what year was Helvetica made (double points for the film and the typeface)? What typeface is Paul Renner most remembered for? What does Grotesque mean? Who invented Arial? What was Zapf's first name? Which is acute, and which grave? What do you call that funny hat thing in pâté? Do you really care?

Time:
6:30pm
Place:
St. Bride Library, Bride La, EC4Y 8EE
Cost:
£3 + free drink
Info:
flickr.com

nightlifeBurlesque Soirée
Well shave my legs and call me grandma, those Hurly Burly girls have done it again! Miss Polly Rae provides an evening of burlesque wonderment set against the Art-Deco backdrop of the grand Gore Hotel. With a finale featuring a metre-high bottle of champers, the first 100 dressed in burlesque get a free glass of the stuff. Geez Louise I'm there.

Time:
8pm - 1 pm
Place:
Bar 190, The Gore Hotel, 190 Queensgate, SW7 5EX
Cost:
Free
Info:
myspace.com/hurlyburlyuk

djHoxton Pony Opening Weekend
There's always been something suspect about My Little Ponies - who gets an ice cream cone tattooed on their butt and calls themselves Blue Belle? Someone who's high, that's who. But after a little copywright-induced rehab, Shoreditch's new Stoned Pony is going cold turkey, launching this weekend instead as a local pony, for local people, with the likes of Trevor Jackson in the DJ saddle.

Time:
7pm-3am
Place:
The Hoxton Pony, 104-108 Curtain Rd, EC2A 3AH
Cost:
Free
Info:
thehoxtonpony.com
TONIGHT

Stag & Dagger
If you like being as overloaded as an A.D.D headbanger channeling the complete works of William Blake on Modafinil, then get yeself down to Stag and Dagger, a 15 venue orgy of complete aural mayhem, with a shocking lineup that includes sets from The Shoes, SebastiAn, Muscles (live) and the Moshi Moshi party.

Info:
Click here
Shop
Last Stop Exhibition Trasport Museum
SATURDAY

musicShlomo and the Vocal Orchestra
The most noise I can make with my mouth is generally considered too much for the UJ office, and it's just words. And a bit of whining. Thank God I can't beatbox like Shlomo, who returns with a special concert featuring his eight-piece ensemble, The Vocal Orchestra and a 40-strong chorus. Shlomo would so hire me.

Time:
8:30pm
Place:
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Belvedere Rd, SE1 8XX
Cost:
£15
Info:
southbankcentre.co.uk

DanceMyth
Alienation, faith and egos: not exactly the easiest stuff to deal with on a Saturday evening (without a litre of gin and an ex on the phone), but to see a whole new dance-form, mixing a bunch of contrasting genres and a performance inspired by Japanese Manga and ancient Italian music makes one hell of a stage I'd rather not miss.

Time:
7:30pm
Place:
Sadler's Wells Theatre, Rosebery Avenue, SW9 6LH
Cost:
£10-35
Info:
sadlerswells.com

djMulletover
Sun? Check. Sand? Check. The mighty roar of electro, techno and disco beats pumping across the Croatian Coast? Check. To launch their August escapade 'Weekend on the Adriatic', the crazy kids at Mulletover have teamed up with DJs Dan Ghenacia, Geddes, and the Hon. Stuart Patterson, along with the Balearic timbres of Disco Bloodbath and Ilija Rudman. I've got my bag packed, have you?

Time:
9pm-4am
Place:
East Village, 89 Great Eastern St. EC2A 3HX
Cost:
£8-£10
Info:
eastvillageclub.com
SHOP

Holkham BBQ
The weather, ah the glorious weather. The grill next to our office has been torturing us all week with irresistible wafts of charred meat, so boys, get those novelty aprons on; here's one for you. This little number is perfect for a city cook out, and UJ readers get 20% off at Mydeco.com.

Info:
Holkham Barbeque £34
Shop
Last Stop Exhibition Trasport Museum
SUNDAY

theatreRomeo & Juliet
"But soft, what light from yonder camper van window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the fit caravan site attendant." That's right folks, the lauded touring production of Romeo and Juliet is back at its home, re-imagined by Elizabeth Freestone, and starring the ever enigmatic camper van. Oh, and some actors.

Time:
1pm & 6:30pm
Place:
Shakespeare's Globe,21 New Globe, WalkBankside SE1 9DT
Cost:
£5-20
Info:
shakespeares-globe.org

musicGregory Isaacs
With relationship woes, there are times when even a family size tub of Ben & Jerry's and a bottle of bourbon just don't cut it. That's when you trade the self-abuse for a bit of Gregory Isaacs and his soul-soothing reggae classics. We're not saying you'd need to be heart-broken to appreciate him. Just that it's, you know, an option.

Time:
7pm
Place:
Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, Camden, London, NW1 7PG
Cost:
£29.50 advance
Info:
jazzcafelive.com

talkDes Res Public Weekend
Ok, you have 20 minutes. Use it wisely because not many architects will give you one to one advice on everything from loft conversions to paint choices, without wanting anything back. Especially when they get to show off their skills afterwards at the free Architects and Their Homes talk by experts of the architectonic variety.

Time:
11am-5pm
Place:
The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, N1 6NU
Cost:
Free
Info:
newlondonarchitecture.org
COMPETITION
To celebrate the Sony DAB Rising Star Awards, fashion designer Jean-Pierre Braganza has created two handbags from the shell of a Sony radio, customised with a black studs for an edgy, punky look. To win one of these limited edition bags, tell us what the strangest thing is in your handbag by 5pm on Friday 16th.
Contact:
Competition
Hear
Last Stop Exhibition Trasport Museum
EAT

The Botanist
If you can see past the Sloanes, Sloane Square is one of London's nicest spots: a leafy hub of urban life that is the gateway to Chelsea and all the overpriced silliness it holds. I'd advise any tourist, or Londoner, to go for a glass of wine and a good bit of people-watching.

But for years the increasingly sorry Oriel has been the only real option as a meeting place. The Chelsea Brasserie opened as part of the Sloane Square Hotel about a year ago but it has a strangely adventurous menu that doesn't really sit with its location and leaves the clientele looking slightly disoriented.

The newly opened Botanist (named after naturalist Sir Hans Sloane), on the other hand, fits the bill perfectly. I'm not sure I'd call it a gastropub, although that's how Tom and Ed Martin have made their names with other establishments like The Gun and Empress of India.

The interior is expensively glossy and there are good hearty dishes like crab linguine and chateaubriand on offer but there's also a delicious breakfast menu - kippers with poached egg on toast or blueberry pancakes - and even a take-away service offering coffee and croissants to go for those with their sights set on the Kings Road.

And there are some spiffing tipples too. Hurrah!

Hours:
Mon-Fri 8am-11.30pm / Sat & Sun 9am-11.30pm
Place:
7 Sloane Square, SW1W 8EE
Cost:
£40
Web:
thebotanistsloanesquare.com
Book:
020 7730 0077

Saki
One of my favourite sushi places, this Smithfields pitstop has a nice balance of contemporary sleekness and Japanese authenticity. At ground level there's a bar and deli where you can stock up on wasabi peas, freshly-made noodles and miso soup, while downstairs there's an exceptional sushi restaurant.

The chef here, Yoshitaka Onozaki, clearly knows what he's doing, serving up the freshest raw fish/rice/tempura combinations, and to prove the point further he's caught onto the gourmet vegetarian wave that's currently lapping at London's restaurant shores.

Taking inspiration from the ancient 'shojin kaiseki' approach to the cooking and preparing of food, Onozaki focuses on seasonal vegetables, fruit, beans, shoots, leaves and so forth. So, for instance, you might start with sashimi of abalone shitake mushrooms (that resemble abalone fish), move on to a nimono (casserole) of young bamboo shoots, jade aubergine and grilled plum and then tempura of sesame tofu, grilled lotus root and a miso soup with marinated myoga flower buds.

This is seasonal vegetarian fine-dining at its best - I may even forgo the fish for once.


Hours:
Mon-Fri 12-2.30pm & 6-11pm / Sat 6pm-11pm
Place:
4 West Smithfield, EC1A 9JX
Cost:
£40
Web:
saki-food.com
Book:
020 7489 7033
Weekend guide by AC & MaM, food reviews by SL
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