Author: She Loves London

  • TimeOut London Wins “Ridiculous Sentence of the Day”

    Look, I like TimeOut London.

    I don’t get the tube to work, so every Tuesday I even enlist the help of my colleague to grab it for me and drop it off on my desk. Then at lunch time, as I did today, I’ll have a little flick through and see what’s happening in the big city.

    True, most of the inspiration for my East London Buzzwords Checklist for Journalists came from their pages, but overuse of the word “trendy” aside, who can complain? It’s free. It’s got more information about lovely ol’ London than this blog will ever have, and for that we must be thankful.

    But blummin’ eck. They don’t half make it hard sometimes.

    TimeOut London cocktail prices

    Oh, TimeOut. We both love this city, but when I read sentences like that, sometimes I’m just not sure we have that much in common.

    Seen anything ridiculous lately?

     

  • Err, I Think the Buses are Laughing at Dalston

    Err, I Think the Buses are Laughing at Dalston

    As if the cliché ridden magazine articles and reviews weren’t bad enough when it comes to quietly poking fun at Dalston and surrounds, now even the BUSES are at it.

    The bus stopping at Dalston Junction Station (lol)

    LOL yourself, WORLD.

    With this and the reports of late night revelers weeing and chucking up in the street, isn’t it time someone wrote something nice about the Dalston for a change?

    I’ll start:

    “I like it when you go past Super Kebab on Kingsland Road in the evening and the police are all lined up in there getting their dinner.”

    There. See? That wasn’t so hard. Give it a go sometime, London.

    Have you been on an “LOL Dalston Junction” bus? Do you know why it’s there? TELL ME.

  • Lost for Words to Describe East London? Look No Further!

    Lost for Words to Describe East London? Look No Further!

    If you’ve been tasked with writing a magazine article about East London, or are reviewing a bar, restaurant, pub, market or road in the area, don’t worry.

    The trendy Hackney locals realise it can be difficult to come up with hip adjectives and arty, bearded ways to describe the scenesters and alternative moustache-wearing crowd you’re expecting to find while stumbling through the borough’s experimental decor.

    So if you’re unsure of what words to include in your copy, here are some hints gathered from other well-known  guides and newspapers, which will undoubtedly serve you well when portraying a clichéd view of London’s area du jour.

    Handy tip: Grabbing a pen and checking them off as you go will help to make sure you don’t use the word “hipster” twice in one sentence.

     

    Trendy hip buzzword suggestions for people writing about East London

    “But how does it work in practice?” I hear you wonder.

    Like I said, don’t worry. These words apply to any East London establishment you wish to describe.

    e.g. Car-boot sales

    Princess May Road Car Boot Sale listing in TimeOut
    TimeOut says fashionable locals can’t get enough of second hand Fischer Price toys

    Bars:

    Dalston Superstore: home of moustache-wearing bike riders
    Moustache – BING! Fixie bike – BING!

    And city farms, where even if the terms aren’t appropriate, they can still be used:

    Arty, hipster crowd flocks to a trendy city farm cafe
    Trendy foodie hipsters DON’T flock to city farm cafe, according to The Guardian

    Keep up the good work, guysh. George Orwell would be proud.