Kings Cross

Another visit to Kings Cross last week, that is to say to the shiny new culture hub in the lower levels of Kings Place in York Way. Otherwise the headquarters of the Guardian operation.

The programme

The main course from the Brodsky Quartet was Beethoven's Op.132, with Preghiera from Kraggerud to start. With the last such concert that we managed to get to having been noticed at reference 2. With Kraggerud to be found at reference 3. With Preghiera being Italian for prayer.

It had been a bright afternoon after an overcast start to the day, but it seemed cold enough by late afternoon to be standing on the platform - where we had a very low, bright sun and what seemed like a huge amount of twittering coming from the trees and bushes across the tracks. But no tweets.

Onto the train, to find myself in front of a snap, crackle, pop and a stink of vinegar. So I moved to the other end of the carriage to find myself in front of a posse of talkative youth and attendant mobile phones. But they calmed down after a while, in any case not as bad as snap, crackle, pop.

Vauxhall tube concourse very crowded at 1745 or so this Thursday evening, but the crowd was inching forward and I got down to the platform and onto a train rather faster than one might have at first thought. Tube itself pretty crowded too.

The tree

Took the long walk out of the tube at Kings Cross to emerge onto the grandly titled Kings Boulevard. A long walk which seemed to me to include the canned twittering of birds - something to listen out for next time I am there. Crescent moon and attendant planet hanging over the station buildings to the south. While in the Boulevard they had what I thought was a neat way of planting the trees, in a outer square of cobbles and an inner square of some kind of gravel. Thus avoiding both the large square of drainage gravel which is apt to be dispersed and the need for some kind of cast iron cover, favoured in the days when cast iron was relatively cheap.

Art potcase

Art potcase zoomed

A party of school boys arrived at Kings Place at the same time as I - but no further sign of them. Perhaps they were on a visit to the newspaper, rather than the culture hub. Found a perch to take my bread, cheese and warfarin (almost losing this last) near an art potcase, that is to say a display cabinet full of pots, seemingly identical apart from their paint jobs. I wondered whether the artist involved had bought the pots from somewhere - perhaps IKEA - or whether he had made them himself. Maybe the answer is to be found at reference 5 - with a preliminary look suggesting that he is more into rather tacky, rather larger, outdoor stuff. Possibly the collection of telephone boxes to be found in Old London Road at Kingston (upon Thames). Sundry people wandering around, looking at the art.

Into the hall, which was very crowded, full even, with quite a lot of seats taken in the gallery. On my way in, I had spotted a rhinoceros which looked just the thing for small children to climb on, just as the upside down beetle noticed previously (at reference 6). The young lady at the door agreed that it was strictly forbidden but that, nevertheless, some weekends children were all over the art - which one have thought was designed for the purpose.

Music stands - with apology to the owner of the ear bottom right

The music was very good, including the starter, which for once I rather liked. Three of the musicians stood to play, with the violins keeping reasonably still, but with the viola liking to move around a bit. Second violin liked to keep an eye on the others. While the first violin, no longer young, wore a black slinky number which suited her rather well. She also reminded of two luvvies from ITV3 detective dramas - something which seems to happen quite often these days, but which often doesn't seem to stack up when I get around to checking. The resemblance which struck me so forcibly at the time no longer there.

But enough brain waves to spare to be irritated by the feet of the music stands, the ends of which I felt should have been bevelled, enough to give them some distance from the floor they were standing on. Poor detailing to my mind. Perhaps Mr. Mach, noticed above, could be asked to give some thought to the matter - as an outdoor sculptor, he should know all about the poor plinthing of much outdoor sculpture.

The haul from Raynes Park platform library

Moon missing on exit. Vauxhall tube station still busy by the time that I got back there. Caught the first train, which gave me a few minutes with the books at Raynes Park, where the best I could do was some cookery cards for Japanese food from Prague. Helpfully printed in Czech, German and Russian - which seemed an odd selection of languages. Couldn't find a date.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/02/fake-102.html. The fake scored in the course of this outing.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/01/to-throbbing-heart-of-north-london.html.

Reference 3: https://www.henningkraggerud.com/.

Reference 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R861ajIzK5Q. An arctic festival rendering of Preghiera. Bing failed, it taking the power of Google to find it.

Reference 5: https://www.davidmach.com/.

Reference 6: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/04/more-aret.html. Non-climbing art.