Sinister Saltdean

So I took a stroll today*, it being a nice day and everything, from where I live in nice, normal, safe Kemptown. I went East. I tell you, it’s strange out East. West is usually fine. Go West, in the high manner of the Pet Shop Boys, and you will inevitably hit Brighton – a perfectly proper seaside resort with wholesome entertainments and fine, upstanding citizens. But no; I went East.

Until I came to Saltdean. You’ll know Saltdean for two things. Bungalows and the Lido. And you’re not wrong:

There they are. The bungalows, and the Lido. One of them (I’m not telling which) has the words “Saltdean Lido” on it in big letters, so that you know that that’s definitely one of those two things. (Oh, alright, it’s this one:)

You say Lido and I say Lido… But hang on, what’s that totalitarian monstrosity – as The Automatic profoundly enquire – coming over the hill? And well may you ask. More of that to come.

The Ribbed Vault

It is with some regret that this blog post isn’t about actual ribbed vaults, those astonishing Gothic creations that spring to pointy perfection in the great cathedrals of our splendid land. I will add to my previous list of “stuff about which I intend to write” a comprehensive deconstruction (so to speak) of aforementioned architectural feature.

I also intend to write about this soon but for the time being I’ll abandon my usual decorum to say simply that the Pope really is a knob.

But no, you don’t want to read this – you want to read Ribbed. Ribbed, you say? Ribbed, I say. It is, as you now know because you’ve right-clicked on that link and selected “open in a new tab” and now up there on the top right is a tab saying something like R I B B E D | M A G A Z I N E  so you know it’s a magazine because that’s what it says, a magazine.

I’ve written a couple of pieces for them. Actually that’s not accurate. I’ve rejigged my piece on the rise and fall of men’s trousers (the original is back here somewhere… there it is); I’ve also written a brand new essay on (loosely) architectural sympathy with some top-notch drawings by the very talented Yasmine Balfour-Lynn (one of them is the wrong building but that’s probably my fault.*)

You’ll have to do some digging around on the website to find them – it’s all Flashy and stuff so I can’t link to them directly. One’s under Art and the other under Fashion >> Features. The screen might make you feel a little seasick. You should also check out the Shadow Children (or SC.) fashion editorial beautifully lensed (conjugate that, baby) by my good friend Mario Mendez. Hats off to the lovely Alex Wilson (who also took the photos of the slender betattood gentleman that accompany the trousers piece) and the delightful Matilda Finn for pulling the whole thing together.

Sorry for moonlighting on you both. I’ll be back soon with stuff and things.

*it wasn’t in any way my fault. Grrr.