Having recognised that Shoreditch wasn’t such a hot idea for a band name, Kingsland emerged from the hairdressers to belatedly realise that there’s another Kingsland (and this one ain’t in Dalston). What about Pedley Street Boys? Or Vallance? Or Boyfriends of Allen Gardens? The shoot might also explain why our sofa has got footprints on it…

Bling meets grime… 

Gym tonic? Gymbox has replaced its dumb-bells with human weights to encourage people to exercise. Members of Gymbox can choose one of five people ranging from two midgets to a 155kg man. The gym already runs a ‘chav fighting’ self-defence class and ‘WAG workouts’ to make women more attractive to footballers. The human weights, who sit on adapted machines, are said to help gym-goers by letting them visualise what they are lifting. They will also shout words of encouragement if requested. The human weights range from ‘Dainty Diva’ – Arti Shah, 32, who weighs just 30kg (4.7 stone), up to ‘Super Human’ – Matt Barnard, 37, who weighs a massive 155kg (24.4stone). Gymbox owner Richard Hilton said the human weight lifting device was the ‘ultimate embodiment of visualisation theory.’ He added: ‘Creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen or feel is proven to improve physical and psychological performance. ’We’re optimistic our members will see better results with our new human weight machine.’

Arrive at SHoreditch Underground from 19h00 wearing your prom dresses or tuxedos (non-gender specific) and enjoy Prom Punch and West Mersea and Maldon Oysters being shucked to order while we adorn you with your corsages and The Broken Heart DJs play. Under the balloon arch in this old Victorian train station you will get your prom portraits taken by Jamie D Winter and listen to a live performance by The Silver Jay. Downstairs for dinner at 20h30 where you and up to 129 of your most wonderful contemporaries will listen to a compilation of everybody’s favourite song choices whilst enjoying Samphire and Asparagus, Barbequed Lobster, Twice Baked Potatoes, Char-grilled, Rib-Eye Steak and Build-Your-Own BBQ Banana Splits. All this served by beautiful women made up like PanAm Stewardesses wearing Cheerleading Costumes and Knee Socks. Go team!

The forthcoming Olympics in East London has resulted in many global sporting brands looking for new ways to position their product. With a possible development of a mixed use retail-office-recreational space at Shoreditch Station, ‘train’ and ‘trainer’ will be symbiotically linked.

Local Authority Partnering Guidelines are being drafted by WHAT_architecture in response to receiving a LBTH Defacement Notice from the Council in late 2011. This notice was served because a “Sign/Graffiti’ (informal or illegal marks, drawings or paintings) have been deliberately made known” and that this is “a blight on the local environment which the Council considers to be detrimental to the amenity of the area or offensive.”

So what does the Council consider detrimental or offensive? The Council’s own website clarifies the latter as being either racist or obscene. Fair cop there. Regarding detriment, then this is a concept relative to context. It’s difficult to say that non-offensive graffiti is detrimental to a pissoir alleyway locally referred to as ‘piddle street’. The council is however concerned about the ‘knock-on’ effect of graffiti: street art which could inspire tagging. And tagging is not only bad but it’s banal. However associating one event on another is akin to suggests that watching Terminator might lead one on a copy-cat gun-rampage. The ‘broken windows theory’ described by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling asks us to “consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars.”

Talking buildings. Or rather buildings that talk to you: graffiti. The etymology of the word graffiti derives from the Italian graffito (meaning “scratched”) where designs were scratched or inscribed into a surface. The earliest forms of graffiti date back to 30,000 BCE in the form of prehistoric cave paintings and pictographs using tools such as Animal bones and pigments. These illustrations were often placed in ceremonial and sacred locations inside of the caves. The images drawn on the walls showed scenes of animal wildlife and hunting expeditions in most circumstances.

Talking buildings. Or rather buildings that talk to you: QR codes. QR Codes are being used to facilitate planning protests by embedding meta-data and text into physical spaces. In 2011, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg unveiled a system of QR tags meant to give citizens quicker access to information about new construction projects. The QR codes are posted on every construction permit city-wide; by downloading a QR reader app on any smartphone, city-goers can scan these codes to see a web view of what’s being built, who is doing the building, and what (if any) complaints have been filed against the applicant. C’mon London: printing QR codes on Public Notices costs the Local Authority nothing… but engages wider public opinion!

Midnight Steak-Out secret supper club 150 diners, 75kg sushi, 6 hours.

Crowds flocked to the private launch of the New Era Introducing 2011 gallery at Shoreditch Underground in the heart of East London before it embarks on a tour across Europe, The Middle East and Africa. We catch up with Lina Al Amoudi, the creative mind behind this year’s winning entry and several other finalists to find out more.