#92: prince charles cinema, geocities archive & waste
sent from bertie's iphone with love
bertie:
Hello, this is Bertie from
(it’s a real thing Google it). I’m currently sitting in bed with wet hair listening to Bloc Party. About moi: I’m a writer from London who used to run a magazine called Mushpit and now publishes little zines in extremely small (and yet still, somehow, unaffordable) print runs. My Substack is a good place to read about emotional instability and where to hide and/or eat Lunch in the city. I review books and write about various shades of crisis. If you like fur coats, heel-ache from ballet pumps, good eyeliners, misunderstanding French writers and searching for ideas about how to live then I regret to inform you that I’ve been blogging about all of these things for about 15 years. Come over and see me <3
everyone say hey!
this is the online bit:
When I feel sad or anxious or just plain bored, I simply love to log on to a Reddit page created specifically for Starbucks baristas, to get the lay of the land. Who had the most frap syrup pumps in an iced coffee that day, who had a bad experience with a “custy”, who is wondering why people make large mobile orders and then wait three hours to collect them? I don’t drink Starbucks because the coffee tastes like it’s been left in a sealed container in a hot car for a fortnight, but that will never stop me reading about all the tea.
Melissa Broder - Eating Alone in My Car
There is nothing more comforting than a podcast that is over and therefore can’t suddenly become bad. I have listened to every episode of this one countless times, a frightful number of times. It has truly everything: genuinely brilliant writing tips, descriptions of awful food you’re desperate to eat, self-diagnosis, real diagnosis, book recommendations. It is wonderful.
The internet used to be good, you know. Don’t believe me? Spend five minutes with the Geocities archive. Web pages used to be beautiful DIY glimpses into peoples’ weird brains. Family photo albums, accidental poetry, visitor counters, secret messages. Being online used to sparkle and be multicoloured and sometimes make you uncomfortable in the best way. Explore and remember it’s possible and it can be possible again !
this is the irl bit:
Waste, 270 Hackney Road
Now that everywhere in London has turned into a Blank Street Coffee it’s hard to find good shops worth a pilgrimage to. Waste reminds me of being a teenager in Covent Garden, when everything was still covered in stickers and shops were run by the actual owners instead of people on zero-hours contracts. Go here and find T-shirts, magazines, photo books and so many trinkets it’s quite overwhelming. They also do launch parties basically every night which you do NOT need to be invited to, to attend :).
Prince Charles cinema
The best London cinema due to a) film selection b) proximity to Golden Gate bakery c) membership deal d) screen is beautiful. Probably the best place for a date in London but I go here on my own ALL the time too. They also do all night multi-film screenings (I.E.LOTR) which, considering everything else in London shuts at 11pm, means they’re sort of single-handedly saving London nightlife. Someone tell the night czar! Actually don’t she’ll probably shut it down.
Keith Fawkes rare and secondhand books
And finally, the perfect mid-point for a day out in Hampstead. This secondhand bookshop on Flask Walk is packed full of treasures, like scribbled in old editions of poetry you didn’t even know existed. The man who runs it is extremely charming and probably one of the only real eccentrics left in NW3. Go talk to him and buy a book and then get lost on the Heath. <3
kissy kissy boom boom