Arnold Circus Centenary, Shoreditch

Last weekend was the centenary of Arnold Circus, which is the roundabout/band-stand situated in the heart of the Boundary Estate, round the back of Bethnal Green Road. The whole area is changing at a startling rate; from being the UK's first community housing back in the late 1890's, through to near decimation during WWII, and the race riots of the 70's, the area now plays host to countless galleries, private members clubs, bars, restaurants and ad agencies. We just heard that new planning permission has been given to erect a 20 storey building next to the Tea Buildings, which will play host to a new shopping centre and above which will be the obligatory luxury condos. Love it or loathe it, the development of the area is so fast, it's breathtaking to behold.

The Arnold Circus centenary was a splendid affair; some great bands playing in the newly revamped band-stand, fantastic sweet treats and savouries on offer, and a very valiant ping pong match between locals and guests - with most of the points being claimed by the gusts of wind which cut through the 30 degree heat.

Wikipedia has a page on the Old Nichol, which includes the Boundary Estate, it's a good read - you can see it here

We saw these fantastic flyers being handed out, which give a backstory to the area, and are beautifully illustrated.

Side one is the changes through the ages. And side two gives stories to each of the numbers on the illustrations. Text by Archie Guiver, Illustrations by Adam Dant

Click on the pics to see them large scale.

TRIM // ROKKIT PARTY PICTURES!

Here's a sneak preview of some of Julia Corsaro's amazing party pictures. More will follow next week on Trim's Facebook page. We love the prism effect, it's exactly how we remember it...

Party Diary // Gossip

So last night's Rokkit/ Trim party, went down in style. The Bathhouse was absolutely heaving by the time this little Trim Blogger arrived around 10pm. Trim's own PR aficionado Naz Foroodian was whirlwinding around in a pair of spectacular black velvety suede wedges, meeting, greeting and hugging.

Inside people guzzled complimentary cocktails and danced to solid beats, with a dash of poptastic something. Dom had apparently started off the music in style with an early set. Tom, Ross and Paul could be spotted on the dancefloor, along with Stink director Gaelle Denis who's known for her very, very good animation. All were looking gorgeous and enjoying the contrast of old Victorian Turkish Bathhouse and storming party.

Nearby, musician and singer Mara Carlyle, who's playing at Latitude festival this weekend, was chatting to editor Julia Knight and actress/ writer Sophie Woolley. All were wearing posh frocks, which we think is entirely fabulous. Sophie recently starred as Gabby in Channel 4's Cast Offs and has a cult following for her own darkly comic shows. This Friday at 11pm she's apparently making a rare appearance as herself on radio 4, taking about what things sound like now that she's gone deaf. Not that she was plugging it, she was too busy dancing, cocktail in hand. New animation director Sam Mason was also there. Sam recently completed his stunning student film Wild Robot at St Martins, and it includes music by his equally talented brother Willy Mason. And there was a lot of talent present; director and photographer Borkur Sigthorsson danced past and told us he's working on projects in Iceland and London over the coming months. There was also a large Nexus contingent, although they were having so much fun we never actually caught up with them properly. But we did chat briefly to producer Daniella Steadman from Love who seemed to be working very hard. Leila and Gus on the other hand were enjoying the party too much to think of work. "I'm on the V.I.P table!" enthused Gus, with a princely gesture designed to invite us to join his very nice (but kinda identical to all the rest) table. Finally Julia Stephenson of Short and Sweet, London's weekly short film evening, told us she's hosting the UK's First ever 3D Stereoscopic film festival launching on Friday (Yes with 3D GLASSES and everything!). We are excited.

Thanks everyone who made the party fantastic. Thanks Naz, thanks Girlcore. Hope to see many of you soon at Trim!

Photographer Julia Corsaro will soon provide her pics of the night. Until then, check out her fab work here: http://www.juliacorsaro.com/

Video Portraits. 5th Feb

Saam Farahmand is finally doing a UK night of his Video Portraits. For the last year he's been doing it pretty much everywhere else across the globe, and we're sure it'll be worth the wait. You can get tickets from here. See you there.