It absolutely poured raining yesterday evening, and the rain only started about 5 minutes before I needed to leave work.
The rain. Fierce!
I couldn't hang round the office for a bit longer to wait for it to rain itself out because I was meeting a friend for dinner followed by a screening of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy at The Phoenix Cinema.
To digress, one of my favourite things about London is that there's history bloody everywhere. The Phoenix is one of the U.K.'s oldest continuously running, purpose built cinemas, and the oldest cinema in London. It was built in 1910, but the company that had constructed it went bust before it was opened. It took until 1912 until it finally opened (as The East Finchley Picturedrome) and it has continued on: witnessing the change from silent to sound films and the emerging dominance of colour over black and white, remaining intact through The Blitz and itself having several name changes and alterations to its raison d'être. Its closest brush with closure was in the early '80's when permission was granted for the site it occupies to have an office block and two lock-up garages built on it. There was strong local opposition to this planand the work of neighbourhood interest groups and the Young Socialists to save The Phoenix culminated in the formation of The Phoenix Cinema Trust who bought the cinema and still run it today. I think it's so fantastic to have a local cinema run by a trust rather than a company. A trust can often have different obligations to its patrons and the community it operates in, and this is certainly the case for this trust, who have set themselves the following goals -
Phoenix Cinema Trust Mission Statement:
1. The Phoenix Cinema is an independent cinema which is uniquely operated by a charitable trust on behalf of the people of North London. The Phoenix Cinema Trust is committed to promoting film culture by developing a broad programme of quality films.
2. The Trust is committed to preserving the building as Britain’s longest operating purpose built cinema and to developing the Phoenix as a popular centre for moving images on film, video and new media into the 21st Century.
3. In addition the Trust seeks to use its resources for the benefit of a wider population by encouraging the greatest possible access to film related activities for our diverse local communities.
Also! The Phoenix is where the animated poster that is the video clip for the Scissor Sisters' I Don't Feel Like Dancin' was hung.
And this is what it looks like. (Image from here, copyright held by Will Martin.)
And, after that massive tangent, back to the rain. The day had started quite nicely and remained so for most of the day so I was completely unprepared for the heavy downpour of the afternoon. But - looking for an upside - if I was to be caught unprepared in a rainstorm just when I had to hurry from my office to the tube on a day I was wearing ballet flats I'm so glad that the shoes I'd put on that morning were my Tod's! The pebbled sole is great for giving good grip in the rain and I'm sure saved me from falling on my ass in the street.
I adore these shoes. Once I'd broken them in (which took one or two wears) they were amazingly comfortable and the quality is amazing. I bought this pair in 2008 or 2009 and I still wear them several times a week and hope to do so for another year or two (the sole under my heels is close to need replacing, but that is not surprising given how much use they've seen.)
Patent toes, leather body and suede ribbon across the foot. Gorgeous! (Photo: Saks Fith Avenue.)
