Illuminated River

November 2021 Favourites

Hello again, hope you’re all keeping safe and well despite everything going on at the moment. I’m happy to say that I’ve had my Covid booster jab, which really helps to further educate and strengthen the immune system, and thus greatly reduces the chances of severe problems if you do get ill with the new variant. Plus Mum had both her flu jab and Covid booster last month, and I’m hoping to get my flu jab at some point. So we’re as well protected as we can be for the winter now.

The latest developments haven’t stopped me going out and about and being generally busy either, as I’ve been making the most of my time. So during November I was interviewed on another national radio show, had lovely days exploring London Zoo and the Illuminated River project, enjoyed stage and film versions of a Dickens classic, watched the latest series of Doctor Who, saw various comedies, got absorbed in the new Beatles documentary, heard ABBA’s new album, and celebrated Freddie Mercury’s life on the 30th anniversary of his untimely passing. And none of it is sponsored or gifted as usual. So I hope you enjoy my latest post and video roundup!

Illuminated River is a project by artist Leo Villareal, involving a variety of permanent and colourful lighting installations on bridges across the River Thames in London.

9 bridges are currently involved in the project, from Lambeth Bridge to London Bridge. Each has its own unique architecture and history, and so the lighting is tailored to suit and complement them. The lights are positioned beneath the arches and/or along the sides of the bridge in some way, and they don’t intrude into the surrounding environment.

In most cases it involves constant, but slow and subtle, changes in colour, often moving from one side of the bridge to the other. But in a couple of cases it involves white strips of light moving in patterned waves along the side of the structure. And they all look beautiful. London is always stunning when lit up at night anyway, and I think this project is a lovely enhancement to the cityscape without being overwhelming.

November 2019 Favourites

I seem to have gone from one extreme to another lately. After a relatively relaxed October, November has been really busy, and in a good way. I appeared on TV and radio to raise awareness of digital accessibility, promoted audio description at a trade exhibition, learnt a great deal about Ancient Greece, explored London’s illuminated bridges, highlighted more scam emails, bought some new Blu-rays and music, and enjoyed various things on TV.

So there’s plenty to cover this month, and I hope you enjoy this post and video summary of it all. As always, I haven’t received any gifts or payments by anyone mentioned in this post, and all opinions are my own.