A couple of years ago I had the idea that it might be fun to take photos of London without humans - yes, I was motivated by that scene in Westminster from 28 Days Later. Unfortunately, not being a film director I was not really in the position to have half of London sealed off for photos - but realised that on Xmas morning there could be an opportunity.

Alas, last year it poured down with rain - but this year the weather was good, and despite having a bad cold for the past few days I was determined to get up early and cycle around the West End of London taking photos.

Despite the early hour and nature of the day, there were still some people around, and as I started heading home at around 11am, some of the tourist locations were almost as busy as a normal day.

Below are some of my personal favourites, and the whole collection of 68 photos can be found on my usual Flickr account.

Most of the photos are literally as the scene presented itself, although on a few occasions there were the odd car I had to wait to pass, or just didn’t bother waiting and cropped the photo a bit.

Click on the photos for larger versions

South Bank

Hungerford Bridge

Belvedere Road

Carnaby Street

Tottenham Court Road

Sweeping Streets on Christmas Day

Trafalgar Square and St Martins

Villiers Street

Bank

The full collection of 68 photos availableon my Flickr account.

Tomorrow evening (Sat 20th Dec), it will be possible to watch a satellite launch live, as a launch of the massive Ariane 5 rocket will be taking place.

Alas, it is only via the internet from South America - as I doubt a launch in London would get past the Health & Safety regulations.

Fortunately though, the launch is also at a more tolerable time - starting at 9:50pm (they are often a lot later in the night), so something to watch on your computer if the TV is proving uninspiring.

Live Streaming Link (needs Real Player or Windows Media)

This will be the 42nd Ariane 5 launch, and will launch two communications satellites, primarily intended for direct TV broadcast services and data networks: HOT BIRD 9 and W2M, both for Eutelsat.

The launcher will be carrying a total payload of 9,220 kg, including 8,340 kg for the two satellites, which will be released separately into their targeted orbits.

Incidentally, you can actually write to Arianespace and get tickets to watch the launch live in person. Alas, the flights to French Guiana are unusually expensive. I suspect that the airlines milk the route for all its worth as the bulk of the customers flying there are going to be VIPs who don’t really care about the cost.

You can also naturally watch launches at NASA’s facility in Florida - and there are also periodic launches on the other side of the USA, out of Vandenberg Air Force Base. Another spot to watch a live launch is Baikonur in Kazakhstan - which is the former USSR launch site. Today it is mainly commercial launches, with the occasional launch of a Glonass satellite to finish off Russia’s version of the USA’s GPS platform.

There were plans to let tourists watch the Chinese rocket launches, and indeed the local government invested in a large tourist park near the launch site. Alas for them, the army decided it didn’t like civilians watching, and shut the whole thing down.

Watch NASA Launches

Visit Baikonur Cosmodrome

Watch Vendenberg Launches

Visiting Arianspace

On a slightly related subject - just a reminder of my 10 Downing St petition.

When man first landed on the moon, Britain’s Union Jack/Flag was also taken up to the moon and then brought back to earth, and now resides inside 10 Downing St. I think it should be put on public display as an inspiration to our future scientists.

If you think that would be a good idea - please sign the petition by Jan 3rd 2009. You never know, it might attract attention of the person who can say “Yes!”.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/moon-landings/

(Note: Image is not necessarily to scale)

Saw the recording of tonight’s episode of Have I Got News for You last night.

Jeremy Clarkson hosting is exactly what you expect - so the show is good, but not raucously funny.

However, the show is going to be memorable for a very different reason, and depending on how much the editors leave in could be one of those episodes people talk about at the water cooler for some time.

As the saying goes, the pen is indeed mightier (and it seems, sharper) than the sword - especially when it is thrown across the desk and stabs Ian Hislop in the face.

Update

As the program has gone out - it is clear that they edited a lot out. The incident was actually a lot, lot funnier in the studio and Clarkson was genuinely quite sorry about the whole thing.

Hislop milked it like mad though - and kept going on about getting botulism poisoning and pulling a frozen face throughout the remainder of the recording.

They actually sent a make-up girl on with a plaster just after it happened but he waved it away.

I hope they leave more of that in for the slightly longer version shown tonight.

Some mirrors, lots of animals and one sub-Tangerine Dream soundtrack – quite wonderful.

Hattip: TheCroydonian

If you ever wanted to introduce the science of animal behaviour to an audience - this video clip would certainly be a good way to start.

Last night I attended a speech by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson who outlined a new policy of boosting the UK economy though revamping how the government works and try to assist businesses to function in the current economic climate.

Most of it was fairly sensible stuff, if delivered in a rather dull monotone voice - but there were a couple of slight jokes.

Considering the media fuss going on right now about his plans to fix the Post Office - one was quite topical.

He commented that Tony Blair had once said that Nu Labour would have completed its modernisation when it has come to love Peter Mandelson.

Since he has been back in government, he has felt somewhat discomforted to find himself being liked by his parliamentary colleagues. So he decided to shake up the Post Office knowing that it would annoy the back-benchers and result in a return to the conventional loathing he is so used to from the Labour Party.

I read this morning that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will ask its 250,000 members to approve a formal split from the Labour party if the shake up of the post office goes ahead.

His speech was video’d and will be available on the RSA website in a few days - but to be honest, it’s not that interesting to listen to unless you are really into politics or run a business, or like monotone dialogue.

Like them or loathe them - but at least Tony Blair and David Cameron sound interesting, even if what they are saying isn’t.

Last night was the last of this year’s free lectures at the RSA - and I am looking forward to next year with excitement. For the occasional dud (see above), the majority are really interesting, and being free to attend means even the dull ones don’t leave you feeling “out of pocket”.