"What drove two artists to track down every stuffed polar bear in Britain?" 'Bear-faced chic of Arctic giants' by Benjamin Secher, The Telegraph, 14th October 2006.

'Horniman Museum searches for missing polar bear' by Melina Greenfield, 24 Museum, 11 October 2006.

The Great White Bear at the Horniman Museum, 21 October 2006 - 25 March 2007.

"Visitors to Tate Modern will be able to try out five giant slides that have been unveiled at the London gallery."
'Tate Modern unveils giant slides', BBC News, 9 October 2006.

'Power and Taboo: Polynesian gods at the British Museum', 24 Hour Museum, 2 October 2006.

Power & Taboo: Sacred Objects from the Pacific, British Museum, 28 September 2006 - 7 January 2007.

Review of Rodin Exhibition:
'At the Royal Academy' by Peter Campbell, London Review of Books, 28(19).

'Unveiled: early copy that reveals Mona Lisa as her creator intended' by Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian, 23 September 2006.

'How lust shaped the art of Rodin' by Richard Dorment, The Telegraph, 19 September 2006 - includes slideshow and podcast.

"None of Leonardo's inventions ever took off, but an exhibition of his scientific drawings reveals how his extraordinary mind worked"
'New light on a high-flying genius' by Richard Dorment, The Telegraph, 19 September 2006 - includes slideshow.

"Martyrs and lovers, kissers and thinkers, the good and the damned ... Rodin's exaggerated figures tell us what it is to be human."
'Your own flesh and blood' by Adrian Searle, The Guardian, 19 September 2006.

'Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment and Design' by Adrian Searle, The Guardian, 14 September 2006.

'A walk in the dark' by Jonathan Jones. The Guardian, 17 August, 2006
- Hogarth Trail.

Have just discovered the city daily photoblogs, including:
Paris Daily Photo Blog, Edinburgh Daily Photo Blog and, of course, London Daily Photo Blog.

Through this last, I have discovered Pigeon Blog and some March of the Penguins links, including the March of the Penguins game.

Thinking of joining the English Speaking Union, after seeing Dartmouth House and the impressive Page Memorial Library.

History, Sun, And Fresh Air: Museums With Parks And Gardens (Untold London).

Discover London Trails (24 hour museum), including Historic Gardens Museum Trail and Bright Lights and City Squares.

RSA Anniversary Treasure Trail. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Ethnomedica: Remembered Remedies - Researching the Herbal Traditions of Britain.

The 2006 edition of Poems on the Underground is launched today. Transport for London offers a random poem for the day and an online archive.

Michael Bond is eighty today. The BBC website includes a videoclip of his appearance at Paddington Station, and a magazine article and slide show, 'Elevenses with Mr Paddington.'

Sir John Soane was born today in 1753 in Goring, Oxfordshire. Most famous today for his museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields, he was Surveyor and Architect of the Bank of England for 45 years, from 1788, and Architect of the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The London Look at the Museum of London.

"The present version of the song "London Bridge is Falling Down - My Fair Lady " though based on the old Norse saga, was composed in the 13th century when the unpopular Queen Eleanor was given the tolls from the bridge as a present from her husband, Henry III, in 1269. She was a prolific spender and put all the toll money to her own personal use instead of spending it on the bridge.

Needless to say, the bridge fell into serious disrepair. The old song then became reborn as one of angry sarcastic criticism against the Queen, "London Bridge is Falling down, my Fair Lady". The bridge finally returned to the control of the City of London in 1281, but that winter with heavy ice pushing against the bridge, the ill-maintained structure suffered severe damage with five arches collapsing into the water, and a temporary timber bridge had to be built for that part."

This, and similar snippets can be found on the history pages of The London Bridge Museum and Educational Trust.

Streatham Cemetry: the four seasons by Jonathan Clark

"In 1931, Virginia Woolf wrote six essays for Good Housekeeping magazine, which together paint a riveting picture of the capital she loved. Five of them were printed together in the 70s and 80s, but the sixth was lost, and has only just been rediscovered. [The Guardian] republish[es] it for the first time:"
'Portrait of a Londoner'by Virginia Woolf. The Guardian, Wednesday August 11 2004.