John Duffin at For Arts Sake, not being plagued by phone support and Red 357

Apart from coffee shops and restaurants Ealing has some shops that are just nice to have -for me these include Waterstones (one of a book -chain), City Radio (the place where you can get almost any light bulbs) and For Arts Sake.

Current artist at For Arts Sake

For Arts Sake actually uses the basement as a gallery for works by selected artists  and does this with some care and enthusiasm. When I visit those at the shop invariably take the trouble to explain something of the artists and often have a print of an interview with the artists.

The works are generally accessible and there are usually some affordable pieces for sale.

On show at the moment are prints, and paintings by John Duffin who was a student at Goldsmith's with BritArt figures such as Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas.

I enjoyed looking at the pictures on show - great works that have a different take on London.

Nice too that the notes give some ideas on the featured artists' trajectory and influences (in this case Hopper and Lowry are cited.)

Technical Support

Frustrations yesterday with a problematic mobile phone, fortunately now all okay but it was hard work getting help from BT - I thought I'd start with an online search and 'chat' but this went initially to a business destination (5 minutes plus waiting) then managed to find the equivalent consumer portal - probably waited around 20 minutes and still no response.

Trouble

Decided to use a traditional number which actually had a shorter wait but no quick resolution - did ask if there were any particular issues delaying responses but not surprisingly the helpdesk were unwilling to reveal why this was (or if it is usual).

Next time I get a 'phone support scam' I'm going to see if they're able to help me with a mobile phone problem (could be fun).

Red 357

A red hat with a whoosh - not necessarily ironic.

A red hat with the characteristic Nike logo