Destiny's Child (Cyril Hahne Remix)

The Next Stop is.. Shepherd's Pie!?

The daily commute can often make every weekday Groundhog Day. The same train, same carriage, same seat, same page of the Metro, same route into work. So how much do we actually notice on our travels?


The idea of slowing down and taking more time to notice the little things has cropped up a lot in London recently. First came the rogue stickers on the London Underground, using the same designs and fonts as the everyday warnings and notices used by TFL. But instead of the usual 'Mind the closing doors' warning, commuters were instructed 'Don't acknowledge fellow passengers or sustain eye contact beyond 2 seconds. Please respect urban solitude', 'Shepherd's Bush' was changed to 'Shepherd's Pie' and one sticker directed Londoners to 'Platform 9 3/4'.

Then came a campaign called 'Look for Longer' from marketing company CBS Outdoor, using posters on the tube and a '#lookforlonger' trend on Twitter to encourage Londoners to look more closely at a poster to find the 75 Tube and DLR stations illustrated. (If you want to play the online game, go to their website. I wasted three hours of my evening on this yesterday instead of job-hunting or going to the pub, so if you're planning on doing anything productive or sociable, consider this your warning.)

And then yesterday, A sneaky blogger called Patrick has been dumping 'shit' all over town. His blog, Shit London, documents hilarious edits to London's many adverts and slogans, and yesterday he spread the joy by leaving packages across the city for his followers to scoop up and admire. (To clarify, 'Shit' in this context means 'stuff' or 'things' as in, 'that was some good shit', rather than 'shit blog', which it definitely isn't.) The site provides a platform to share often overlooked comic details to everyday London life.

So on Monday morning, when you're about to settle into your journey with the Metro or your latest ebook on your Kindle, take a moment to look at your surroundings because they may not be what they seem at first glance, and what you could find may give you your first smile of the day! :)

You can follow Shit London and Look for Longer on Twitter! @shitlondon @lookforlonger