Diary: High art in Leeds

Bruntwood’s Platform building, which towers over the city’s railway station, is now home to the UK’s tallest piece of street art. Named “Athena Rising”, the piece by internationally-acclaimed muralist pair Cbloxx and AYLO, aka Nomad Clan, features a pair of giant owls in flight (apparently signifying “intelligence, knowledge, wealth, learning and tradition”) together with the moon (“enlightenment”) and a gold crown (which in street art symbolises “being the master of your craft, or having paid your dues”). It’s almost 47m high, roughly the same height as the Statue of Liberty, and took about 600 cans of spray paint to complete. Cbloxx and AYLO spent two weeks working eight hours a day, harnessed in a cradle far off the ground and facing all the heat, wind and rain a Leeds summer could throw at them. Sounds like a hoot. A starring role So far this summer, Diary has seen London come under siege from an Egyptian sorceress (in The Mummy) and warring robots (Transformers: The Last Knight) and, despite the critical mauling each received, loved every minute. What does this tell us? That Diary has questionable taste in films? Quite possibly. But also that our capital remains in high demand with movie makers, as trophy towers including the Gherkin increasingly share screen time with cinematic stalwarts like the Houses of Parliament. At a time when some call into question the future of the city’s standing on the world stage, it’s good to know that, as far as Hollywood is concerned, London remains firmly A-list, even if it occasionally stars in the odd clunker… Jeez Louise! Getting names wrong is bound to happen every once in a while. That’s why Diary never minds too much when the barista writes “Dairy” on its coffee cup. But some people hold themselves to a higher standard, hence the profuse remorse shown by one contact, to an EG colleague. Rather than “Dear Louisa”, they wrote “Dear Louise”. When the mistake came to light, a self-flagellation worthy of Basil Fawlty followed. “Sincere apologies” were sent for the “stupid spelling” – all the result of their “damn MacBook autocorrect”.  With their Monday suitably ruined, they went on: “I think I’m going back home to bed and writing the week off.” If Diary took that approach every time a clanger was dropped, this page would never see print. A very trying triathlon What’s the hardest part of the JLL Property Tri? The swim? The run? The cycle? How about the drive there? That was the real nightmare for three competitors when a mishap on the M4 saw their bikes come loose and end up strewn over the motorway. A quick response from the police ensured danger was averted, and the trio were able to retrieve their racers and push on to Dorney Lake. One visit to the on-site mechanic later, and the bikes were good to go – even if the ride was a little bumpy. Lacrosse your fingers Forget jolly hockey sticks – when it comes to field sports, it’s all about your cradling credentials. For anyone who has never run up and down a wet, muddy pitch trying desperately not to get hit square between the eyes by a Lacrosse ball, that means an awful lot of high speed, head height combat. This being the case, much kudos to Camilla Hayes, associate director at real estate recruitment specialist Deverell Smith, who is part of the England team about to do battle at the Rathbones Women’s Lacrosse World Cup. Team EG wishes her the best of luck as the tournament begins at Surrey Sports Park on 12 July.   Covered with glory Congratulations to TFT Consultants (pictured above), winner of the much coveted Front Cover of the Year gong at last week’s Property Marketing Awards. The building consultancy’s 26 November 2016 cover featured a pic of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump in a moment of mutual appreciation below the line: “Here for when your world gets a little more risky.” It was the clear favourite among EG readers, who voted for the cover in droves, and with the PMA audience. As one would expect of a BBC presenter, awards host Naga Munchetty was impartial. But, given her tomato-coloured dress, Diary is confident she is a big fan of the EG rebrand.