The dark river and the sparkling city Spent a few hours this evening on a small river boat floating through the centre of London on the Thames with a bunch of clients from a utility company. It is a beautiful city when seen from this perspective, floating down from Putney past all the landmarks such as the Battersea Power Station, The Houses of Parliament, The London Eye, Tate Modern, Tower Bridge and so on all the way down to Greenwich. Drifting past trees draped in lights, and the pretty brightly-lit bridges. Just lovely, although quite nippy on the top deck with the cool wind off the river. An art director called Si started talking about the bit in Heart of Darkness where Conrad talks about the Thames. This is the bit from that book which always sticks in my mind too. The idea that the Thames and England was once a wild place, full of unknown dangers. The client is not one I have dealt with much, but had been asked along to schmooze a bit. Spent a couple of hours appearing gripped,...