Category
London
-
02.08.07Let it snow, let it snow, let it snowThere's this consensual, shared hallucination which leads people who live in our nation's capital to loudly insist "Oh it NEVER snows in London" whenever a flurry is forecast by the Met Office. But it does! It bloody does! At least once a year! Admittedly, it's only ever the sort of amount which might make a Canadian consider popping on a light cardigan over their MEC t-shirt, but still. It's often enough to grind the whole city to an embarassing halt, with all its residents screeching at each other in astonishment at the meteorological phenomenon and the effect it seems to have had. ...
-
02.04.07RoundupAfter a pretty exhausting & stressful week, I spent much of Saturday afternoon wandering around Brompton Cemetery on a glorious chilly clear winter's day, taking photos of stone, remembrances and small furry critters with bad teeth. Quite apt, really, given that it seems Beatrix Potter may have got inspiration for her character names (including a certain Mr S. Nutkin) from gravestones in Brompton cemetery, when she lived around the corner in The Boltons: He was totally angling for something - I'm afraid other visitors had spoiled him somewhat, by allowing him to feast on nuts and such. I was much stingier than ...
-
12.16.06All change, pleaseIs it wrong that when I saw this (hugely expensive) Underground-inspired rug, I immediately thought "Liverpool Street"? Except they got the Met line colour wrong, damn their eyes.
-
10.19.06You want butter with that, lady?Long-term readers of this blog may be overjoyed to hear that I've created a special category for posts pertaining to the Deli-from-Helli, the somewhat random Armenian sandwich emporium that I've been frequenting on and off for a number of years now. Those who have no idea what I'm talking about should visit that collection of posts and catch up. There's more to come, I promise. Or is that a threat? Update: Wah. Categories not working for some reason. Will sort out. Hold that thought. Update Update: Categories fixed. Feast away.
-
09.20.06Shalom! (Hello!) / Shalom! (Goodbye!)(or: 36 hours in the middle east) When the cab picked me up from home at 5am, he (naturally) was a customer of my company, and wanted to ask technical questions about his setup. I, with little sleep and no caffiene in my system, did my best. Thank goodness for colleagues who can play scrabble (and have a travel set) Got upgraded on the flight out. A rarity with BA, but much appreciated. Due to having two copies of the Guardian, we had a crossword competition, but both ended up stuck on the same 2 clues. A friendly flight attendant asked what we ...
-
09.07.06Are they bringing back The Day Today?Only I could have sworn it was back - but this time, based on a newspaper - judging by the copy of the London Paper (News International's attempt at a free yoof-oriented commuter rag) that I found discarded (presumably in disgust) on the tube back from Heathrow last night. The lead story? "Pervs" lurk in Square (by Hannah Summers) This contained all the classic hallmarks of The Day Today: expert quotes from outraged moral guardians, use of crazy gadgetry, scare-mongering, technology, perverts, innocence blemished, etc. Bonus points are awarded for the use of the words:DeviantsGlutPreyInsidiousLeering pervertsWholly repugnantand of course, that eternal favourite:Twisted sex ...
-
08.14.06Getting down to the neeeeetty greeeeettyOn Friday night a bunch of us piled over to Somerset House to watch a Jack Black double bill as part of the Film Four-sponsored outdoor movie festival.Now, I'm not the most rabid Jack Black fan in the world - truth be told, I can find him pretty annoying, though I liked him in High Fidelity - but the opportunity to sit on cushions in the courtyard of Somerset House with friends, drinking beer and enjoying films on a balmy summer night was too good to pass up. Unfortunately, things didn't pan out like that. There were friends, old and new - ...
-
03.27.06Yoof and the art of the over-reactionOn my way home from work today, I witnessed something odd. A man was running down the stairs from the bus depot, obviously in a hurry. As he neared the bottom, he grazed past the elbow of a yoof in a baseball cap and puffy jacket, shouting "sorry!" as he rushed on, late for whatever. The yoof turned and swore loudly and visciously, besmirching the lineage and lifestyle of the hurried man and going on to call him a number of common names for body parts (both male and female) more usually covered by swimwear. He then turned to his companion (sports ...
-
02.08.06Notice to employeesI simply couldn't resist asking this barista to model the little reminders stuck to the cashdesk. In other news, I'm going to be at a Web 2.0 workshop/conference thing all day today, despite having gallons of unspeakableness lodged behind my face. Oh, did I mention that the Be My Anti Valentine (VD) cards are back? Going well, too - several thousand cards sent this week alone...
-
02.03.06Oh, RatsSo, you know how they say that there's three rats for every person in London, or that you're never more than three feet away from a rat in London, or all those other pseudo facts which amount to London = shitloads of rats? Well, I've lived in London (off and on) for 22 years, and I have never, ever, ever seen a rat. Ever. Until tonight. When I saw three. Now, admittedly, they were all scuffling among the leaves (well, litter) in the same bit of scrubby wasteland just off Fulham Palace Road, and admittedly, they were all within about a metre of each ...
recent posts
- Making Music
- Five
- A Message for Obama - the book
- My Twitterstats
- What’s Next?
- Songs in the key of hope
- Gotta Get Thru This: BBC Brand/Ross/Sachs-gate and the rocky road to redemption
-
Looking for the Anti-Valentines?
