Paul in London

Coffee 2 Found out the name of the coffee machine at work. It is called a Flavia . The testimonials are a bit of a worry. Arthur Andersen said "The stylish, compact design of FLAVIA� is perfect for our offices where space is at a premium." I would have to beg to differ. Mind you it can be a hazzard with all this free coffee on hand... Can make you a bit... Anxious. Mocks and Spocks They may sell shitty clothes (think downmarket Target), but the Marks and Spencer take-home meals are so attractively packaged and nutritional they are hard to resist. Take home meals are popular here. I think because after working 10 hours nobody can give a shit about cooking! I wish I said that Overheard in the subway at Elephant Castle from a woman to a street beggar after he asked her for change: "You shut your fucking mouth!" Street begging is a profession with its perils sometimes the wrath of a woman who has had it with em!

Wake up and smell the coffee Aside from the aromatic smell of piss as I meander through the subways from the Elephant & Castle tube to my place of work (you can see why there are underground walkways when you click this link ), upon arriving I am greeted with other interesting aromas. The fire stairs have that smell of old fat from a greasetrap. A colleague said it reminded her of her grandmas house as in between chain smoking she used to always be frying something up. It is probably the same unmistakable lard and smoke combo that one is experiencing here. The other interesting aroma is from the coffee machine. Where I am currently working has a tea and coffee machine that works on packets. You stick these packets in a draw and place a cup on a tray and gurgle gurgle gurgle later you have a cup of something. The tea tastes like tea and the coffee tastes like coffee, but the more interesting setting is the 2 packet process of making a "cappuccino". You place a

Saturday night After wandering throughout the city I decided to skip the Last night of the Proms or its cheaper counter-part Proms in the Park (in Hyde Park) for something a little more obscure. I went and saw True or Falsetto - A Secret History of the Castrati . It is an encore season of Ernesto Tomasini's one-man show that first did the rounds last year. It is a whirlwind tour of musical history and quite entertaining as he moves from sacred music to opera and then to the music hall. Tomasini has a four octave range so he is quite up to the job. The venue was intimate and warm at the Drill Hall. The Drill Hall is across the road from the Eisenhower Centre , the deep bomb shelter used by Eisenhower towards the end of WW2 so seeing that non-descript building was a bit of unintentional touristing as well. It was a bit like being a concrete bunker in the venue without much air and with hot stage lights. Tomasini was sweating like a pig towards the end of his performa

The week that was... Today I enjoyed sleeping in. It was well worth it after working up to 10 hours a day in an office that was a little bit precious. Politics and office politics combined this week to set the grounds for an office turf war that may not be worth hanging about to see result for. Working for an office where arselicking of incompetent ministers and their flunkies is de rigeur... I could do that back home! It doesn't matter. I took a call from a job placement agency who have a few things they want to put my name forward for so I will be following those up next week. In a box near Whitehall As it was announced this week that Tony Blair overrode his own security intelligence advice in going to war against Iraq, the whole boring affair was being overshaddowed by American pseudo-magician David Blaine being suspended in a box nearby. While many Londoner's are asking "why the hell doesn't he do his annoying stunts in his own country?", th

Workin' Hard for the Money... So hard for the money... I am now working in Elephant and Castle. And I commute from Haringey. People have commented that I just can't help but chose the choicest parts of town. I must say there is something about Elephant and Castle that is familiar. The building I work sits on top of a shopping centre, and the centre reminds me of the Valley Centre Plaza back home. I don't know whether it is the smell of piss and last night's hobos that does it, or the stream of cheap bargain stories that abound here, or the fact it is surrounded by major roads to other parts of London. Elephant and Castle may be the arse end of London, but there is something quite likable about it. I am not the only one to think so. A new TV series on BBC one called The Crouches , which is set in this area. The show is badly written and just gross in parts but what sets it as "cutting edge" is that it contains an all black cast set in the local a

Just what is the deal with Barbican? After my simulated post-apocalyptic trip to Barbican the other night, I decided to venture back there on Friday because the Museum of London was there and I wanted to see the remnants of the Roman Wall that was built around the city (that were also at this site). The guidebooks were right about saying this is the most inaccessable museum in London, but having been in this part of town earlier in the week I was prepared for the convoluted walk up three flights of stairs to a flyover of a deserted road that then took you past a walkway and into a side entrance that then led you to the museum. To be fair, they have thrown a lot of money at revamping the site, and the new entrance opens on Tuesday. But all that new entrance will do is cut out the last side entrance. But anyway, inside there was fascinating stuff about the Roman settlements, and the periods since. It is surprising how much history has been lost over the years. There ar

Diets It is still warm enough for people to go jogging around the streets and in the parks, so they do. The fitness levels of Londoners are quite fascinating. While many were having panic attacks when stories about the aitken's diet being a health risk broke, there are plenty of gyms and other weight control products for the punters out there to amuse. Those returning from their holidays with tans and tone are keeping up their healthy regime by jogging the parks and streets. It all makes for interesting people watching... Mind you, none of this happens near me. Its all Turks and Kurds hanging outside shop stores, but it is only about 10 minutes away where it all happens. Hot spots The holiday spots of choice seem to be Ibiza and Africa. Well Australian's go to the Pacific or Bali...

Zip! I'm a little hectic One thing I didn't mention about last Saturday was that two things happened to me. * I stepped in my first dog poop * The zip to my Marcs trousers (thats WITHOUT an apostrophe) broke while I was at Oxford so I had to walk around with my fly down for most of the trip. Fortunately I was not only wearing high quality underwear, but I was also wearing a jersey that covered the problem. Well anyway, I thought that I could get the problem fixed this week. Alas it turns out being somewhat fashionable trousers (you can't call them pants here as that is what they call underwear) they only have a five inch zip. Standard issue zips come at six inches. I was told on Green Lanes if I could come up with a five inch zip the tailors would fit it for £6. Touristing II * After hearing about 2 jobs that didn't work out, I went to the Tate Modern gallery to take a look at what was there. There was something for everyone there, although I did tend