Paul in London

Music: What I am listening to... Today despite the 2500 my iPOD tells me I have on it, I realised I need more music for the gym. I do have music but it is the same music I had two years ago and it seems so 2003. Music is all about association and I didn't need to re-live two years ago. So I went to HMV to get Kylie's "Body Language" album, and picked up a reissue of Liza's album with the Pet Shop Boys from 1989. But thinking of Bernstein's Candide from last night I did like the following lines from the final number Make Our Garden Grow : "Let dreamers dream What worlds they please Those Edens can't be found. The sweetest flowers, The fairest trees Are grown in solid ground." A stanza for those very sensible realists out there in the world no doubt... Moving: What move? Oh that move Before I move out of the current quarters, it is probably worth noting for the record that from today I officially living alone in West Hamps

Saturday Night at Leicester Square 8:49pm: Thousands waited and watched the cars of stars go by at the BAFTAS. I was just walking by. Forgot that Cate, Leo et al were attending and already inside. 

Up and down on the Piccadilly Line Today looked at: 1. A place near Holburn - Excellent place in a sensible London location, but I don't think I will get it as I didn't think I bonded with the person there. Later today saw the guy at the gym I have just joined. We both had iPODs on so follow-up conversation was not required... 2. A place near Earl's Court - Nice place and large room sharing with a couple. It was made clear that the spotless kitchen was "the way it always is". I started having flashbacks to leaving coke cans on kitchen tabletops in Haringey. Still the couple were interesting enough and we chatted for a while. Providing I didn't use the kitchen for anything more than getting a glass of water I guess I could live there. Actually, the kitchen was in a very odd place. It was an alcove off the living room and there was no dining area. The area they used as a bedroom was the obvious choice to put the kitchen I thought but I guess that would make th

News: Crushes and constitutions In the past two days: * Charles proposes (and nobody seems to care) to his long-term mistress. Constitutional experts and the tabloids seem to show most interest. Thursday night Camilla was in a red dress so The Sun splashed the headline The Lady in Wed ... Weally... * Ikea store opens in North London and people are crushed and several hospitalised while trying to get a £45 flat pack sofa . Emergency services couldn't get to the store as people had abandoned cars on the motorway in search of a bargain. Once again proof to never get in the way of Londoners and their insatiable desire for a bargain. A stabbing was attributed to the store opening as well until it was determined to be an unrelated gangland incident that happened nearby Music: Candide Went to BBC Concert Orchestra's Candide tonight. The audience seemed a bit ambivalent to the concert until "Glitter and Be Gay" was performed by Carla Huhtanen (it was that sort of audience)..

News: Now f*ck off and cover something important you tw*ts Alastair Campbell's advice sent by blackberry in error to BBC's Newsnight team . Know your technology.

Scenes from the Metropolitan Line Monday 9.59pm. Rush Hour has passed... 

Life: A place to live * traveled to Hampstead to see a place. Nice location, expensive and ex-Council flat... * Then traveled to Clerkenwell to see another place. Not bad location, not bad place and 10 minutes walk to the Barbican and walking distance to the fun bars and restaurants in Islington Looking for a place to live is such a beauty contest as well. Even when you really really want a place, you have to pass what the others think of you. Today I did my best to look conservative and stable. Picked safe shirt and jacket and pullover to underscore this. In many ways it is great fun looking for a new place. You get to visit strange and interesting new parts of London and meet some pretty interesting people as well... If neither come to fruition, then there are lots more to check out...

Scenes from GBK West Hampstead Sunday Night: The best burgers in London... and dare one say... anywhere! 

Music: What I'm Listening to - Kristen Chenoweth Downloaded a Kristen Chenoweth album off iTunes last night. She's showy and she's brassy and she's loud... But her album had many songs I weren't familiar with so it was aIt has this wonderful little ditty written by Comden & Green called "If" with lyrics that include: IF: you had been on the square, and had treated me fair, and we'd not had a tiff… IF: you had not said I should go and jump right off the nearest cliff! IF: You had stayed off the make, and you never had taken to coming home stiff. IF: I hand not smelled perfume with a nasty unfamiliar whiff! I'm gonna miss you baby Things could've been teriff! Ah, what's the diff… ...Amen to that honey! Actually while we are on the subject of music that I listen to, a colleague at work saw me on the tube a few weeks back in my own little iPOD world. He had his own music so I didn't interrupt. We don't wor

Got this in the mail from Vodafone today... Not terribly well targeted I would have to say... 

Scenes from SE8 at 4.30pm: The Thames looking east towards Greenwich. The Housing Estate block on the right is being demolished. Two others nearby are still standing...  

To do: Nightlife As I have a quiet night in I was compiling a list of places to visit and of course, there is already a comprehensive list of pubs and clubs in London...

A place to live... the search goes on Today I decided to look at a place in SE8... Canada Water on the Jubilee line is nearby, or rather 20 minutes walk away, and it was near the river but not quite on the river. The guy offering the room owned the place and was nice and friendly and we got on well, although he mentioned he was going out to XXL tonight and I wasn't sure what to make of that information... The room overlooked a common garden which looked charming in that English people who potter about on their garden plot on the weekends kind of thing, but what loomed large over the garden plot was a hideously enormous and monolithic Council Estate. I imagined waking up first thing in the morning and seeing this out the window and screaming. Even if I was here for just a few months I think it would be tough going. The Thames was a short five minute walk away and I was informed that there were plenty of restaurants and bars along the riverfront. Curious, I decided to wa

Theatre: By the Bog of Cats with Holly Hunter Holly Hunter in a West End play was too good to pass up at £15, so I went to Wyndhams Theatre to see By The Bog Of Cats tonight. The house was half full so there was plenty of room to stretch out in the theatre. It was an updating of the Medea story to Ireland amongst the peat bogs and the travelers who live in them, so that might explain why it hasn't found an audience. Holly Hunter could stand on stage and recite a list of vulgarities and it would be still worth seeing her act of course... At crucial moments in the story the man sitting next to me kept rustling his bag of nuts which was a bit of a distraction, and just before Hunter's character gets killed by a man with a white face (not sure about the logic behind that part) somebody's phone went off. The magic of live theatre... Miscellany * Liquorice Allsorts are back on my table. * Was followed tonight at Piccadilly Circus tube station by a man in a p

Politics: New Labour testing ground Labour is testing a series of posters that it may use in the election on the theme Britain is working. Don't let the Tories wreck it again (which borrows the same slogan from what the Tories used 10 years ago but anyway...). They are all are pretty underwhelming in the mudslinging stakes and surely must only appeal to the most die-hard of campaign fanatics... Meanwhile over on the Conservative.com site, the new slogan: "Are you thinking what we're thinking?" is being rolled out... Quite cryptic really... News: Crimes against intruders Amid concerns that crime is out of control (and depending on what statistics you look at you could argue this toss one way or another), in the battle over what people can do to protect their homes during a burglary, new guidelines released this week say pretty much anything now goes . You still can't set traps or punish a burglar by death, but anything else is fair game. The advic

Conversation: Haircuts Paul (to colleague): I am leaving work early tomorrow at 5.30 to get a Haircut. Colleague: : Is this allowed? Paul: Well I need to look my best now... Colleague: NOW???

News: Puttin' on a show Last year was a record year for West End theatres , and goddammit, I am sure I at least tried to see every show... or at least every other show, concert, live performance or whatever you call it. On the plus side now tickets for me a half the price they once were as I only have to buy for one... Going solo to a theatre can have other benefits too... Apart from eavesdropping on other people's conversations you just never know - if it is some enchanted evening - just who you might meet across a crowded foyer / room... Life: Support Broke the news to colleagues today... (the news that I am single). While unfortunately nobody chimed up with "Oh well I have this terrific friend..." (dammit), they have been great and let me pay out on them more so than usual today. One asked me, "But you seemed so happy," to which I replied, "Well that's okay, I was!".

Moving and all it entails... Notice has been given on the lease so I have six weeks to find short-term accommodation so have been reviewing The Gumtree , London Craigslist , Freedomlet and Gayshare . It has been so long since I had to look for something that I had to go back to the August 2003 postings from this blog to remember the names. Fortunately all the sites are still there... Should have some certainty by the end of this week about where I will be living. The other part of the equation is how much longer will I stay here. I have a job until Easter... maybe a little longer... but after that might be the natural time to return to Oz. Since I am looking for something for the first half of the year I have been debating should I go for miserable and frugal or decadent and expensive? I think I will make the decision on what's available of course but these thoughts cross one's mind... Plus something handy to public transport with regular Night Buses...

I need a new suit... of armour... You can never say you are at "the museum" in London. There are so many of them. After shopping for sales on Oxford Street I made my way over to the Wallace Collection where they have a very impressive display of armoury...  

Theatre: Grand Hotel Grand Hotel was a fabulous little diversion for the evening, the weekend, the month... The run at the Donmar has completely sold out and for good reason since the show is so stylish and cleverly put together with a great cast. There is not much set just the back of the hotel sign and a few props. The blanks are filled in with songs and dancing. So who could fault that? The history of this musical is that it was based on the 1938 film, but also on a failed musicalised version in the 1950s by the collaborators on Kismet. Half the songs were replaced in this version and it probably was for the best as while the shift in music styles is noticeable it also helps keep things moving. There is no interval but the one hour and 45 minutes just breezes by. This production tells a much darker story than the film, but that probably suits modern tastes. Best of all was the Baron, played by Julian Ovenden - who was eye candy and ear candy with his looks and tenor voi

The Green Park Shuffle. Friday Night. 

Theatre tonight Busy week, but at least I get to take the next two days off, and tonight will be heading to the Donmar Warehouse to see "Grand Hotel". I explained to a colleague that it was an old movie that they turned into a Musical. Greta Garbo's character is played by Mary Elisabeth Mastrantonionionionio.... What I'm listening to: Songs For a New World It's about one moment That moment you think you know where you stand And in that one moment The things that you're sure of slip from your hand And you've got one second To try to be clear, to try to stand tall But nothing's the same And the wind starts to blow And you're suddenly a stranger In some completely different land And you thought you knew But you didn't have a clue That the surface sometimes cracks To reveal the tracks To a new world - from "The New World" by Jason Robert Brown 1997 There's something in that for all of us

I surprised myself too Well in the end it was an adventure leaving work for the last time (especially after noting on the JAL website that the flight was landing in ten minutes). Marc breezed through customs and was already waiting by the time I got to Heathrow Terminal Three. He just looked at me and laughed and various airport meetup scenes from movies of past ensued. Apparently he figured something was up when nobody emailed him back after his emails from Osaka. Darn forgot that. So much for the great cunning plan. But hey it didn't matter... So now I am going to bid farwell to my trusty bloggersite. I am leaving paulinlondon.blogspot.com and now you will be able to see my continuing adventures at Paul and Marc in London ... Over and out...

Aha! The counter-surprise operation is still in full swing... I thought after yesterday's posting the game might be up but then I got this email this morning... Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 18:40:26 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc" Subject: is something brewing???? To: "Paul" Hey there pauley.... sorry I haven't called or emailed in the last 24... hope you haven't been worried too much. All is well....... Lets just say that there is a little surprise coming your way....you won't know when and how it is going to hit you but I think you'll get a kick out oif it!!! Love you lots pauley and will talk again real soon M Well really, it is all good. We will be back together in less than four hours... not that I am counting down. JAL reports the flight is 20 minutes ahead of time as well... Will Paul make it to the airport in time? Will Marc breeze through immigration and be left waiting for Paul to show up? I have decided no

Outplotting the plotter or the plotting and planning in London... Ok lets talk about Marc. After working out he was arriving this FRIDAY and not MONDAY I have been plotting a suitable counter-surprise... Here's what I emailed Skye earlier this week... Subject: ok here's the plan... To: "Skye" From: Paul Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 13:51:41 +0000 Skye, At 11pm tonight Marc will be in the air... he may try and call you... lets pretend that all is still going to be as he planned... I am assuming that he will try and contact you in Japan either by phone or email so as possible talking points.... * If he starts to waver about the surprise thing then say no you have all set it up and that I seem to be getting over my cold. I informed him that I am getting over my cold just now so he will be aware of that... * Tell him that you talked him into having my farewell work drinks near West Hampstead at (insert name) bar since it isn't that far fr

What the punters have emailed me about Finchley Road... Oh the humanity! Been very busy the last two days setting up the new place... Compared to other parts of London (ie Haringey) it was a no-brainer moving to this part of London, and this is what a colleague (an Australian from Melbourne) said: Finchley road is a really nice spot... close to city, a bit posh without being over the top, great transport links, o2 centre is good (this is the large shopping centre with multiplex cinema and gym), close to hampstead heath/regents park/etc, and quite safe... It was exactly what I was thinking... Of course the downside is that it is a busy road and the studio is much smaller than where I was... But I do have double glazed windows and the street isn't strewn with litter and scummy vegetables from the 24-hour fruit and vegetable stores. More on Haringey Speaking of 24-hour vegetable stores, who is going to go out at 3am and buy mouldy vegetables from one of these

Hmmm The end of the week and not much to report... Except that for tomorrow I try to start moving to finchley Road... I get the feeling that the next week will be very interesting as I finish up in my old (two month) job... Right now I am in Soho making use of the free Wifi access!

A grey area... Today I spent a good deal of the day setting up my private company for my new job. If you work through an agency on a temporary basis you can do this and not have to pay PAYE tax. When you work in government and know where your 27% of your earnings goes, it makes for an even more sensible idea... There are loads of companys that advertise on the Aus/NZ/SA TNT magazine to do this. It is a little bit of a grey area in tax law but well worth the effort in doing so. After my 8am meeting to set this up and then a 3pm bank appointment, I could do with an early night! Zzzz

Guy Fawkes Night Well as I am working back in the office reading emails and the news (and updating the blog), I can see fireworks out of every office window. All good fun and much more fun than the rocket that went off after 1am in my neighbourhood. Meanwhile The Times released new data on "what if" Guy Fawkes succeeded in blowing up Parliament? The answer is that he would have destroyed the whole Whitehall area. Work Working on the South Bank gives you spectacular views of the city, and is handy for Tate Modern and the National, but isn’t so great for doing most of the daily routine things like shopping, eateries etc... Actually the area is underdeveloped... The nearby Oxo Tower is a bit of a white elephant and some substantial reworking of the area needs to happen before the area becomes popular... Part of the problem is that it is just too far away from the major walking bridges (the Golden Jubilee Bridge near the London Eye and the formerly wobbly Mill

Aa-choo Last night on the tube home. A large man sits down next to another man opposite me on the Circle Line. Not all these seats have arm rests so I think it was an issue of personal space that made the man who was sitting down get up. It was a wise move. Next the large man lets fly some really wet sneezes. He sort of covers his nose but he sort of doesn't. I register my discomfort in my scrawled up face. Other passengers concur. He lets another one rip. Achooooooooooooo. I am just imagining the fine particles of mucus now flying around as we pass between Blackfriars and Temple tube stops. So THIS is how you catch a cold in London. So much for the bang... It turns out Londoners aren't so easy going about these late night fireworks. The Guardian reports that the Government is set to introduce 11pm curfews on fireworks and stop children from carrying them in the street. There are too many louts about afterall. Wildcat postal strikes It started o

Bang, crash etc... Guy Fawkes night isn't so much of a night anymore but it is a season. Especially since November 5 is a Wednesday, and due to the fact that an Indian / Asian festival event also falls around this time, the nights over the past few weeks have been full of bangs and pops. Walking home from my bus stop at Haringey the other night I heard an explosion. As I looked I saw the tell-tale cloud of smoke from yet another banger gone off. Since the UK isn't a nanny-state like Australia all that seems fine and dandy with the punters. People are free to blow whatever they like up... Of course there are also the official bangs and pops on the usual river barges and parks sponsored by insert name of company or local government borough. But the odd banger on the street is much more interesting... even if it is at 3am Tube glorious tube One of the nicest things about working where I am (well for the next two weeks now) is the nearest station. Public works h

All I want is a room somewhere... Well a room * Within zones 1 and 2 * Wooden floors * Washing machine * Own bathroom * Walking distance with the tube and near night busses * For around £170 p.w including as many bills as I can get away with fitting in within that tight budget. * In a decent neighbourhood These are the things that you come to realise are the priorities of life in London. Well failing that there is always the streets... I can say: Welcome to London I live very central. Its Oxford Circus tube exit six. Bring your own cup. Addios IDS (as The Sun reported) It had to happen. The Conservatives have dumped Iain Duncan Smith. It was a necessary business as the only time IDS ever made headlines since I arrived was when his leadership was in question. Michael Howard is poised to take over and will be the first Jewish leader of any major party (well one who hasn't been baptised)... Uxbridge Didn't make it to Pinewood Studios last night as we co

A difference of a few days Since my last update I have done the following: * See three one-act musicals * Get offered a new job and accept it * Look at a place at the fabulous location of Belsize Park. So a lot has happened. One of the pluses of where the office has moved to is that it is practically just across the river from The Bridewell Theatre . It is fringe theatre but nowadays since what passes for shows on the West End have become so bland fringe theatre seems so darn entertaining. Last night's show was "Notes Across a Small Pond" - the pond being the Atlantic and the notes being 3 short musicals from writers from both sides of it. Settling down to the first musical called "Blood Drive" it was a pointless but watchable musical about a guy giving blood. The second musical called "The Happiness of Fish" was a perplexing tale about a woman with insomnia who feels better after dreaming about goldfish. At this point there was an in

Teething troubles Moving into the new office with sweeping views of the City and on the river Thames has come at a price. Apart from being away from colleagues I worked with at Elephant & Castle (as only half the office could move), I have found the following: * The building is a bit mid-eighties-hotel-chic. Maybe it is because of its height (11 storeys). Or maybe because it was built in the eighties. But whatever the reason it has the look and feel of a hotel with its brass fittings and pale marble floors. The cleaning products used even give it that hotel smell... There is a restaurant on the second floor with a great view of the Thames and a dodgy gym in the basement which also adds to the hotel feel about the place. * There is no Flavia coffee machine. Ok so the coffee wasn't that great, but there was a roast that was the equivalent of a Robert Timms coffee bag that I used once back home so that was enough to get me going in the morning and it was enough to r

Okay, the last update was a bit angry. You know you're in trouble when you read that you put the words "modernity" and "shit-hole" in the same sentence. Next thing you find out that your housemates are having second thoughts about wanting you to leave... But more on that later in the week... Concorde Three Concordes flew past Elephant and Castle on Friday. It was a moment when I wished I had my camera. Not just to capture the planes as they flew past as we had a fabulous view of them from our office, but to capture the madness and the phenomenon they inspired. As each one flew by people stopped what they were doing and ran to the windows. As we could see them circle the entire city we had a great vantage point from every side of the building so people ran to every side. Of course I joined in (not one to miss a phenomenon even in Elephant and Castle). I was probably a little bit light hearted about it after the great Italian lunch we had nearby.

The Necessary Business I am a little bit tipsy as I write this update thanks to the UK taxpayer and some farewell drinks as the office moves (I see it as a small rebate for the huge amount of tax the government takes from you here)... Anyway last night I had the discussion with my housemates that I was avoiding all week. It was the I won't be alone in a few weeks and I need to know if I should be moving out conversation. And yes I will have to move out. It was a polite sit down conversation over supper... but one that I had to have as I need to give four weeks notice and it is now less than four weeks. I have mixed views about leaving beautiful Haringey. Well lets face it the neighborhood is a shit hole because it is full of Turks and illegal immigrants who have no concept of modernity. They haven't built a community in this neighbourhood as so much as replicate a middle-eastern slum. On the other hand, Soho is only twenty minutes on the tube... There

I have seen more radio shows than heard now Last night I went to a taping of Concrete Cow . It is a mild-mannered sketch show which was funny at times too. Had one of the actors from the odd C4 comedy Peep Show (the actor on the right). Leaving E&C Only two more days left at Elephant & Castle before we move to more sophistimicated south bank space. This week there have been lots of explosions going off as the local children play with fireworks (well this is Southwark, and Guy Fawkes night is coming up). Today one of them went off a little too close to the shopping centre creating a small-scale emergency response by police and fire services... possibly because one of the shoppers thought we were under terrorist attack. But it wasn't rabid muslims, only silly Jamaicans. It was over before it began however, but the fireworks have been a fitting final week finale I would have to say... Incidentally this is one of the views from the the office that I will

Things the guidbooks should tell you to take while riding the tube: * Torch. You never know when the power is going to go out and you are stuck somewhere dark and unpleasant. * Water. Not just for drinking but washing off all that tube dust when you get stuck in a tunnel and have to walk out. * Steel capped boots. So the mutant mice dont bite your feet while you are walking in the tunnel back to the station. * Crash helmet. No trains have derailed today but they seem to be happening every second day of late... * Padded clothing. You may be secure in your position but Betty next to you might be too engrossed in some tawdry magazine to be holding on to the handrails. The Northern Line has been out of action in Central London for today while they figure out how to get the train out of Camden Town station... Lets hope it doesn't take them too long to figure that one out... Squidgy knew she would get squashed is the fun news of the day... The Daily Mirror (not known

Bar Bitches This weekend I decided not to go on an out-of-town excursion as enough excitement had happened in the week to deserve a jolly good sleep in. I did go to a funky bar at Balham (gateway to the south some may recall Peter Sellers once saying). It is zone three south London on the Northern Line - aka a bloody long way to go for a bar! What was I doing in Balham? Well it was for Helen's birthday. Helen grew up with Skye so that's the connection. Anyway I was due to meet Skye early at the place but tube delays meant I was a little late. Well over an hour late. There was a line up to get inside this bar that was probably the most sophistimicated bar in Balham. It was quite funky once you got over the fact that it was located outside a Sainsbury's car park. So I had to enjoy the October London night air. London in October is quite refreshing. Twenty minutes later and still standing in line to get into a bar however the novelty begins to wear o

Obsessions... Recycling is not really a priority in this country. London has seven more years of landfill so that should be plenty of time to come up with a sensible solution. On train rides out of London you can spot the transfer stations by where the flocks of pigeons and seagulls are. Everything is packaged and sealed from sandwiches to cakes to three peppers (that's capsicums to you back home) red yellow and green that you can buy at the supermarket (Actually that is very of them to do that... the traffic light peppers are such a lure I almost bought a packet once even though I only wanted one). So I figure to hell with recycling. But there are two recycling bins near me however so I try to use them. But there is this strange thing that a colleague has... He insists that the staples get removed. He stressed to me a week after starting work that you must remove the staples from the paper. I had visions of staples flying out wounding helpless paper recyclers or some

Actors of no importance I wasn't planning on going to see an Oscar Wilde play tonight. Skye made me do it. Well Skye and her friend in town for just a few more days and wanting to catch some shows on the West End. But how could one turn down the chance to see the play "A Woman of No Importance" at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (which is where it premiered 110 years ago)? The cast was Rupert Graves, Prunella Scales, Samantha "You always were a cunning linguist James" Bond and Joanne Pearce. But the real star was Oscar Wilde. In the end who cares about the actors and their rather young lookng photographs in the programmes that don't quite look like who they are on stage? Actors come and go - and some like Graves and Scales even drop a few lines under the table - but Wildes sharp observations of his time will remain. Afterwards Skye commented that it was the best show she had seen here and that was because I hadn't picked it. Well if I had it

Sunday shopping Spent Sunday browsing for coats, gloves and jackets. There is too much choice. Couldn't decide on anything. Explained my dilemma to Skye over Japanese at OSatsuma . We then had coffee in Soho and was up until 1am because of it. So that's why everyone was at the pub ... the telecast of England v Turkey drew the highest ratings ever apparently... Tonight A play by Oscar Wilde...

Mahler in the Cathedral Another Saturday rolls by and I had no idea what to do with it, except to catch up on lost sleep from during the week. So I decided to head to one of the train stations and catch a train somewhere. The somewhere became Canterbury. It seemed like it was going to take forever to get there, but eventually I arrived, and not finding any maps for £1 at the station, I just walked to where the town centre looked most likely to be... Well the huge cathedral helped guide the way too. I had just enough time to browse through the Cathedral and hear a bit of the Evensong service and then I noticed that tonight maked the start of the Canterbury festival. The opening night concert was at the cathedral and it was Mahler's 3rd Symphony. After browsing through the rest of the town I made my way back to the cathedral for the concert. I figured it would be a great way to hear Mahler's 3rd for the first time. I managed to grab a cheap seat at the side

Steppin' out... This morning I nearly stepped in it. Walking the subways to work from E&C tube station, there was a fresh pile of crap. It was everywhere. I assumed it was a not-so little calling card from one of the local hobos. Ah one of the problems of not having public lavatories. As I was arriving at work earlier than usual the street cleaners had not yet had time to deal with it. I thought it would be an opportune time to talk about my experiences to date with hobos. * I have avoided engagement with hobos. Its a parasitic profession. Most people would view it as hard enough to earn enough to get by in this city without giving it away. * Yesterday at London Bridge station one was reading a Tom Clancy novel while holding out an old Starbucks cup. * If you get out your wallet for someone in the street who asks you for some spare change don't be surprised if they mug you. If The Sun won't support you and your conservative... who will?? IDS's s

Things about interviews * They are a great way to see parts of London you wouldn't think of travelling to (Enfield yesterday, today it was Lewisham) * They offered me the job from yesterday even though I told them in a roundabout way I was lousy for the job (hey honesty must count, or maybe I was too roundabout) * I am still happy where I am for now... BBC Radio 4 After hearing a few weeks ago that you could apply online to get tix to BBC shows - and they were free - I spent an evening applying for anything and everything. My efforts paid off and in the mail I got tix to a recording tonight of The Now Show . It was at the Drill Hall where I had been to see the True or Falsetto show a few weeks back. Not having listened to much radio in the nine weeks I have been here now I had no idea what it was about. So tonight I discovered: * It is a comedy show based on current affairs / current events similar to the "Good News Week" * BBC Radio 4 is for slightly-l

Hey Enfield isn't that bad! This evening I had an interview out at Enfield , which despite the drab website, is a pretty picturesque part of London. It is quite a civilised part of town with just enough urban funk thrown in if you want to still keep gettin' jiggy with it. Such a pity you need to take the overlander and a packed lunch to get there (especially if you are coming from Elephant and Castle) but never mind. Oh and the job is not for me. Too much number nerding... Something to put on a happy face... A run of Bye Bye Birdie has been playing at the South West End so last night I caught it. The theatre was upstairs from a pub and was quite low maintenance but as I paid only £5 to see it, I tried not to complain too much (or move) on the wooden bench I had to sit on to see the show. While my glutes were going numb, I managed to be quite impressed with the calibre of talent. It was a professional production. And they did their best with rather dated mat

Tube adventures I was late getting to Wagamama's last night. There were this cute elderly couple who got on the tube at Lambeth North and there were no two seats together available. I thought it was a shame to break up such a cute couple all dressed up in their smart coats and scarves (and the rest), so I did the very untube-like thing of getting up and offering my seat. The man kicked up a fuss so I said, "No it is no trouble, I'm getting off the next stop". Well I wasn't planning to, but I could change at Waterloo for the Northern Line to take me to Leicester Square. It was a good way to end the debate before it began. Anyway the woman was happy and the man thought that made sense so they let me stand (as by the time this conversation finished there were no seats at all free). Well I get off at Waterloo and sombody was under a train somewhere on the line so there were huge delays. So what is the moral of the story? I have no idea. It just am

We interrupt our regular broadcast... The events of the past 24 hours have made me wonder if David Blaine isn't the only person in the world interested in self torture. Just letting everyone know I'm all ok... Off to go to Wagamama for theraputic reasonably-priced Japanese food with Skye tonight in clean minimalist surroundings to put the mind at ease. Hommmmmmmm

1066 and all that Hastings was an interesting afternoon adventure. I forgot about all that 1066 business but was reminded about it when I got there. The town itself has seen better days. It seems to be a relic of tourist salad days long gone. Now it seems to be over-populated by post-pubescent teens with a penchant for breeding as there isn't much else to do. It is a bit of a pity given the history of the place. I took a cable lift up to East Hill and went for a walk around the Hastings reserve. It struck me as very quiet. There were people about but it still was strangely quiet. The park scene with low bushes reminded me of the film Blow Up. I was expecting a flustered Redgrave to run into me while I was photographing badger holes (well that's what I hoped they were) and other things and then to find a body. It didn't happen. Just an active immagination. Walking through Hastings and then to St Leonards along the seafront was great for some fresh air

Tits and Press My CD walkman was playing up this week after spilling water on it last Friday. So yesterday I grabbed The Sun to read on the tube. It isn't a real paper, but it was tabloid size and I thought that would be easier to manage while riding the tube during peak hour. After boarding at Manor House I opened to page three and there staring at me were the two biggest tits in full colour newsprint I had ever seen. People on the tube love to read over your shoulder if they don't have anything so I was well aware these humungous knockers were on full display to everyone. But then I realised it was okay. I was in England. If there is one thing that the punters love here it is Tits... Well tits and poo-poo jokes... I pulled myself together and just turned to the next page which had a full page photo of a dead dog that somebody weighed down and threw into a river and continued my quality read. The Sun is a little at the extreme end of the press but there you can l