Paul in London

Scenes from SW4 Backyards Saturday 14:22 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Gardens are popular in London. Nowhere else in the world will you find such a concentration of low maintenance spaces of mixed paving surfaces and dead plants...

George Michael has been at it again. This time he has been caught at Hampstead Heath's having sex with a fat man from Brighton. The News of The World has the photos of the exact location and Michael's reaction to the photographer taking the pictures… Even more bizarrely they tracked down the fat man and he posed for pictures and bragged about how he has a special secret that Michael responded to… All rather titillating but perhaps not the best thing to read over cornflakes on a Sunday morning…

Scenes from Soho Friday 23:20 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Hot in the city...

Friday night I caught Turandot at the Royal Opera which was a good classic production of the opera. I gather from A that the ENO did a truly dreadful version a few years ago that prominently used old television sets for some unexplained reason so it was nice to see it performed in a largely standard way. This production now at least 20 years old is showing a few signs of age with clunky costumes and a stale take on Commedia dell'arte for the characters of Ping Pang and Pong, but overall it still looks good. Ben Heppner and Georgina Lukács were great in the lead roles but the biggest applause was reserved for Elena Kelessidi in the role of Liú. She had an incredible voice that would not be drowned out by the occasionally overpowering orchestra… This is a very accessible opera full of melodrama and soaring music… And also the aria "Nessun Dorma"… Discussing the plot of the opera later with A he suggested that the riddles were too easy for Calaf to get and that he should

American businessmen lost in central London. They didn't ask for directions so I couldn't tell them where to go...

Scenes from Leicester Square Tube Wednesday 22:00 Originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Descent into hell in this weather...

For those that are suffering withdrawals now that the World Cup is over, and you have already thrown away those polyester flags attached to your car, there is now an internet game for those fans who just can't get enough of Zidane head-butting Italians …

With the temperature reaching 36.6 degrees near Gatwick on Wednesday, it was not a day for bragging when one was in one of the few offices in the building with air conditioning (and sitting right under it). I stayed back late at work just to enjoy the cool. In this heat other anti-social acts include: Going out for ice creams and not coming back with enough for everybody Closing the ventilation windows on the tube trains claiming it is too breezy standing next to it Perspiring over fellow audience-members at a Proms Concerts (it was the Queen's 80th Birthday tribute tonight and the television cameras have picked up the audience battering programmes desperate for some movement of air) Forgetting deodorant and using the grab rails on a peak hour Clapham omnibus It is weather strictly for the Abercrombie and Fitch cargo shorts , a light t-shirt and flip flops… Incidentally thanks to global warming summer temperatures are expected to become more Mediterranean in London over the next