Paul in London

Lady #1 : Oh I'm still a bit jet lagged... Lady #2 : Jet lagged? Lady #1 : Yeah I was in Miami for two days for work and just got back this morning... Lady #2 : Oh... Lady #1 : You know how it is... You're expected to be the party girl out until 1am; then you have to show up the next day at a meeting and say something intelligent...

Looking back over the week it was striking the number of single people who in the cold, opted for sleeping with their cats. Maybe I just know a lot of cat people, but what is wrong with sleeping with a hot water bottle with a faux fur cover ? It was the week for the cat people I guess as one by one they all proudly announced how their cat kept them warm to anyone who wanted (or didn't want) to hear.

Abbeville Man ( to woman) : ...And worse than that, she is a complete lesbian. And I had to baby sit her boyfriend the other night...

The phrase "run dead" is not commonly used here. As in, he was ambivalent about the ethical treatment of animals so he decided to run dead on the issue in the campaign. Add that to the list of other words including Scuttlebutt and Cassandra ...

DSC04419 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . The neighbours got into the seasonal spirit as more than 5cm of snow fell overnight... Snow continued to fall throughout the morning. This evening while snow still remained on cars and a heavy frost was moving in, the snowman had moved out... A bit of carrot and a few twigs were lying on the ground nearby...

Finally caught Tom Stoppard's play Rock 'N' Roll before it closes at the end of this month. It has been playing since last summer and has caught the imagination of the critics and the punters. The background of the story is the velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia, and the links a family in Cambridge have to the country. The central message is that there is no freedom without creative freedom and that's something that I could agree with. There is a wonderful scene where an old British communist after the collapse of the old regimes in 1990 smashes a plate. Was it all just a waste of time? Or do the new democracies appreciate what they have more than those in the west? Who can say but plenty of food for thought... The original cast have moved on but even with the second cast headed by Dominic West (who is terrific) kept the pace going, even when it was a bit on the long side. I get the impression that even though the play finishes its run in February, it's going to...

Lady #1: So it is... Good times, and bum times, I've seen it all... Lady #2: ...And my dear... I'm still here. Lady #1: Plush velvet sometimes... Sometimes just... Just wha? Lady #2: ...Pretzels and beer. But I'm here...