London Calling...: August 2006

28 August 2006

Pink umbrellas, The Dude and V2006

You may see a new little advert at the top of my blog now, and you may ask why? Well, recently my dad sent me an article about achieving financial independence, encouraging you to do little things in your daily life to help you earn and save more money. One of the tips was adding these little Google ads to your blogs. If you click on the ad, perhaps I will become financially independent. Hey, it's worth a shot...

So lots been happening in Londontown recently. Last weekend was a particularly packed one. Saturday saw the start of the 2006-07 Premiership season, Arsenal's first game in their new stadium, and my first trip to my season ticket seat, where I will be spending a great deal of time this year. The seat is in the upper tier, behind one of the corners. Johnny Harber, his brother and dad sit only one section away! Despite being pretty far away, it's actually a great seat. See the view here:

The most exciting part of the day was seeing little 17-year-old Theo Walcott finally run out onto the pitch to play his first game for Arsenal...and live up to all of the hype. THEEEEE-OOHHHH!

Then I ran home, quickly changed out of my jersey and hopped into town on the tube where I met up with Jason. Thanks to Sandra, Jason is one of my new friends in London, although he happens to be from Texas too, which I am trying to overlook. Jason sort of lives in London and sort of lives somewhere else (DC, I think) but has been in London about the same amount of time as I and seems to be up for checking new places out, which is helpful.

FilmFour has a great summer film series at the beautiful Somerset House, so we went along to check out The Big Lebowski on the last night of the series. There was food, drink, DJs and beautiful scenery, as everyone just laid on the cobblestones in the historic setting and laughed at the Coen Brothers classic. Some even came dressed as 'The Dude' - Jeff Bridges's character in the film - complete with bathrobes and 5-day-old stubble. Unfortunately, it started 'pissing it down' shortly after the film started. Unfortunately for Jason, I had recently learned he was a Republican, so as punishment I forced him to hold my hot pink umbrella over the both of us throughout the entire rest of the movie.

At some point, the rain just got to be too much, as hot pink umbrellas don't necessarily offer the best protection when it just keeps on raining. We scurried away and headed into Camden town where we danced the night away at Club Silver at The Underworld, where we 'veered happily across the indie spectrum, with DJ Jared and guests keeping the dancefloor sweaty and heaving!'

As if my feet weren't tired enough, I had a music festival to attend the next day! Thankfully I was meeting up with Johnny M and he was running late too. I somehow drug my comatose self to Liverpool Street station where I had a very large coffee and slowly came to life before we made our way on the train to Essex. We arrived just in time to say a quick hello to Johnny & Liz Harber before running into one of the tents to catch Lorraine, one of the bands I was most looking foward to seeing. Lorraine are a Norwegian, modern cross between The Pet Shop Boys and The Psychedelic Furs. Knowing that description alone might make many of you run for the hills, just in case, I've included a link to their myspace page here (Check out 'I Feel It', their current single). When they ended their set with the Furs cover of 'Heaven', I was ecstatic.

So here began my 'festival haze 2006.' This always happens to me: a combination of the music, the sun, the dancing, the little plastic bottles of wine, the dancing.... I missed most of Paul Weller standing in line for the port-a-loo, but managed to catch several great sets by Hard-Fi, The Beautiful South, The Crimea and The Charlatans before Morrissey rounded off the day in a most perfect way, beginning with ‘Panic’ and concluding with a jaw-dropping version of 'How Soon Is Now?' Here's to V2006!

Lorraine

Hard-Fi: Stars of CCTV

John, what are you up to??

Do I know these people??

Moz

25 August 2006

Number Eleven

I learned something new about Britain this week. I have gone through my entire life thinking that 'Number 10 Downing Street' was where the prime minister lives -- it being one of the most famous addresses in the UK and all. This week, I learned I was wrong. Number 10 is actually the prime minister's offices, but his family is too big to stay there, so they actually live at Number 11. Cher-ee just seems to keep popping out children.

I learned all of this when my friend Stu stopped by my desk earlier this week to tell me he was 'having drinks at Number 11' that night. I looked at him a little bewildered (which happens more than I'd like to admit in this country) and nodded like I knew what he was talking about. He must have caught on that I was actually clueless and explained the whole thing to me.

The next day he came in with pictures for me. Amazing story - he has a mate that works at Number 11 - for Gordon Brown, I think. Since everyone is away on holiday the mate invited Stu and his wife 'round for some drinks and a tour. He spent the evening drinking wine in Tony's living room and even used the same urinal (pronounced yur-EYE-nal) as Sir Winston Churchill! Here's Stu giving it his best 'Blair' outside Number 10.

19 August 2006

The NHS...

7 months here, and I finally got my first taste of the NHS. I must admit, I am still a wee bit fascinated.

I woke up the other day with an earache. It wasn't horrible, but I have never had an earache before and it kind of freaked me out. Previously I had signed up for a doctor, at the encouragement of my boss (I think her words were 'you are not allowed back in the office until you get yourself registered with a doctor!'). Essentially, if you are not registered with a doctor, you can't go to one; you're only eligible to go to A&E (what the Brits call the ER). That doctor has to be within a small radius of your home, like 2-3 miles. So as you can imagine, luckily there are doctors offices everywhere, but they vary from place to place, and there is absolutely no information on them when you're selecting one to help in your decision making process.

I was advised to choose an office that had several doctors, so that if one wasn't available you could see another. So anyway, I decide I should go get this ear thing checked out, as I was in a lot of pain. You can only make appointments like this the day of, and you have to catch them on the phone as early as you can. I started trying to call right at 8:30 when the office opened, and received a recorded message that says 'I'm sorry, our phone lines are busy. Please try again later' - click. You're not placed in a queue, you have to keep calling back. Now keep in mind in Britain you have to pay for each call you make, local or otherwise, so I'm guessing BT must make a fortune in all of these doctors office calls! I got through after about 20 times, and was surprisingly told I could come in in an hour. No 'our next appointment is in October' - just 'sure come on in.' Talking to people around the office it seems that that is not necessarily normal, but still, I was pleased to get in so easily. Although when I arrived at the office at 10 I overheard them turing away patients on the phone and telling them to call back tomorrow at 8:30. So that's kind of annoying, you can't make an appointment for the next day, you have to start the whole calling process all over again...

The office is about as far away from the offices of the Cedars Sinai medical center than you can get. Essentially it's just a 2-story house in a row of old Victorian houses along a street near me. The waiting room is not dissimilar to the nurse's office at South Knoll Elementary. Wooden benches, old chairs with the stuffing coming out of them in places, worn posters everywhere encouraging you to eat your fruit and vegetables. I half-expected to see a poster of a kitten dangling from a tree saying 'Hang in there!' It truly was like going back in time. But the staff were friendly and I got in with ease.

When your appointment time arrives, you are called back--not by a nurse to sit and wait for another half hour--but by the doctor herself (who seemed about my age!). The examination room is more like an office than anything else. The entire room is not white, and while clean, did not have that state-of-the-art/sterile feel I had become used to. For my exam I sat at her desk in a chair instead of on a paper-lined table. She seemed to ask all of the right questions, did the relative tests, and sent me on my way. I wasn't in there more than 7 minutes or so, but didn't feel like I had missed anything. The strangest thing was walking out and not having to hand in any paperwork to be filed, write a check out for a co-pay, or update my insurance information. You just wave goodbye and walk out. Simple. 'Cheap as chips' as they say.

I will admit that I didn't have a complicated medical problem, and who knows how that would be handled, but overall I was impressed. It was efficient and easy (not to mention free...for everyone). My only hangup was the awkwardness I felt in the waiting room - it just seemed so old. But really, does that make any difference in the quality of care you're getting? I doubt it. It's just funny what we become accustomed to over the years. Watch this space...

14 August 2006

Sorry Marc...

When I announced my impending departure from La-la-land, I appreciate that there were a few who may have been a bit sad, but I know there were also a few of you out there (and you know who you are!!) who issued a little 'yipee', celebrating (if perhaps silently) that you would no longer have to come over to West Hollywood and socialize with Piccadilly. While I don't understand this in the least, I suppose I should simply appreciate my nice friends who visited and tried their best, even if she really did, at times, seem to be a touch anti-Semitic (sorry, but she really is sweet & cuddly).

So it is to those of you that I apologize. I'm sure that you were fairly certain that you'd finally escaped Piccadilly stories and pictures, but there is no way I could let the munchkin's 13th birthday go unnoticed--even if I am 5,000 miles away. How often is it a cat reaches 13 and is the same weight she was when she was 1? Not very often, I say. August 10th saw a big celebration in College Station, Texas. I am happy to report she received a new mouse for her birthday, and apparently wants to start dating now...

Keepin' It Real: A different kind of tea party...

I find this to be hilarious. What is 'raw tea' anyway? Yo yo, where my WASPs at?

13 August 2006

It's possible I've been watching too much 'West Wing'

Just something funny to share. One of my co-workers happens to share the same name as a fairly high-profile political anchor on MSNBC, which is also owned by NBC-Universal. As such, they occasionally receive emails for one another. Usually they're fairly amusing commentary from angry fans debating what was discussed in the prior week's show.

This week, however, I received an email from my colleague, asking whether I had changed his job criteria and failed to tell him, with the following pasted below. He gave me permission to include this in my blog, providing I delete his name - I've also deleted the phone numbers, just in case any of you (like me) were tempted to call in and join in the debate!

Hi xxx.
You're invited to join a conference call with reporters at 11:30 a.m. ET today. Democratic leaders Sen. Menendez and Rep. Levin will join the Campaign for America's Future to draw a line in the sand to protect Social Security in this year's midterm elections. Most candidates will avoid talking about their support for diverting Social Security taxes to fund private accounts this year, but most Republicans quietly remain true believers. We're putting the power back into the third rail. To join the call, dial-in to 888-xxx-xxxx, code xxxxx. If you can't make it, please share the news advisory below with others at The xxx xxxxx Show. In the meantime, let me know if you need more details or further information.

Thanks. xxx.
xxx xxxxx
Communications Director
Campaign for America's Future
202-xxx-xxxx

MEDIA ADVISORY:
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 9, 2006

SEN. MENENDEZ, REP. LEVIN TO RELEASE A REPORT ON HOW THE
2006 ELECTIONS WILL DRASTICALLY AFFECT SOCIAL SECURITY
Leaders To Highlight Key Midterm Candidate Positions on Privatization

WASHINGTON - Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Rep. Sandy Levin, D-Mich., will join Campaign for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey and Democratic pollster Guy Molyneux on a conference call with reporters on Thursday to discuss how Social Security's guaranteed benefit is at stake in this year's midterm elections.
With the popular Social Security program celebrating its anniversary on Monday, Sen. Menendez and Rep. Levin will also release a new report by the Campaign for America's Future on the call. The report will score candidates in the most contested congressional races on the issue. The law that created Social Security was signed on Aug. 14, 1935.

NEWS TELECONFERENCE TO DISCUSS
SOCIAL SECURITY AND A POWER-SHIFT IN CONGRESS
DATE: Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006
TIME: 11:30 a.m. EST
CALL-IN: 888-xxx-xxxx, code xxxxx

PARTICIPANTS:
--Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
--Rep. Sandy Levin, D-Mich., ranking member Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security
--Guy Molyneux, sr. vice pres., Hart Research Associates
--Roger Hickey, co-dir., Campaign for America's Future
# # #

11 August 2006

Any other day...

Any other day in England, and the news would have been dominated by the fact that not only has David Beckham been replaced by John Terry as the new England captain, but that he has also been dropped from the England squad. That news item got a little eclipsed, though, as it happened to coincide with the news that the entire air space between London and the US--along with all of the people in it--was supposed to be blown up.

There's really not much to say here that hasn't been said on various news reports, but in typical stoic Brit-fashion, it is 'business as usual' here. Which is kind of nice, because although the country is at a unprecedented 'Critical' alert level, going about our days as normal kind of makes it easier to deal with being a long, long way from home.

06 August 2006

Stalking Nigella

I will admit that I am mildly obsessed with the supermarket Waitrose. It's just a nice place, and always has very fresh things, and is small enough to navigate around and not feel like you're in the middle of a Wal-Mart superstore. Johnny Harber also tells me it's a good place to pick up men (how he would know this, I dare not ask...).

I will also admit that I am mildy obsessed with Nigella Lawson. I love watching her cooking programme, especially when she gets up in the middle of the night to raid the fridge for leftovers. I love it that she seems like a 'real' person and doesn't talk down to her viewers. I also love it that she keeps Reese's Peanut Butter cups in the freezer from when she went on holiday to the US. I recently bought another of her cookbooks and was anxious to try a few recipes last weekend.

I will also admit that I sometimes have a great deal of freetime on my hands on the weekends. This is not meant as a moan, it's just a fact. So when I stumbled across an article in Tatler magazine ('Britain's most stylish and indispensable society guide', apparently) that happened to mention that Nigella shops at the Waitrose in Belgrave Square, Knightsbridge, I said to myself 'Why go to my local Waitrose?' I'm not sure if I was actually expecting to see Nigella, but I didn't think it could hurt if I happened to bump into her...maybe I could ask her for some cooking tips.

Well, I decided to make a day of it, heading over to Knightsbridge and stopping off at Harrods102 for some lunch. Harrods102 is technically a 'convenience store' but it's no Diamond Shamrock, that's for sure. Right across the street from the famous department store, it's essentially a smaller version of their incredible food halls, without having to navigate through the throngs of tourists and wealthy shoppers. And their bathrooms are top-notch! I sat down and had a little sushi, and couldn't resist treating myself to a Krispy Kreme donut - yes, they sell Krispy Kremes at Harrods! It tasted like heaven and was worth every single one of the 3-billion fat grams that were in it.

Then I headed over to the Waitrose, which, it turned out, wasn't that much different from the Waitrose down the street from me, but was in a much more fashionable postcode, and therefore made the people-watching much more interesting. I didn't see Nigella, but I had a fun afternoon, and the meal of slow-roasted garlic & lemon chicken, fresh asparagus and hassleback potatoes was fantastic.

London Calling...