Ooh – lookie – I’ve added a new Resolution Watch widget to the sidebar – a visual reminder of how well I’m doing against my 3 Rs -- reading, recipes, and running. Oh - and 1C - culture.

I’ve added another ‘been-meaning-to-read-for-ages’ book to the list – The Kite Runner – and yes, Dad, I agree it was magnificent. A distinctive voice painting such a clear picture – I couldn’t put it down.

I have fallen at one hurdle, however – the vow not to buy any more books until I read the ones I already own… because after The Kite Runner came What Came Before He Shot Her – the latest by Elizabeth George. Another unputdownable read – though of course in a different way. I’ve read all of her Inspector Lynley books, and this was a bit of a departure for her – rather than being a fairly classic modern English detective novel, this looked at the societal factors in play that lead to a 12 year-old boy being arrested for murder.

Now – onto the next – chosen from my shelves this time, no more return to Amazon! User vote:
--(fiction) The Time Travellers Wife
--(nonfiction) The Man Who Ate Everything (food writer essays from Vogue)

Vote early, and vote often!

global audience?

As some of you may have noticed, I've added this little map widget thing to the lower right of the site -- supposedly showing where my hordes of visitors are coming from. Not surprisingly, the mass is from the US Northwest (hi Mom & Dad, Sis...). London appears to be there too - again, no surprise.

But -- what's that? Lurkers in China and Russia (too small to see exactly where, but perhaps Moscow? Shanghai??) Huh? So - if you *are* visiting from a farflung land (well - farflung relative to London or my family) -- please, say hi! The more the merrier...

Another Schindler?

Read this really interesting article in Sunday's Financial Times Magazine - about Ernst Leitz, head of the Leica factory in Germany in the 30s, who may have helped dozens of Jews by giving them apprenticeships at the factory, and then jobs in New York -- sending them and their families to the US... official records put the number at 42, though anecdotally some speak of many many more. In any case, it shows that however many stories you read, there are always new ones worth discovering...

Horrible wedding day...

I am *so* not letting anyone give me curls for the wedding...

Happy Groundhog Day

And check back at 12:30 GMT to see if Phil says winter or spring... C'mon Spring!

Update: Spring it is! Thanks Phil... (wait a minute - does the early spring prediction only apply to those in Punxatawney? Hmm... maybe I need me my own groundhog...)

I want this blender!

I soooo want a Blendtec now! Will it blend???

Resolution Recipe Watch

Hmm... should've waited until Feb to try another new recipe - but a chilly Sunday was perfect for Moroccan Chickpea Soup... Super easy if you use canned chickpeas (2) and lentils (1) -- not sure why you would go for dried?? Makes a great lunch the next day too.

Not meant for westerns...

SO - we rented yet another highly regarded 'modern' western... and once again, were a little, well, bored. This time it was The Proposition (no need for me to recap, you can read about it here!) While I could appreciate its "hauntingly beautiful" look, I did find myself thinking "umm... so is something going to happen?" That's a bit unfair, however, at least it wasn't too long, and more happened in this movie than the even more critically acclaimed Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada... another DVD adventure we almost fell asleep through...

Maybe I need to stick to Clint if I want a Western I can stay awake for. Or maybe I'm just part of the low-attention-span Sesame Street/MTV generation...

low blogging frequency

Apologies - the loss of home laptop has definitely limited my blogging frequency... will have to either a) bring my work laptop home more often and/or b) get into work earlier and spend a few minutes on updates!

Biggest news today: SNOW BRINGS LONDON TO A HALT... Yes, a whopping 2cm fell last night, enough to cause major disruptions to most tube lines, and traffic jams / accidents on all the major thoroughfares... Ah - the joy of snow in a city that rarely sees it. I fully expect headlines all across the papers tomorrow lambasting the cities for not being prepared, despite snow being forecast for, oh, about 2 days.

I didn't mind it - bus worked fine, and this was the most snow I've seen here in 10 years -- certainly made a pretty picture or two - will upload soon...

UPDATE: photo added!

Look - we're stars

I am *loving* this Levi's ad... hee hee hee

Resolution watch

OK - enough of this holiday break, looking back at the year... time to get back to blogging, starting with making my new years resolutions public and then tracking against them... So - here goes:

1) Get married
On track so far... 15 weeks, 5 days to go... see PlanetWulfagar for more!

2) Read all of the books I've bought already, before buying any more
Two weeks in, have just finished A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian... very good, definitely recommend it, quick, amusing, and original read, and definitely made me want to learn more about the history of the Ukraine. And don't worry - it's not too tractor-heavy!

3) Run the Paris 1/2 marathon in under 2:30.
Umm... no. It's become clear in only about 2 weeks that I'd be fooling myself - so looking more realistically at time / willingness to train - I've already modified this to
NEW 3) Run the British 10k in under 60 mins...

4) Do a minimum of 1 London cultural activity per month.
So far, not so good - but a few weeks left in January still

5) Try one new recipe per month.
Mmm... tried a modified chorizo-prawn jambalaya... was yum! I just wish I'd written down the recipe!

Ok, think that's enough for now - let's see how it goes!

Happy New Year!

So – here it is, almost 2007, another year past, so much to mention – and so much to look forward to next year!

We started 2006 in sunny (?!) Seattle, setting the tone for a year of fireworks and excitement…

Which really kicked off in February, when, fuelled by ½ bottle of free wine and the sleepifying effects of pasta (thanks Strada of Barnes!), Ashley proposed, and I, similarly fuelled, accepted. Laughing, crying, and all manner of phonecalls ensued (‘Have you told your sister? Call your sister, and then tell her to call me right back when she knows!’) (And no, though it was February, it was not a Valentine’s Day proposal, that would be too cliché…) What it was, however, was incredibly sweet and special moment, and to stop my typical cynical joking for a minute, was an event that has already changed my life for the better, knowing I have such a fantastic, helpful, considerate partner by my side.

Save that for the wedding speech! I hear you cry… we want more fun & adventure in 2006!!

Ok – what else? Starting the year on another continent clearly kicked off the travelling bug for 2006: we were fortunate to make several trips again this year, both UK and further afield. From Las Vegas to Cinque Terre, Hastings to Dublin (this time a girlie trip for me & some friends), and of course Seattle one more time, we racked up a few more carbon emissions & collected a few more airmiles. (Must remember to plant a tree or two…)



Many of these trips were about seeing family, which of course is wonderful… we were so happy to be able to make it to LA for Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah, getting all the grandkids together [and one great-grandkid!]. This is still one of my favourite pictures from that trip… We love you and miss you Grandpa Bob & always will…

And thanks again to all the family that gathered again in Seattle for our ‘Pacific Northwest Wedding / Engagement Reception’ / Mom’s surprise birthday – I guess we’re lucky to have so many joyous and happy occasions to get people flying ‘round the world for. I only wish I could’ve flown back just a few weeks later – to see the youngest member of the family, darling little Beruria Esther (Kara – I hope I spelled that right!!). My little niece joined the family less than a month ago – welcome, and I look forward to seeing you when you take your first transatlantic flight next May.

We also had some grand adventures at home – not the least of which included Ashley’s summer of cricket glory (and my one day of ‘doing the tea’ – very nerve-wracking being responsible for tea & food for both teams, but the sandwiches and cheese biscuits seemed to go down well, and I let Ashley make the tea!). The cricket season was capped by our stunning 1-point victory in the Stonor Cricket Club annual quiz night (with friends Olly & Lee, Duncan & Sabine) Phew!

Of course, my favourite quiz night this year would have to be the one next door with a special guest appearance by MY MOM. We certainly wouldn’t’ve come in a near-first place without you! We had a fantastic week with you here Mom, and look forward to more visits (and I promise not to go off to Nigeria for a business trip the next time you visit!)
And of course, I certainly won’t be going to Nigeria the next time you visit. Because that will be for what we in our humble minds think of as the main event of 2007: (drum roll, please) the PlanetWulfagar Wedding. And I plan to stick around here for that!

not as hungry as i thought...

So I'm having these standard blood tests this morning (no, I'm not sick, there's nothing wrong or unusual - I just thought it would be a good idea to check my cholesterol, etc.) -- and I have to fast for 12 hours. Luckily (well, not luckily - they do it on purpose) - it's in the morning, so most of the fasting was overnight. I figured - no problem, settle into some cross stitch at night (where I never eat - don't want oils on the canvas!), sleep, wake up just in time for the appointment, and done.

But no - just as the clock hit 'no more eating', some friends who'd been skating at Kew popped over. And next door to the pub we went. I didn't mind just sipping water while they had their drinks. However, the smell of the cheesy fries ordered to accompany said drinks was a little more painful!

But I persevered, and now that I'm awake, I just miss my coffee. *Such* a tough life I lead, I know.

November 11th -special day

For the past 30+ years I've known November 11th was a particularly special day - more than just that Veterans' Day thingie.

But I just discovered that there is yet another event associated with it - almost nearly as exciting and important as my lovely sister's birthday.

Yes, it is the annual meeting of the Corduroy Appreciation Club. And it's held every year on November 11. Otherwise known as 11 - 11. Which looks remarkably like... yes - corduroy. Or rather, the wales that make up corduroy.

And how do I know this? Step forward, NPR Popular Culture Podcast. How MUCH do I love this show??!! I wish it were on daily, not weekly. The best thing through my headphones these days, that's for sure. And more than worth the price of the ipod! (well, considering my ipod was a gift, that's a bit unfair, but you know what I mean...) In the past few episodes I've heard about Battlestar Galactica, the significance of 11 - 11 (as above), and, um, some diner in Rhode Island. Fabulous and highly recommended! (The show, I mean, not the diner, though that's also probably pretty good...)

Restless leg syndrome online!

I hope the massage chair is helping your legs mom - I'd hate to see THIS happen in the condo every day!

It's snowing!!

make your own snowlflake HERE... hours of fun & entertainment!

A new worry

Great - now I need to worry about being fat even if I'm thin!

Are you 'avin' a laugh? Is 'e 'avin' a laugh?

How many of the top 100 TV catch phrases can you guess? (thanks TV Land...) (and I'm the headline of this blog entry is *not* on the list - though it deserves to be! Maybe they'll do a british version over here...)

Happy Birth-Day Fluff!!

Congratulations and Mazel-Tov to my lovely sister on the birth of baby number 2, AKA Fluff... (and congrats to her lovely husband too - I guess he had something to do with it...)

Pictures when I get some!

still Seattle-bound?

Ok, clearly we're no longer still Seattle-bound*, but I've been miserable about updating the site since we left... SO - in a brief update, some highlights of the trip (aside from of course the obvious great time seeing friends & family and celebrating my favourite holiday, Thanksgiving!):

**YUM. Best. Non-Philly. Cheesteak. Ever. Thanks Mom for suggesting Tat's!

**A few sunny breaks in amongst the clouds -- despite it being the wettest November since records began.

**Breakfast at the Crocodile. Pancakes and a mimosa... No - I didn't have the Trailer Trash breakfast, but I'm sure it won't surprise any readers that Ashley did! Shame we didn't make it back for an evening show...

**A freeeeeeezing walk in the sleet, with no break in the clouds -- but lots of laughs, and a few dog sightings (no, Ashley, we cannot adopt that one, no matter how cute!)

**Purchasing wedding rings (ack!!) from the lovely friendly people at E. E. Robbins

**And our first wedding gift (double ack!)

**Macy's Parade(s) -- Awww... the commercial-filled national one on TV, complete with Broadway musicals, Santa Claus, and my new favourite, "Healthy Mr Potato Head"; and the homier, marching-band and drill-team filled one through downtown Seattle (luckily during one of those sunny periods)

**Holiday spirit - dogs 'n' all...

**Introducing Toby to the 'power nap' ... and every other minute giggling with the cutest nephew in the world

**Catching up on a few more Law & Orders with my number-one TV-watching friend, my MOM! (shame we never got to the Tony Bennett special!)

Checking out a new bar with 'the boys', but leaving them to it after one drink (not, however, a bramble. Next trip to Seattle I'm making sure that bartender knows how to make one!)

Chowda and more chowda... first at Duke's with the Wright clan (followed by a trip to the aquarium - eat first, then observe them live?), then at the airport... when will I ever learn that I can never finish that sourdough bowl. But boy does it taste good!

Speaking of food - how about that 17 course meal at Rover's? [ok, slight exaggeration... but if you count each charcuterie separately...] With the will o' the wisp parking space...

And, and, and... Ahh... no wonder the time flew by so quickly!!!

*on the other hand, you could say we're perpetually Seattle-bound, because we'll be back!!

Seattle-bound

Yes, we're off to Seattle today - yay! I'm particularly excited by the weather forecast... today being the most promising at "mostly cloudy". The rest of the days are an encouraging mix of "showers", "rain / snow showers", and the mildly better "few showers" (not quite sure the cutoff point between 'few' and just 'showers', but hey, that's gotta be better!

Not particularly excited about the movies either - though might watch the animated 'Cars'. I'm not sure if I like it now that you can look online and find in advance the movies that are going to be shown. It used to be a treat to get on board, pull out the magazine and flip to the back -- "ooh! They've got Bend it Like Beckham!" Now I already know that there's very little to keep me entertained for the 10 hours to come... Already looking forward to being on the ground!

Guess our invitation got lost in the post...

And besides - we wouldn't've been able to attend the TomKat nuptials anyway. Tickets to Seattle & all that!

not my fault

I know there was no post yesterday, thus breaking my November blog-a-day challenge... but believe me, i really did try! the mind was willing, but the system (blogger in this case) was not able... ;-(

I'll just have to do a few today to make up for it!

Eco-friendly?

So, our local borough of Richmond, like all forward thinking areas (hooray-aren't-we-great) introduced curbside recycling a few years ago, for paper, glass, and aluminium. No cardboard collections, but better than nothing.

Then about a year ago, they also introduced food waste recycling (unlike the US, most people *don't* have garbage disposals here). So, the point is that food-only waste can go for composting, rather than fill up garbage landfills.

And to increase efficiency, they made collection day for all recycling AND rubbish the same - so you only have one day to remember.

However - it still looks like there are 3 separate collections. So 3 separate smelly trucks pootling around Richmond, generating who knows how much carbon emissions or whatever. So -- which is more eco-friendly? Recycling, but 3 trucks, or not bothering, and saving the petrol?

Sigh - it's not easy bein' green...

In honour of my parents' whirlwind trip to San Jose to see la Streisand in live glory, here is a link so you too can Give the Gift of Barbra... (hey - that's what it says on the site!)

Look forward to hearing all about it Mom & Dad!

Meeeat Glorious Meat...

...plus some whiskey and trifle!

Yep - I was so energised writing about my stupid iPod that I almost forgot to post about our dubious success at the MEAT AUCTION. So, there we were, Thursday night, at our lovely local pub, the Greyhound (as you know), for the monthly comedy show -- MC'd by Nick, AKA Quizmaster Nick, who I think is getting to know us (a little at least - he seemed to remember our engagement...)

Anyway, in between the acts, Nick asks for stories from people who've had the worst day or month -- for a grand prize of some drinks and a very large bar of chocolate. Of course, after such a fun week with Mom, we couldn't possibly think of anything bad about the month, so of course couldn't win that competition. (Or, perhaps, for a laugh, and in the interest of competition only, Ashley did mention something about his mother-in-law staying with us for a week...)

In any case - we didn't win. However, my beloved betrothed just couldn't face leaving the pub empty handed -- and when the 'Meat Auction' started, he saw his chance. And yes, it's just like it sounds, an auction for meat. It only took about 5 minutes of frantic bidding, but he emerged victorious from battle, securing about £12 worth of meat for only £25!! Our lucky day... (hmm - maybe I'll try to keep Ashley from any auctions in the future...)

But no, it was a fun evening, and we'll be dining on this story for months. Literally...

busy weekend

Lots going on this weekend, which is always good. Saturday we were off to meet with a wedding photographer, ooh, very exciting! He does fantastic work, so hoping to get that sorted asap... then after getting my hair coloured (thanks to Chloe at Trevor Sorbie I no longer look like a skunk, at least for the next 6 weeks or so), we were off to Stoke Row for the annual Tennis Club Quiz Night! (I know, I know - it's getting to be a habit!)

Sadly due to some incredibly ridiculous questions, including a True-False round, (True or False: Robbie Williams scored higher than Florence Nightingale on a public-voted list of top 100 Britons? Don't ask me, I don't even remember the answer, just that we got it wrong!), we came in a very close 4th out of I think 9 teams. So not bad, but not great - especially as we were second until that last round!

Some sample, non True/False questions:
SPORT (our best round - we got 16/20):
*What sport features in Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (ok, not really a sports question, but I was happy it was there amid cricket & soccer questions, so I could answer one!)

*The ball of which sport is known as the sliotar [nope, we had NO idea!]

ROYAL FAMILY: (pretty easy actually...)
*Who lives in Clarence House (1/4 for each right answer)?
*What year was Prince William born

NATURE:
*What animal has 4 knees (d'oh - we had 2 options, and chose the wrong one...)

Ahh well... all for a good cause!

apple is the worst company in the world

and I would never recommend an iPod to anyone. And I'm not the only one.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

So my iPod started breaking down a few months ago, and finally died about 2 weeks ago. And of course, every time I try to get a reservation at the 'genius bar' -- oops, sorry, we're full. I just logged on at 6:30 AM to find the only available time today is 8 pm. 8pm???? Yes, just what I'd like to do on my Saturday night, because I have no life.

If I ever *do* get this stupid thing fixed, why should I go to the trouble of moving more of my music into iTunes, where they can't be played by any other player, just to have my iPod die in about another year (as I understand the average battery life to be)?

I resisted for AAAAGES getting one, but of course finally succumbed, because everywhere around me people seem to be happily listening to their iPods, buying 2, 3, 4 of them, sharing iTunes files... aaaargh! is it only me??? maybe I have some weird electrical signal that's corrupted the stupid thing.

All I want to do is watch Lost...

Of course, if I do manage to get this fixed, perhaps when home in Seattle in a couple of weeks, then I'm sure my disposition will turn a lot sunnier... ;-)

But until then, I'll sing this tune:

Favourite election headline...

Now that the elections are over & I've had a chance to peruse various English publications, my main observation is that pretty much all agree this was an election against Bush. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if some non-Americans believe Bush himself is no longer President, given headlines like "Bush defeat" or my favourite, from the Daily Mirror: "American Zero: US voters boot bozo Bush" (sadly it's no longer on the website, or I'd include the image...)

I must buy these boots

Ok, they're not hugely attractive, and I still question whether they'll fit over my calves... but once I found them, I knew they had my name written all over them... literally.

Drumroll please for the Rieker Antistress 'Stefanie 54' boot.

Why 54, who knows? But Stefanie-with-an-F? They must be for me!

how closely do you look at logos...

This is SO HARD! Can you choose which is the correct logo - of various online companies? The only one I got right off was Amazon, only because I know the thinking behind it. The rest were almost total guesses...

What the Fluff?

Woohoo - think I've just managed to figure out how to embed video! (in this case from some sort of parade...)

9 S on a SM

aka, 9 Sacks on a Seahawks Monday... congrats to the Seahawks for actually remembering how to win, and doing it on Monday Night Football! Ok, perhaps it wasn't pretty... so maybe Tony Kornheiser called it a 'death game'... fine, ESPN said even a mediocre team would've beat the 'Hawks... but a win is a win is a win!

World's Longest Bridges

Part of my Nigerian adventure included crossing (twice!) what I was told was Africa's longest bridge - from the airport to Lagos Island (and onto Victoria Island, which I presume is part of Lagos, but what do I know - clearly I need to improve my knowledge of Nigerian geography...)

Anyway, that got me wondering - what's the longest bridge on each continent? And I wonder if someone's crossed all of them? The first question was pretty easy to answer, thank you Wikipedia... I thought Lake Ponchartrain would be the longest, but am amazed it's nearly 4 times the Third Mainland Bridge (which is what I assume is the bridge I crossed in Nigeria, not that there were any signs or anything!) I'm glad I'm only reading *now* the fact that it may be in urgent need for repair, as the government has not maintained it in 15+ years (according to Wikipedia, that is).

A bit harder to answer the 2nd question - if anyone's crossed all of them. I'd say perhaps the Bridgemeister, however it seems he concentrates on suspension bridges (with a few exceptions, yes)... I'll have to keep looking. Perhaps the Bridgetravelmeister is around here somewhere!

National Blog Posting Month

So, it's NaBloPoMo -- didn't you know? I've hung the decorations, wrapped the gifts, sent out the cards, and am practicing my Nablopomorphic carols... Or at least trying to find something to write about each & every day of November. I've made it so far - here's to the rest of the month...

movie-blog

Oooh - saw The Departed tonight... Martin Scorsese-directed, with Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon & Leonardo Di Caprio (interestingly, on the poster Leo gets first credit...)

We'd definitely been looking forward to it, and I'd heard mostly good reviews... so, perhaps my expectations were high - not usually a good thing for movie going! Overall, I thought the acting was very good, especially Di Caprio, though more & more I'm not sure if Jack Nicholson's becoming a parody of himself... I kept seeing flashes of The Joker coming through.

But that's being unfair - I do think it was mostly gripping, and I only started even thinking about looking at my watch about 10 minutes from the end. With all the double crossing and undercover investigations I did find myself getting confused at times as to who was going after whom and why, but think I perhaps understood it by the end. The love interest was a bit disjointed - wondering if perhaps some bits had been edited out to keep it to 2 1/2 hours.

I think I agree most with the New Yorker critic, David Denby, who says "The story is highly improbable, although Scorsese and Monahan keep the complicated goings on clear and taut, and the entire movie is acted with spirit and conviction... “The Departed” is murderous fun, but it’s too shallow to be the kind of movie that haunts your sleep." I certainly enjoyed it, and am glad we saw it on the big screen, but don't think it's a classic or one I'll be pondering over for more than the first 10 minutes of the dinner we had after the movie (and of course the few minutes it's taken me to write this entry.)

A few photos

Yawn... returned from Nigeria this morning, via Amsterdam. Got about 3 hours sleep - am doing my best to stay awake until a reasonable hour. If I take a nap, I think I'll end up sleeping for hours & then my schedule will be completely discombobulated!

A few pictures from the trip:

View from my hotel balcony

On the road - saw so many people balancing goods on their heads, I just don't know how!

Dinner... during a momentary blackout...

More news from the trip when I wake up!

whirlwind trip

I absolutely cannot believe it - trip almost over! In a very short time I've seen the countryside, had a massive dinner, visited the atlantic ocean (didn't go in!), chased a newt out of my room, bought the obligatory-postcard-for-the-collection, and of course, conducted business... one more meeting to go - then off to the airport.

Still surreal to think I've only been here less than 2 days... seems so far away, but so relatively easy to get to.

Photos coming soon!

Landed safe & sound

I could get seriously used to this Upper Class travel, especially on overnight flights. The seat flipped over to form a completely flat bed, and a relatively comfortable one at that. I was out FAST, and think I got about 3 1/2 hours at least... not bad for a 6 hour flight. Arrived in Lagos safe & sound, now in the business centre before my meeting starts. All in all, fairly uneventful. And no mosquitos... after all the malaria talk & 'you must wear DEET-containing bug spray...' and I don't think I've seen a single mosquito.

[but don't worry dad - I'll keep taking my malarone!]

such fun

My first post direct from the Virgin Airlines Upper Class Clubhouse - hope I get many more, because this is FUN! I presume if you travel a lot on business the excitement wears off... but I'm certainly enjoying the free food, huge television, and cushy chairs... only wish they had a few fashion or gossip mags - all the business papers get a bit boring... ;-)

Next post - Nigeria!

movin' on up

It's taken a while, but we finally made it back to the Greyhound Pub Quiz... and what a great night it was! Ok, we didn't win, but we came in 2nd this time, which is 1 better than the last time we were at the Greyhound. To be honest, a number of the questions were pretty easy - but we'll take what we can get.

More exciting than the quiz itself was the grand prize for most interesting day at work. Going around the room we had retailers, physicist, software sales closer (yay, Ashley), global banker, school teacher, and a Seattle-based art gallery curator (aka Mom, did you know?!). The bartenders chose their 2 favourite - and Mom was one of them... tension building - who would win the coveted best job / day prize of cinnamon liqueur???

The prize was to be determined by a test of skill... would Mom or the schoolteacher be more accurate in their guess of the age of one of the younger looking contestants...

Mom took a close look, said "hmm - you look a lot like my son" and guessed 28.

The school teacher went for the younger 24...

The embarrassed young looking contestant opened his mouth and said... "I'm 29"

And a great cheer went up 'round the pub for the Seattle smartie who took home the prize!

[I would post a picture, but something seems to be wrong with the upload... wil try again later...]

24 hours until the Stitchery Show

Ok, 25 hours and 12 minutes... but am very excited nonetheless about my upcoming journey to ally pally (aka Alexandra Palace) for this year's Knitting and Stitching Show (formerly just the Stitchery Show, but as knitting's become more popular, that's migrated into the title). Rows & rows of stalls, usually some amazing work on display, and I'll take yet another knitting class in the hope that it will stick this time.

Though I have no idea why I'm even looking at new material, considering the progress I'm making on my current project - a baby sampler for my friend Beth that at this rate won't be finished until the intended, Benjamin, is in kindergarten!

Hours of fun

Or minutes at least at the GeoQuiz. Phew - got a nice 100% on 25 US cities... a lot worse on European capitals! But, better than I expected on UK cities, so I've learned a little bit in my 9 years here...

How excited am I? Only one week until the launch of new digital channel "Five US" - yes, they've finally realised that almost the only good TV on in the UK is from the US. (aside of course from Extras, QI, Jonathan Ross, and those fab BBC wildlife documentaries and period dramas that show up on PBS eventually). So thanks to Channel 5 for launching a separate channel devoted to US shows only. Though on first review, it appears to be the All CSI, All the Time channel (unfortunately the All Law & Order channel here appears to be the Hallmark network, which we don't get...). But it's a start!

How many of these have you read?

The New York Times not-so-recently did a survey of top writers and other leading literary figures to find the "best work of American fiction in the past 25 years"

I'm very ashamed to find I've read a whopping 1 on the list (The Plot Against America)... must up my reading worthiness from Heat and Grazia magazines! At least I fared slightly better on the much-more-recent Observer look at the UK / Commonwealth equivalent. I think I've read about 3 or 4 of them. But on the other hand, the Observer's list of 'honourable mentions' is much longer than the NYT's... And at least I'm in a bookclub now - that's got to count for something!

Race results

Yay! Another personal best - 1:02:04 for the Nike 10k, I'm pretty sure my fastest 10k ever. AND, I'm proud to say, I ran the first 6k (in 36:20) before taking a bit of a breather. OK, before hitting the wall. 6k - 7k was practically a crawl after that, at about 7:15, but picked up the pace a tiny bit to finish under 63, which was my goal. Slightly adjusted goal (from the original 60) - but a goal nonetheless, and one that allowed me a PB. And I still have that sub-60 to shoot for. Now I just need another race.

Until then, however... is it bedtime yet?

Clock is ticking

12-ish hours, counting down, to this year's Nike Run. And wow - how about that training. Er. Hmm. Once again, my ambitions however many weeks ago when I signed up were a bit stronger than reality, but I did do a couple of sessions / week, and so fingers crossed I'll do ok tomorrow. The weather should be crisp and autumnal, which should help - much better than if it's too warm. And my trusty iPod is charging up as we speak, so I should have musical accompaniment, which of course always helps.

Updates tomorrow in my next post. Assuming I have any energy left to type...

Quiz champions

Last Saturday was momentous not only for the run, but also for a brilliant success at the Stonor Cricket Club quiz night. Ok, perhaps I should've built the tension a little more, but it was just so exciting to win, I couldn't keep it in for another 2 - 3 paragraphs.

The tension on the night was a lot more real, however - as we came from behind in the last round to beat - by 1 point!! - the single team from the rival club. Phew! Especially because that meant that my mortifying mistake in a cricket-related question didn't put us out of contention. (what happened? as the scribe for our 6-person team, I was responsible for filling out the answer sheets, obviously with team input. And for the cricket-related questions, I clearly know NOTHING, so was writing whatever I was told. So how I ended up writing 'Keith Gillespie' [the incorrect answer] instead of 'Jason Gillespie' [the correct answer] I will never know. Did I learn nothing from all of those years of watching Jeopardy!? Answer last names only, don't mess around with the first unless specifically asked! All I do know is if we lost by 1 point, my team would have killed me.)

Luckily however, my team (including Ashley, and friends Olly & Lee, and Duncan & Sabine) worked very well together and we were able to answer such diverse questions as:

• Who directed the documentary 'When the Levees Broke', about Hurricane Katrina?
• Which writer was recently exposed as having been a member of the Nazi party?
• Is Barry Bonds a Giant, a Padre, or a Dodger [ok, we had a bit of an advantage here!]
• What Siberian Lake holds 20% of the earth's fresh water?

Oh, and a bunch of other cricket-related questions, which fortunately I managed to write down correctly.

So, yay us, and we already look forward to being back next year to defend!

Record-breaking day

Forget the 4-minute mile... a far more important barrier has just been broken, by yours truly. Ok, the importance is strictly personal, but I'm still extremely excited to report I FINALLY broke a 30-minute 5k. 29:48, in fact - a feat that caused such emotion when I crossed the finish line & looked at my watch that I burst into tears! A bit of an over-reaction, I agree, but still, can't argue with the response...

Why was I running at all on a fine Saturday morning (23rd of September, 2006, by the way, not that I'm memorialising this day toooo much)? In aid of Trees for Cities - yes, another charity run, the Tree-athlon, to be exact. I didn't hit anyone up for money this time, figured my entry fee had to count for something.

It's really just a step along the way to the Nike Run, which is now only 2 weeks away. I've not been training nearly as much as I'd like, and as I swore to do, but I have been going out a couple of times a week, which, combined with dancing once a week (have I blogged about that yet? Don't think so... topic for another day) - has I guess raised my fitness a tiny degree. Let's hope that sustains me through 10k on the Oct 8th. Watch this space!

very dangerous...

Eek - I just discovered that CyberCandy, a store selling American candy like peanut butter M&Ms, sweettarts, and other delights has just moved from a side street I could never find, to a very-out-in-the-open location, that's far too easy to find!

I'm just hoping immersion therapy (that is, getting sick from all the candy I'm suddenly gorging on!) will be the best cure... (says she, popping yet another liquorice Jelly Belly)

I confess...

Ok, I give in. As much as I try to deny it, I am indeed media-celebrity obsessed. Z-list? No matter. My proof? Last night I was out to dinner, and who did I spot? Big Brother winner Pete. Yeah. Practically George Clooney and Madonna together in terms of stardom. This week at least. Kind of. Well, as far as Heat Magazine is concerned.

And what did I do? Dither for 20 minutes to everyone else at dinner about why I was too chicken to take his picture. And THEN I walked by him for a completely legitimate reason, on the way to our table. And I oh-so-slyly had my mobile out, nonchalantly 'checking my texts' while oh-so-surreptitiously angling my camera. And then I flaked. And just smiled and said hi to him, and he said hi back, and probably thought I took his picture anyway, and I DIDN'T. So the grand result was nothing, nada, zilch. Except my feeling of slight embarrassment for caring so much. And in front of colleagues as well.

Ah well - I should just embrace it. Maybe I should be a paparazzo. Except I need to remember to actually take the picture next time.

Magical Mystery Tour - part II

When last we saw Stefanie & Ashley, they were trapped on the Hastings Pier, being forced to eat jellied eels and play crazy golf in the rain... did they escape to go on to new adventures the next day???

Of course we did - and without the eels or golf.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny, how lucky were WE?! So I packed up my shiny new backpack (except mine is red), and off we went. Up the Hastings East Hill - you could walk, but we took the railway, to get some great views of the town (it looks a lot better with some distance!)


Then, off we strode to Rye, some 11 or so miles away. The first few miles were quite steep (think cinque terre) but then after about mile 4 or 5 it leveled out, and we had a lovely stroll in the sunshine, through fields, by canals, hill & dale, over the river and through the wood... We stopped in Winchelsea for a late lunch - with a pyschological advantage of it being about 3/4 of the way through the walk, so the last bit was easy-peasy.
Winchelsea was "soooo cuuute" - really, it was, and we ate at a charming classic pub, the New Inn, for some hearty walkers' fare. My big question, however, is how to pronounce Winchelsea. Is it Win'chel-sea', or Win'-Chel'sea. I think the former, but have heard more people say the latter. And the oracle that is google had no light to shed.

The walk ended in the old town of Rye, "medieval gem", doncha know. Where we wandered around for a few hours, saw the castle, and also the home of Henry James, and had tea at a cool boutiquey hotel, where yes I did feel a tad out of place in my tee-shirt & backpack, despite its shiny newness.

Sadly, the weekend had to come to an end; Monday bank holiday we slept in, but did have to check out & head back to London. At least it rained again, so made going back to work a little more palatable!

Magical mystery tour...

Belated post for this weekend - as many of you know, it was a 3-day weekend here in England, and Ashley whisked me away for a surprise holiday. Surprise in that I didn't know where we were going... I knew enough to pack a bag at least! And, amazingly enough, it remained a surpise location until we were almost there.

So - where was the mystery location? Morocco, in Zanzibar. Well, the Morocco room in the Zanzibar hotel, technically not exactly in Africa, but instead in the small seaside town of St Leonards-on-Sea. Which, true to its name, is on the sea side - the south coast, about a 3 hour drive from London.

The B&B was great, very different - I have to say I've never had such a friendly greeting... including Champagne on arrival, very nice. And Matt, the owner, was just great, recommending a place for dinner, and chatting about his plans for future work on the hotel - it's just getting started, really.

And by complete random coincidence, the Guardian that Saturday morning of our departure, reviewed a restaurant in that very town, and we were lucky enough to get one of the last table. St Clements was cozy & yummy & just right for a lengthy lunch before venturing out to explore St Leonards and nearby Hastings. (yes, 1066 and all that).

However, I think we saw the highlights of the area with the hotel & lunch. For although the Guardian article referred to a local "renaissance" - I think it's eeeeeaaaarly days at best. Umm - how would I sum it up? Sad. Faded, really. One of those classic old English seaside towns that hasn't moved on. And there must've been more take-away restaurants per capita than I've ever seen. Chinese after Chinese, with the odd "Kentassee Fried Chicken" thrown in. (Where's Kentassee? I have no idea. Somewhere less expensive than KFC-franchise-land).
And I suppose the rain that first day didn't exactly show it in the best light... still, we had fun, walking on the pier, buying candy, visiting the Fisherman's Museum (one of the town's most popular tourist attractions!), playing air hockey in the amusement park, as you do...
Still, as we didn't take in any rides, nor did I indulge in the famed jellied eels, I feel I've not properly 'done' Hastings...



Sleepy now, so that's all for this installment - tune in tomorrow for Sunday's adventures - can the intrepid duo venture beyond Hastings for the day?

Trains, waves, and underground

Had a very touristy (touristic? touristish?) Saturday, with Ashley's mum over at ours for a few nights - started by boarding the incredibly conveniently located boat at the Kew Pier behind our flat, for a trip down (up?) the Thames to Westminster. We managed to dodge most of the rain, and had a pleasant journey of about 80 mins - a little longer than it would've taken by other forms of public transport, but much more picturesque. I've certainly never seen Westminster and the London Eye from that view before!

After a quick lunch (during the heaviest of the rain, phew!), and a short stop to watch the tail end of a street performer's set, as he endeavoured to escape from a straight jacket (amazingly enough, he succeeded, in exactly 2 minutes, which was the time limit he set himself), we headed off to the Tate Britain, for the Constable exhibit. Ok, I must admit, landscape portraits aren't really my thing, but I found it interesting to view the life-size sketches he made first, side-by-side with the final paintings - to see how he changed the composition, etc., and how that really did affect the overall mood of the painting. However one thing I did *not* like was the mass of people there, as this was the last weekend of the exhibit. HOW many times do I have to remind myself *not* to go to major exhibitions, especially on a weekend, and even more especially on the last Saturday of the show. D'oh. I find myself feeling almost claustrophobic, and just rush through the show - whereas if there's few people there (like the time I saw the Vermeer exhibit in DC at about 2:30 on a weekday afternoon) I could spend hours...

Ah well - enjoyable afternoon anyway, including in the shop, where I bought a book called ...isms so I hope to educate myself on various art styles, from "Absolutism" to "Verism"... and - though I'm not sure why it was for sale in an art museum - I couldn't help buying the reproduction of Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain 1942, because remember: "It is always impolite to critisize your hosts; It is militarily stupid to critisize your allies"

And finally, after the museum, it was back on the Tube and on to Roast , a restaurant at Borough Market, for an early dinner. Yummy starters - a FANTASTIC 'soused' herring on a mustardy potato salad bed - but then a little less exciting from there. I should've just ordered more herring for my main! Still, great location, and well decorated interior, and serves me right for ordering from the bargain set menu - especially the vegetarian option in a place called 'Roast'. Next time we go (if we do) it'll be a juicy steak all the way...

Returned home by train from Waterloo (making it with about 20 seconds to spare) , thoroughly sated by art, food, and the various forms of public transport - so all told, a good day out!

*i have no idea what has happened to the photo option, btw - have tried to upload photos from the day 3 times, with no luck. So, will publish now, and possibly update later!

Funniest Dilbert Ever

Ok, I'm probably not supposed to just paste a cartoon here - but hey, Scott Adams, I give you full credit (as if anyone in the world doesn't know Scott Adams does Dilbert...), and thought this was just so funny I had to share it with the 4 people who read my blog!

If you want to see more, visit www.dilbert.com - and you too can get your daily dilbert, and then spread cartoons to the world.

(not) doing my civic duty

I'm embarrassed to admit that I saw a real, honest-to-goodness crime being committed yesterday... and did absolutely nothing about it. One of those situations where - before it ever happens to you - you might think "what would I do in this situation?" And I didn't do what I thought I would.

So, what happened? I had just started to cross Kew Bridge, when I heard the sound of glass breaking. I thought perhaps there'd been a car accident, and turned to look. And what I saw, was a man, reaching into a car, and grabbing a briefcase & something else, and then jumping on a bicycle to ride away. I just was just riveted watching this, probably took about 10 seconds, thinking "oh my god, what should I do? Call 999? Take a picture? I should do something." I was so in shock, that I didn't even realise a) I already had my phone in my hand, and b) I also had a camera in my bag.
In my alternate heroic reality, I fished out my camera in a flash, shouting 'oi, stop that', so he turned around, and I got a clear shot of his face; he dropped the briefcase, I called the police, they caught the guy, and all was right with the world.
In my real life reality, however, by the time I came to, the man had disappeared, and I thought about calling the police, but had no idea what help I'd be. I could barely remember what he looked like, and figured by the time the police arrived he would be far gone.

And so, I'm more than a little ashamed to say, I just headed on over the bridge. I mean, c'mon - I would've missed my train otherwise!

We'll miss you Grandpa...

Say hi to B-Tunia for me!

love,

Stefansneezer

(Who woulda thought, Grandpa Bob in a blog... that and $2 subway fares - how the world has changed!)

And start training... NOW!

Right - for the 4th time, I've signed up for the Nike RUN LONDON 10k... and have roped a gang into running with me (thanks Margot, Kim, Cat, Emily, and possibly Sally too!)... SO - am determined to actually train for once (thanks Hal Higdon, and sister-in-law Amy for introducing him).

According to the 'novice' plan (ok, I know I've entered races before, but for the good it does, I might as well still be a novice) - 8 weeks is enough. Which is good, because it's really really hot. SO - I'll see what I can do in the next few weeks, then start in earnest early August. Sounds like a plan... Started with a little 'stretching & strength training' tonight. SO that's something...

my favourite london

I would happily commute if I could end my journey into work with a view like this:

I had a meeting Wednesday morning in central London, so walked over the Hungerford Bridge (I think my favourite - just for the views either side)... ahh - Thames, Westminster, all the other sites in the sunshine - makes me remember how much I love London!

Quiz bust

So we were all excited to finally return to the quiz night at our lovely local, the Greyhound - after last time's 3rd place finish, we were determined to place first. So, got home, rushed through dinner, and over to the pub we went, random bits of unnecessary information floating in my head, just waiting for the right question...

And, well, I suppose you could say we came in first. Or we would have, if any questions had been asked. Sadly, this week, we were the only team to show. Sigh. And considering the main prize is made up of the entry fees... At least we didn't lose!

Saturday fun

Busy weekend (or rather, busy Saturday; recovery Sunday)... We hosted a little cocktail party, and spent much of Saturday shopping for, preparing, and then consuming the food & drink - I think an equal amount of time was spent on prep compared to consumption, so a fair trade off...
GOOD THING: making miniature frittatas; thanks Martha
LESS GOOD THING: making said frittatas without enough grease on the side of the muffin pan... i think that piece of kitchenware has baked its last

GOOD THING: using my lovely handblender (thanks Kara) to make all sorts of spreads and fillings (white bean+sage; tomato basil; tapenade)
LESS GOOD THING: using said handblender to blitz mozzarella with balsamic vinegar, to make the innards of Caprese bites (hollowed out cherry tomato with the cheese) - blending it all made the cheese a quite unappealing brown-gray colour. Oh well - they still tasted good!

GOOD THING: Having the party at all - it's always fun having people over, and I love an excuse to cook new things
EVEN GOODER THING: Ashley cleaning up everything today, while I slept off the effects of my newly created signature cocktail: gin, limoncino, and fizzy lemonade... what a wonderful sight to come downstairs after a nap to see a shiny clean kitchen...

Stitch-n-pitch

Oh my gosh - so the Mariners may be absolutely tanking at the moment, but how much do I want to go to this game on the 25th?! Do they provide extra handy-wipes though? Or a hot-dog free zone? Wouldn't you hate to be 90% through a project and then SPLAT - someone drops their beer on you?

Amazing headline - where was my camera

Saw the best headline yesterday in the Sun... paper was on the train, casually folded open to this visual delight:

"CANNIBAL EATS OAP ALIVE"

(for you non-brits - that's Old Age Pensioner, btw)

and for those of you now getting nightmares about cannibals on the rampage - it's ok, it was just a nibble... fortunately the 75-year-old was able to fend off the "laughing maniac" with only his thumb munched and a few other bites...

achy, tired, hot, but met my goal!

Phew - despite saying "well of course I'll be able to finish", a tiny percentage of me wondered if that would definitely be the case. I've not dropped out of a race yet, however, so am happy to report I did indeed finish, and, with a time of 69:35, squeaked in just under my goal time of 70 minutes. Thankfully I was *not* one of the 8 people taken to hospital with heat exhaustion!

Maybe next year I'll train properly... yeah, right - in the run up to the wedding and then through the honeymoon? Maybe not!

Thanks to Verity, who, though unable to run the race, cheered me (and her husband & friends Lucy & Seth) along through route. Pix from her to come soon!

Now I think it's naptime.

Sport-o-blog

Team sport news: Well, England is out of the World Cup. SO - with US, Australia, and England out, I'm having a hard time finding a team left to cheer for... I suppose I have a soft spot for Italy, having seen an Italy match in the actual country. But, then again, they *did* have quite a bloody match against the US... Will have to see which way my inner spectator pulls when I watch the next game...

Individual sports news: Go Andy Murray! And maybe one day I'll make it to Wimbledon and see a game in person - better enter that lottery now... And who didn't get teary seeing Andre Agassi bid farewell to Wimbledon & all the supporters who've cheered for him over the years. I remember going to the Pro Ebel Indoor Tournament in Philly in about 1989 I think, and thinking "who is this Agassi guy anyway? arrogant long-haired pin-up; these fans are only here because he's in Glamour magazine!" I guess I learned my lesson...

Personal sports news: Soooooo, I'm running in the British 10k tomorrow - my 3rd time in this race. Given

1. I've done almost no training
2. I twisted my ankle last month and am still not 100%
3. It's supposed to be about 1000 degrees tomorrow and humid

I'm not expecting great results... but watch this space... I keep telling myself this is the kick off to bridal fitness. Only 10 months to go! Hmm...

Time to hit the trail

Am SO excited - I finally got a proper backpack for day hikes, etc. Nothing fancy or big, but enough for an overnight somewhere. Purchased at our friendly neighbourhood Millets, where Vicki was incredibly friendly and helpful, without being pushy. So - I sent a comment e-mail to say so. So often I think people are quick to complain, but unlikely to compliment. So, thanks Vicki - and I'll think of you when we finally go on our next ramble...

Friday night cocktails

Had a very enjoyable Friday evening at my friend Cat's - over from New York for 6, er 12, er 18+ months (and hopefully longer - let's see how much convincing we can do!). She hosted an open house casual Friday night gathering. I love going to things at hers because she's always got a great mix of guests with interesting stories & lives & fun things to talk about.

More interesting, however, were the 2 thirty-somethings at the party who were found, um, cuddling in the coat room... I half expected someone's mom to come downstairs and tell us off for loud music!

So - thanks Cat for the bash, and look forward to the next invite...

The dream is over...

I had such great hopes after the Italy - US game... but Ghana was too much... ah well - bring on World Cup 2010! And c'mon you Socceroos!

If it's June, it must be graduation season

Indeed - and congratulations to both of my siblings-in-law on their graduate school graduations this weekend... to Jess, well done on the PhD, and I still want to read your book (and look forward to it finally toppling Dan Brown off of the Amazon best sellers chart) and to Amy, congrats too on the MBA (look forward to you finally toppling Amazon in the big business world)

Yawn - up too early...

Belated happy birthday to MY DAD / aka Poppy!

(for anyone who can't figure it out - the picture is both of us at Rachel's Bat Mitzvah last month...)

Is summer finally here?

I don't want to tempt fate, but summer may have finally arrived this weekend... fingers crossed! As such, we had a sporty outside-y weekend as much as possible - lovely... (umm - except for the work I was supposed to be doing). Yesterday went for a run for the first time in ages - a bit scary, as I'm doing the British 10k in only 4 weeks.

Then today I went for my first cycle of the year - and discovered a) you really don't forget how to ride a bike, phew b) most people on the towpath are selfish and clearly deaf. HOW many times did I ring my little bell to warn of my approach. WHY do people think that means "stop, wander to the left and right to determine where the sound might be coming from, but in all cases remain walking 2, 3, or 4 people across?"

And I'm only a moderate cyclist. In fact, I don't think I can even call myself a cyclist when I'm still scared to go on the road. And I've not yet taken the plunge & ridden to work. But still - pedestrians are annoying. Except when I am one.

At least I managed to arrive safely (and without taking out any of the meandering walkers, or "pavement plaque", as my friend margot calls them) - at our luncheon destination: Stein's - "London's first and only Bavarian Biergarten". Ok - so I wasn't there for the beer, but the potato salad was yummy... and I exercised on my way there, so it has no calories, right?

Complimentary grammar blog

AAAAAAARGH!!! How hard can it be to get the usage correct for complimentary / complementary???

I'm proofreading a proposal at the moment that has all sorts of affiliate networks complimenting each other... "My, what a lovely set of partners you have, network number 1"... "ah, nothing like your generous commissions, network number 2".

(Ok - note, I realise that not all in my vast network of readers will know what an affiliate network is, but I'm sure you realise we hope if we're proposing them to clients, they're actually complEmenting each other...)

ok, rant over, back to work...

On the road again!

Greetings from LA...
Good things about our flight out here:
I could not *believe* it was 10 hours... for the first time ever a long-haul flight seemed almost manageable

Not so good things about the flight:
Lack of food - we started with a main meal shortly after take off, with a smallish sandwich about 1/2 hour before landing... and nothing in the 8 hours in between... I was sooooooo hungry! I can understand not wanting to disturb passengers by serving food througout a night flight - but during the day, please please sir, can I have some more?

Off to Vegas, baby, later today - land of high rollers, and Crime Scene Investigators... wonder which one we'll see more of...

Pub Quiz Novices no more…

Date – 13 November, 2004 – Me “Hey – look – the Greyhound pub only 19 paces from our front door, has a quiz night every Monday. We should totally go!”
Ashley “Great – I love pub quizzes. And after all, it is only 19 paces from our flat…”

Date – 25 April, 2006 – Me “Hi there my good publican – we’re here for our first quiz night. Anything we should know?”…

Yes, after 17 months of living less than 20 steps from our local pub, the Greyhound, we FINALLY made it to a quiz night… and had a blast. (thanks to Harbottle for the pic, though I disagree with the review)

Despite being a mini-team of only 2 (most teams, including the winning one, were of 4, or at least 3) – Planet Wulfagar not only came in THIRD overall, but we also a) won the first ‘spot prize’ (basically a raffle draw, as the questions are along the line of “What colour is a New York taxi” and “How many legs does an octopus have” – correct answers go in a draw) AND shared the ‘Interval Prize’ – which was to have the best story of what happened to us in the past 2 weeks.

(We stretched the truth a leeeetle bit on that one, saying we’d got engaged. But – and what are the chances – SO HAD ANOTHER WOMAN IN THE GAME! So – and here’s the embarrassing part – they made us ARMWRESTLE for the prize. And I’m even more embarrassed to admit I was, sniff, unsuccessful. I knew I should’ve made her do it left-handed.)

By coming in 3rd, we went into a run-off for the cash prize roll-over with the top 2 other teams. However – none of us were successful in answering all 3 finalist questions, so the roll-over continues… I can’t wait to go back & try again!! (Though the next one is the day we get back from LA – not sure how sharp we’ll be…)

SO – how well would you do? Here’s a selection of questions from the night – no cheating by using that interwebby thingy…

• What colour is a female blackbird?
• What does LASER stand for?
• What year did ‘old age pensioners’ start?
• Who was the first professional cricket captain?
• Name one of the 2 poets who had a first line of a poem saying “Come live with me and be my love” (I knew that English degree would come in handy!)
• What country has had the most recorded shark attacks? (one half of Planet Wulfagar had the correct answer on this, but listened to the other half, who was convinced he was right. He wasn’t.)

Answers on a postcard - or comment below!

local excitement

Ooh - how exciting... the Queen's 80th birthday, and she chooses to celebrate on my little green. Of course, I wasn't so excited that I walked the 100 steps to wait outside with the crowds to watch her drive into the Gardens... but I did watch the fireworks from our bedroom window -- oooh! aaah! Gotta love the fireworks... So - Happy Birthday Liz, here's looking forward to your 90th...

Vinopolis review...

... previously - on PlanetWulfagar - Ashley & Stefanie go to the V&A and Borough Market before arriving at the star attraction of the day, Vinopolis...

Armed with our 5 taster tickets (plus one for the Bombay Saphire Gin experience) we entered the museum of wine with great expectations for an oenophiliac (is that a word?) dream day... 2 1/2 hours and 6 drinks later... yes - I would agree, fun experience, and I did learn some fun wine facts (like the highest-altitude-wine-producing-area is in Argentina, where they get only about 1mm of rain a YEAR, which makes it amazing to me that they can actually grow anything, let alone juicy grapes! or like the fact that according to a map of the US, North Dakota is the ONLY state that doesn't produce wine. Not sure I believe that...)

The museum is arranged roughly by region - starting with France, going through the Americas, and ending in Australia, New Zealand, and greater Asia... there are tasting tables throughout, where you can select from about 100 different wines - between the two of us we tried Macedonian, Georgian, English, Austrailian, Thai, and of course a lovely Californian Syrah. (sadly, no Washington wine). I did learn that I definitely do *not* care for Thai rose - or at least not Monsoon Valley brand, (though to be fair, perhaps it was because I wasn't eating it with spicy food as recommended) but did like most of the rest... The only thing I found a bit off-putting about the museum was the obvious sponsorship - not only did we pay to enter, but I felt we weren't getting exactly independent advice - as the wine for tasting seemed to come from only a few selected vineyards, most of which then had displays (like the aforementioned Monsoon...)

Overall though, a great afternoon, and a recommended London experience - if (and only if!) you like wine.

4-day weekend bliss

How fantastic... only 1 day into the 4-day Easter holiday weekend, still one long weekend left!

Yesterday was museum day - V&A and Vinopolis - in what turned out to be a very long but enjoyable day out...

Original plan was to walk along the river by Southbank. Horrid and unfriendly and un-forecast rain cancelled that. After putting Plan B into effect for a while (that is, a return to sleep!), we bundled up umbrellas & headed to the V&A instead - Ashley for a general wander, me to check out the Modernism exhibit that's been getting critical acclaim. The show was impressive & comprehensive, and not surprisingly, crowded. However - looking around, I'm not quite sure I could tell the difference where 'modernism' ended & 'art deco' began, as from what i can tell they happened at around the same time (or at least overlapped)... perhaps I need to broaden my art history understanding!

We then headed out to Borough Market for lunch & a quick look 'round. Chorizo sandwiches at Brindisa - tasty, but a bit small... should've gone for the ostrich burger!

Finally we made it to the main objective of the day - Vinopolis - "a unique attraction dedicated to the pleasures of wine"... to be continued...

fashion be dam**d

Thank you Mimi Spencer - yes, I too still wear boot-cut jeans. It took me long enough to find a pair that fits that I like to wear heels with & feel look relatively cool / sexy / attractive... no way am I switching to drainpipe or skinny jeans - that I probably couldn't fit into anyway! - just because they're the latest fashion... aside from the fact that by the time I got my act together to buy a pair, boot-cuts would be back in fashion.

So - I'll just stick to wearing what suits - and as fashion changes I'll be in or out as the case may be. Given how quickly things seem to change however - instead of ever being 'out', I can just say I'm 'fashion-forward'...

Busy weekend again!

Ashley's parents were over this weekend - in a belated birthday gift for Ashley's dad we took them to see Frank Sinatra (and here I never thought I'd get to see Ol' Blue Eyes...)

OK, so it wasn't Sinatra live, but it was Sinatra. In a quite inventive extravaganza - a live big band, perfectly timed to accompany Sinatra footage from various shows, TV appearances, etc. In addition, there was a chorus line, mostly dancing, but with the occasional song as well... the screening was impressive, with sinatra projected on thin screens, sometimes interspersed with live footage of the chorus line... nearly impossible to describe, but great fun to be there in person. My favourite was definitely "That's Life" - the most rousing of the songs, and a classic lead-into-intermission type song. Though of course they also did New York New York, and My Way as well... And it was also interspersed with voiceovers from an interview Sinatra seems to have done later in life, so you also learned more about his life. A lot of fun, and certainly worth it for any Sinatra fan...

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya...

You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Ahh, yes, the Princess Bride was on TV this afternoon... Unfortunately only managed to watch a few minutes of it - definitely need to get this on DVD at some point (probably around the same time DVDs become obsolete - as happened with the video of Princess Bride I only watched once!)

I still remember watching this in the theater, with Stephanie G. (now W) - and Stephanie hiding her eyes when Princess Buttercup jumped in the water after her kidnap, in a vain attempt to escape. Don't worry Stephanie - she'll survive!

Indulgent photo-post...

I must indulge & post some pictures of The Cutest Nephew Ever TM (well - he'll retain the title until such time as I have more than one... but until then!)

Househunting?

Why I'm scared to ever try to purchase a property ...

Busy busy weekend! (in backwards order...)

Running note: spring has sprung. Not only did I see my first daffodils (yay!) but I competed in my first Nike Run... Nike is sponsoring a series of 5k runs around London, leading up to their annual 10k. I think it's a great idea - as long as it's nearby. I registered for the first one, in January, which was
a) reeeeally cold
b) the morning after a party
c) in Regent's Park (2 tube rides + a 20+ minute walk away)

So.... I missed that one.

This Sunday, however, they held it in Gunnersbury Park a mere 15 minute walk from the flat - so I couldn't say no.

The runs are really well organised, however considering I hadn't done a run in aaaages - I think perhaps there was something wrong with their measurements - I finished in 32 minutes! I just do not believe that. I'll have to enter the next one to compare...

Full steam ahead

Ashley & I finally visited the Kew Bridge Steam Museum yesterday -- only 15+ months after moving to this area. As you can see if you visit the extensive website, "Steam Power comes alive at London's Kew Bridge Steam Museum" And it did - there was a massive 90 inch Cornish Engine running while we were there - by random chance, we visited on the 1 weekend per month it was running. (no - I didn't know what that was either, before going... basically a huge steam-powered piston or some such thing - but I'm no engineer!)

I was more intererested in the history - there were several displays illustrating the progression of water engineering in London - from water carriers to piped infrastructure. I particularly liked the story of the woman in Kent who, in 1959, insisted she did not want to be on the water mains for the town, but "The Council forced her to take water".

I was also impressed with the display explaining water purification, through sand and other layers - reminded me of my friend Beth's thesis project as part of her engineering degree from Swarthmore, the mini-water treatment facility, very cool.

So - with all the interesting and educative displays, the grammar police in me was extremely disappointed to find this museum was the site of the most egregious displays of apostrophe abuse I've ever seen in a public place. So much so that I quickly became distracted looking for more instances! I wasn't the only one to notice these - as in a few places at least someone had used a pen to try to cross out errant apostrophes... sigh - it's tough to be an apostrophe cop in this modern world...

PS

It it just me, or is it just wrong, by the way, for the CIA and MI6 to have websites? How secret of a service can they be? And you can read the MI6 one in Russian! And Chinese!! And Arabic!!! Whatever happened to good old fashioned isolationism & covert ops?

Euphemism of the day

Make that Euphemism of the Year! Ad spotted in this week's Economist: "You can make a world of difference. National Clandestine Service Careers", from the CIA. Umm - shouldn't that say "Be a spy!" Or at least "operative"... I mean - if I were a spy, I'd definitely want to call myself one - not go around telling people I'm in the National Clandestine Service. I don't remember hearing Valerie Plame was an undercover National Clandestine Service Officer...

I wonder if the MI6 has a "clandestine service"...

Which name?

Wulfagar? Or Agarstieg? If you were combining Agar & Wulfestieg, that is... I know which I prefer!

quote for the day

Quote for the day...

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time."

Edith Wharton

Things you don't see on the Tube every day, #27

Group of men re-assembling a trombone... must say that's a new one for me!

Still recovering

Yawn - still waking up from Sunday night Seahawks win ... after being a fan for so long, I literally cannot believe it they're going to the Superbowl. It's surreal - and made even more so by being in London, where, frankly, no one cares.

SO - I face a dilemma... do I watch the game at home, in my same t-shirt / sweatpants combo that clearly has served them well? Or do I go to the Sports Cafe, enjoy the game amongst other fans, with a great atmosphere, knowing that the venue could very well be, in the words of my friend Dave, 'bad juju'. But perhaps it's only bad juju for him and/or for baseball - as it's where we watched the Sox lose to the Yankees in 2003.

Then again, even if it does mean bad luck - if I watch the game there, does that mean the Seahawks will lose but go on to win the Superbowl the following year??

Need a sports-superstition ruling on this one I think... Mom?

Help! Strapline needed!!!

Help - I need a 'tagline'!

I'm finally getting business cards printed, and here at wheel we don't have job titles on our business cards, we have taglines.

For example, the CEO's card says 'The buck stops here'

A junior account exec's reads 'Any colour as long as it's pink'

Our group account director says 'Shoes are beauty, beauty is shoes' or some such thing...

I need to find something that sums up my personality + my role in business development in a few words... needs to be witty, clever, business-like, ack... and all about 6 - 7 words.

thoughts & comments here please!

The Seahawks win the pennant! The Seahawks win the pennant!

OK, not quite - and still a few game(s) to go. But boy was I gripped Saturday night watching the game. I cannot remember being so tense as a mere spectator! Not sure if I can go through it all again next Sunday, especially as the game's that much later, and on a school night. Then again, I'm not sure I could stand to miss it!

I'm also trying to find out if there are any 'Hawk supporter clubs in the London area. I've found Hawksnest - but it doesn't appear to be entirely up-to-date, especially in the 'events' section. Last event Nov 04. Hmm...

Happy birthday little brother!

Happy 28th birthday to my not-so-little anymore brother! The attached photo, however, highlights your skills from an earlier year... maybe 1985? Ah - happy days!




(btw - a subscription to Time Out Chicago should be starting for you soon... as well as a card from your behind schedule sister!)

There & back again

As you may have guessed by lack of news coverage, the plane did successfully arrive in Seattle, despite my worst fears. And the Seattle-London plane also arrived back in London yesterday. So much for my planned tourist-in-Seattle posts! I'll have to do them retrospectively... In summary though - great and relaxing holiday, now back to the real world...