Back in the US of A

Back in Boston (well, Waltham)...

The flight was horrible. Truly a flight of the damned... We sat for 90 minutes on the tarmac while the ground crew played who's luggage is this.

Then, we finally made it up in the air.

It's late, I'm exhausted. I'm finally back in Boston. A quick shower and then I'm off to bed.

As Friggin' Usual....

I'm trying to shove all my things into my bags, so I can go and there's a handful of things that won't fit. I used to be so good at spatial recognition.

Now, I just suck. :)

I may have to do the one thing that I really really don't want to have to do. And go buy a cheap suitcase to make sure everything fits.

On the other hand. It's the simplest and most efficient solution.

Packed and Boxed

That's it. All my stuff jammed into 10 boxes.

Signs of the Times

From the Mudchute farm near the flat.

Greenwich for Christmas

Greenwich at night, by the walkway under the Thames. I'll have to go out and try to get better pictures.

London lights up for x-mas

I needed to go to the Apple Store and was stuck around the flat until 4 or 5, which meant that I had to head into Oxford Circus — one of the busiest areas of London commerce on a Saturday afternoon/evening just before Christmas. To say it was crowded doesn't even begin to cover it.

Sidewalks that you should be able to walk on three abreast were spilling out into the street. This building, which you can't see very well here was covered from roof to ground in lights. It was like something out of the Vegas strip.

Home Stretch

In the home stretch now. Only one more week of work, then I have a week free before flying home.

At the moment, I'm shipping most of my stuff home on Dec. 17th, which will leave me fairly light in that last week. My flatmate will be off for the holidays and I'll have the place to myself. One of the places that I wanted to see before I left Europe (or when I come back) is Amsterdam, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull that off in the last week, especially with my sleep study.

Still it'd be nice, if I could pull that off.

See everyone soon.

Rituals

Everyone has rituals in their lives. Whether it's your morning shower and shave or trying each item on your plate before eating in earnest, there are things that you do in a certain way. I was thinking about that today.

I have a silly ritual that I do. I can see where it came from, but when you look at out of context it seems more than a little nuts.

When I find money on the street and I don't need it. I'll take it, but give it to the first person that asks me for money, whether street person, busker or co-worker. This came from when I was younger and there were a few times when I really needed money and I found a $5 or $10 by my feet as I walked around Boston.

So on some level, it's magical thinking to imagine that my need was connected to finding the money, but I guess that's not stopping me from I guess redistributing wealth in my own way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mmmmm. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, veggies, gravy, biscuits, gorging myself until I waddle: these are only a few of the things that I miss about not being back home today.

Instead, I stopped by the post office this morning to ship some stuff home. I've used post offices around the world for years. Friends and family are postal workers. They're not all Newmans. Hell, I haven't seen anything like that in real life.

Then there was today.

In the UK, the royal postal service does more than just deliver mail. They also exchange currency, sell insurance, etc... I saw this gentlemen in the post office earlier in the week. Maybe I was a little short with him, when I said that I wasn't interested in getting flat insurance or holiday insurance. I have no idea. All I know is that I saw him again today, as I was going about my daily post office business:

• Find the box that I need
• Put in my books, clothes, stuffed animals, board/card games, whatnot
• Put in clothes, whatnot to pad it out
• Address the box
• Secure it
• Cart it over to the big scale to figure out the weight to save time
• Cart it over to the queue to wait to be called to a window
• Sign, pay and out the door

That sounds simple enough. I've got it down by this time.

Or at least that's what I'd think. The guy made me schlep back to the big scale to re-weigh things while he watched (because nothing helps the customer experience than to feel that you're being accused to lying), schlep back to the window and go over every piece of the paperwork to be positive that they were all filled out correctly. It took forever.

That said, he was also as anal-retentive with my package. He took time to tape up all the edges for me to be sure there would be no problems with anything getting inside.

Gay Paree

I know that it's called Gay Paree, but did they have to make the Eiffel Tower look like a gay bar? (And if anyone knows how to rotate the damned video, I would be most appreciative.)

Reaper Review

I had been waiting for this show to come to iTunes, so I could finally get a gander at it. Kevin Smith mentioned it when he was here in London for one of his "An Evening with..." monologue and Q&A sessions.

The early reviews that I heard about it were pretty solid. And it's got Ray Wise, who I've loved since seeing him on Twin Peaks.

I got all the episodes so far and just laughed my ass off. The premise is a little silly, Sam (the titular character) works at the equivalent of Home Depot and seems to be going nowhere with his life. It starts off on his 21st birthday and, as any writing teacher recommends, right in the heart of things.

That's the day that he finds out that his soul was sold to the devil by his parents. And that's the day that he meets the devil himself. The devil (played by Ray Wise) is smarmily perfect as a hands-on manager/mentor/tormentor. Sam is now a bounty hunter for the devil, chasing down lost souls for Satan and returning them to hell.

The shows are a bit formulaic with monsters of the week, but what makes the show stand apart is the light-hearted camaraderie between the main characters: Sam and his best friends, 'Sock' and Ben.

Enjoy the ride.

Another Tale from the Dating Pool...

Just before Halloween, I had a date with a nice guy. He was a working medium and talked a bit about how the spirits share information with him and about the differences between clairvoyance, clairaudience, and the other extra-normal senses. He talked about himself a lot, but I chalked that up to nerves or something.

He finally got back to me a week or so after I said that I had fun and looked forward to another coffee date or something. Unfortunately, he didn't think we had any chemistry.

I'm not sure whether I should be happy or annoyed that someone that speaks with the dead doesn't have any chemistry with me.

Things I Learned In Paris...

I'll be posting more once I upload the pictures from the camera, but here's a few of the random thoughts.

• Talking louder and more slowly doesn't make what you're saying any more comprehensible.
• Prefacing it with 'how you say....' in a French accent also doesn't help.
• Miming things does work, interpretive dance doesn't. (Which surprised me, because I thought that left leg, right leg, butt wiggle, head cluck and arm flap was the International dance for I'd rather the chicken than the veal.)
• Tourist hotels trade online reservations as easily as grade school kids trade baseball cards. I had two different hotels in the two nights that I stayed in Paris.
  
• The French clearly have a different idea about bathroom plumbing than we do. (The first hotel had a tub with a shower attachment about a foot above the top of the tub—roughly below waist level for me. The second hotel looked like a normal shower until I turned on the water and the shower head flipped up from the force of the water and sprayed over my head, drenching the towels on the rack behind me.)
  

And now Mesmo loves you, too...

I always love weird viral marketing or oddball posters.

"Damages" on F/X

Okay, normally, by the time shows get to the UK, it's already too late to say anything about them. This might be one of them, but wow. It's on F/X, which shouldn't really surprise me. They've got a history of absolutely fantastic shows, if their stack of emmy nominations and awards are any indication.

I had seen articles about this show online and every critic has been favorable. I downloaded the season on iTunes. Saw the pilot last night and was blown away. Glenn Close is just absolutely fantastic in her role as the ruthlessly manipulative Patty Hewes.

I can't wait to see the rest of the season and hope that it'll get picked up for another year.

WTF?!

First off NFL football here in London? Secondly, two story anamatronic robots to sell it?

Stardust - Review

This film just opened here in the UK, so I finally got a chance to see it.

I had heard it referred to as the closest thing to "The Princess Bride" in twenty years, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to see it.

I have to say that I don't think I've been this enchanted by a movie since I saw "Amelie". It's a sweet love story, a swashbuckling adventure film, and a magical fairy tale all wrapped up together.

While I loved the ostensible male and female leads: Charlie Cox and Claire Dane, for my money the film was stolen by Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer. Both of them played against type wonderfully.

The heroic journey of Cox's Tristan was fairy tale pitch perfect (not that I expected anything less from a film based upon a story by Neil Gaiman). There were trials passed and failed, difficulties faced or avoided and a wonderful mix of odd-ball characters filling out the magical realm of Stormhold.

See it. Pay full price, but please see it on the big screen.

Maddening!

Somewhere, something in the flat is beeping. One beep every five minutes. I have no clue what the hell is making the noise or how to stop it.

It just keeps on beeping. Looks like I'll be sleeping with the fan on tonight to get some white noise to keep from being disturbed.

Update: My flatmate just came home. It was his phone. He couldn't call and let me know that it might be here and beeping on low-battery, because he didn't have his phone. Oy.

At least the good news is that my back is feeling much much better, no twinge at all today and I didn't even take any pain pills. Go healing.

Charity

I realize that charity is tough for some people to take, but sometimes it's just weird.

The other day, I was in line at the grocery store and I was chatting with the people that were next to me. They said that they were with a youth charity. After I paid for my groceries, I tried to slip some money to the cashier to help pay for their groceries: cake, chips, etc... for the party that they looked they were going to have. All I wanted to do was to do something nice and then slip away.

The cashier didn't want to play ball. He couldn't take the money. I had to do it. By this point in our discussion, the people behind me had figured out something had happened. They weren't sure if I was trying to take some of their groceries. I tried to explain that friends of mine worked with youth and that there was never enough money and I wanted to help. They didn't want my help, but I finally talked them into taking my money. Then they wanted my email to thank me.

*Sigh* You just can't do something nice and anonymous these days.

Things that make me homesick

Boston T | Slog | The Stranger | Seattle's Only Newspaper

At least Dan Savage makes me laugh when he does it.

Fear

The last couple of days were interesting. Each time I went out, I was afraid that my back was going to act up again. My anxiety level would go up and I had trouble just leaving the house. I had to break it down it down, just to step outside.

When I started thinking about it, the issue was fear. Fear of falling, fear of being stuck on the ground, fear of not being able to help myself, fear of embarrassment, etc... It probably didn't help that I didn't have to face it for a couple of day. I was able to avoid work, by pointing out that muscle-relaxants and pain-pills weren't conducive to solid coding practices.

For two days, I slept, watched TV, read and slept some more. I did the stretching exercises that I was supposed to and did some walking. And I took my pain pills, hoping to hoard my last couple of muscle relaxants until I really needed it. Each time I kept the walking to a minimum near the flat.

This morning was tough. I was up for a couple of hours before the alarm, worrying about whether I would be able to make it, whether I'd fall again, etc... When the alarm went off, I sort of shoved the stupidity aside and got going. Pulled on clothes, groaned in pain at parts, sucked down my pills and got moving.

As usual, what I was afraid of was less than the reality. At times my back spasmed, but nothing as bad as it might have been. I walked when I could, stood when I had to, got to work, had breakfast and did my stretching exercises. Now I'm getting back up to speed on the last few days at work.

Oh the joy.

My London "Sicko" story

Earlier in the week, I hurt my back again. (I wish I had been doing something exciting when it happened, but all I did was reach for a book while I was lying in bed. I either felt something pop or just spasm, I can't really remember what. All I know is that I hurt. I popped some Ibu and did my back stretches and it was manageable.

Everything was not pleasant, but dealable and getting better. Until Saturday. It got worse and nothing was making it any better. Getting off the bed almost brought me to my knees. The pain helped make up my mind, I decided that I had to go to the doctor. I got the pullover on, put my stuff in my pockets and reached for the door. A spasm hit and I collapsed.

I couldn't walk. Hell, I couldn't even get to a kneeling position. Five minutes quickly became twenty and the pain hadn't gotten any better. I slowly made my way from my stomach to my back. I could reach my cell, but didn't have anyone to call other than an ambulance. The problem was that they wouldn't be able to get to me, because the front door to the flat was locked.

It took a half hour, but I got shoes on. (Well, Tevas, but let's be generous. At the time, it felt epic.) Then the long slow crawl to the closed door of my bedroom. Stretch, spasm, collapse, repeat. At some point, I realized that if I forced myself not to collapse during the spasm, I'd make slightly better time.

Out in the hall, the slippery wooden floor meant than I made a little better time as a human Swiffer across the floor. About an hour later, I was at the front door to the flat. Unfortunately, there I couldn't reach the lock from the floor. I was going to have to get to my feet. Getting my feet under me didn't work. Pushing my torso up, while trying not to bend my back was not happening. Finally, I got the idea to try to use the corner to get to my knees or my feet, so I could reach the lock. A door to my back didn't work; the door wobbled slightly, which set my back spasming even worse than before. I wormed my way back to a corner, where both were walls. It took forever—false starts where I couldn't get past the pain, then I finally got my legs beneath me and pushed up against the wall and stumbled off of it to stumble toward the door.

By this point, my back was spasming so badly that I had to lean against wall to keep from falling again. I couldn't even lift my arms without agonizing pain. I had come too far to just collapse and have to start all over again. After what felt like forever, I toddled to the door and was able to unlock it. Breathing rapidly to try to keep the pain down, I got the door locked and stumbled down the hall to get outside.

Once I was outside, I dialed 911 to get an ambulance or something. There was no way that I'd be able to make it to a place where I could find a cab; I needed the wall to even stand. I let out a groan and a young girl must have taken that as a dirty bastard moan or something and rushed inside.

In London, 911 doesn't work. I called my cell phone company's customer service line to find that you need to dial 999 here in the UK. I said I needed an ambulance and they redirected me to the ambulance service. They took my information, though I had to tell them my address three times—I can only imagine that my Boston accent must be indecipherable to her.

The wait for the ambulance felt like forever. (Now, anyone that knows me knows that I hate cats and clearly they hate me. A local outdoor cat made a bee-line toward me. Clearly, it's nemesis-sense was tingling and it could tell that I wasn't going to be able to shoo it away. It took this opportunity to rub against me and use my jean-clad leg as a scratching post.)

Finally, the ambulance showed up and the two EMTs helped me inside. At this point, things moved much quicker. It was a rush of taking my vitals, giving me an inhaled analgesic that made me light-headed, giving the EMT my history to expedite my entry into the hospital.

I wasn't in danger of dying. They quickly verified that it wasn't a kidney stone or appendicitis and moved me from emergency to minor wounds/problems. A nurse checked me out and gave me something for pain and told me to walk a bit while they waited for the pain meds to kick in. I don't think I was there for than twenty, thirty minutes on the outside, before I saw a doctor and was treated.

It didn't take him long before he realized that it was back spasm in my lower trapezius and not my spine. He said what I expected: pain meds and muscle relaxants, back exercises to stretch things out. Instead of a prescription, I got handed the pills I need. I had my Sicko moment, when I wondered about payment. There was no cost for the ambulance or the hospital visit. I even got looked at funny, when I asked about that.

The only thing I had to worry about was my cab ride home from the hospital and then the pizza that I ordered, because all my pills needed to be taken with food. At the moment, I'm on the mend and hoping to be mobile in a few more days/weeks.

Jumper!

One of my favorite books, Jumper is being turned into a movie.

I don't know whether it's any good, but the trailer looks like it's been turned into a big action movie extravaganza.

Ramadan Is Not An Excuse For Weight Gain

Who knew?

Seriously, I went to the doctor last night to see about getting referred to a sleep study so I can finally get checked for sleep apnea — it's only been what 15 years since an ex said that I would stop breathing in my sleep as I snored. The doctor pointed out that I've put on some weight in the last month. The only thing that made sense is that my co-workers are fasting for Ramadan, because I don't think I've become any more sedentary in the last month or ate anything much more than I usually do. *shrug*

We'll see how well eating less and exercising more work.

And as to the sleep study. There's one place where it can be done in London. Add to that the rise in obesity — which I thought I heard was linked with sleep apnea — and it shouldn't be much of a surprise that they're heavily booked. My appointment is on Dec. 19th.

Also found that I'm getting some tax money back from the UK. (Am I the only one that feels guilty for getting an overpayment back when I'm getting free meds and medical care? That must be either a liberal thing or it has to do with the mindset that says that medical care must be expensive.)

Worst Logo Ever

I'd heard how bad it was, but words still fail. I see Lisa Simpson in it as the detractors say.

Now Comes The Time of Decision

Hmm.... What to do... What to do... The iPhone is coming to UK, but only on O2.
Now comes the big question, do I want one enough to get tied to an additional two year commitment and all of the other bits of fine print that I'll have to sign up for to get one of them?
It's £269 for the handset. And the new plans are £35, £45 or £55 per month with unlimited data. All of that seems similar to what I've got now, except with a different handset and no unlimited data. The other bonus is that I'll have access to 7,500 wifi hotspots with a monthly plan. Can you say Starbucks anyone?
It certainly looks really cool and I've enjoyed playing with them in the past.
Hmm...
Dear God, I've become one of those obsessive Mac people.
At least I've got until 9-November to decide.

Playing Tourist With Friends

It's especially tough after a long sleepless night doing the London cancer walk.

Update: Unfortunately, they're gone. :( Hopefully, I'll get some more sleep tonight, because this week is going to be crazy with some writing classes after and instead of work, as well as all weekend.

Things that make me laugh...

Pix from a wedding.

Dyson UK - Dyson Airblade™

Dyson UK - Dyson Airblade™

Okay, this is the coolest thing I've seen in the office bathroom since one of the senior partners left a dirty magazine in there.

I washed my hand three times, so I could keep playing with it.

I've Tasted Heaven....

And they're called Garlic Poppers. They're basically, roasted garlic on a skewer with a light batter on it, served with garlic toast. I went to Garlic and Shots to try a few things on the menu out.

They're not too bad. Shots don't do much for me, but I did try the buttered rum and garlic shot, which wasn't too bad. It seemed the least nasty of the choices. I can't wait to try to get people to try it when they visit.

3:10 to Yuma (Original)

I just saw the original 3:10 to Yuma with Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. I've seen the ads for the remake for several weeks and as soon as I found out that it was a remake, I wanted to see the original. (I'm a nerd that way.)

I have to say I miss the old westerns from that golden age of cowboys. Long sprawling cinematic shots of the stark plains, actors that effortlessly hoped on and off horses in a way that showed how much time they spent on horseback, and the rooftop shootings that remind you the difference a good stunt man can make to a movie.

Glenn Ford was incredible, but that was to be expected. I had never seen him play a heavy before and he played as only he could: principled, direct and absolutely deadly when need be. Van Heflin was a cypher. I had never even heard of him before. He had a fantastic role—a rancher pushed to his limit by drought and forced to go against Ford's character. And Heflin played that to the hilt in a few tense cat and mouse moments that reminded me of some of the brilliance of Infernal Affairs.

I recommend it and look forward to seeing the remake.

Black Sheep premiere

It's going to be so baad.

Update: Website. And I recommend this movie. It was nonsensical, silly, and hit absolutely every sheep shagging joke that I've ever heard.

Only in London

Yesterday morning, I stopped by a cafe for breakfast before running some errands. On the menu was the Jolly Roger breakfast platter: a fried egg, baked beans, a fried tomato, toast, four fish fingers and a ration of chips.

Who the hell eats this sort of thing for breakfast? (Well, outside of me.)

Maxjet

Heading from NYC back to London. This time, the company put me on Maxjet, which I had never heard of before. Checking out the web site, some of it seemed almost too good to be true: large comfortable seats and what seemed to be good food. (That's pretty much all I could hope for.)

Then I got to the airport after an initial worrying moment, when the terminal that I had been told to go to turned out to be incorrect things have been wonderful. Plenty of room, access to outlets, and free wifi. There's also snacks and beverages, but I haven't sampled them yet. At the moment, I'm blogging, checking my email one last time and then curling up with a book and my podcasts to just relax a bit before sampling what's available.

And from what I was able to find online, it's all business class and not horribly expensive. I may fly them again, if everything onboard is as good as this.

Update: Two things: I can blog with my Palm and everything in the lounge is free. Free, I tell you. Soda, pretzels, water and possibly even the chair massages. Okay, that's not here, but I expect to find it.

Update II: The plane... First, we sat on the tarmac at JFK for about an hour, but I think that's more of JFK than MaxJet. The seats were large and there was about a yard of leg room. Seriously, the guy next to me had to unbuckle to put his book into the pocket behind the seat in front of him. While we were on the ground, the flight attendants came around with canapes to see if we wanted a snack, while we waited.

The food was wonderful. A real glass and real metal flatware rather than the typical airport plastic. For dinner, we started with a mozzarella, tomato and lettuce salad with a nice vinaigrette. The mozzarella wasn't horribly fresh, but it was very good. The fresh hot dinner rolls and chilled butter was nice, but I prefer my butter a little easier to spread. I did make a faux pas with the entree. It was chicken stuffed with goat cheese and herbs served with artichoke spears and peppers. The food was nice, but it was cold. Figuring that it hadn't been cooked, I asked for it to be heated up. The French flight attendant told me that the meal with served cold, but if I would like a hot meal I could have the sea bass or the sirloin instead. Feeling like an idiot, I said I was happy with my chicken.

Our dessert was coffee in a real mug and a cheese and fruit plate.

The entertainment center was a bit lacking. The good was that it was full of movies and TV, as well as having the ability to pause, fast forward, etc... The bad was that it was free standing which made it fairly impossible to use while eating and they were a bit buggy. It took me two or three of them before I got one that reliably worked.

The biggest bonus was that I had room to stretch out and really sleep for most of the night.

The downside is that the plane went to Stansed so it took another 15-20 minutes to get into the City than Heathrow. Not horrible and the queues were large and the trip back home from Liverpool street was an absolute bear — Liverpool was crushingly full and my transit pass had expired, so I had to wait in those horrible lines.

NYC Subway — cool addition

I saw this on the train last night and I saw this was the coolest damned thing. It's an electronic panel that changes as the train movies telling you what's coming up, where you are and where the end of the line is.

Yes, I'm a geek, but I love this stuff.

Clearly, I've been out of the States for too long....

I just had to pay a buck fifty-one for a pack of gum. What the hell is going on?

Yeah, I realize a part of that is the welcome to New York, bend over and accept the taxes and the mark up on damned near everything. That that certainly seems like there's something else going on, too.

Wait... Not Back to London...

Turns out that I'm not going back to London as quickly as planned. I found out that I'll be working on a project out of the NYC office. Which means, that I go from Philly to NYC and I'll be working out of that office until the 10th of August.

In classic good news/bad news fashion, I'll be busy, but on a different project than expected and I'll be in New York for two weeks. At least it'll be on someone else's dime and I got to show that I'm a team player.

Settled into Philly

I got to Philly and I'm settled into my hotel. There's a lovely view of the city, which is even more spectacular right now while I can look out across the city as the sky is lit up with lightning.

Today was one of my synchronicity days. I had a hankering for Mexican and walked past El Azteca II Mexican Restaurant. It was really good. Then I happened to walk past a theater that was playing "Sicko". Even better, it happened to be starting, as I walked by. I popped into the theater and enjoyed it immensely. It was really a good, painful, horrible film.

And the coolest thing is that my room is on an actual 13th floor. I love when they do that.

Back to the States

My third trip back to the States in as many months. And unfortunately, pretty much the last of my vacation time for the year. Going to Philly for a wedding on Saturday and a few days with friends — assuming, of course, that I don't get bumped. (That happened on my last flight to the States and gunshy of it happening again.

Sure, they compensated me well for my time, but that doesn't mean that I want to go through several hours of sitting on my tucus at the airport. I'd be much happier at the hotel in Philly napping in my room or lounging poolside.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Okay, what the living hell have I been doing? All the mania. All the stressing out. For a book. I was very happy that I gave in to the hype but not crazily so.

I went to bed last night at a reasonable time. I headed into the city centre this morning to pick up the book and have some breakfast. Happily, a store that I like was in the grips of Potter induced craziness and had the doors opened at 7:30am, so I was able to buy the book earlier than expected. Unfortunately, though the owners were hoping for legions of fans, the store was empty other than two twenty-something clerks chatting to each other at almost 9, when I showed up. I picked up the book, headed over to a cafe for a nice little breakfast. And then headed home to curl up with a book and listen to the radio.

All in all, it's been a nice day. And look, no spoilers to ruin anything for anyone.

The Word for the Day — Resistant

*Mutter* *Mutter*

This has happened before. And I always find it out to my detriment when the sky opens and the heaven dump a boat load of water on my soggy butt.

The pullover is attractive and made out of hemp and PET (recycled plastic), I was told it was water resistant. I must have heard proof, thinking of the plastic. It was really coming down today when I ran out to get lunch. Once I felt the water running down my back, I knew I have chosen unwisely as they say for today.

Hope everyone else is dry and well.

New Camera and New Flat Tour

I'm back from my holiday in the States. Saw family, friends and there was child tormenting enjoyed by all.

First off, I got a new camera, a Canon Powershot SD850 IS and it's fantastic.

And because people have asked to see the new flat, here are some pictures:

Walking inside, you see the closet and the hidden water heater, respectively.
The hallway and a fleeting glimpse of my elusive flatmate.
Look! A bathroom. Imagine that. Hot water and a single shelf.
My spacious room - scattered and filled with crap during my flurry of post-trip unpacking.
Our kitchen with our washer and oven dominant. There's also a dishwasher.
Our living room with TV, couches, coffee table and another glimpse of the elusive flatmate as he reads on the couch.
The dining nook, flatmate's desk and the elusive flatmate.
And lastly, me at the new office in my new desk. It's not a cubicle, because there's not enough psuedo walls to be a cubicle.

Circling Toward Boston

Got up this morning bright and early, finished packing my bags, sent out a last email message and was ready to face the day. HA! Ha, I tell you. Ah, how naive and foolish I was.

I got to the airport the requisite three hours before my flight. (Okay, it's two in the UK, but what can I say, I was used to this in New York and in Boston. And I'm a morning person.) Only to find out that the airline overbooked the flight.

Now my first thought was that they had switched to a smaller plane. Because like Jerry Seinfeld, I couldn't understand the concept of a reservation that led to nothing to show for it. Nope, it's still the same plane. Basically, what airlines do is run sophisticated profiling systems that tell them how much to overbook their flight, so that they can fly out with an optimally full aircraft with a minimum of disgruntled passengers.

I was gruntled.

The profile was wrong. Not enough people got off the damned plane.

My 10:55 departure will be leaving at 16:55. The funny thing is that I told my friends that I'd be flying in at 19:40, because I misread which leg of my journey that I was on. I'll actually be flying in at 18:40. (Hopefully, anyway.)

What do I get to show for it? Nine quid worth of coffee vouchers and either $400 in cash or £550 toward my next flight with this airline. I fly enough that I went for the more money. Especially, as I have a year to use it.

Several more hours to kill. Hello, mp3 player and my book. They go nicely with uncomfortable chairs and more overpriced beverages.

(At the moment, I'm settled into the first class/business class internet cafe/business center recharging my electronic devices. Who says being polite and friendly won't get you anywhere in society.)

See everyone soon.

New Office

Work moved to our new offices by the Blackfriars tube stop. Coincidentally, much closer to my old apartment. And if we had moved offices months ago as planned, it would have really helped me. But no, I'm not annoyed about it.

The move over the weekend was hellish, but now it's over and the computers are set up and everyone is somewhat happy.

The new office is by the Blackfriars Bridge and here's a great statue of Queen Victoria on our end. Just around the corner is something that I like a little better than good Queen V. The woman with the grecian urn. I expect that she should be pouring water, but that remains to be seen.

Mass Rocks!

Since same-sex marriage has become legalized in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention brings anxiety and stress. First there are people that descend on Boston, the conservatives that rant about how same-sex marriage is a sign of the devil or worse. Then there are the news stories about where the amendments that ban same-sex marriage and where things stand.

I'm a single, gay man. I don't even have a boyfriend, never mind someone that I want to share my life with. So for the most part, the marriage equality issue affects me more theoretically than practically at the moment.

What does hit me is the arguments and the bile that some of those that oppose same-sex marriage use to make their case. It's just so damned depressing to hear all of that nastiness again and again. It brings up all of the guilt, alienation that I thought had been put to rest in my life decades ago. I can only imagine what they're doing to some closeted kid that's struggling to come out.

Yesterday, I spent most of the afternoon with a window open to Bay Window's Blogging the Con Con coverage. I rushed home to find out how the vote went down.

I had been reading articles about how people weren't sure how it was going to go. And I'd read articles a few months ago about whether it made political sense to let the vote go to the public, so that Massachusetts would become a money sink in the culture wars which -- supposedly -- would have helped the Democratic party in the 2008 presidential election. Neither of which helped my anxiety level. No one wants to think that their rights could be thrown under the bus to help the greater good.

When I got home and found out how the vote went down, I couldn't believe how good it felt. I like to think I'm an optimist, but I had doubted and had given in to fear. To find out that the Commonwealth had done the right thing, when I was afraid that they wouldn't was a gift without price.

Thank you, Mass. legislators.

Update: Found out that there's a bit in the Mass. constitution that stops people from offering a constitutional amendment without a cooling off period. This would be able to go before the voters before the 2012 election. At best.

Best Cubicle Doodad

While I was home, I picked up a Philips Digital Picture Frame that I had my eye on. (I think I got a better deal than the listed price, though.)

I have it sitting on my desk, taking the place of the wall of pictures of friends, family and their kids that had been there before.

I should check to see if Philips will kick some cash back to me. At least three people in my office talked about getting them either for themselves or for gifts after they saw (and played with) mine.

So fire off digital pix, if you think I'd like them in rotation in my cube. (Of course, you know me, that would probably be any pictures of you guys.

I Love Living On The Thames

Another ship to gawk at on the walk home.

Things I've Seen In The Docklands

Here are some of the sights around the new place that I've seen now that I'm there...

A three-mast ship from Sweden. It was only there for a few days while I was there, but it was neat to be able to see it. (Even if I was too cheap to pay to go aboard.)

We've also got the obligatory guy with a kite on a beautiful day.

Lastly, we have rampaging sheep. Seriously, that's got to be cheaper than having to mow the whole field. And it is kind of nice to walk through a field beneath the big towers of Citi-Bank, Lehman Brothers and the like and see sheep. So far, I haven't seen them cavorting, just eating, but I assume that may be happening too.

It is kind of weird to pass crowing roosters on the way to the train in the morning, though.

Firmly in Mac Country

I totally want one of these. :)

At the Apple Store now.

Update: Okay, I did it. It'll be at my brother's house in a week or so and hopefully I can pick it up in 3 weeks when I get back to Boston.

Moving Toward the Dark Side

I've actually be thinking of going Macbook or Macbook Pro for the next laptop. I've been a PC person since college, but what can I say, it's a beautiful powerful machine.

Comments always appreciated.

Laptop Dying By Inches

Okay, my Dell laptop is dying by inches. So far the parts replaced have been:

• Screen (within weeks of first getting it back about 7-8 years ago)
• Battery (just a few months ago)
• Internal keyboard (just a few weeks ago)
• Hard-drive (waiting for parts)

I'm torn between trying to get the damned thing fixed again or getting a new one and tossing in a new hard drive, so that I can try to use the old laptop to install Linux or something.

Lord only knows what's going to die next.

My New Neighbors

I've told people that my new flat is near a farm. The Mudchute Park & Farm to be exact.

Here are some pix of my neighbors that I took last night and this morning.

That's right. I live near cows and goats. There's also foxes and horses. (Though this is London, which has foxes like other cities have wild cats and dogs roaming free.)

London Time Adjustment

Unfortunately, not a friggin' problem.

My last night before I head back to London and suddenly I'm awake and sitting up in bed. I'm wide awake and totally friggin' hostile about it. It took me a moment to realize what the hell was going on. A glance at the clock by the bed confirmed that it was about one in the friggin' morning. If a noise had woken me up, it certainly hadn't been repeated.

Then it hit me. It was six o'clock London time. The time I normally wake up to go to work.

Almost an hour later, I'm still awake. Still pissed off about it.

If nothing changes, I'll go see if there's an all night diner in the area or something.

Leavin' on a jet plane....

Apologies as always to the Mamas and the Papas. In a few hours, I'm heading back to Mass. to visit family and friends. Woo! Had a nice few days with a friend from New York, wandering around. We saw the Lord of the Rings show in London's West End. It was really impressive. More about that when I get some time.

(And today, the fact of the day is that Leavin' on a Jet Plane was by Peter, Paul and Mary, not the Mamas and the Papas. Their single was California Dreamin'. Sorry.)

Zoom! (Not to be confused with Zoom.)

Silly New Gadget

Over the holiday weekend, I picked up a silly little toy - the wifi rabbit. I saw it on ThinkGeek and wanted it instantly, but I held out.

It reads me the headlines from RSS feeds, can play podcasts, can let me know about email, weather, etc... Can play various internet radio stations and it's just so gosh darned cute.

Breakfast you can blog about...

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/05/ctrlaltdeliciou.html

CTRL-ALT-DELicious. The Corona-Matic Keyboard Waffle Iron

What do you do with a junked Corona typewriter? If you are designer Chris Dimino, you use it to make breakfast. This beautiful typewriter/waffle iron hybrid looks like it actually works, although if you study the picture you'll see the waffle has been spun 180º for the product shot.

I don't really know what else to say, other than that I really, really want one. And make sure you hit the Gizmodo post, where I found this. Some of the comments are hilarious.

Product page [Chris Dimino via Gizmodo]
Credit for the post title [Spybreak on Gizmodo comments]

Posted by Charlie Sorrel 10:37:03 AM in Food and Drink, Hacks
Reddit It | Digg This | Add to del.icio.us

Update on the Flat Situation

As of Wednesday afternoon, we had water in the flat. (This is why this was important.)

The downside is that we need a new boiler or the boiler fixed. The boiler can be fixed on 24-May. (I do not know why everything takes so long in this country. It was weeks before we had broadband switched on in the flat after my flatmate changed providers.)

---

In other news, I may have found a new flat with my friend, Zeke. Here's a map of where it is. I may be moving there on Saturday. (And our office is moving this weekend as well.)

Don't Mess With London Pigeons

This morning, on my tube ride to work, I saw an odd sight:

a pigeon flew onto the train. Pecked at some crumbs, walked the length of our train car. And at the next stop, it flew out the open door.

No word on whether it was able to make it's bus connection to get to the zoo.

Mayday! May Day!

I couldn't resist the pun. Especially after the last few days.

The hot water heater had been dripping for weeks. I chalked it up to condensation and would blot up the few drops every day. On Saturday, the hot water died. Sunday, I took a cold shower before heading to volleyball and decided that that would be the last time that that happened.

Yesterday, my flatmate let me know that he contacted a plumber. The bad news is that it wouldn't be fixed until Wednesday afternoon. (I got a day pass to a gym last night, so I could take a shower on the way home.)

I thought I was set and looked forward to a wonderfully relaxed evening of an engaging book, maybe some writing, and a podcast or two or a DVD. Au contraire. I got home to a torrent of water splashing out of the hot water heater onto the floor in the kitchen. There was already several inches of water there and it had spread to the living room. There was no knob by the heater, so I pounded on the door to my neighbor's flat. I hoped he'd have an answer as his place was a mirror of ours. No answer.

Upstairs was the only other neighbor that I knew in the building. I lucked out. Not only was she there, but there was a board meeting for the three buildings in the complex. My flatmate was even there. He came downstairs with me, rolling his eyes at my call of a 'flood'.

He opened the door and saw that I had downplayed the problem. The good news is that he knew where the water valve was. And after initially turning off our neighbor's water, was able to turn off the water to our flat. That left us with clean up.

(As an aside, when I buy shoes for work, I tend toward waterproof, warm and comfortable. Usually that means that they aren't very pretty. After last night, I say 'ha!' to the women in my life that are trying to reform me.)

An hour and a half of alternately blotting and wringing four very absorbent towels, we ended with a extremely clean kitchen floor, a damp living room rug, a pile of dry furniture that gave the stacking ghosts in Poltergeist a run for their money and my confirmation that we didn't have a mop.

Brushing your teeth, washing your face or hands with bottled water is just a joy.
I feel more than a little grungy this morning and I'm really looking forward to a shower after work today.

In other news, looking into other flats. Saw a hovel that I could move into immediately: 13' by 18' studio with an incredibly small bathroom and a kitchen that consisted of a mini-microwave, dorm fridge, and four burners — no oven. The bonus was that it was reasonably priced.

You Know It's Not Good, When *I'm* An Expert

On Sunday, a friend from work had us over to his flat for celebrate his and his wife's birthdays, as well as to watch the London Marathon pass by underneath us as they crossed the Tower Bridge.
He's American, his wife is Australian. So the brunch was full of ex-pats of various stripes as well as many locals.

One of the women that I chatted with was from Boston (okay, Winchester). I think the funniest thing was when we were commiserating about what we miss from home. We waxed poetic about Dunkies.

I also got to share some of the knowledge that I picked up about getting local credit cards as well as sending money home via PayPal. I guess I'm getting settled here.

Homeland Security Wants TRON

Just when I thought the Bush administration couldn't do anything more stupid, I'm surprised anew.

Homeland Security Classified The 1982 Movie Tron 'Sensitive'.

Reports are emerging from members of the movie industry that the Department of Homeland Security has designated the 1982 film TRON as "sensitive", and ordered Walt Disney Studios to turn over all copies of the film in its posession. Retailers are also receiving notices to remove all copies of the film from stock shelves and turn them over to Federal officials. The reports have industry insiders bewildered and outraged.

What the hell?

WTF?!

For the second night in a row, I was awakened by a dream (I think) a couple of hours after I went to bed. And once again, I can't get back to sleep.

I vaguely remember someone shouting and then when I woke up, the flat was silent. Last night, may have been the same, but I'm not sure.

Oh well, I futzed around for an hour. Back to bed to try and wrestle Morpheus into submission.

It's Started

Woo.

Update: That blurry image is Kevin Smith. Sorry for the quality from the upper deck. It was an irreverent, foul-mouthed blast. We learned far more than I really wanted to know about a variety of subjects. As always, Smith was entertaining and hilarious in a four-plus hour Q&A with his fans.

The Line to See Kevin Smith

Just shoot me. But after a few minutes, I wasn't at the end anymore.

Bad Tech Week - Week Three Redux

As much as I hate doing it, I guess yelling at the poor sales person in India actually did some good. They sent me the part next day air. I got it this afternoon and six minutes later, I had a working laptop again. Go Dell.

Now I just need Palm to be working.

Dans Le Noir — Post-Dinner

Last night, a couple of co-workers and I went to go to Dans Le Noir for dinner.

To our left, you see one co-worker and her boyfriend and to the right, another.

The four of us settled in at a convenient pub for libations before dinner — it's London, they're on every corner. I, for one, am looking forward to July when London's smoking ban kicks in. Soon, the UK will be smoke free in public buildings.

In time for our reservations, we walked to the restaurant. We found a nearly empty lobby with a maitre de, a bar and a bank of lockers. We were asked to put any of our light creating devices in the lockers: cell phones, blackberries, etc... After a quick toddle to the loo, we were ready to head to our table.

First, we chose which surprise menu we wanted: Red - the full surprise; White - the meat surprise; Blue - the meatless surprise; Green - the vegetarian surprise. Then they asked if we had any allergies. Once that was sorted, a few minutes later we were introduced to our blind waiter. (All the servers at Dans Le Noir are all blind.) He had each of us put our right hand on the shoulder of the person in front of us and then led us down a dark hallway through thick curtains, under a blast of hot air, and into a dark room.

It was pitch black. The only light was a luminous watch face that one of us had forgotten. At this point, I felt more than a little silly wearing my glasses in the dark.

Our server was very solicitious to make sure that all of us weren't too badly discomfited by the transition. Then he led us to our table. The women on one side, the men on the other. It was a long table, though narrow and we sat close to one another. The table settings was utilitarian: a tall blocky glass, a shorter blocky glass, a heavy fork, a heavy knife, and a napkin.

It was very disconcerting. I couldn't tell what the others were doing, but myself, I was busy familiarizing myself with what was there. Almost as soon as I had explored my little area, the server was back with our glasses of champagne (again, in small blocky glasses), a bottle of water and two bottles of wine, as well as the bread. There was no butter, which I was kind of glad for because with the bottles and glasses that I, at least, was feeling a little overwhelmed.

The bread was fantastic. Crusty, warm and flavorful.

The others were talking about a musty smell in the room, but with my allergies I could barely smell the bread. We chatted to try to keep everyone relaxed in the dark. Those of us on the ends stretched our arms to see how far the table went. My side stretched at least two seats farther, but the gentleman on my right was at the corner of his part of the table. There was another couple (or group) in the dark with us — they weren't at our table, but often when we were chatting among ourselves we couldn't hear them.

The starters were interesting. Some of our party chose to eat with their fingers, trusting that things would be easier that way. I used my fork that often it would come to my mouth empty. Our table was punctuated by surprised exclamations of taste and texture. "Ooh, I had bits of sausage." "There's hummus in mine." "Rocket." (We call it arugula.)

Mine had a big piece of fish that I later found out was herring. (Proving that their definition of no meat is much like mine, as expected.)

Nerd that I am, I was careful to put my fork on the left and the knife on my right, so that I could find everything with a minimum of fumbling.

Our server came by to collect our starter plates, which I am proud to say I got mine to him without a problem. I was also able to pour my water without splashing it all over the table (granted, I only poured a couple of glug glugs into the glass and I had my finger in there to make sure I had a gap at the top of the glass).

Then came out entrees. Again, we played the I wonder what we're eating game. The food was fantastic. My meal had bits of prawn, potatoes and veg in a sauce. The chef was able to do something interesting with presentation, so that it was all small and bite sized. I would have loved to see what it looked like.

Around this point, I had my big faux pas of the evening. I poured myself some water and was surprised to find that I'd accidentally poured wine. I finished my glass and wasn't too thrilled about it. I explained what happened to the table to chuckles. This was quickly followed by the co-worker sitting across the table wondering where her wine glass was. Happily, I read enough mystery fiction to jump in and figure that one out by myself.

When the server came back, we all decided to add dessert. It was some sort of creamy, cold and warm dessert with bananas and a crispy shell. Very good.

For me, the main shock was when we got outside and found the price. For four people, a three-course meal, two bottles of wine, one bottle of still water, and four glasses of champagne was £240 (without gratuity). I thought that was a little excessive. I think the three course meal without drinks was £37 or so, so clearly the wine and champagne picked was better than a non-drinker is used to.

Even with price as a consideration, I definitely recommend it as an interesting dining option.

Celebrity Spotting In London

I saw about one a month when I was in New York.

In London, I've seen two:

Dexter Fletcher from a few of my favorite UK flicks: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake.

Last night, I saw Kevin Smith, who was in town for a couple of shows. He's shorter than I thought and personally, I think it was way too cold to be wearing shorts beneath his long "Silent Bob" coat.

Bad Tech - Week Three

Gotta love Dell. I was told again that my delivery date is going to slide.

So instead of getting my new internal keyboard (that I was told was in stock, when I bought it) on Mar 28. I'm now going to get it on Apr 12 (maybe).

Still waiting on my new LifeDrive stylus.

At least I have a long weekend.

Woo! Bank Holiday Weekend

I didn't realize it, but this weekend is a bank holiday weekend. We have both Friday and Monday off.

Not sure what I'm going to do, but I'm hoping to embrace one of the seven deadly sins and sloth out for at least one of the days.

Leading up to it should be a lot of fun: Tue, going to see 300 with a friend; Wed, going to Dans le Noir with some co-workers; and Thu, going to see Kevin Smith.

Fri, will probably be slugging out in a big way.

I'm all excited this week.

Bad Tech - Week Two

I love tech companies. Not.

I bought my replacement internal keyboard from Dell instead of getting it from the States, because I had been told by the tech support people that they had it on site. The woman in Sales swore up and down she'd expedite things.

Then I get an email saying that my order is delayed and I should get it on April 2.

Woo!

Last night, the stylus on my Palm LifeDrive disappeared somewhere on the tube home. One of the unusual features of these styli is that they have a spring and pop up when pressed down. Esthetically, it looks neat. (There is a downside when stuffing your hand in your pocket on the train, though.)

So I went to the Palm site this morning. Unfortunately, they no longer sell LifeDrive accessories on their site. They were able to bounce me to a couple of sites that still sold accessories. I tried the first one. They sold me the product. Later, I found out that they didn't have the product and would have to order it. It won't arrive until next Friday — April 6 or so.

On the other hand, the Sales guy was pleasant and local rather than being in a call center, so I was willing to stay with a local business and keep my order.

Still going to whine about it, though.

Update: AIGH! Dell just delayed my keyboard again. Now they don't have it in stock and I have to wait another three or four days. I called them and they said they have to order the keyboards special. And if I get a UK keyboard. That'll take three to five days. (Because obviously, they don't have one of those keyboards as well. I guess.)

Andy Barker, PI

If anyone's seen this show, please let me know what you think.

I'm a big fan of Andy Richter and heard lots of good things about "Andy Barker, PI". The mix of hard boiled accounting and slapstick detective stories is enough to make me giggle. It was even better, when I heard an interview on WHYY's Fresh Air with Andy Richter about the show. He considers the show a Quinn Martin comedy.

Sadly, that sounds right up my alley.

Bad Tech Week

Okay, what the hell happened this week?

I come into work on Monday and find that my mouse — brought here from the States died. It would click, but not move. No amount of cleaning the ball or loading the driver would help. It was a wonderful mouse: thumb roll bar, three buttons and a scroll wheel. My carpal-tunnel loved the damned thing.

Even better, I can't find one here. I'll look in other stories over the weekend, but I ran around to four places on Monday at lunch and couldn't find one. I have to make do with something less useful, proving again that The Man is out to get me.

My laptop's keyboard went nuts. The ';/:' key didn't work when I pressed it, but would randomly spray them throughout anything I was typing — usernames, passwords, text — clearly nothing that a few extra semi-colons would affect adversely. I tried the can o' air and prying the key up to clean out the goop. Didn't help. I tried reloading the driver. Didn't help. I checked the other keys and found that the '[/{' key was odd, too. The [ would come out, but the { wouldn't: which implied that it wasn't physical.

Dell tech support was very helpful. They sent instructions on how to replace the keyboard and told me the part number that I need. (And if I was in the States, it would be especially useful to me.)

Dell's parts number was less helpful. Before you could get a quote, you had to open a new sales account and they couldn't use your old sales account to do this. AIGH! Then they couldn't send me a US keyboard, because I was in the UK. Happily, I only needed to be indignant for a little while to get that one sorted.

End result I should have my new keyboard soon. I just hope that it takes care of the damned problem.

Update: Followed the instructions to remove the laptop's internal keyboard, blew out the dust and checked the connections, before reconnecting it — no difference.

TMNT - Review

Was wandering through Leicester Square on Saturday, trying to avoid the roving bands of Drunken Idiots wearing their best Guinness hats, and I spotted a theater that was showing a preview the new TMNT movie before it opens officially next week.

It was certainly cute and a movie built for kids. The computer animation was reminiscent of Pixar's "The Incredibles". I hadn't seen the trailers, but I had thought that it would be darker based more on the original Eastman and Laird work than the cartoons and previous movies. They played it fairly straight with cartoon violence and martial arts mayhem, but it was of the bloodless kid friendly sort.

That's not to say that there were characters and situations that could scare the hell out of children. Some of the secondary villains, etc... were serious SOBs.

The jokes ranged from adult to childish, but as usual in today's animated fare, nothing that reached to the peaks of the best of Chuck Jones or Jay Ward.

It was a pleasant romp, largely kid-safe and certainly worth the price of a matinee showing. (I don't think it was worth the price of the additional popcorn, but I'm a harsh judge, I guess.)

Odd Sights That Make You Pause

I saw this last week, but I had to put up the picture. It certainly made me do a double take on the way to work.

Eating in the Dark

Woo! Reservations to go to Dans Le Noir here in London in a few weeks.

I can't wait.

You Miss Everything Good, When You Sleep...

I got to work this morning and found that Kevin Smith will be in London next month.
This was posted at 7:58p EST (2:58am here). I got the message at 8am GMT (5 hours later) or so and tried to buy a ticket. They were all sold out.

Damn rabid fans.

Update: Woo! They added another show and I scored a ticket to the next one. I'm going on 5-Apr. Will post more after the event.

Note to Self... Amish Beards Don't Look Good On Me...

I wanted to see how I looked with an Lincolnesque Amish beard.

Not a good look.

I think it's a cry for help.

Dexter

I loved Michael C. Hall on "Six Feet Under", so when I saw that he was on "Dexter", I was intrigued. I read a couple of the books: Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter. (The new one Dexter in the Dark isn't out yet, but I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.)

A couple of my friends had told me how good it was, but it wasn't until I was able to see a few of the episodes that I fell in love. The producers, writers and directors had a difficult act with this show. They had to show a psychopath as sympathetic and managed to pull it off. They took the characters and plots from two books and both stayed close to the cannon and expanded it for dramatic purposes thanks to a stellar cast.

The first thing that they did was throw out the standard view of compacting things down. They took the story of the first book and stretched it. They kept the wonderful scenes and inventions from the book and gave us more of the day to day in between scenes from the book. Secondly, they decided to fluff up the secondary characters that were given short shrift in the books where the main attention is rightfully on Dexter himself. With flashbacks to Dexter's foster-father, Harry, and his interactions with the younger Dexter (with his horrible haircuts), they have given even more depth to young Dexter, so that we can see how he came to be what he is today and how the lessons have strengthened him.

While this isn't an ensemble series, such as "Lost" or "Six Feet Under", the juicier secondary roles have gotten a handful of good actors that bring the series up to be something special.

I just wish that broadcast TV would learn that lesson. Personally, I'm getting sick and tired of all the best shows being on cable.

That said, I recommend this show highly.

Update On My Life...

Other than that, not much to report: Still plugging away at work. Went to volleyball over the weekend, which was a lot of fun. I may end up on a BBC documentary that was filming at an exhibit I went to with some of the guys from the group. Reading Woodward's "State of Denial" and getting more and more depressed. I have some work from my writing group in New York to read and comment on. And this week, I've got a GURPS game coming and and then tickets to go see Equus on Friday.

We Export Boston Drivers?

One of the hardest things about living in another country is the homesickness. It comes at odd moments: a light blue jacket, a glimpse of someone with glasses, or a flash of blonde hair will remind you of someone or a trip to the grocery store will make you miss your favorite junk food. You know it's bad, when you hate cats and you actually look forward to seeing the black outdoor cat on our way home, because it reminds you of someone else's.

Sometimes however, the familiarity makes you feel at home where you are. For me, that happened over the weekend. I was crossing the street and some jackass turned without blinkers (or, to give them the benefit of the doubt, the signal wasn't visible from the front of the car) and almost ran me down. This was followed by the same waving gesture that you see in Boston. It's half-apology, half-shooing you off their road and it's all selfish belief that they own the road, because they're driving on it.

Spam Fritters

Okay, I'll admit that I will try silly food just to see how bad it might be.

At the grocery store this morning, I spotted Spam Fritters in the semi-fresh processed food aisle. They looked awful, but I had to try them. Much in the same way that people try cheese straws and the like, I guess.

I heated up the Spam Fritters (different link) for dinner. I didn't expect much and the pool of grease that had bubbled out of them hadn't helped.

And unfortunately, they tasted pretty much like you expected. The batter was the same sort of fairly tasteless batter used by generic processed fish patties. The spam inside was, well, Spam (tm). I think the only way that Spam has ever tasted good, was when it was fried so that it had the tang of the grill (or the frying pan) on it.

Next, I tried it with a little bit of brown wholegrain mustard. That fritter didn't taste half bad, once it had a tang of mustard to give it a bit of bite and more importantly some sort of flavor.

All in all, I don't think I'll be running out and getting these again, unless I'm having someone over that I don't particularly like.

Hot Fuzz

"Hot Fuzz" is absolutely hilarious. Definitely worth full price in a first-run theater.

Parody films are tough. They're usually done one of two ways: the "Epic Movie" route, where the film is a tenuous connection of gags thrown at the screen in the hope that enough jokes would work; the other route, seen in this film is to understand the genre well enough to keep to the tropes, yet still inventive enough to subvert them. Of the later, I felt that "Scream" did a similar job, though that film for all of it's humor, was primarily a horror film, even as it skewered the genre.

This film was clearly a comedy with just enough of a nod to the action movies to check off the various genres involved: the cop movie, the mismatched buddy film, the fish out of water film, and a bit of a mystery.

A brief plot synopsis for anyone interested: Simon Peeg is Nick Angel, London's Metropolitan Police's top cop. Within the first few minutes, he's reassigned to Sandford, an English country village. Once there, he becomes intrigued by a series of curious events that may prove to be foul play. He's partnered with the Chief's oafish son, Danny Butterworth, played by Nick Frost.

Culinary Chaos

I tried to make something different for dinner tonight. I shredded a potato, an onion, some mushrooms, a big clove of garlic and diced up a handful of plum tomatoes. I sauteed them up, before mixing them all together with a couple of eggs, some shredded cheese, along with salt and pepper. (The plan was to make some of a veggie meat loaf.)

All of this was tossed into a heated oven and baked.

The good news is that it tasted fantastic. (Sort of a potato heavy frittata taste, though that wasn't really a surprise as with all my favorite ingredients mixed together.) The bad news is that it ended up looking like an omelete left on the stove far too long — slightly burnt. The inside of the loaf wasn't the fluffy egg and veg mix I was hoping for; it was more broken down. Savory and tasty, but not quite what I was expecting.

More food experimentation in the future.

What the Hell?!

For the past three days, there have been letter and parcel bombs in an around London. The companies being targeted all seem to be connected to traffic companies: Monday, the office of Capita, the company that managed the congestion charges; Tuesday, the office of the accountants for the Speed Check Services; and now today, Wednesday, the main Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency office in South Wales.

Clearly this is some nut with a grudge, but still...

Here's a link to the BBC's coverage.