Bloomsbury Walk

Theresa and I have decided to explore the city we live in a bit more. So starting with an area in the centre of town this is a 4km tour of an area called Bloomsbury. Some photos and notes of what we discovered...


This is Bedford Square, completed in 1780, and the best surviving example of a Georgian Square in London. In keeping with the areas literary traditions it was home to many publishers until the 1980's.

The back of the British Museum - arguably more impressive then the front even and significantly less well known.

Russell Square and the Russell Hotel. A stunning building built from 1800, with such intricate carvings that it has to be seen up close to be believed.

Brunswick Square with it's traditional red telephone box. These are gradually being replaced by more modern items. The square was home to people such as Virgina Woolf, Leonard Woolf, Duncan Grant and John Maynard Keynes in the 1900's. All were members of the Bloomsbury Group - an association of writers, artists and intelectuals.

This is where Charles Dickens lived for several years in the 1830's and wrote Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. Note the beautifully intact railings and path.

Although now a very decorative house with some stunning blue tiles, this used to where the White Conduit was, which pumped water to the medieval monestary which is now St Pauls cathedral.

Great Ormond Street, location of the world famous childrens hospital.

This is a pub called the Queen's Larder, apparently named after the cellar where Queen Charlotte stored delicacies for her deranged husband George III while he was being treated in the local hospital. This whole area is considered one of the Italian quarters of London as well.

If anyone else would be interested in doing tours of your cities they are incredibly rewarding and maybe you could show the rest of us.

A tagged list from Paul

Thank you to Yossarian for tagging me ... and for giving me the opportunity to talk about myself some more. Lol!! Click on the title for Paul's list.

10 years ago
I was starting my second year of university in North Wales. Not overawed at all and determined to have some fun this year rather than just working. Moved in with some friends who I'm still mates with. Had just come back from a trans-European trip which took in 12 countries in 10 days with my friend Paul (who incidentally tagged me for this).

5 years ago
Moved to London and started my career in Publishing as a journalist covering motorsport. Was having a real struggle in my head trying to decide if that was what I wanted to do or not. Racing was my hobby and my job and I did not have a life outside of the sport. But I wanted one... Found the capital quite overwhelming. (Now consider it my home - how things change.)

1 Year Ago
Bought my second property in London and was hugely happy to be leaving my old flat. It served it's purpose, but it's a measure of how I never settled that I do not really even think about it now. Was travelling to Germany on a weekly basis and getting roundly sick of being anywhere near a plane or airport.

Yesterday
Flew back from Munich. Feltshit, but was upgraded to business class so had a good lunch and some nice champagne. Didn't get rid of my head cold, but made me feel special! Then went to B&Q to buy a coat hook and came back with plants, hooks, compost, fire alarm, food, picture frame, ...

Today
Am back in the prehistoric hell-hole that is my current office. It is 29 Celcius, I am sweating, snivelling and generally unhappy. Finished Harry Potter finally and thoroughly enjoyed it. Am looking forward to going home, sitting in the garden and having a Gin, Coke and Lime as the sun goes down.

Tomorrow
Friday thank goodness. Only one more week until I go to Barcelona and that thought is keeping me going. Have to start prepapring for the annual London to Brighton Smart car run which is this Sunday. Hopefully it will be even better than last year. Want to clean Lolita. Am so old ....

5 songs I know the words to:
1. Have a Nice Day – Bon Jovi
2. Boys of Summer – Don Henley
3. Like a Prayer – Madonna
4. YMCA - (can't remember group)
5. Hysteria - Def Leppard

5 snacks:
1. Apple
2. Belgian chocolate
3. Yoghurts
4. Pork Pie
5. Cheese

5 things I would do with $100 million:
1. Buy several cars
2. Design a house to put them (and me) in
3. Explore the world
4. Make sure my friends were comfortable
5. Launch a magazine company

5 places I would run away to:
1. Australia
2. Fiji
3. Spain
4. Mauritius
5. Masai Mara Game Reserve

5 things I would never wear:
1. Stilletos
2. Socks with sandals
3. Bling jewelery
4. Ties unless I have to
5. Football shirt

5 favourite tv shows (I don’t watch much TV, but . . .)
1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Lost
3. A place in the Sun
4. Have I Got News For you
5. V8 Supercar racing from Oz

5 joys:
1. Sunrise
2. Sunset
3. Dining with friends
4. Exploring with my girlfriend
5. Chilling on the sofa in the evenings

5 bad habits:
1. Being short tempered when I'm tired
2. Giving people silent treatment when I'm annoyed
3. Low bullshit tolerance
4. Like to keep things (too) neat
5. Sarcasm

5 things I like doing:
1. Walking in countryside
2. Playing on computer
3. Driving
4. Exploring
5. Sitting on beach listening to the sea

5 Movies I like:
1. Lord of the Rings trilogy
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
3. Taxi (French version)
4. Battlestar Galactica
5. Love Actually

5 famous people Id like to meet:
1. Ayrton Senna
2. Bill Hicks
3. Julia Stiles
4. Ludovico Einaudi
5. Jerry Bruckheimer

5 favourite toys
1. My car
2. My computer
3. Sky + satelite system
4. I-pod
5. Playstation

I tag Dale, C, Pep and Jerzee to pick this up and run with it.

I am now a landlord

My apologies for being away for a week. Totally unacceptable and I grovel mercifully. But it has been a pretty manic few days, and it's tough (still) not having the Internet at work. It means that any posting I do must be done at home, and I've been so whacked for the past few days that I just couldn't face it. But I figure I'd better get something down now.

The big news is that I now have a couple of people living with me which is very strange. I've lived alone for the best part of the last 5 years so having others around is going to be interesting I think. There will be a period of adjustment for all of us I guess. And we'll have our good days and bad days, but on the whole I'm very positive about them being there. Their names are Theresa and Dale, and you can see what they're about from links on the left of my blog. They moved up on Saturday and are both taking a few days to adjust to London and get over the shock of leaving the sea behind. It also gives them a chance to get themselves and the house organised while I'm at work. So far they've done a pretty cracking job and they've transformed the house from being a utalitarian bachelor pad (lots of gadgets, not too full cupboards, not too muh lying around to gather dust) to a homely environment (lots of pictures on walls, overflowing cupboards, washing hanging everywhere, garden furniture).

They are both very creative people and it's been lovely coming home and all sitting round the TV and chatting. This is probably very normal to everyone else, but I am finding it hugely stimulating. And we all look at things from different angles so we could be watching the same show, but reading three interpretations from it. Fascinating. I am also being exposed to new foods, and have been threatened with a curry night on an irregular basis (not a huge fan of food that hurts me).

So that's the latest from Chez Dom. We have dial-up internet access at work, but that is driving me more insane each time I use it. I think I might post about how we used to work without e-mail and internet. (How did we do it?).

England win The Ashes

For the first time in 20 years England have won the Ashes Test Cricket Series. The Ashes is one of the oldest Cricket competitions in the world and is a series of games between England and Australia. The Ashes name refers to the trophy which is an urn with something or someone’s ashes in it. (Have probably been told who/what they are in the past but have forgotten. And have too much of a life to look subject up.) The Test series was over 5 games and was incredibly hard fought, and the series wasn’t decided until very late in the day of the final game, last night. But England triumphed 2-1 with 2 draws as well.



Cricket is supposedly our national sport (or is it Football/Soccer?) and like many sports we invented, we’re not that good at them. In a very English way we wallow in being the defeated underdog, and get on with our lives reasonably happily. Whereas the Australians are very competitive and have that killer instinct in sport. And Cricket is probably more their national sport than ours. So beating them in this series was fantastic. Cricket has long been seen as a minor and fading sport in the UK, but the whole country has been getting behind the team over the last few weeks. And the country pretty much stopped yesterday to try and catch some of the final day of the series. Everyone is talking about the team at the moment and they did a parade through central London today, which drew crowds in the tens of thousands. National pride is running high and I think people are feeling good about themselves as well. I think this is great, particularly in London given recent events. It is very pertinent for me as half of my office are Australians and it’s nice to put one over them (in a nice way).



In recent times there has been a change in attitude towards sport in this country, probably directly linked to the fact that we are having some success internationally. At the end of 1993 England won the Rugby World Cup (again, rather pleasingly, beating the Australians) in an epic match. Then earlier this year London got the Olympics for 2012, and then yesterday England won the Ashes. On each occasion there have been huge celebrations in the centre of London and the city has really come together to celebrate. And a lot of the rest of the country has been joining in. Hopefully this will mean that resources will be put into developing future sports people. Whether you are into sport or not, I think it’s a good thing to have some success and everyone feels better when Britain wins. It lightens the mood across the country, and often brings groups and communities together.

But for the moment congratulations to the England Cricket players and lets build on this.

(I’ve realised this post contains some factual grey areas for which I apologise.)

9/11

It has been 4 years since the terrorist attacks that changed the world. Now that London has also been attacked by these nutters I feel an even greater empathy with New York and Washington DC. I hope as a world we will continue to stand firm and I believe this will end one day.

Office update - getting there

We have progress. Maybe. We now have phone lines. And I have hooked up 3 dial up modems to these lines, which means we have limited/slow internet access. Hoorah! Only about a month after we moved in. We should hear about the ADSL in a couple of weeks.

A big fat Greek wedding in Eastbourne

It's been a pretty hectic week. most of the week was spent in a coastal town in Southern england called Eastbourne, at the wedding of one of my best friends. She's called Matina, is Greek and a good mate, and decided to have her wedding in traditional Greek style. Due to various reasons which are beyond me she (we) ended up in Eastbourne.

Eastbourne is like a retirement town and has a distinctly grey and dying feel to it. Not in a morbid sense, but more like where people come to spend the remaining days of their lives. Everything moves slower (or on small motorised mobility scooters) and everyone seems to have grey or white hair. Despite this though it turned into three days of utter relaxation mixed in with a Greek Orthodox service and some dancing and partying. A lot of her family came over from Athens and much fun and consternation was had with the food and dancing in particular.

We were blessed with fantastic weather and a friend and I spent many happy hours walking round, eating and taking photos. Some of the results of the latter you can see on the photoblog linked on the right. Many of us at the wedding were pretty dog tired and for some reason the peace and slow pace of Eastbourne got us all completely chilled. Leaving to go to work on Friday was so so tough!!



I'm sorry if this post is a bit nothing to some of you, but I just want to post a couple of pics of the happy couple and to wish them all the best for the future.

Office update - joke continues ...

I thought British Gas were pretty dire, and there was no way any other company could sink as deep in terms of customer service. I was wrong. British Telecom plumb new depths!!

Two things happenend today to make me cringe and smile through gritted teeth. Followed by a bit bit of gnashing of said teeth and then that despairing smile you see on people who are losing the will to live. Did my daily call to BT to enquire where we were at with getting ADSL for the office. Was told that there was a problme and we couldn't have ADSL because the local telephone exchange is too full and there is no more room for anyone to get broadband. We have to wait for someone to give up their broadband before we can have it. which is insane and I'm sure not correct. Unless my particular part of London is the busiest broadband user district in the UK (unlikely). Added to the fact that the business park my office is built on is above the biggest telephone exchange in South East england (I've discovered). But BT were most insistent that we couldn't have ADSl and would have to wait in a queue for it. So I've started searching around other providers who do not use the BT cabling, and moght have found a couple of options. Both of which will take between two and four weeks to get sorted. But hopefully this is progress. And it will have meant that my company will have been operating without any connection to the outside world for up to eight weeks!!!

The other cringe worthy moment came when we received a letter from BT saying that unless we paid the set up fee immediately for ADSL they would disconnect us. Am thinking salt/rubbing/wounds/owwww!

Happy birthday blog

I have been blogging for one year now. How time flies when you are having fun. and as with all birthdays it is a good time for reflection. It has been quite a momentous year outside of the computer. I've moved house, a hugely destructive tsunami hit Asia, Pope died and was replaced, Michael Jackson inexplicably found not guilty, London winning the Olympics bid for 2012, one of the wierdest hot/cold Summers on record, London being attacked by suicide bombers, new girlfriend.

And in blog world it's been a ride as well. It all began when I bought a digital camera and I wanted a place online to store the photos. I was bored one day while sitting in my office in Germany and googled looking for something to use. Found Blogger. Went from there! It rapidly became a sort of online journal. Initially recording what I did and where I went, and then it became a means to air problems, thoughts and views. At around the same time I met a very varied group of individuals online who I'd like to think have become friends. At times you guys have lifted me when I've been down, made me laugh when I've been sad and made me question lots of different things. And I want to pay respect to that and thank you for it.
Blogging has also given me the impetus to learn some html and has brought me in contact with a wide range of sites and thoughts online. It has arguably also kind of been the catalyst for my current relationship (but more about that some other time).

I've no idea wher the blog is going to go in the next year(s), but I hope the ride gets bigger and better. I'm raising a virtual glass to you all and wishing myself a happy birthday!!

Update on office situation

And the good news as of this morning is that we still have no phones or ADSL. Which means we cannot have any contact with the world outside of our four office walls. According to the phone company (British Telecom - not some little tin-pot company), we will being connected on September 5. Only a month since we moved in. Initially they said it would be 5-10 working days. Then it became longer, but not sure how much longer. Then we were put at the top of the priority list, where we sat for a week with no progress at all. The irony is that the business park where we are now sits above the main telephone exchange for South London. All of the wires are 20ft below out office!!

Luckily I can work from home a bit so can still do some work, but I wonder how people managed before e-mail and the Net? I've never worked in an environment without e-mail, but has anyone else? what did people do to send data to each other? And did people just spend the whole day on the phone?

You just have to smile though (through gritted teeth!)...

Bank Holiday week-end

Here is the seafront on the south Coast of england. Typical of many seaside resorts in the UK. This is Portsmouth.


Last week-end was a public holiday in the UK. One of the few that we get each year. Far fewer than our European cousins (not that I'm bitter). Traditionally the weather is shocking, but this time it turned out alright. I spent some of the holiday at home with my folks, as you can see here.

Me, mum and dad in their front garden.

Realised it has been nearly 6 months since I was last home - how bad is that?! Guess time really does fly, and we have plenty of contact, but still. I love their house and village. It is so tranquil and energising. Each time I go there I promise myslf I will be back soon. Doesn't always happen soon enough unfortunately ...

Then it was off to the coast to enjoy a few rays with some friends and catch the festivities there celebrating the end of Summer. Abba tribute band/few drinks/firework show. Usual stuff....



And to close a couple of sunset pictures in Portsmouth showing the skyline and landmarks. A fitting end to a good few days.

Walking by the river

Or paddling in this case! Great friends of mine, Aaron and Liz, and I decided to go fro a stroll downriver along the banks of the Thames. From were they live to a particularly nice area calle Richmond-upon-Thames. Very posh, very expensive, and very full of life. The walk was great, looking at some wonderful houses and boats, enjoying a fine Summer afternoon. Unfortunately the tide was rising and the path flooded. As you can see. So the walk became a paddle. Not sure how healthy it was, and my feet did smell even worse than normal.

I couldn't help wondering what people did in Elizabethan times though, when they must have been in the same situation as we were. The men lying a cape on the ground for the women to walk over would not really have sorted this ...

Quiz time

It's Saturday morninf so it's quiz time (no, I don't really know why either!)

First instalment is from Theresa ....

When was the last time you said something nice to someone?
This morning
What was it you said?
I love you
How did you feel when/after you’d said it?
Was smiling inside
When was the last time you said something horrible to someone?
Yesterday, to a colleague
What was it you said?
Told them to stop whinging or I would sack them
How did you feel when/after you’d said it?
Indifferent. I meant it.
Do you regret saying it?
No, she'd been whinging all week. about time I did something about it.
When did you last feel really alone?
Not recently
Who/what pulled you out of feeling that way?
Sorted my head out
When did you last make a significant change to your life?
3 months ago
Why did you make that change?
Realised I was with the wrong person.
If you could go on holiday tomorrow, where would you go?
Barcelona, and happily find myself going there soon.
Who would you go with, if anyone?
Someone I care about very very much
If life wasn’t so complicated, what would be your ideal situation right now?
No money worries, living in a villa in Catalunya, doing a creative job.
What would make you happy right now?
A comfortable bed and someone to snuggle up to.
What would make you sad right now?
Realizing I had no purpose in life.
If you could do one special thing today, without complications, what would you do?
Head for the coast
If you knew you had just 24 hours left to live, describe your perfect day?
Spend the day with a special person, on a quiet and beautiful beach. Absorbing the company and the world around me.
If you could have anything to eat right now, describe what it would be?
Tapas
Which chef would you have cook it?
Gordon Ramsay
What is your worst personal habit?
Picking my nose
What is your best trait?
Caring
How would you describe your personality?
Complex, but caring
If you could see anyone in concert, of any era, who would you like to see that you haven't seen before?
Queen
If you could buy any painting…?
A Monet
If you could do one thing to improve the world, what would it be?
Remove the need for money.
If you weren’t here tomorrow, how do you think you would be remembered?
A complex person who is very loyal
How would you like to be remembered?
As above


second instalment is from Yossarian ....

Question 1: Who is you hero(s) and why?
I'm not sure I have heroes as such, but there are people who inspire me. Dan Millman started my off on my journey. My parents and partner give me support and encourage me to better myself.

Question 2: If you could have three wishes, what would they be?
I wish I could settle down and have a quiet and happy family life.
I wish to be able to travel to far-flung places in this worldand expore them with no time-pressure.
I wish to not need to work so many hours so that i can have more time for friends and family.


Question 3: If you could eat anything you want right now, what would you eat and who would cook it?
Tapas, Gordon Ramsay

Question 4: When you read this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news
/england/london/4163314.stm) how does it make you feel?
Link didn't work. what was it about?


Question 5: If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
I would have more free time so that I could pursue more interests of mine.

Time for a lie down now ....

Brightening things up

A friend and I have been doing quite a lot of work in the garden and the house recently, and here are some of the results of our efforts. For a while there has been a little something missing from the place. Nothing really big, or really bad, but just ... something not quite .... there. It took a while to get my head round what it was. And then I had an epiphany - life was missing from the house. Living alone it can be very easy to miss the obvious things. So my friend and I went searching and shopping and started to add the finishing touches.

It's incredible what a few plants can add to a place. I guess it's probably like a cat or something - there's a tranquility and vivacity that decends on the place. You enter a room and feel the power of living things in the room with you. as the wind gently blows through you can hear the swish of leaves. When it rains you can smell the grass and the flowers. And such a relatively small thing transforms your karma.

I hope the pics bring you some kind of sense of the peace they bring me.

Above is a Fern with some glass stones in water. When the sun shines through into the lounge in the evenings it makes the most fantastic moving light image on the walls.


Here is a collage of some of the flowers in the garden. It's great to come home from a tough day and see so much colour around. Some are Petunias, others I'm not so sure. I take the view that I don't need to name them to appreciate what they are. and for how they make me feel ...


The patio needed brightening up a bit. sitting outside in the evenings it's great having some colour in the garden, but it's also nice to have some smaller plants all around you. One of these is a herb pot which is regularly cultivated and added to my food. The otjers are a Bamboo which I'm going to enjoy watching growing. I love the sound Bamboo in the wind makes. And a mixture of Ivy and small patio plants. The colours work so well together.


I have no idea what these plants are, but they are pretty mad. Curly Love and Space Flowers I call them. Somehow I smile each time I see them. and they seem to fit together very well.

And finally here is the white Lilly. One of the most beautiful flowers.

Some sweet thoughts from an anonymous blogger...maybe

Sweet Song

This is the sweet song,
Song of all the sweets,
Caramel and butterscotch
Bullseyes, raspberry treats;

Treacle toffee, acid drops,
Pastilles, crystal fruits,
Bubble-gum and licorice-sticks
As black as new gum boots;

Peppermint creams and aniseed balls,
Tiny sweets and whoppers,
Dolly-mixtures, chocolate drops,
Gigantic gob-stoppers;

Lemon sherberts, jelly babies,
Chocolate cream and flake,
Nougat, fudge and such as give
You tooth and belly-ache.


Peut-être

Peut-être il me croit, peut-être pas.
Peut-être je peux l'épouser, peut-être pas.
Peut-être le vent sur la prairie, Le vent sur la mer, peut-être,
Quelqu'un, quelque part, peut-être peut dire.
Je poserai ma tête sur son épaule
Et quand il me demande je dirai oui,
.....Peut-être.

:)

Moving office part 2

As some of you may have read, last week was comedy week in my office. The boss decided to surprise us (me!) with a last-minute office move. The move duly happened on Monday amid much chaos and swearing. But we had a whole 13 person office, with associated crap moved and in the new place by 3pm that day. Which I think is pretty impressive actually.

We were right in the centre of London, but we are now near an area called Canary Wharf which is by the old docklands area. I think it’s really nice because it’s away from the hassle and hustle of the city centre. It’s also close enough to my house for me to drive. So no more public transport for Dom!!

There’s lots of unpacking still to do. And at the moment we have no phones, no internet, no e-mail. We are networked internally, but there’s only so much fun to be had by e-mailing colleagues across the office!! Hopefully it’ll all be up and running by next week.

And the best news is that we might be moving again in four weeks to a permanent office! But I’m not even thinking about that yet. Too depressing!!

I am a potter

Over the week-end a friend and I decided to set about decorating my house a bit more. It has been lacking a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’, and I came to the conclusion that it was life. Or plants in particular. So some bushes, vases, coloured stones and other things were acquired. The centerpiece is this glass vase that stands about 4ft tall, which I’ve put various coloured gravels in and some plastic flowers. It’s standing in the corner, but really adds to the chilled atmosphere in the place now. I’ve tried taking some photos (to show off basically!), but they do not do justice to the room. So I’ve settled for just this photo instead. It’s amazing how a few small details changes can make a huge impression.

And today's amusing story concerns ...

... me!

My boss walks into my office at 14.30 today, Friday.

Boss: We have to move offices (in chatty tone).
Dom: OK (thinking happy thoughts because I don't like our decor).
Dom: Where are we going?
Boss: Don't know yet.
Dom: OK, when are we moving (growing suspicious)?
Boss: We have to move on Monday.
Dom: Monday? Which Monday (thinking I'm sure we have a months notice)?
Dom: (surely we have at least a months notice.)
Boss: This Monday. Otherwise the bailiffs will come and change the locks on the doors.
Dom: (stunned)....this Monday?
Boss: Yes.
Dom: And we don't know where we're going yet?
Boss: No, I need you to sort that out asap.
Boss: And find a removal company that can come in on Monday morning and move us.
Boss: And speak to IT so that they can come in at the week-end and dismantle everything. We have to be out of here on Monday.

Unfortunately this isn't a joke. We are moving offices on Monday, having been informed by the management on Friday afternoon.

Update to follow if I survive this move and don't get jailed for beating ten bells of shit out of my boss. Who, incidentally, broke the good news and then buggered off to his boat shortly afterwards!

One month on ....

It has been one month since the terrorist attacks on London. as the picture above shows, the city is almost back to normal. One underground transport line is still out of commision, but it does not affect travel across town that much really. This line above, the Picadilly Line, was the final major artery to get back running. And as of this morning, 4 weeks on, it is.

I've been reflecting a lot on how I feel about things today, and trying to work out what the general mood is in London. I've done a lot of soul searching in the past few weeks. There's nothing like a bomb attack to focus the mind and to work out what is important and what is not. After the first bombings I just felt disgust for the people who had done this. In a way I felt bitter that they had killed themselves in the process of the attack becaue I would love to have seen them being made to pay for what they did. As I think I wrote on the day. Unfortunately they took the easy way out and all we can do now is hunt down those who helped them, and try and figure out what made these killers do it. I just hope there is a real and logical grievance and not just some twisted and false interpretaion of Islam or some such thing. If nothing else to help those who lost loved ones deal with this tragedy.
I feel relief in a way that no-one close to me was involved in the attack. I know people who know people who have lost friends and partners, but no-one directly connected to me. I really feel for those who are currently burrying their dead and remembering them (especially today I would think). But I do not feel guilty for knowing my friends and family are all still about.

After the first attacks I felt nothing about being back ont he London transport network. No fear, no determination, just carrying on as normal. It wasn't bravado, just a logical take on my situation. Maybe it was my way of dealing with it I don't know. But I got up on the Monday morning and followd my usual routine and went back into london as I do on most days. Same shit, different day, that kind of thing. I didn't even really notice much disruption which was heartening. I felt good about that becasue it signified that London would recover fast from something like this. and whatever was thrown at us we would bounce back stronger.

Then came the second attacks. Or attempts anyway. I was abroad during the first attack, but in my offcie during the second one. Luckily the idiots who tried this attack were so incompetent that they couldn't even set the bombs off. I'm relieved about that, but also feel even more contempt for the people who tried this time, than for the first lot. At least they have all been caught now and hopefully we can get some straight answers to why. Even the coward who ran abroad has been caught. I guess I just want to know why more than anything. What have the people of London done to make them hate us so much?

The morning after the second attack a man was shot dead by Police when he refused to stop when challenged and then tried to board a train. I have had people criticise the Police for allowing this to happen, but I personally would pat the officer on the back for doing probably the toughest thing he has ever done. He will have to live with his actions for the rst of his life. But he did what he thought was right and did it to protect the many innocent people on that train. It turns out the man was not a terrorist and that is a tragedy, but he was in this country illegally and refused to stop. Which in the current situation is ill-advised at best, and (as we have seen) deadly at worst. I've also noticed that the vast majority of peopl who have criticised the Police do not live in London. Many people who live in the capital I think agree it's a tragedy, but have no problem with the Police trying to protect us.

The second set of attacks were on a tran line that I use every day. And the guy who was shot was in a station that I pass through all of the time. The first time I went through the station I felt a bit strange. It was a momentary feeling and I have not had it since, but it did cross my mind that I could have been on that train. Or one of the trains the bombers were on. I think the second set of attacks made me realise that this could become a wave of terror in London. The randomness of the attacks is probably the most scary thing. Although the dumbness of the second group is heartening.

And how do I feel today? There are a lot of Police around which is comforting. I think people generally are looking out for each other, more than watching each other now. as was the case in the aftermath of the attacks. I think London as a city, and it's population have risen magneficently to the challenge of what has happened, and it shows that the spirit of stoicism is still strong here. I am a lot more aware of foreigners in the city now. But I am equally determined not to think of them differently and treat them differently to what I was before. I have no fear about being on the transport network, and even if I did have concerns I would still go on it anyway. I think attitudes and life changed dramatically in London on July 7. As it did in New York in 2001. I don't know what the future will bring, but we can never go back to how it was now. I hold out great hope for us as a race and I think seeing that London has recovered from this shows that we can exist as a multi-cultural population.

My final comment would be to all those who checked I was OK in the immediate aftermath of the attcks. To all of you I say 'thank you'. You have been true true friends and I am indebted to you for your concerns. I will never forget it ...

Mad German / EU law of the week

I heard today that Germany has won an exemption from an EU law that is set to be introduced. Apparently in Germany it's OK for barmaids to wear low-cut tops outside in the sun, whereas elsewhere it's set to become banned. This is because wearing low-cut tops in the sun means you will get sunburn on your breasts and that is bad for health & safety. Germany has won the exemption because of the traditional clothing that many bar people wear called the dirndl, which is low-cut.

I'm outraged by this of course. Low-cut tops should be encouraged among bar staff!!

Lol!!

Holiday here I come

Barcelona is my favourite city in the world and yet I haven't been in about five years. No regrets about that because I've had the opportunity to go to plenty of other places in the meantime. But I've been feeling an increasingly strong urge to go there for a while now. It's such an invigorating city that I find it very energising whenever i go. And with the past few months having been pretty tough for various reasons, the call to Barcelona is even stronger.

So I have booked a week in an appartment there, sorted out some flights and I'm going in 63 days!! I apologise in advance if I start to get hugely excited the nearer the departure day gets. But it's so cool. And I'm so happy about it. And so I want to tell everyone!!! (Sorry)

Problems with my blog

As far too many of you noticed I had a slight technical problem with the blog a couple of days ago. Completely my fault. Very embarassing. I'm obviously further from my web programmer destination than I thought. Lol!

Does anyone know how I can load a countdown timer onto my blog? Needs to count doan about 2 months only. That's what I was trying to do and it all went horribly wrong!!!

London update

It turns out that the bombers last week were connected to the attack on July 7, which is slightly worrying. It makes you wonder how many of these buggers are out there just waiting to try and blow something else up. Thankfully they maganed to cause a lot less chaos then before last week.

I get the feeling that the city was shaken again by last weeks attempted attack. Possibly even more than after the July 7 attacks. Probably because it's now dawning on people that this was not an isolated incident. I know that many people, including me, have done a lot of soul searching about travelling into town everyday. Because it's the school holidays here the roads and public transport network are much quieter anyway. But I'm wondering if a lot of people are now reluctant to come into town. On the underground trains in the morning you see a lot of people watching each other a lot more than you used to. There is definitely a sense of tension around now.

I travel through one of the stations that was attacked last week, on a twice daily basis. Yesterday wa the first time I went through it since last week and I will admit I was a little bit nervous for the first time in my life. The attacks are random so I'm not particularly worried about there being another bomber on my train. But more because it has hit home that I could have been on that train when it was attacked.

I'm not scared of much (except spiders), and I am determined not to let these idiots affect my life. But I am feeling a bit more nervous. My family and friends are being great about not checking up on all of my movemens all the time, but I know they are worried as well. This is not a good situation to be in right now!

More attacks

As some of you may have heard/be hearing it looks like London has suffered another attack, although this one is nothing like on the scale of the previous one thank goodness. People here are confused, a little scared, but I think even more determined to carry on with life. If terrorists think they can intimidate us into hiding then they are very very much mistaken.

Morris dancing

I don't know if this is peculiarly British thing, but I'm guessing that it probably is. Morris dancing. As illustrated in the photo above. It involves men and women dressing up and hanging all sort of ornaments, mementoes, bits of cloth and stuff like that off their clothes. Then tucking their trousers into their socks and attaching bells to themselves. Finally they all dance in circles and bank little pieces of wood together. Usually while making what can best be described as whooping sounds. It's quite 'special' as the French would say.

I'm not exactly sure where this practice comes from, having never been too involved in it myself, but I'm pretty confident it's 'religious' and probably pagan. And it normally happens in villages (dare I say where the communities are very 'close'). Having taken the piss a little bit just then, I do have to say it seems relatively harmless and I guess it keeps people out of trouble.

At the week-end when the above group were dancing I had the pleasure of watching the faces of many foreign tourists who came round the corner to discover these whooping adults. There were many who took photos, all had a slightly surprised expression on their faces, and many looked slightly worried. Is this uniquely British?

End of round world yacht race

I went to a port in the South of England yesterday to watch the arrival of the yachts that had taken part in the Global Challenge round the world yacht race. The race lasts for around 10 months, and is unusual in that they go the 'wrong' way round the world. That is to say against the tides and prevailing winds. So basically it's pretty tough!!

I've always enjoyed sailing although I don't get to do it that much now. But I have huge admiration for anyone taking part in this kind of event. Sailing round the world is one of those great adventures that still exists on Earth. And it's pretty dangerous as well, even in todays nanny society. The Southern Ocean (between South America and Australia) is reckoned to be one of the toughest places on Earth. Where you encounter icebergs and 60ft waves on a daily basis!

The atmosphere at the port was amazing, and a lot of people turned out to see them in. A special area right in the middle of port was reserved for them to tie up and there was huge celebrations when each yacht came in. Above is the yacht Pindar coming into the harbour. Below is Barclays and others tied up in front of the landmark Spinnaker Tower.

Harry Potter

Yes, in some people's eyes I am sad, but I did happen to be passing a bookshop last night at just gone midnight, and I happened to find myself walking in and buying a copy of the latest Harry Potter. The till receipe says 00.17 am!!!

I considered stsrting to read straight away, but I've done that before and it was prety fatal. I got so into the book before that I couldn't put it down and ended up reading the book in pretty much one sitting. 600 pages of it! So this time I went to bed and got up early this morning and started reading. And it's very very good....

More updates to follow...

Quote of the day

Culture is the art of seeking perfection....

We remember ....

Today London remembered those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attacks last week. The city held a 2 minute silence and everyone came onto the streets from offices and homes to pay their respects. Many people gathered in one of the main squares in the centre of town. It was incredibly eerie and very moving. It really feels like we are united as one city right now. Probably more than ever. And whatever happened/will happen will not defeat us.

Joyeux Bastille Day

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Happy National day to everyone in France. I hope you all have a great day and everything passes off smoothly.

Survival Sarongs

Being a Sarong wearer myself I was pleasantly surprised to discover that you can now get so called Survival sarongs. they are still cotton, but treated with some kind of stuff to make them semi-waterproof and also stronger. They can then be used as a sarong, towel, sheet, rain cover, fan belt (apparently), and countless other solutions for problems you will never encounter.

I reckon it was invented by the same person who came up with combat skirts.

London ...

I'm back in the Uk now and have managed to contact all friends and family and it seems that everyone is OK. Some had a close shave with some of the incidents, but no-one was physically harmed thanks goodness. It was tense few hours tracking people down. Made more difficult because all of the telephone networks were shut down in London for a while in case the bombs were being triggered remotely by phone. As I said everyone I'm with is safe. Now we can all turn our thoughts and attention on those who have been hurt and/or who have lost loved ones.

I was in my other office in Germany when we got word that somethig had happened back home. My first thoughts were for my friends, family and colleagues, because they all pretty much work in the area where the bombs went off. And many of them would have been on the transport network at the time the devices went off. Because the Police shut down the phone network it proved very difficult to get hold of anyone. All sorts of thoughts go through your head during this time. Where was everyone? Is anyone hurt? Are they with other people at this time? Luckily sms and e-mail still seemed to work. And IM worked with some of them so I managed to speak to everyone in about an hour. It was an uncomfortable time though. The best moment was when I phoned my parents (who live a long way from all this) and my first words were 'I'm OK'. Dad - 'why, what have you done?' He'd been gardening and had no idea. Ignorance is bliss really. And being so far away I felt pleased that people need not worry about me at all, but also very unhappy because I so wished to be in town where I might have been able to do some good. If only by offering support to some of the younger colleagues for example.

What a strange and nightmare situation to be in though. Part of me figured this was going to happen at some point, and I suspect we have come very close to this on other occasions in the last few years. But nothing can really prepare you for seeing people you live and work around everyday blown apart. The atmosphere I'm feeling is one of determination, not of being cowed by this in any way. The advice from the Police today is to stay away from central London so many people are working from home. This gives the authorities a chance to clean up and gather any evidence they can find. But come Monday we will be back at our desks and life will return to as close to normality as possible. It has to. And it will.

I have not been into central London since this happened because I was away and flew back last night. For those that don't know. What the terrorists have done is managed to knock out three of the main underground lines (there are eight). The bombs don't appear to have been that big, so they are obviously to cause fear rather than to destroy the city. The devices expolded all around the edge of the centre of town. Again, one suspects to try and cause as much disruption as possible, rather than wipe the city out.

And now where do we go from here? After the high of getting the Olympics on Wednesday I was going to write a post about how proud I am to be part of the Olympics in the future. There is a lot of work to be done, but we'll get there. And it is so exciting. And then this happens. I'm still feeling a little numb from it all and also outraged that someone feels they can come and do this to us. I'll need some days to absorb it all and I'm interested to see what the mood will be on the journey into work on Monday.

Thank you for all your words and e-mails though. Think of us at this time....

Cowardly attacks

Some of you may have heard about the cowardly, stupid, low-life attacks on London. I am in Munich at the moment and desperately trying to get news of friends and family in London. It's the one day when I am both glad to be away from London (because people don't need to worry about me then), but also so wish I was there to help.

I'll write more when I have managed to contact friends and family and am back in the UK.

And if any of the fuckers involved in this ever read this. Know this - you will pay for what you have done.

Battlestar Galactica series 2

Just found out today that Season 2 of the new Battlestar Galactica is starting in the US next week. Which is GREAT! We don't get it in the UK until October though. Which is not so great. I guess it's not that long though. And it means my winter is now well and truly sorted!!

Now ... how can I avoid all of the plots and storylines until October? And do I even want to .....?

Thought of the day

Alcohol doesn't help us to sort out our problems.

Having said that, neither does milk.

Krakow trip

I made another business trip to Krakow in Poland last week (hence my absence), and it proved to be probably the best Polish trip so far. My main official reason for going this time was to check our paper stocks being held at the printers my company uses there. And a paper audit is as stimulating as it sounds!! But it all went pretty smoothly and most of the meetings were constructive.

The bonus with having a supplier based in Krakow is that it gives me a chance to go and look around the town and get to know a bit more about the culture and people. And I�m hugely privileged to have a good bunch of guys at the printers who are pretty up for going out. But more about that in minute. Krakow is a very historic city and arguably one of the prettiest in Poland. It has a rich history in art and education, and there are a lot of students who still go there (about 200,000 at the moment apparently). It still has a lot of the signs of its Communist past, but is definitely being modernised. Mostly in a good way. And it still retains some of its very beautiful landmarks such as the castle above.

There are many areas of town that I had not seen on my previous visits, one of the main ones being the Jewish quarter. This district has seen some pretty bad things during the Second World War, and then went through a time of being pretty neglected and crime ridden. Recently it has come back to life and is now one of the areas a lot of people go to hang out. There are lots of bars and restaurants, all of them definitely on a par with anything we have in the UK.
Each time I go to the city there are different people to go out with in the evenings. This time due to sickness and holiday I went out with Lukasz and Mariusz, two of a seemingly bottomless pool of friendly and well connected young guys who work for the printers. On the second evening we went to the aforementioned Jewish quarter and hooked up with another couple of friends there called Ela and Joanna and did a tour of the Jewish area (called Kazimierz). The bars there range from some very intellectual places where artists gather and talk about Proust over a good few bottles of wine and many cigarettes. (Well maybe not Proust, but you get the idea.) Through to an interesting bar laid out like a Turkish caf�, to a club which resembled a Roman villa in layout and was playing Old Skool music. We almost ended up in a place I went last time with a load of beds in the back room to chill out on (very cool and very red), but instead finished the night in what looked like the trendiest bar in town which was playing some kind of techno-salsa music.
Unlike London everyone in Krakow seems quite happy to stay up all night and keep going. When I went back to the hotel at 4am the bars were still rammed and people looking like they were on their third lease of life. And the people there are incredibly friendly and welcoming. From what I�ve seen there is a very young vibe to the place and there are some great looking guys and girls there. It reminds me very much of Prague or Barcelona, but has an undiscovered feel to it at the moment. Apparently the town and hotels are getting busier and busier each week so word is obviously getting out. So if you can get there I can strongly recommend it before it gets spoilt.

Not very interesting fact from the visit. A slang word which sounds like 'no' in polish actually means 'yes'. So if you�re chatting to a girl and she says no, it actually can mean yes. Or she might mean no. Try and figure that one out!

I think they will all be reading this, so thank you for a great couple of days and see you again as soon as possible!!

Follow up on Zimbabwe

My sister works for a company that runs projects in various developping countries, including Zimbawe. I got this e-mail from her, here reprinted without asking anyone's permission. It is from her company's project leader. It gives an interesting insight into the state of play in Zimbabwe right now. It's a lot worse than most people realise....

Dear All,

Just an update on the situation here.

You may have seen news on the evictions and demolitions going on (called
restore order) here which have displaced somewhere around 250 - 300,000 people (conservative UN estimates) over the past 6 weeks. This has also had knock-on effects for many others as rentals have now soared in the high density areas. Nobody is quite sure what has spurred all this although many rumours and conspiracy theories abound.

The Gov. has announced about 2 weeks ago that they would also be scouring the residential areas and closing down all illegal offices. The suburbs north of the city are full of such offices, including ours and most of the NGOs we work with. I haven't heard of anyone actually being affected yet,so we just sit tight and hope other things occupy their minds. We are in a pretty quiet area, which also means it is highly unlikely that we would be amongst the early evictees. We should get reasonable advance warning when and if they actually get serious on this and start closing people down.

However. dont be too shocked if you hear one fine day that we are all sitting in the street. Rachel has started looking around for alternatives in "proper" office blocks just in case, but if it gets to that stage the competition will be somewhat fierce.

They have also announced a new campaign called "we will all live happily ever after etc etc", or some such bullshit, where everyone will get new houses, business places etc. So things (and people) are very confused.

Fuel has not been available in service stations for nearly a month now although long queues form on rumours of impending delivery. Many cars just stay in the queues as they are already out of fuel. We are OK so far because of our coupon system prepaid in overseas to Caltex. Official price of petrol was increased 300% to $10,000 per litre, and while this in theory brings the price somewhere in line with true prices, it doesn't solve the problem of lack of real money.

Scheduled power cuts have started in addition to unscheduled ones, although the schedules are also confused. So far we are not seriously inconvenienced, although sometimes we can't get fuel with our coupons because there is no power to run the fuel pumps. Water supply is bad in many suburbs, however again we are fortunate in being close to a major reservoir.

Next shortage looming is cash! again! We had this in 2003 when the largest note was $500. We have had $20,000 bearer cheques since then which solved the problem, but are now running out. Not sure why they are running out, lack of paper? lack of ink? another cunning strategy to undermine the black market? If there is no money you cant fuel the black market! You can't fuel anything! There is no fuel anyway! Crispen went to the bank to get $20 million for salaries etc last week and came back with a sackfull of $500 and $1,000 notes.

Ah well, life goes on and we can never complain about being bored in
Zimbabwe.

Regards

Terry

To give you an idea of the change in the decade since I was there, the Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate was Z$10 approximately to US$1. Now it is Z$9000 to US$1.

Zimbabwe

I was listening to the radio yesterday and I heard an interview with a government spokesman for Zimbabwe. For those who don't know it is a proper African dictatorship, and has been for many years. Recently the president, Robert Mugabe (called among those who know 'goat'), has instigated a huge campaign of repression against his own people. In the last few weeks this has taken the form of removing many of the townships that form the backbone of Africa. With many casualties and arrests along the way.
Gradually word is getting out of what is going on out there and the repression is being slowly condemned by governments around the world. In this interview on the radio yesterday this spokesman lied 62 times in the 4 minute interview. Saying things like Zim is a really peaceful country, Mugabe is universally popular, there is no famine, all of the game parks are teeming with animals and so on. And it's not just me who thinks he's lying, but a news channel (the BBC) went over the interview today and pointed out which parts were lies. I wonder if this is a record for number of lies in a short interview?

When I was younger I spent a year teaching in the bush in Zimbabwe, and grew very attached to the country and it's people. In 1993/1994 when I was there, there were still issues and it wasn't the most liberal country, but the people all had food and were generally OK. Certainly in the rural areas people tended to just get on with things. And as long as you kept your head down the powers that be ignored you. It was/is a typical dictatorship though, with the president being one of the richest men in the world!

In the last 5 years Mugabe has started being more and more oppressive and made some typical nonsensical decisions. Which has resulted in widespread crop failures and famines. There has also been a noticeable increase in violence. Tourism used to be a huge earner, and Zim was widely seen as one of the safer countries to visit. But no more unfortunately. People are being denied tourist visas, the populace have eaten many of the game park animals, there is not much left of the already previously crumbling infrastructure, and there are regular demonstrations and much violence.

This post was just going to be a laugh about some goverment spokesman who lies even more than our ones. But there you go!

It's hotter than hell

Well, actually it's hotter than Hades in London at the moment! Despite the weather forecast pic above it is a lot hotter than that with all of the buildings reflecting the heat. And they recorded a temperature of 46 Celcius yesterday on the underground line when a train stopped in a tunnel for a few minutes. Ammusingly on the same line that I use daily. so hopefully that'll happen to me tonight and I will be put out of my misery.

And to make things more fun the pollution levels are dangerously high and anyone with bad hearts, bad lungs, bad eyes and any other ailments are advised to avoid central London. And the rest of us can continue to travel in until we also start to enjoy a long lingering death or fry in the Ozone-layer-free London.

Wednesday results to Friday quiz

For the record:

My favourite show at the moment is 1b) 24. Didn't think it could get any better than before but it has. Series 4 is the best one yet I reckon.

The pic I had on the wall at home was 2d) my mum. Never been into celebrity posters or stuff like that.

I have never 3b) bungee jumped. Do I look insane??

At school I was 4d) all of the above. And proud of it too.

My favourite things are 5b) red wine and chocolate. Although all ofmthe list are pretty tasty in my books!

If I was rich I would wear 6d) nothing. All of the time instaed of just at week-ends. I am not a nudist, just comfortable with my body. Lol!! But only in the Summer.

My favourite film is 7d) 10 Things I hate about You. Makes me laugh every time even though I could probably recite the script to you.

And my new favourite celeb is 8c) Sinead o'Connor. Although all of the list were cool, she was the sweetest of all.

For what it's worth, amazingly, Pep knows me best, with 4 correct answers. Paul and C run close with 3. And thanks for all believing that I'm an exhibitionist and would walk around naked while being terrified of heights! Lol.

Over 5000 hits

I have just passed the 5000 hits mark, so thank you everyone. It's not a competition or a race or anything of the sort. But it is incredibly flattering to have people visiting.

Midsummer Solstice

We have this really old monument in Southern England called Stonehenge. No-one really knows what it is or who built it, but it's pretty ancient. There is speculation that it was a temple, meeting place or giant astrological clock. Whatever it is at the Summer and Winter Solstice lots of druids and hangers on gather at the place and watch the sun rise between the pillars at one end of the monument.




Here is a pic of the sunrise and some people gathered there. It seems to make the news every year here for some reason. Do people celebrate something like this elsewhere?

MOJO awards 2005

I had the privilege oif attending the MOJO magazine music awards a couple of days ago, in West London. And they were the best awards I have ever been to. Really relaxed, friendly, great setting and very welcoming even to industry outsiders like me. Because it was so relaxed (no press inside the hall) everyone was quite happy to chat. Or be approached as I was doing to them. So I met Paul Weller (not a huge fan, but had heard of him), Slash from Guns'n'Roses (softly spoken), The Edge from U2 (was wearing a tea cosy on his head), Siouxie Sioux (lovely), Sinead o'Connor (see pic and really so sweet, and she gave the most wonderful hug), Sean Ryder and Bez from the Happy Mondays (odd), Suggs and Madness (very funny and the most normal blokes there) and others.

Unfortunately I only had my camera phone and didn't take many pics. Was hoping some pics would be online by now, but no sign yet. It has coloured my opinion of music stars because they are just normal people like you and me. and when they are taken away from the hassle of their jobs they are quite chatty, decent people for the most part.

And, yes, I know I am a HUGELY lucky git!

PS: Pep - Siouxie Sioux was really friendly and she looked gorgeous (she makes the fishnet/Goth look REALLY work), even more so considering her age.

Friday afternoon quiz

Let’s take a step back from the emotional rollercoaster of the past few weeks and take some time out for a little “know your Dom” quiz.

The answers to the following questions (multiple choice, because I hail from the GCSE era, just) cannot be found on the blog. It’s all about predicting what you think might be right, from what you know already.

The first person to answer all the questions correctly in the comments box below will receive a very attractive and expensive personalised prize.

1. What is Dom's favourite television programme?

a) Star Trek Enterprise
b) 24
c) Gordon Ramsay Kitchen Nightmares
d) Big Brother

2. Which of the following laydeeez has graced Dom’s bedroom wall?

a) Madonna
b) Cindy Crawford
c) Kylie
d) My mum

3. Which of the following has Dom never done?

a) flown a plane
b) bungee jumped off a bridge
c) worn sarongs in public
d) raced cars

4. At school was Dom…

a) trouble
b) a prefect
c) captain of the hockey team
d) all of the above

5. Dom’s favourite ambrosia is:

a) a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea
b) a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate
c) fish, chips and mushy peas, eaten outdoors
d) a jumbo pot of nutella and a spoon

6. if Dom was filthy rich, he would dress in:

a) Adidas
b) Prada
c) Moss Bros
d) Nothing

7. What is Dom’s favourite film of all time?

a) Empire Strikes Back
b) Black Hawk Down
c) Pride and Prejudice
d) 10 Things I hate About You

8. Dom's new favourite celebrity is?

a) Slash from Guns 'n' Roses
b) Sinead o'Connor
c) Siouxie Sioux
d) The Edge from U2

Digging in for afternoon

Went to the MOJO magazine awards last night and had the most fantastic time. Will post a bit later with pics. In the meantime am struggling with today so have shipped in supplies to get through afternoon.

500ml of fresh Orange and Mango fruit juice
Bottle of Purdeys silver
Banana
Diet Coke with lemon
Orangina
Pack of fig rolls biscuits
Pack of fresh baked 4 chocolate cookies

Insane German office question of the day....

I sometimes ask myself why I bother getting out of bed.....

(PHONE RINGS)

Dom: Hello
Editor in Munich: What is our policy on dogs in the office? I'm looking to employ a new magazine designer and she insists on bringing her dog to work.
D: Ummmm..... (am I about to have the piss taken out of me), I'll check.

(I CHECK)

D: What sort of dog? (female human, guide dog or pet?)
EiM: A Poodle
D: Not a Guide dog?
EiM: No
D: Then our policy is no animals in the office. They bite management.
EiM: Would it make a difference if it was a Guide dog?
D: Yes
EiM: Then we'll call it a Guide dog.
D: Quick question.
EiM: Yes?
D: This designer is 'officially' blind then?
EiM: Officially yes.
D: How is she going to design magazines if she's blind?
EiM: (QUIET)
D: Goodnight.

Absiolutely true and I've retyped it word for word.

-Michael Jackson trial

I'm not one to normally have huge opinions on world events, but a couple of questions sprang to mind at the end of this farce. What was the point of this trial, and exactly how guilty is he?!

I'm a firm believer in the rights of man and not guitly until proven and all that, but I can't help thinking there's no smoke without fire and he's always looked shifty to me. And even if he's not guitly of this then he's definitely been out of order in the past. He played the naivety card well, but not convincingly enough for me. I rest in the comfort that what goes around, comes around and he will get his comeupance in time. And as for the trial, as usual the only ones to get something out of it were the lawyers and the media. (And I say that as a member of the media industry). I hope the local economy made plenty of money because then some good will have come out of it.

And don't even get me started on the fans camping outside the courtroom or his house...... (life, get one...)

Star Wars

Went to see Star Wars episode 3 a couple of days ago. There have been so many reviews of this film on the Net that I thought I would add mine! I enjoyed it. The dialogue is the usual Lucas rubbish, but it does tie all of the prequels and sequels together well. And the effects are actually properly integrated this time and look REALLY cool. I understand this film has been out for weeks and stuff, but hey.

And on another point I reckon the new War of the Worlds film with Tom Cruise looks cool as well.

Been away....Now I'm back part 2

There are several bigger and quite interesting towns in the area, Avignon being the best in my opinion. It is a medium sized town, but one that has bigger significance than it's actual size probably. For a while, a few centuries back, it was where the Pope was based and there is a huge palace still dominating the town. It's now a museum and hugely impressive. To a degree it's been restored to try and simulate what it was like in the 15th century, but the thing that struck me most was how overwhelming the place is still. At the time it must have been like going to a different planet. And it struck me how much power and money the church had in those days. Far more than today. I always find it a bit strange going round old castles and the like because they feel very bare and cold nowadays. I try to imagine myself in the time they were built though, and they must have been warmer and more welcoming. There must have been lots of rugs, drapes, paintings and such around. Not just bare stone walls as we see today. The other thing that has made Avignon famous is it's bridge. In the UK kids are taught French by singing a song about dancing on the bridge. Not sure why this folk song exists, but it kind of sticks in the head.

The pace of life in rural southern France is wonderful. In the mornings I would go to the local bakery and buy some fresh croissants and a baguette. For some reason the bread in France tastes very different to the same products in the UK. There follows a leisurely breakfast of meats, cheeses, spreads and fresh juice, washed down with coffee. All the while the sun is out, people are pottering around and taking the time to chat to each other, and life just feels like it's winding merrily along. No stress, no rush. People look healthier and happy. Much more so than in London for example. I know things usually appear rosier when you're on holiday, but it did make me think a lot about how good life would be in Provence instead of London. To the extent that I started to look in estate agents windows at properties for sale (how much they were, that sort of thing). The situation was heightened by the fact I was reading a book called Driving Over Lemons, by Chris Stewart, which is a bout a family who bought a farm in Spain and moved there to start a new life. It's a true story and very down to earth, and just relates their experiences good and bad. It's very funny and quite inspiring.

Having been away from France for a few years now I'd forgotten how much I loved speaking French I wasn't sure how easy it would be to slip back into it, but from the first moment it felt incredibly natural. And I realised how much I loved it. For me it is a gentler and more expressive language, despite not being my first tongue. I'd also forgotten how good the smell of the countryside in southern France is. The hot earth, pine trees, flowers, scrubland and grasses (collectively know as the maquis) has a sweet, almost sickly smell. But it's the right side of bad. It's very hard to describe unless you've smelt it, but the best way I can is that it smells 'hot' I guess part of the appeal to me is that it brings back memories of childhood holidays in that part of the world, but it's also quite a lazy smell and induces relaxation.

The bridge at Avignon.

Been away....now I'm back part 1

Hi everyone. Apologise for the HUGE absence, and thanks for the comments on the pics. I tried not to post too many, despite taking hundreds during the week.

But anyway, back to the present reality. I'll be popping by you all to see what's the gossip. Apologies once more for not being about this week much. I don't know if you've ever found this, but you go away. Have a fantastic holiday. Come back to find two nightmares. Big Brother is back on, and work has so piled up that I can't even see my desk anymore. Not good. So spent the last few days trying to burn, correct, pacify or disregard all of the shit that wasn't done in my absence.

However the holiday was great. Went to the Haute-Provence region in Southern France. Sort of in the region of Cannes for non-Europeans. About an hour from Avignon for those who have been to the area. I've been through it before, but never stopped enough to have a look around. And the area is fantastic. I can't recommend it enough. I was staying on the high plateau area (about 1000m/3000ft) above sea level so it was relatively cool (about 25-30 celcius), and very pleasant. Also meant you got a tan quicker! Down by the coast it gets pretty stifling even this time of year.

The area feels really like old rural France. There is plenty of rolling unspoilt countryside, with little farms dotted about. Many are deserted and just crying for someone to come in and do some renovation. They're not so expensive either and the concept is severely tempting I have to say. Even to the extent of investigating the subject with some estate agents locally! There are also many small fortified villages around, all perched on the tops of hills. They all still operate as normal villages and many are not touristy at all. When you walk around them it feels like time has not moved from the Middle Ages.

Where I stayed is the Lavender growing region so there are these slightly bizarre lined fields everywhere. At the moment they're green, but in July they go purple and smell incredible. As long as you like Lavender. In the background the whole time was Mont Ventoux. This 2000m/6000ft mountain with it's lunar-like peak. And a weather station on the top! It's an epic drive to the top and huge fun if you like switchback roads and death-defying drops. And the views from the top really take your breath away. See the pics below.

Le Mont Ventoux from the house I was staying in. More pics later.

Lavender is one of the main exports from the region and this is a Lavender field. In the background is an old abandoned cabanon (sort of house thing). Still very sturdy and just waiting for someone to come along and restore them.

I made a new friend. Little Pooh. So wanted to bring her back, but she was too young. I think I finally got the 'cat thing'.

Another village perched on a hill. This one was much smaller. With the flowers in the foreground I thought this was kind of cool.The colours of the flowers at this time of year are incredible.

There were Poppies everywhere.

One of the typical villages in the Haute Provence. Many are old fortified villages with big walls and on the top of hills. and many have been there for many centuries. This was one of the bigger ones called Rousillon.

I thought the colours of this were cool. Especially reflecting off the lake in the foreground. I have done no retouching to this photo.

An area called Colorado in Haute Provence. Beautiful colours, especially in early evening when I was there. A mixture of sand, chalk and other stuff.

More red rocks in Colorado. with a slightly phallic, but famous one....

The bridge in Avignon. me giving it large on it. 'Sur le pont d'Avignon, on y dance,....'

The Salle des Papes in Avignon. An incredible building which was home to the Pope for many years. Now a very impressive museum.

Me at the top of le Mont Ventoux. An amazing drive, incredible view and freakishly lunar like landscape.

A 28km climb and one of the old classic stages of the Tour de France. It doesn't get used anymore, but it is still a tough challenge. Thought this shot of the cyclists contemplating the climb they have just completed.

Le Mont Ventoux. 1912m/6000ft.

The last sunset in Provence, with the Mont Ventoux in the backgroud. Taken from the house. So quiet, so envelopping. I will miss it....

One of the most incredible sunsets I have ever seen. Taken over the Bodensee in south Austria on Saturday. I have done nothing to this photo and this is exactly the atmosphere while I watched it.