11 posts tagged “london”
If you were independently wealthy, where in the world would you live?
Submitted by Eileen.
I'd stay here in London but move about a mile up the road to a beautiful Georgian house in Clapham Old Town. I love living in London and making the most of what it has to offer but there is so much to see and do and if I had the money I could enjoy it so much more.
Show us where you work.
Submitted by leisa bell.
It worked, on the advertising side of the floor...
On the left you will see my growing international collection of tat fridge magnets. International tat corner was consigned to the draw when we moved to these offices due to lack of space and so tat fridge magnet collection was born...
Under my desk is my cycling gear and a box of old feature notes that needs to go off to Iron Mountain because we have to keep everything for two years just in case we get sued. I didn't construct the box properly so the bottom falls outs when you lift it, and I haven't got around to emptying it and remaking it correctly yet. All the spare desks behind mine are occupied by freelancers at the moment as there is a lot of work on so there isn't a spare chair to drape my cycling stuff over, hence why it is shoved under my desk. There is also my foot rest which the company supply because I'm a short-arse and my feet dangle.
The brightly coloured mug in the centre of my desk is my own which I wash and put in my draw at the end of each day to avoid the mug-world russian roulette that is our office dishwasher. I bought it in Guggenheim Bilbao to brighten up the horrible grey desk after we first moved into the building. The company supply very dull corporate branded mugs which seem to be indestructible.
The modesty board or 'wall o' dreams' as I like to call it contains pictures of celebrities I admire not wearing very much. I spend at least 8 hours a day staring at the bloody thing I might as well have something interesting to look at.
I think there is some work lurking somewhere on the desk but then I did tidy up before I took the picture.
Cycling home tonight and got held up in a queue of traffic. As I shuffled nearer to the hold up along the inside of the stationary traffic I saw the reason for the delay; a taxi was dropping off an elderly and very frail man with a walking stick.
The taxi drove off while he got to the kerbside and it quickly became obvious that he couldn't make the step without assistance.
As I was comprehending this, the woman cyclist in front of me jumped off her bike and quickly wheeled it to the side of the road so she could offer the man her arm to help him make the step.
It was only a small act of kindness but in big city like London, particularly at rush hour, it always impresses me.
Show us your favorite local band.
Submitted by Soup.
London being the hot bed of talent that it is, there is plenty to choose from. Or there would be if I actually followed the 'local' band scene. But I don't. But I can post this track from the marvellous Brian Jacket Let Down who I haven't seen live yet but I have their album and they are from London and they aren't a big band...yet, so I'm hoping they sort of count.
I love them mainly for their lyrics which silly but up-lifting because of it.
Show us some tickets you bought for an upcoming event.
This is my most recent purchase and I've got to wait until next August before I can redeem it. But it was definitely worth getting the ticket early because David Tennant (Dr Who, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Casanova) is playing Hamlet and Jen and I will have front row seats!
But this isn't the only production of Hamlet planned for the big stage. As Tennant finishes his run, Jude Law (Closer, Talented Mr Ripley) takes up the reins for the Donmar Warehouse in London.
Now Jude Law has never struck me as a particularly outstanding actor. Indeed one colleague, and fellow lover of the stage, commented on hearing the news that Law was play the great Dane: "You might as well throw a tea bag on the stage".
I've subsequently heard that Law is a fairly accomplished stage actor and has been treading the boards since his teens. It will be 2009 until I get to decide which is the closest assessment because I certainly plan on going to see it, if only to compare the two performances.
My second outing to the theatre this year was see good old William Shakespeare's The Tempest as performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I studied this play for my A-levels and haven't seen it performed since my teens. Colleagues have raved about the modern production which sees the island moved to the arctic rather than the more traditional tropical location.
Patrick Stewart took the lead as Prospero and as a seasoned Shakespearean actor was a natural on stage. It is easy to forget him in films such as the X-Men when you see him live and in his element.
The portrayal of Ariel was polar opposite to any I have seen before. Ariel is a spirit, a role normally taken by a woman or at the very least a slight man with a costume that gives an ethereal and impish look.
Caliban the deformed son of a witch and Prospero's slave was played by John Light
However I did have a real soft spot for the jester Trinculo played by Craig Gazey who delivered the lines with an east London accent and perfect comic timing which worked surprisingly well.
There was a lull towards the middle of the first half but on the whole it was an animated production that sweeps you along. This is the final day of the Royal Shakespeare's London season and I'm really looking forward to what they put for their next.
My dream train journey to and from Cannes is rapidly turning into a nightmare.
Got to Lilles to pick up the Eurostar for the homeward leg through the tunnel only to find out the service has been suspended for 24 hours due to a trackside fire....in London!
Am currently on a train heading (hopefully) to Calais where the plan is to try and catch a ferry to Dover. Failing that will have to stay overnight in Calais and get a ferry in the morning.
Having just had one of the most sleep deprived working weeks of my life I'm feeling surprisingly calm and chipper not sure how long it will last.
Woke up this morning and stumbled into the kitchen to put the kettle on and noticed it was like this outside:
My new neighbour thinks I'm weird and probably stalking him. Living in London I shouldn't be surprised.
I bumped into this neighbour at the front door to our small block of flats yesterday while we were both collecting our post. Our conversation went thus:
Me: Hi, have you moved in upstairs?
Neighbour: Yup
Me: Into Melissa's flat
Neighbour: Yup
Me: I'm S I live at number 20
Neighbour: ...
He'd finished collecting his post by now and just turned away and walked up the stairs glancing once over his shoulder. It was like he couldn't get away fast enough.
I was dressed in my cycling gear: flourescent jacket, leggings and grubby trainers and my hair gets a bit mad looking sticking out in all directions from under my helmet after I've cycled home, so maybe that added to his reaction.
I really wanted to shout after him: I'm not a nutter. But in hindsight, I don't think that would have helped.
He probably thinks I'm one of those strangely dressed, earnest and energetic but batty women who goes around randomly striking up conversations with strangers.
I'm hurt.
...that Christmas day is a telly addicts heaven. For the last three years I've been abroad (this time last year I was at the Grand Palace in Bangkok)
This year I decided to have a year off from travelling and am at home but I had forgotten the delights of the all films and comedy specials they drag out around this time of year.
