Sunday, October 28, 2007
Switzerland, part one
Just got back from Switzerland, where we had a gorgeous time except the last night, which may be the last I ever spend in a dorm room in a youth hostel! At least I learned some new insults in German. Anyone for dumb sow or dumb whore? It was a shame to learn these by being called them by a drunk at 2am, hence the possible future avoidance of such situations. For my next entry, expect stunning photos. Just have to get them put on a CD first.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Things I love about London
You know, I used to give London a bad rap, but I feel it deserves some long overdue appreciation, so here's the list:
Things I love about London
1. The media. Okay, it's famous for its tabloids. And yes, you can buy one for 20p that has a page 4 girl without many clothes on in every issue one of whom is currently posing with 2 10p coins over her nipples on the sides of buses, BUT, there is a RANGE of quality broadsheets, with a RANGE of political outlooks. Murdoch doesn't own them all, though he does own one. but that leaves me with a choice that actually includes a paper that doesn't sensationalise homosexuality or malign all muslims, that DOES have serious commentary, that has an excellent review section where you can learn so much about the writing world AND is actually written in grammatical English!
2. The Pashleys. Okay, just creeping back into fashion now after probably forty years in remission. But black three speed bicycles with a low bar you can step over and wicker baskets on the front. I saw one chained to a railing on the steps of a house on grotty polluted Ladbroke Grove and my heart lifted - it felt like all I needed to do was hop on and I'd be transported to a village, or a car free city.
3. The theatre. Hundreds and hundreds of professional theatres. Old, modern, tragedy, comedy, Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Musical theatre, 'serious' theatre, pantomimes, the possibility of being a groundling at the Globe, opera - several opera companies and opera houses, festivals (there is a mime festival! There is an Australian film festival!) I know you can get this in Melbourne, but you know, you can see a good play or musical any night of any week in London and you could see one every week for a year and not exhaust the possibilities.
4. The parks. Yes, London's crowded and polluted. But big parks. Some wild and rambly like Hampstead Heath, some manicured like Kensington Gardens, all hundreds of years old with enormous old trees with beautiful leaves you can set your calendar by, and people using them all year round, shorts or overcoats, bikes or rollerblades or kites, on foot or on picnic blankets.
5. The buses. Red double deckers with big wide front windows. Need I say more? I catch one to work, when I'm not cycling.
6. The coats. Fabulous overcoats.
7. The seasons, and the way people dress for them. You musn't wear autumn clothes in winter, or spring clothes in Autumn. Autumn fashions are of warm, comforting winter fabrics, but summer styles, like shorts, but with lots of layering, indicating that summer is gone, and winter is on the way, and we can embrace it.. Spring clothes, on the other hand, will be light and floaty materials, keeping warm, but transitioning towards summer fabrics. It's a way to distract yourself from the fact that winter is so long, I get that. But it works.
8a. It's the hub of the world. therefore, half your friends and relations pass through, sooner or later, and pay you a visit.
8b. It's the hub of the world. It's the most racially diverse city in the world. And you see representatives of all those races regularly in professional jobs (okay, I don't want to idealise - there ARE a lot of black bus drivers, for example, and a helluva lot of whitefellas in Meri's company...), but it's not like in Australia. And it's great for me. It shakes up a lot of assumptions I didn't even know I held.
9. The politics. The leader of the CONSERVATIVE party is a big greeny. He has watertanks and a wind powered generator on his multi million pound house. Okay, the windmill had to come down due to planning regs but still. And yet more beautiful, the papers and the electorate are savvy enough to know it's all a big stunt, and to ridicule him for cycling to parliament with a chauffeur driven car behind him, carrying his documents!
10. That brings me to the humour. The irony. The endless self deprication and satire.
11. And back to the media. who really do their job. thouroughly, investigatively, entertainingly, and did i mention in well written English in at least one paper.
12. The accents. I may 'ave mentioned Por'obello mahkit accents? But there's accents from everywhere, from a colleague who says thoomp when she means thump, because she was born in Manchester, to another who speaks broad, rapid, often incomprehensible Glaswegian, to two from France, who really DON'T pronounce their aitches, to the Aussie or American on the street who makes me wince with their broadness and loudness, cos I'm such a snob, to the Received Pronunciation practised by a certain member of staff which makes me wince too, cos I'm such a reverse snob, to my own, which occasionally picks up a London inflection unexpectedly, to Nigerians who also don't pronounce their hs, to, to... It's no wonder English literature, from Bronte to Rowling, is so obsessed wiht mimicking accents in phonemes. Want teh go teh visit 'Agrid anyone?
13. Back to the politics. Did I mention that I was married? And that this is legal? And that it is against anti discrimination laws to stop me and Meri from adopting children.
14. On that same one. I know they went to Iraq. Big scary mess there, no denying it. But, unlike someone else I could name, it led, among other factors, to the end of the PM's premiership.
15. The best kept secrets the local area: yoga classes by donation, no amount too small, in a beautiful space that reminds me of the women's circus, three quid a pop writers' workshops - did I mention we are self publishing an anthology?, the walk along the canal behind a big cemetery with gorgeous trees and vines and plants.
16. Time Out entertainment listings. Totally mainstream, THEREFORE includes a gay and lesbian section every week!
17. The tourists. Weird, but I like 'em, cos they come from all over the world and a surprising number of them speak German, so I can eavesdrop. Plus I get to feel superior for not being a tourist.
18. The bookshops. Everywhere. Notting Hill has the Travel Bookshop and a cookery bookshop on the same street. Another travel bookshop in Covent Garden, two foreign language bookshops in the West End. Gay's the Word in Kings Cross(haven't been there yet.) Also, international newspapers on stands outside every newsagency.
Though I miss the fresh air and sunshine, sometimes I've even found myself comparing Melbourne unfavourably. Not fair, I know. Perhaps I need to make a list of the things I miss about Melbs. But I do feel so LEBENDIG (alive) here. Of course, that may not continue to be the case as the dark half of the year closes in... By the way, I'm sure I could make an equally long list of things I DON'T like about this place. Maybe the lesson is to look for the best bits, wherever you live. Oh, dear, I risk ending on a moral, like an AESOP fable. Maybe I should learn from an earlier moral: don't write really long blog entries!
kisses!
Nimmersatt
Things I love about London
1. The media. Okay, it's famous for its tabloids. And yes, you can buy one for 20p that has a page 4 girl without many clothes on in every issue one of whom is currently posing with 2 10p coins over her nipples on the sides of buses, BUT, there is a RANGE of quality broadsheets, with a RANGE of political outlooks. Murdoch doesn't own them all, though he does own one. but that leaves me with a choice that actually includes a paper that doesn't sensationalise homosexuality or malign all muslims, that DOES have serious commentary, that has an excellent review section where you can learn so much about the writing world AND is actually written in grammatical English!
2. The Pashleys. Okay, just creeping back into fashion now after probably forty years in remission. But black three speed bicycles with a low bar you can step over and wicker baskets on the front. I saw one chained to a railing on the steps of a house on grotty polluted Ladbroke Grove and my heart lifted - it felt like all I needed to do was hop on and I'd be transported to a village, or a car free city.
3. The theatre. Hundreds and hundreds of professional theatres. Old, modern, tragedy, comedy, Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Musical theatre, 'serious' theatre, pantomimes, the possibility of being a groundling at the Globe, opera - several opera companies and opera houses, festivals (there is a mime festival! There is an Australian film festival!) I know you can get this in Melbourne, but you know, you can see a good play or musical any night of any week in London and you could see one every week for a year and not exhaust the possibilities.
4. The parks. Yes, London's crowded and polluted. But big parks. Some wild and rambly like Hampstead Heath, some manicured like Kensington Gardens, all hundreds of years old with enormous old trees with beautiful leaves you can set your calendar by, and people using them all year round, shorts or overcoats, bikes or rollerblades or kites, on foot or on picnic blankets.
5. The buses. Red double deckers with big wide front windows. Need I say more? I catch one to work, when I'm not cycling.
6. The coats. Fabulous overcoats.
7. The seasons, and the way people dress for them. You musn't wear autumn clothes in winter, or spring clothes in Autumn. Autumn fashions are of warm, comforting winter fabrics, but summer styles, like shorts, but with lots of layering, indicating that summer is gone, and winter is on the way, and we can embrace it.. Spring clothes, on the other hand, will be light and floaty materials, keeping warm, but transitioning towards summer fabrics. It's a way to distract yourself from the fact that winter is so long, I get that. But it works.
8a. It's the hub of the world. therefore, half your friends and relations pass through, sooner or later, and pay you a visit.
8b. It's the hub of the world. It's the most racially diverse city in the world. And you see representatives of all those races regularly in professional jobs (okay, I don't want to idealise - there ARE a lot of black bus drivers, for example, and a helluva lot of whitefellas in Meri's company...), but it's not like in Australia. And it's great for me. It shakes up a lot of assumptions I didn't even know I held.
9. The politics. The leader of the CONSERVATIVE party is a big greeny. He has watertanks and a wind powered generator on his multi million pound house. Okay, the windmill had to come down due to planning regs but still. And yet more beautiful, the papers and the electorate are savvy enough to know it's all a big stunt, and to ridicule him for cycling to parliament with a chauffeur driven car behind him, carrying his documents!
10. That brings me to the humour. The irony. The endless self deprication and satire.
11. And back to the media. who really do their job. thouroughly, investigatively, entertainingly, and did i mention in well written English in at least one paper.
12. The accents. I may 'ave mentioned Por'obello mahkit accents? But there's accents from everywhere, from a colleague who says thoomp when she means thump, because she was born in Manchester, to another who speaks broad, rapid, often incomprehensible Glaswegian, to two from France, who really DON'T pronounce their aitches, to the Aussie or American on the street who makes me wince with their broadness and loudness, cos I'm such a snob, to the Received Pronunciation practised by a certain member of staff which makes me wince too, cos I'm such a reverse snob, to my own, which occasionally picks up a London inflection unexpectedly, to Nigerians who also don't pronounce their hs, to, to... It's no wonder English literature, from Bronte to Rowling, is so obsessed wiht mimicking accents in phonemes. Want teh go teh visit 'Agrid anyone?
13. Back to the politics. Did I mention that I was married? And that this is legal? And that it is against anti discrimination laws to stop me and Meri from adopting children.
14. On that same one. I know they went to Iraq. Big scary mess there, no denying it. But, unlike someone else I could name, it led, among other factors, to the end of the PM's premiership.
15. The best kept secrets the local area: yoga classes by donation, no amount too small, in a beautiful space that reminds me of the women's circus, three quid a pop writers' workshops - did I mention we are self publishing an anthology?, the walk along the canal behind a big cemetery with gorgeous trees and vines and plants.
16. Time Out entertainment listings. Totally mainstream, THEREFORE includes a gay and lesbian section every week!
17. The tourists. Weird, but I like 'em, cos they come from all over the world and a surprising number of them speak German, so I can eavesdrop. Plus I get to feel superior for not being a tourist.
18. The bookshops. Everywhere. Notting Hill has the Travel Bookshop and a cookery bookshop on the same street. Another travel bookshop in Covent Garden, two foreign language bookshops in the West End. Gay's the Word in Kings Cross(haven't been there yet.) Also, international newspapers on stands outside every newsagency.
Though I miss the fresh air and sunshine, sometimes I've even found myself comparing Melbourne unfavourably. Not fair, I know. Perhaps I need to make a list of the things I miss about Melbs. But I do feel so LEBENDIG (alive) here. Of course, that may not continue to be the case as the dark half of the year closes in... By the way, I'm sure I could make an equally long list of things I DON'T like about this place. Maybe the lesson is to look for the best bits, wherever you live. Oh, dear, I risk ending on a moral, like an AESOP fable. Maybe I should learn from an earlier moral: don't write really long blog entries!
kisses!
Nimmersatt
Friday, March 2, 2007
Itchy wins!
Congratulations to Itchy Fingers who has correctly guessed that the delightfully talented soprano Cafardette Marron is playing the title role in Bizet's opera Carmen.
I would love to put a picture of Carmen up, but I'm at work and I don't think I can.
Hurrah for Itchy!
I would love to put a picture of Carmen up, but I'm at work and I don't think I can.
Hurrah for Itchy!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Cockroach the Second
I won again. Oops. If I'm not careful this blog will become one big cockroach infestation. Especially if this Mama has her way.
The cockroach is hiding. Seek and ye shall find!
The cockroach is hiding. Seek and ye shall find!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Grotty winner
Grot has won, grot has won!
Archie is, in fact, ATTEMPTING the nerve test - he wants to be the first cockroach to survive the jump from one side of The
Nerve Test to the other, via the ledge in the middle. He is just off frame in this pic:
Big congratulations to Grot. It might be easiest if GTG hosts the next round?
Archie is, in fact, ATTEMPTING the nerve test - he wants to be the first cockroach to survive the jump from one side of The
Nerve Test to the other, via the ledge in the middle. He is just off frame in this pic:
Big congratulations to Grot. It might be easiest if GTG hosts the next round?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Cockroach, hiding
I have been playing a guessing game obsessively, and I have won! This means I now have the honour of hiding the cockroach.
Hide the cockroach has very simple rules.
1. Someone hides a cockroach (in this case, I have)
2. Anybody who wishes to can make guesses as to the whereabouts of the cockroach (that includes anonymous guesses as I have changed the settings on my blog so anyone can comment)
3. At intervals I will provide clues as to the whereabouts of the cockroach. Guess as many times as you like between clues.
4. Whoever guesses correctly wins, and gets to hide the cockroach next.
So. Cockroach hidden. Over to you...
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Okay NOW it's cold
I woke up this morning at 7.25 and didn't open the curtains as HF was asleep. It wasn't until I walked out the front door that I saw that outside, it looked like this
I yelled out to the sick HF "Hard Farmer, Hard Farmer", and she stood on the bed, and stuck her pyjamaed top half out of the window and said "Oh My God!"
I was running late, which usually means skip the bus and walk really fast, but there was too much crunching and sliding underfoot, so I caught the bus, sat on the top deck, and peered at the rooves of houses and cars
People had cleared their windscreens only, and left the thick layer of icing on top.
Even though I thought I might be late for work, I felt calm. NOT like me. All day I was accompanied by a sense of enchantment.
By lunchtime, all that was left were huge puddles and a few tiny hard chunks.
Walking home, it was as though nothing had happened.
But I know it had.
I yelled out to the sick HF "Hard Farmer, Hard Farmer", and she stood on the bed, and stuck her pyjamaed top half out of the window and said "Oh My God!"
I was running late, which usually means skip the bus and walk really fast, but there was too much crunching and sliding underfoot, so I caught the bus, sat on the top deck, and peered at the rooves of houses and cars
People had cleared their windscreens only, and left the thick layer of icing on top.
Even though I thought I might be late for work, I felt calm. NOT like me. All day I was accompanied by a sense of enchantment.
By lunchtime, all that was left were huge puddles and a few tiny hard chunks.
Walking home, it was as though nothing had happened.
But I know it had.
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