Content tagged: london

Hi from London

Probably the final London instalment from Laura: Hello again! I was sitting at work today, talking about Indian saris, and my boss Phil mentioned a sari he'd seen that was the colour electric blue. Of course, being an Australian child of the 80s, I started singing Electric Blues. Suddenly my colleagues were strangers; they did not know the words. They did not know the song. And they certainly didn't have a clue who Icehouse was. A thought came into my head: it's time to go home. So this afternoon, Simon and I paid for our flights back to Australia. Although ... more

Another update from Laura

Ho hum. Probably naïve of me, but I had no idea how focused London is on the finances of the world. UK television, newspapers, current affairs shows every single day are dominated by news of all the bank collapses and money woes and recession talk. It’s all a bit doom and gloom at the moment, isn’t it? For the first time in my life, I’m also in an industry (recruitment of all things) where people lose their jobs and lose them quickly. No fat cats at all, but people like secretaries, accountants, help desk workers, consultants and techies I was ... more

The seasons like I've never seen them

As far as I'm concerned we've got a good two weeks of summer left, but the past week or so1 has seen a decided - and somewhat unwelcome - swing to autumn. The English summer, all four weeks of it, was a glorious experience - but the leaves are now falling. The long summer days of latitudes above 51° 30' really are something to treasure. It's a new and delightful pleasure - if only it wasn't so fleeting - to get off work at five (or so) and have a full 4 hours of daylight left to play with. Picnics in... more

Visiting Cornwall and Mrs Dalloway

Hanging out with Mum, Dad and Hanna was a real highlight of our trip deep into Cornwall over the weekend, as well as getting to know Morten a bit more. It was good to get a glimpse of some of the things Hannah is drawn to. Visiting St. Michael's Mount and the Minack Theatre were wonderful experiences, but it was the company of loved ones which made the five hour journeys too and from London more than worthwhile. The Minack Theatre was amazing! It really needs to be seen to be believed; best in person, but here's a Flickr slideshow ... more

Rebuilding/Renewing Social Norms

I've just been reading about the nanny state over at skepticlawyer1. In her post, Helen (who I've just discovered has a Wikipedia entry) included a video by Drew Carey about how the US Government, or it's many state Governments, have a particular penchant for banning things. Much like the Australian Governments of recent times. Although I wouldn't agree with everything in the Drew Carey video being 'un-banned', it does make a great point. Helen has made the even better point that the law entering the fray where social norms used to do the job quite nicely is not the best ... more