Getting too tired to write about it tonight, but I’ll do so in the morning.
However, for the record, and to satisfy the demands of a small number of my more mentally disturbed readers, here’s tonight’s dinner: fish and chips!
Technorati Tags: London, travel, UK
Spotted tonight near Russell Square.
For anyone who isn’t a fan of the Simpsons, the title of this post is a reference to a line in the episode “Deep Space Homer.” Homer has gone on a Space Shuttle mission, along with a colony of ants; of course, he breaks the ant farm, spilling ants and dirt everywhere (“Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom!” the ants squeak). As all this is captured on live TV, the commentator says:
Ladies and gentlemen, er, we’ve just lost the picture, but, uh, what we’ve seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over — “conquered”, if you will — by a master race of giant space ants. It’s difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here.
And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.
[To the tune of Pat Metheny Group, “Are You Going With Me?,” from the album “Offramp”.]
Technorati Tags: coffee, London, travel, UK
I think I’m done posting for the night. Gotta finish up a couple things for tomorrow, take a shower, then collapse into bed.
Lots of pictures on the Flickr photo set for this trip.
[To the tune of Neil Young, “Cowgirl In The Sand,” from the album “Decade (Disc 1)”.]
Technorati Tags: London, travel, UK
I keep taking pictures of the Jubilee Bridge, but I think it’s really beautiful.
Though the earlier plans were, perhaps, even cooler.
[To the tune of Neil Young, “Sugar Mountain,” from the album “Decade (Disc 1)”.]
Technorati Tags: London, travel, UK
I had a couple meetings in a government office near Westminster this morning, so after they were over, I walked around the neighborhood.
Technorati Tags: London, travel, UK
It never ceases to amaze me how in a city this big, everything that you think of as defining London-ness is so close to everything else. You can easily walk from here to South Kensington, to the British Museum, or our hotel.
And of course, it’s not a problem getting Big Ben and the Big Eye in the same picture frame.
Across the street from Big Ben is Westminster Abbey. I’ve really got to go in there sometime. I hear it’s neat.
Tonight, I had dinner at the Royal Horseguards Hotel, which is on the Victoria Embankment. I’d always wondered what that building was.
Then it was over to the Embankment Tube station, to get a cab back home. 
This morning I had breakfast in the Goodenough College dining hall. It’s been a while since I’ve had a meal in a dormitory.
I don’t remember them being quite so nice, but then again, there were no students around yet.
I had a typical English breakfast. Actually, a typical English breakfast would also have baked beans and a stewed tomato. I left those off. And added a cup of coffee.
One of the nice changes in England in the last 15 years- since I first visited- is that you can now get coffee that isn’t instant, doused with sugar and cream.
It was a pleasant way to start the day. Colleges are such… civilized… places. The basic principle that shared, common pool resources like dining halls can be much nicer than spaces you own yourself is one of the great insights of, well, civilization. Perhaps the defining insight of civilization.
[To the tune of Derek & The Dominos, “Anyday,” from the album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs”.]
Technorati Tags: Goodenough Club, London, travel, UK
Had a very interesting dinner here tonight. The hotel was formerly the Liberal Party club, until it imploded about 70 years ago (but is making a comeback).
I’ve walked past this facade a bunch of times- okay, three times- and always wondered what the building was. Now I know.
[To the tune of Procol Harum, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” from the album “Greatest Hits”.]
Technorati Tags: London, travel, UK
One of the highlights of my first visit to Copenhagen in 2004 was the couple hours I spent with Peter Hesseldahl, walking through the free city of Christiana. As far as I was concerned, aside from the street where they sell drugs, it was like Peninsula School for grownups.
But now, the Copenhagen Post reports, the experiment may be coming to an end.
Since 1971, the squatter colony of Christiania has billed itself as a place of peace, love, and happiness, where all property was owned and administered collectively.
A new government plan, however, proposes to build as many as 400 resident-owned properties in the enclave, reported national daily Politiken on Monday. Residents fear that the move will destroy Christiania’s special nature.
For the government, the plan is an effort to integrate Christiania, a green area bordering the city’s former protective canal, into the rest of an increasingly crowded Copenhagen….
The new construction could add as many as 400 new residents to Christiania’s population.
In addition, current residents of Christiania will be forced to become members of a public housing organisation, and will likely have to begin paying a normal rent on their properties. Currently, adult residents pay DKK 250 per month [ed: about $30 a month, or or less] to live in Christiania. The new rent would be between DKK 2500 and 4600 for a 50 sq. m apartment.
This sucks.
[via BoingBoing and the terrific, eye-opening blog squattercity]
Technorati Tags: copenhagen, denmark
Did you know that when you use a laser pointer to play with a cat, you’re infringing on a patent?
US5443036: Method of exercising a cat
Abstract: A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.
I have a headache….
[To the tune of The Band, “Up On Cripple Creek,” from the album “The Best Of The Band”.]
Cingular, which I’m proud to say I dropped last year, has filed a patent covering… emoticons.
Cingular, the United States’ largest mobile phone network this week applied to patent emoticons, better known as smileys.
The application refers to selecting emoticons on mobile phones or handheld devices over a wireless, and makes 35 claims in all.
Technically, the patent isn’t for things like :^) or such, but for keys on a phone that make those symbols. Like the semicolon, 6, and 0 keys with the shift held down?
Of course, back in the day, Despair Inc., makers of some brilliant demotivational posters, made a similar move:
January 2nd, 2001 - In a move that has millions across the Internet community frowning, Despair, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had awarded them a registered trademark for the ‘frowny’ emoticon which serves as their logo.
At a press conference, Despair’s COO, Dr. E. L. Kersten, announced his intentions to sue “anyone and everyone who uses the so-called ‘frowny’ emoticon, or our trademarked logo, in their written email correspondence. Ever.”
[To the tune of Grateful Dead, “Box Of Rain,” from the album “American Beauty”.]
The Distraction Addiction: Getting the Information You Need and the Communication You Want, Without Enraging Your Family, Annoying Your Colleagues, and Destroying Your Soul
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