London by night, Cityhall on the left
“Hello Cityhall”, I said.
“Well hello, are you here again ?” he said. “And at this hour ?”
“Yes I am. ‘Cause weren’t you supposed to have poetry on you this night ?”
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Month: April 2006
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf – the spaceship, just landed
If you look through the Tower Bridge on this picture, you can see the skyscrapers in Canary Wharf. And that is where I went today.
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The birdflu has arrived
A dead swan in Scotland has been tested positive and was infected with the dangerous version of the bird flu. That means big “Don’t Panic” words on nearly all newspapers today, and a lot of talk about birdflu. The big question now is : where did this swan came from ? Has it been infected in another country, and flew to the UK, or has it been infected by other infected bird, already in the UK. This will probably occupy the newspapers and news quite a bit the coming time.
I just don’t panic.
The Girl and the Bank Account
Page Street, Westminster
Or 5 weeks in London, a wrapup.
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Finally some decent stuff
on the Dutch telly.
BBC Worldwide has announced multiple sales from across its catalogue to each of the Netherlands’ major broadcasting groups NOS, RTL, SBS and Talpa totalling over 170 hours of programming.
NOS has gone for dramas and comedies, comprising the new series of Extras (hilariously funny, with Ricky Gervais, see it, is all I can say), Life on Mars (with a very interesting actor : John Simm, check him out) and Doctor Who (well well, you are going to get David Tennant served too ).
And last but not least, you lucky potatoes : included in the agreement are two Stephen Poliakoff dramas, one of them being Gideon’s Daughter.
And I read in a comment somewhere:
Belgian Canvas (previously BRT2) is going to broadcast The Girl In The Cafe.
Better late than never I would say.
Tune in on April 11 at 21.35.
Now this does interfere with my project a bit maybe, but Dutch people waiting on the list who want to be taken off the list after seeing the film on tv, give me a buzz.
The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
Well, since people seem to be in a Hitchhikery kind of mood, I thought this one would be appropiate today:
You know those sleepless nights
Things orbiting my head
The restlessness, the turning
I’m messing up the bed
I walk towards the window
I’m trying to find Mars
I think about my life
While you arrange the stars
I watch the lights, the planets
The galaxy, the moon
The luck I had to find you
How we’ll be meeting soon
I made this reservation
I’m no longer in reverse
I’ll see you in the Restaurant
At The End Of The Universe
The Milky Way
I drink milk, and a lot of it. In my tea, but also pure. And so I went to the supermarket for some milk. And again – I couldn’t believe my eyes. I am used to buy my milk in a 1 liter carton, or if I’m really thirsty I sometimes buy a 2 liter one. But you can’t find 1 liter cartons in the UK, and no 2 liter ones either.
But they have 1.136 liter ones, which is exactly 2 pints, according to the English.
Or 2.272 liter, which is 4 pints, if you wanna have a milk party.
Think about how confusing English cows must be with all those extra decimals !
You gotta love them, the English. I know I do.
Territorial Army
“A lot of people think that the Territorial Army are not real soldiers. We are. We are well trained, highly disciplined fighting machines ready for war. We’re just not available during the week.” – Gareth from “The Office”
I think I am going to join, they are just around the corner where I live. And if you can meet types like Gareth there, who knows what might happen …
V for Vendetta (8.5/10)
Tagline: A shadowy freedom fighter known only as V uses terrorist tactics to fight against his totalitarian society. Upon rescuing a girl from the secret police, he also finds his best chance at having an ally.
To be honest, I had no intentions of seeing this film, I thought it was just one of those crash-boom-bang films. The reason I went to see it anyway was it’s rave reviews. Maybe there was something anyway.
Here are 5 reasons why you might want to see it:
- The screenplay is written by the writers of the Matrix trilogy. And the story is much more interesting and intelligent than you might think at first, or than I thought at first. It’s actually an excellent story, and it makes you think about things, a lot.
- The film shows a future version of the UK. Call it science fiction, but it’s maybe not that far away from how things could develop. Not only in the UK, but in the world.
- The film is partly filmed in London, and is also about London.
- They blow up the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben, which is a pretty impressive scene to watch.
- It has Ben Miles in it. Why I like him ? I saw him live on stage in Richard II with Kevin Spacey, and he is a great actor (Ben Miles that is, and Kevin too of course).
Directed by James McTeigue
Cast Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Ben Miles
See it ? See it ! (8.5/10)
The Thames
The Girl and The Thames
This is the Thames. And when you look at it, the water doesn’t really look clean. But clean or not, this is the water I get out of my tap at home. We get our drinking water from the Thames up here. And it looks clean coming out of the tap, and it tastes good too I can say.
Now a lot of people think that it rains all the time in London. But the thing is, it doesn’t really rain enough. For the first time in 15 years, Thames Water is implementing a ban on sprinklers and hosepipes from the 3rd of april 2006. This means that people no longer may use sprinklers to sprinkle their garden, or wash their cars using a hosepipe. You may still wash your car using a bucket of water though, or sprinkle your garden using a watering can or bucket. (Water restrictions – frequently asked questions)
Why all this ?
It hasn’t rained enough in London the last years !
And so I made a phonecall (yes to him), and later that afternoon:
You worship the sun, but now can you handle the rain ?
A pleasure to help London, and apart from that I love rain. Isn’t it a beautiful sight ?
Spring in London
London City Hall
On a day like today, where spring has arrived in London, I don’t need anything else than my book. a sandwich from Marks & Spencer (still waiting for love flowering at the counter for people with under 5 items though), and a bench in a park to sit on.
The sun is delightful, and I am sitting in Trinity Square Gardens, which is a little peaceful park in the middle of South East London, very close to Tower Hill tube station.
From here I can see the Tower of London, a piece of the impressive Tower Bridge, and the reason I went this direction in the first place: the London Cityhall (called the crash helmet by local Londoners).
I’ll read a few pages more and enjoy the sun, and then I will take a walk over the impressive Tower Bridge to have a closer look at the City Hall.
Local Londoners are complaining about the fact that it has been very expensive to build, and that it wasn’t really appropiate to have it build right opposite the Tower of London (modern architecture contra old history). I find it (from an architecture point of view) a very interesting and beautiful building.
It is very nice to explore London this way, not having to rush around as a tourist would do. What I don’t make today, I’ll do some other time. No need to rush.
And also this walking trip was for free. Hop off the tube at Tower Hill walk over the bridge, and walk along the other side of the Thames to London Bridge station where you can hop on the tube again. More pictures to come.
Tomorrow I am going to watch men in rowingboats. The very traditional and world famous Oxford – Cambridge Boat race on the Thames is held tomorrow at 4.35 pm. And that is something I have to see of course, especially when the weather is a nice as it is now.