pipe dreams

if I had a proper Internet connection I would:

- be able to stay online for more than 20 minutes
- do all sorts of productive things, like updating my facebook picture and watching basketball games
- blog about fascinating stuff, such as that time I did homemade soup (chunky but yummy), or when I bought my first tuxedo (scratchy)
- start planning for my trip next summer. Looking at opodo.co.uk at work is so cliche

And did I mention I don't have a TV at my place? It's starting to feel like casa de Ludd over here. So do I miss having a normal Internet connection? Nah, not really

no chill pills necessary

30 seconds of live action from the petanque playground in Gruissan, southwest France

W1's best kept secrets

when it comes to central London, Mayfair isn't the most enthralling of areas. Overrun with tourists and assorted daytrippers traipsing up and down Oxford Street (and its slightly more upscale brethren, Regent Street), working here sometimes reminds me of the summer I worked at Eurodisney. Come to think of it I probably get asked "do you know where the toilets are" by tourists about as many times as back then. Yet spend enough time in the area and you begin to discover its quirks and idiosincrasies, just like the most colloquial of neighborhoods. Shoreditch this ain't, but at least they make the place seem more personal and, dare I say it, a bit pleasant.

the lower-ground floor at Selfridges:

At first I would look down at this floor when going up the escalator to the men's section and see people having lunch, or a display of cristal carafes and china sets, and think nothing of it. But venturing down one day on the recommendation of a coworker, I realized that this is in fact a tremendous emporium-like floor, where one could find not only the afore-mentioned carafes, but a fairly decent hardware and kitchen section, bags, a library, electronics, and most importantly, an HMV! No more wandering down to the overcrowded Bond Street store when I need to pick something up during a lunchbreak. Selfridges might be all about luxury goods and elitist consumption, but if all you need to buy is a couple of nails and an adapter plug, you can get that too.

Lancashire Court:

a stone's throw away from New Bond St, Lancashire Court is the ideal place to get a couple of after-work (or shopping) drinks and relax from the hustle and bustle of the area. Although service is typical of fancy establishments, aka not very good and sometimes downright snotty, the overall mood is laid-back, and the crowd mixed yet quite British compared to Eurocentric Soho. At the front of this small courtyard there's Hush, a bar/restaurant with a terrace that is well worth a try in the warmer months (some people call that summer, I'm still waiting on the evidence that such a season exists here). Then there is a narrow alleyway that separates 2-3 bars which quickly becomes cramped up during the happy hour rush. But the mojitos and Long Islands are pretty tasty, not that expensive and that, in my opinion, is reason enough for me to patronize the place.

the secret tennis court at :
what, you didn't think I was going to give away all my secrets, did you? Well-hidden to the unfamiliar eye, this haven for tennis aficionados is open to private members, yet is so unknown that nearly no one plays there. In fact, when a coworker and I got our membership we found out the were the 12th members, which might explain why last week we were able to book at court for 1pm at 12:59pm, even though it was sunny and fairly warm out. Located less than 100m from our office, this is the perfect antidote to boring gym sessions.

Grosvenor Square:

When you're just looking to sit down in the grass and enjoy a leisurely talk, it's better to keep it simple. Grosvernor Sq is definitely smaller than Hyde Park, way smaller even, but it feels quieter, with a very posh vibe befitting its West End location, which makes it perfect to just lay down, close your eyes, and forget where you are.

shortcuts - 22/11/07

listening:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his stuff is pretty good isn't it?

watching: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia might be the funniest show on television since Seinfeld. Charlie Reilly for president.

buying: a few basics from the new Uniqlo store on Oxford Street, with its wall of cashmere sweaters.

eating: Thai food, always and forever.

reading: still stuck on Crime and Punishment. Here's hoping next week's 1h+ plane ride will help with that, although not if the iphone has its way...

attack of the spiteful playwrights

perhaps feeling miffed by the spectacularly bad reviews garnered by his recent screenwriting effort on the Jude Law/Michael Caine thriller Sleuth, Harold Pinter had the following to say about action blockbuster The Bourne Ultimatum and its namesake character:

"I saw a film, The Bourne Ultimatum," Pinter begins, "and I thought: Fucking hell! This guy is clearly the strongest man in the world. He can beat up about 12 people in about 35 seconds and kill half of them.

"The whole thing is totally unreal. I was stupefied by it, it was so lacking in intelligence." He adds that he sat in the cinema "seething, thinking: What am I doing here, being bombarded by this sound? It knocks you out."

Harold my dear, I know you're pretty well respected and all, what with your Nobel Prize, your prestigious plays and your pauses (hey look, a quasi-alliteration, I'm sure you love that!), but this is just silly. If this is the worst example of mindless moviemaking you can find, then I'm wagering that you don't venture out to the multiplex too often, and thus lack the proper perspective to judge the current crop of flicks put out by Hollywood.
Now myself, I go to the movies pretty often. Not as much as when I lived in Paris, but still enough to know how ridiculous this statement of yours is. See, what you didn't realize when you saw this quite-terrific movie, is that you were actually viewing a quite nuanced and smart(ish) work, one in which the hero isn't on the typical "rah-rah I will save the world" mission, but simply a man trying to right a wrong done to him, moral considerations be damned. You want a really stupid action movie, try Die Hard 4. I'm sorry, Die Hard 4.0. In it you'll see a hero take down a hovering helicopter with a police car, 40 feet off the ground. And there's also an episode between a supersonic jet and an eighteen wheeler, but I'll admit to you that the details of that remain fuzzy, I'd need to see it again (or not). Or go see recent vampire flick 30 Days of Night, about a gang of vampire seeking to kill all inhabitants from a small Alaskan town. Yep, I saw that one too, and even enjoyed parts of it, at least those when the 13 year-olds four rows back weren't gabbing loudly on their cell-phones.
You see the whole reason these movies exist is that, more and more, people are looking to escape. Modern life throws a lot of information at you, all the time, and going to see an action flick is now one of the rare moments when you can not think about that for a couple of hours, and just enjoy the moment. I agree, that doesn't mean those movies should abandon all semblance of realism and decent writing. And this is where that Bourne movie, and its two predecessors, come in. It's not an intelligent movie, by any means, but at least it's not trying to outdumb itself every passing second. It has great action scenes that feel more real than 99% of the other offerings in the genre, a story that actually progresses quite organically, and even decent acting. Unfortunately in today's cinematographic wasteland, that makes it a rarity. And if you still don't believe me, just watch Transformers. Then you'll know.

P.S.: okay I'll admit it, 30 Days of Night sucked

ambrosialism

Not that I'm a curmudgeon or anything, but I've never really adhered to the cult of cute that has become a major trend on the Internet in recent years (warning: link may contain pictures of baby chipmunks). With that said, when I bought a smoothie from Sainsbury's last Friday morning to ease myself into the start of my workday, I was instantly smitten:

The reason for this fetching sight is that juice and smoothie brand innocent has put little wool hats on all of their products sold at Sainsbury's to benefit the Age Concern charity, as part of their Big Knit campaign. It aims to help older people cope with the cold winter months, and with each sale of a hat-wearing drink, innocent and Sainsbury's will donate 50 pence to the cause. Now there's a fantastic reason to get behind the cute movement.

read more about it here

line of duty

even more surprising than horses clopping along on Oxford Street, this morning I came across this most random of sights:

Through exactly which circumstances could this seemingly-authentic NYC police car (with Empire State license plates no less) have ended up parked on tony Porchester Terrace? Maybe a newly-retired (and wealthy) member of NY's finest who decided to move to London couldn't bare losing his favorite vehicle. Or perhaps it belongs to a particularly enthusiastic collector of Die Hard 3 memorabilia. The car was still there in the evening, so it would seem like its (necessarily awesome) owner lives in the area. Heck, he probably went to work in his ambulance that day and this car is just his weekend impress-the-girls ride.

this year's model

out with the old:


in with the new:

Released in the UK to the usual Apple hullabaloo last Friday, the iPhone is that rarest of convergence devices: one that actually delivers multiple functions without overwhelming its user with unnecessary bells and whistles, while still looking good. Which is all I'll say about it for now. I'm still getting used to it, though I'm already at a point where I wonder how I could have functioned so long without it. As in, before this thing, what did I do when I was preparing dinner? Certainly not listen to Ryan Adams while reading a LA Times article, that's for sure. Which isn't the most necessary of things, granted, but as far as entertainment goes, it's pretty nifty.
Full(er) review to come.

just breathe

shortcuts - 29/10/07

listening: the band you can't tell your grandma about, Holy Fuck

watching: season 1 of the Hills. It's even worse than I remember. Which means, of course, that I'm loving it to death.

buying: a coat (H&M) and a jacket (Uniqlo) to gear up for the winter. So naturally today the weather started heating up. Come on cold, you can do better than that! (I kid, you can keep hiding for a while. I'll definitely see enough of you over the next few months)

eating: homemade raita salad at work. Take that, EAT.

reading: Crime and Punishment. It's a beast of a novel when you only have about 5 minutes a day to devote to it, but highly worth it.

Jeremy Larson - Jeremy Larson

no, this post title isn't some sort of facetious tribute to John Malkovich, it's actually the title of sound advice alumnus Jeremy Larson's debut album, released to little fanfare last month. The pride of Springfield, MO, he has taken the modern pop sound that had been introduced on a couple of EPs last year to an even more ambitious brand of pop with hints of electronics and classical music. In a genre that has seen its share of repetitiveness and lack of innovation over the years (Keane and Coldplay: I used to kinda like you guys, what happened??), this album feels like a harbinger of very good things to come. It's far from perfect, but it succeeds where so many fail by being fresh and assertive.

Most of the songs are piano-based, yet there is as much emphasis on the additional layers to give it a very modern sound. For sure, this is no electronic music, but there is a clear influence by the laptop-pop scene that has developed recently (DNTEL, The Album Leaf...). As a result many of the tracks create a mood that can feel cold and aloof, but also yearning for warmth. Consequently a lot of the material is about alienating distance and loneliness (Make Believe), but, equally importantly, about not giving up (Swim).
Yes, the music on this record is pretty, but thankfully on songs life More Than You or The Sound Of Snow Larson exhibits a modicum of desperation that is so often lacking in the genre. When you notice how innocuous the subject of love has become in mainstream pop songs, that is refreshing to hear.

Naturally not all is perfect on here, there are still a couple of skippers that, though not bad, aren't particularly memorable either (A Neutral Conclusion, Martyr). But consistency can always come later, what we have here right now is an artist unafraid to take chances to try to come up with an original take on a tired cliche, and that is most definitely a good thing.

listen to songs from the album here

silver lining

no doubt about it, London is an expensive city. Not only do the basic essentials (rent, food, CDs) add up to an arm and a leg here, but indulging in any sort of hobbies generally tends to drive up one's budget to Himalayan heights. This past summer I enjoyed a great recital of Le Corsaire by the Bolshoi ballet, something which I felt very fortunate and delighted to see. Still, the seats cost £90 each, and they were in the upper ranges of the theater, so you can imagine what some decent spots would run you. And how unappreciative you might feel should you witness a less-than-stellar performance. Same goes for pretty much all forms of entertainment in this town, from theater to rugby matches.

But naturally that is the gloomy view of things, one that only the most cantankerous of Londoners would espouse after living here for a while. Because although the options for free/cheap entertainment might seem less comparatively to a city like Paris, there are nonetheless bounds of them for the motivated individuals to partake in. Take movies for instance. At first sight it might seem difficult for movie buffs to keep a regular habit of catching screenings regularly, what with 1 adult ticket in a typical London cinema costing the equivalent of an unlimited movie pass in Paris. But while that might be true in most movie theaters, there are some ways to catch more screenings without breaking the bank, from Cineworld's monthly pass to the BFI Mediatheque, as well as screenings at the ICA. Among these outfits, one has emerged as the go-to place to go see movies from mega-blockbusters to artsier fare while on a budget, a mere few weeks after their general release: Prince Charles cinema. Located a few short hops from cinematic mecca Leicester Square, it provides a wide-range of movies in all genres, special screenings with Q&A sessions, as well as their famous Sound of Music singalong. The prices are on the right side of affordable, going for a maximum of £4.50 for general screenings, while members pay from £1.50 to £3. More importantly, the selection of flicks is top-notch, with recent blockbusters cohabiting with smaller movies. It's thanks to this varied slate that I was able to catch New-Zealand indie rom-com, Eagle vs Shark, this past Sunday. The movie is touching and hilarious, and it was a real treat to be able to watch it with a large audience.
When it comes to cinemas London might never equal Paris, or even New-York, but it's nice to know that there are decent options out there not part of the major chain behemoths. Now if only the Prince Charles would install cup holders in their seats...

pret-less

forecast for tomorrow's lunch break: deeelicious (I hope)

had a nice time

Dedicated to the fortress of suckitude that is Heathrow Airport. My dear, dear Gatwick, you were sorely missed. I promise not to be unfaithful anymore in the future (if I can, you know how these things work. It's not you, it's me).

free music

is there anymore space on the Radiohead bandwagon? Because I've been off it for a while, actually I've never really been a full-fledged passenger, but it seems like I'm gonna have to climb back on again.

seriously, this is pretty amazing. More coherent thoughts later. Maybe.

mercy mercy

at Burberry, less is definitely not more. All I bought was one tie, and they put it in an elaborate package inside a bag fit to hold Imelda Marcos' shoes collection. Oh, and a ribbon? Really?

The receipt was put in its own not-so-little portfolio, maybe so it feels it's worth more than the paper it's printed on? And so we can kill a few more trees, just for the heck of it I suppose.

pinched

Horace Greeley, this is for you

fashion fauxrward

5 crucial reasons why not wearing a belt with your suit pants is a tremendous idea:
- saves time at the metal detector, letting the x-ray machine people focus on the really important stuff, like reminding the people in front of you for the 127th time that day that you have to take your keys and change out of your pockets before passing through. If you wear a belt, the terrorists have won
- 2.1 seconds more sleep time in the morning
- it's a proven scientific fact: when you work, your belly gets hungry and lets you know about it. A belt is just a cruel reminder of the vicious constraints of society. Just let it be, man
- demonstrates your staunch refusal of corporal punishment
- gives you an assured look even if you're doing it out of complete laziness (not me of course, I would never do that)

MC Hammer so hates this post

youtubin: blackass

meet the anti-Jackass, as played by comedy genius and Youtube legend Tracy Morgan in this sketch from Saturday Night Live. And watch for his reaction at the pool.