Watch the Ball Drop

from the comfort of your sofa tonight with the EarthCam. I will be forsaking the ball this year, however, in order to watch the fireworks over the London Eye, which you can view after the fact here.

Blog Updates

I've recently changed the commenting feature so that you can now comment anonymously or by nickname, without having to register. (I had previously changed this to require registration because I was receiving a lot of spam, but I think things will work okay now.)

Also, if anyone has a relevant topic (or irrelevant, for that matter) that he/she wants to write about and would like the very limited exposure this blog provides, feel free to email me a few paragraphs and I'll put them up as a guest post. (Click "complete profile" for email address.)

Regular blogging will resume New Year's Day. Happy New Year's Eve in the meantime.

Happy Boxing Day!

Until this morning, I wasn't quite sure what Boxing Day was all about, but here are a few explanations. It seems, more accurately, to be the day that all the sales start. Unlike in the States, here the stores all do it at once, on schedule, twice a year.

The EasyJet experience, Italian-style!

from Dan:

What a trip! I'm talking about boarding EasyJet in Venice. No task for the slow-footed. We cleverly (not) paid a few euros extra for Speedy Boarding (bring your own elbows), only to be overtaken by those with B-group boarding passes—the lowest of the low, steerage, only those sitting next to (or inside) the lavatory need apply.

As it turns out, Speedy Boarding means you crowd in with the rest of the rich people to make it through the boarding gates first onto ... the bus to the plane. And rich Italians didn't get that way by queueing, to say the least. It was nice at times: got to rub up against some fine furs (Italian women over a certain age, with the available income, wear luxurious long fur coats in winter) without having to further compromise my own complex set of morals, sampled exquisite fragrances without having to damage my own skin with volatile chemicals, as well as other unmentionables.

Once on the bus, complex maneuvering ensured we were close to the doors. Alas, some B-card holders got on after us, and being somewhat old and decrepit, were allowed to just stand by the door instead of being pushed back out into the cold and, presumably, the second bus. Other enterprising B-sters sacrificed their tots, instructing them to sneak through to the front, where, of course, the parents (and rest of family) would be allowed to pursue them. Every Occasion is more Joyful with Children underfoot.

Aaah, to be standing just next to the doors, what fine planning. Until it becomes obvious that the doors on the other side of the bus will be opening instead. Chagrin all around among those who considered themselves superior. The meek inheriting the Earth, always a shock. A subtle change in the fragrance, a dullness spreads over the coats' sheen, all is lost. But wait, what's this? Italians don't like the emergency exit rows!!! What's the point of rushing on? Gol! G-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-l! Gol Gol Gol Gol Gol!!! (Translation: Score!)

Ok, now, where did I put those priority toilet passes? Gotta go.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas quote banner at Borough Market (quote is attributed to George Eliot).



Enjoy the holidays! (Posting will be sporadic until the New Year.) And here’s a recipe for London in a glass if you crave something chilly and cloudy in the meantime.

Christmas Gift Ideas

A few last-minute gift ideas to suit all types, if you're still out there looking for something. I particularly like the first one, but you'd have to know a child just the right age, with just the right awareness for it to work.

For the child worried about wildlife: the adoption of one of these freaky animals. (Look at the stuffed animal that comes with each one!)

For the cartography typography fanatic: city posters.

For the ice cream lover with chapped lips: flavored lip balm.

For the coffee drinker nostalgic for New York: New York deli cups in ceramic. These have always cracked me up.

Advent Calendars

The BBC is a source of endless entertainment (good to see our TV license fee is going to something worthwhile). Look at this online advent calendar. Personally, I’d skip the ones that happen to be Bible readings, and on those days, perhaps open a piece of chocolate instead.

There’s also a fun calendar from the Telegraph. I like the links provided with each day's feature.

Website(s) of the Week

I just discovered the fascinating Tastespotting, which seems to be a sort of clearinghouse of interesting food news and recipes (and beautiful pictures). Click on an image to go to the source.

And last night I was watching Heston Blumenthal on BBC—this is the chef of Fat Duck fame and England's answer to Ferran Adria. The BBC has a website to accompany Blumenthal's TV show, and there's a lot of interesting information here, not all of it in the form of recipes. Such as: "Heston has recently incorporated this insight [that sounds affects our sense of taste] into his menu at his restaurant in his 'sounds of the sea' seafood dish: diners are given a personal stereo playing the sounds of waves crashing on the beach to listen to while they are eating the seafood dish. Our research has shown that getting those environmental cues right, like recapturing the sound and smell of the sea, can help to make the dish more enjoyable." Makes one want to reconsider what music is playing at dinnertime.

Christmas Pudding

Here's one recipe—from Delia Smith, one of the UK's most popular cooks—I won't be tackling. Apparently, you’re supposed to make this a couple of months ahead of time. Fortunately for me, packaged Christmas puddings are a dime a dozen here (or more like £5 for a half a kilo), and the grocery store offers a wide variety of flavors: Belgian chocolate, orange panettone, plum pudding with cider and sherry, Remy Martin, and richly fruited. I suppose we’ll have to get one of some sort, to go along with our British sparkling wine. We also have a backup in the form of real champagne: mini bottles of Veuve Clicquot, which we recently discovered at the theater, where the bartender decants the alcohol into a plastic cup so you can take it in and enjoy during the play. A wonderful British habit. There's no mad rush for the bar at intermission (the interval). Plus, that's when they wheel in the ice cream carts, so you can eat that during the second half.

Thwarted

We tried to see Beowulf this weekend, in 3D at the IMAX theater, but it was sold out. In the meantime, there's always the ancient text at this site, which also offers a modern translation. Or even better, I'm sure, is this new translation by Seamus Heaney, which I haven't read but certainly sounds fantastic. And maybe it's time to reread that lovely little classic Grendel.

Poems

I have two new poems online at nthposition: Click here for the poetry page and click here for info explaining what the site is all about.

If you'd prefer something more seasonal, check out this compilation of both classic and contemporary Christmas poems. Useful when you want a line to rubber stamp on a gift tag or quote in a Christmas card.

Winter Music and Art

I’ve been listening to a lot of Nordic Lounge lately, for background atmospheric wintry music. (That is, when I’m not listening to my all-time favorite Christmas CD, New Wave Christmas - Just Can't Get Enough, featuring my all-time favorite Christmas song, “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues.)

And take a look at these photographs (especially the ones with torii gates). Not sure if these were taken in the winter or not, but they are wonderfully white and stripped.

Missing Items

This past weekend, we went in search of what I'd read were "authentic" bagels at the Beigel Bake on Brick Lane. The bagels were good—smaller, softer, and chewier than what we're used to—and they may well have been the real Jewish thing, but they were not the same as H&H bagels, which is how we define "authentic." (I read on the Chowhound message boards that the abundance of fantastic smoked salmon combined with the absence of a decent bagel is one of Scotland's great tragedies.)

Here are a few other things Londoners live without:
eggnog
Nyquil
Papermate Profile pens
Rice Chex
[Note: all will be considered acceptable Christmas gifts]

Things they do have here (thank god):
Diet Coke [not the continental Coke Light]
Ben and Jerry’s ice cream
jalapeno Tabasco sauce
excellent microwavable Thai rice
Sharpies

Try This Quiz

The Wall Street Journal had an article about this travel website last week, where you can take a quiz to determine your travel personality and then see lists of places to visit. The quiz was more or less accurate for me (a mid-venturer, someone who wants to combine new experiences with luxurious accommodations, likes to avoid going to the same place twice, and prefers being away from groups and tours). However, I didn't need a quiz to tell me that. And the list of destinations is not that useful. But still, an interesting idea and a quick quiz if you're bored at work.

And the overall, number one place that delivers the most satisfaction for all traveler personalities (international category): London.

Dispatches from the Weekend

While browsing through bookstores (especially the lovely Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street) recently, I’ve noticed an amazing array of British cookbooks, from photo-heavy, oversized volumes (Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes) to narrative accounts (Nigel Slater's Eating for England), and then I see in the New York Times Book Review that there’s a holiday feature about cookbooks that starts off with this sentence: “Why are British cookbooks, circa 2007, so much better than American ones?”

We also did a bit of shopping on the high street this weekend for things other than books. Each street seems to have its own decorating scheme:


Looking down South Molton Street.




An attempt to capture the lights of Oxford Street.


Not too far from Oxford Street is Yauatcha, a place that I can heartily recommend for stylish dim sum (rather than the chicken feet stuck in gelatin variety) and the best steamed pork buns ever. Also sampled the scallop and kumquat dumplings, sticky rice with gingkos and chestnuts wrapped in lotus leaves, crab soup with tobiko, crispy Mongolian lamb (the only dish that wasn’t a winner), and scallops, prawns, and lotus roots in XO sauce. We didn’t take away any of the sweets from the tea room, but next time I want to grab what looked like some coconut macarons with black sesame seeds.