Archive for March 2009
I know what you did last summer
Those stranded domiciled on this tricky isle will well remember the quite awful summer we had last year. Truly it was a travesty. What unnerves me is reading that the ‘average’ temperature in the UK is just 9c. Single digits?! Frightening. I can see why so many people look to emigrate.
But life’s not all bad.
Very busy 4 and a bit months into my new job. Firing on all cylinders but enjoying the (admittedly, demanding) role and liking the people a great deal. It does take several months to really get to know people but it’s such a good feeling when that happens. Profile-wise, my job is sooo much more senior than the last one. The work I’m doing now is also genuinely really interesting and there’s a very international dimension to it all.
A colleague said to me today that those of us with jobs are living in a bubble as the cost of quite big things (like mortgage repayments) have, for any one on a tracker, dropped considerably. Today, interest rates dropped to 0.5% which is the lowest level they have ever been.
Taken to lunch at Belgo by an old media contact with whom I’m these days quite friendly; lovely guy. And you gotta love moule frites. I didn’t get back to the office in time for the weekly conference call with my (sort of) opposite number in New York but they seemed OK with it. Tomorrow I’m out with work for the second time this week which will be well earned after a long week.
I’ll be in France for the first week of April. Driving down then flying back. Family week away. Should be good. I’ll sure be needing a break by then. We’ll be in the foothills of the Pyrenees, close to the Spanish border. Just booked my flight back, £37 or so one-way. Not too bad. Feels like quite some time since I was last in France. Was 2007, I was on a junket (that those with long memories will remember – our advertising agency took all their clients away – we had a crazy first night out and I threw up in my beautiful bathroom that evening and felt horrendous next day when we were on a boat travelling down the Seine) and I also went with Sheridan though forget whether that was 07 or 06.
Speaking of Sheridan, he’s organising a trip to Florence, Italy some time in May which I shall look forward to. I was in Rome last June and adored it all over again (having been once before).
The benefit of being in the UK is having great neighbours. That said, here’s hoping for a decent British summer – if such a thing can exist!
Would this suit me?
Astro Boy is the mascot for this blog and one needn’t pay masses of attention to see the figure appearing in various places – avatar, photos on flickr, etc, etc. I am a big Japan fan (having lived there) and have a lot of time for most things Japanese (origami,bonsai trees, Japanese food, stationery, manga comics, Astro Boy, Hello Kitty, etc).
Dear old Craig found this for me online. 
What say you, hit, miss or maybe? I’d love to try it on…
Book thief
Or perhaps not a thief, as I ordered and paid for them through Amazon. They arrived today.
I haven’t read a book since my Egypt holiday last autumn. I just couldn’t get into the book I was reading (The Folding Star by Alan Hollinghurst; a shame as I had absolutely loved The Line of Beauty and quite enjoyed The Swimming Pool Library).
Today’s book haul included:
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (which is the one I’ve started).
The Reader by Bernard Schlink.
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
The Drowned World by JG Ballard.
The Crystal World by JG Ballard.
Ballard has been one of my most favourite authors for a very long time. Since reading Empire of the Sun at university in my modern British literature class. Gargoyle is a random, The Reader I have always meant to read, Revolutionary Road I like the sound of, Gulliver’s Travels fulfils my desire to read fairly old stuff now and again.
If you are reading anything good yourself feel free to tell me. Likewise if you have read any of the above.
Season finale: Being Human (BBC3)
Watched the final episode of Being Human this evening. The six weeks since I looked at episode 1 have gone very fast! Anyway, it was timely as yesterday I watched the two I’d recorded that I’d not got round to seeing.
An enjoyable series. Very, very quirky. Unlike anything else on tv. It’s a horror and comedy rolled into one and I didn’t think such a combination would work but they pulled it off. Enjoyed watching it. And I hear there’s a second series which is good.
Won’t say too much else as others haven’t seen the final episode, suffice to say it’s a great final episode. Powerful stuff.
