Merry Christmas!

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Love,
Mark, Steven & Olive

Found Art

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

London is littered with found art moments... This one was brought to you by some construction debris in Notting Hill.

Kansas-Schmansas

Supposedly there are 30-some-odd tornadoes in the UK every year. Today’s was just a few blocks north of where we live, and was considered a “freak” occurrence because it actually caused serious damage. I didn’t see the funnel myself, but the sky did turn that weird shade of green, there was plenty of thunder & lightning, and our skylights & container garden were pelted with pea-sized hail stones, causing Olive much distress.

Spy vs. Spy

Isn’t there something retro about poisoned spies and radioactive dust? My theory is that this spy case is actually (or coincidentally) the perfect maketing campaign for Casino Royale. Itsu sushi is now a “world famous meeting place” (I kid you not), the Millennium Hotel is on the map, and suddenly a bit of mystery and intrigue is once again part of the international travel experience...

Conkers & 0203

I know it’s World AIDS Day and everything, but I’ve got some more trivial bones to pick. First, conkers: yes, I know the season is over, but I’m gonna harp on it anyway. Ask any Brit what conkers is and I guarantee they’ll act all astonished and say something like, “you’ve never played conkers before?” or “you don’t have conkers in America?” Go ahead, try it. But don’t ask somebody who knows too much about the U.S. of A. I can’t decide whether that’s adorable or annoying. Second: 0203, which is a new London area code as of July 2005 (and, in fact, our area code). Except that nobody over here knows about it. Never mind that this is the 4th time in 14 years that London area codes have actually been changed. Things over here aren’t supposed to change. So I am wrong. Always. Every time. That number on my email signature? Wrong. When I have to fill in my phone number on various forms? Wrong. When I tell somebody to call me on 0203 bla bla bla? Wrong. “I’m sorry,” they say, “but don’t you mean 0207?” That is definitely not adorable, it’s just annoying. BTW, this post brought to you by whinging.