circumstance.org

Letting go

2010-02-09T15:15:27Z

Today I am sending off my blackberry bold for recycling (and getting some nice cash for it too). I have put this off for a few days, without really knowing why. Now I realise that this is the last link to my job that I have just quit. I have had a blackberry pinging me emails from one BB enterprise server or another for about three years straight. It feels strange to just go without that link in my purse or pocket. But the people and work that this device connected me to I really wasn't interested in at all, it was just a paycheque. But I did like feeling connected, no matter where I was, even if I didn't like who or what I was connected to (is that strange?). Maybe it was just the ease at which I could put up a convincing front of working. Because more and more that's all I seemed to be doing.

It made me think of two more things. One, that the Internet is becoming much more about push than it used to be. And so, in that sense, it is becoming much more like traditional media. I get most of my Internet fix via twitter these days, and most of it is content being pushed to me. My tweets are few and far between. Of course you can participate, but it's not really necessary. It's not like I even have to login to Flickr or hit the Guardian URL first, they come to me. If I mention someplace I've been (say, via 4square) or comment on something I'm interested in (like cycling), inevitably related content comes flying at me on twitter, whether I have asked for it or not. Usually it is something I am interested in, most of it is not spam, so I guess that's something. But somehow I feel even more pulled around and manipulated, less in control, even though I can choose which streams I want to follow.

The second thing, is that I have no idea what to do next. It's a very strange feeling. There are things I am interested in, but the strength, fearlessness and risk don't seem to appeal. I will have to spend the rest of this winter and spring testing the waters. In the meantime I will do more of what I love to do, cycling, taking pictures, cooking, eating! and hope that in a few months I won't have to turn to yet another dull job.

Greetings from Jersey Mike's Subs

2009-12-04T14:30:11Z

Sarasota florida

Had a sub, it was just like I was 14 years old again. Never thought my hometown would be famous for sandwhiches. Although also didn't know there is a Mtv show called "down the shore" set in Seaside Heights where pumped up boys and fake-boobed girls are proud of being "guidos" and "guidettes".

technocrati post

2009-09-09T10:37:28Z

Nothing to see here, just updating a listing

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venue

2009-08-24T11:26:38Z

One more!

2009-08-24T10:10:31Z

Update! I forgot one! I actually saw Eleven stand-ups. Forgive me, I think it was mostly a blur after a while. I just remembered that I had seen both a lawyer AND a doctor (what is the world coming to when people leave these noble professions for comedy?) Saw GEORGE RYEGOLD - TRAMPLE THE WEAK, HURDLE THE DEAD in a basement decorated as a tiki bar, where we had to sit on the floor on pillow covered a pallets. As you would expect from a doctor, some really disgusting anecdotes mostly involving poo. So really well-written poo jokes basically. Two stars. ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Holiday on the Fringe

2009-08-24T09:28:50Z

Took some time off and went up to Edinburgh last week for the Fringe Festival. Saw a lot of comedy. Read a lot of reviews, although I should have read a little more. I saw 10 stand-ups (ten!), one contemporary dance troupe and a play for good measure. I had a great time running up and down Edinburgh, seeing shows and listening to bagpipes.

As an exercise in writing I am going to review all that I saw. A word of caution, I'm very hard to please, and I don't expect everyone to agree with my opinions. As this is a personal site, I don't have to worry about ruining anyone's careers with my brutal honesty - I don't think I could ever be a real reviewer, I would be too afraid of stating the truth.

Since the Fringe is obsessed with stars, I am going to rate all of the shows I saw on the five star system. I had a great time, but none got all five stars. I don't think Britain is really heaving with good stand-up comedy. For one thing, I think it's pretty rare to have a stand-up knock your socks off at all (or maybe just my socks) and another thing, I don't think this is the country for it. The Brits really try hard to be polished and have a coherent show with a theme, but I'm not sure that's what stand-up is all about. The political ones come across as too preachy, the non-political ones come across as too self-obsessed. No one really shocked me, I was a bit disappointed.

Ok, having said all that, here are the specific reviews...

Celia Pacquola in Am I Strange?
Aussie woman bores you for a long hour with her cheating boyfriend story using lame props and snapping fingers. Only good thing I could say about it was that she was loud enough not to need a mic. One star. ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

I Wish I Could Be Like Andrew Watts
Unexpectedly funny but not sure exactly why. All over the place but sincere enough to show the audience the foot long scar on this chest. Even his unfashionable admission that he believes in god didn't ruin his show. Three stars. ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Richard Herring - Hitler Moustache
This show was all about his toothbrush moustache and how he was making a statement against fascism and racism in modern day Britain. Does that sound funny to you? Well, not to me. Few funny bits but not political enough or funny enough for my taste. Best bits about his iPhone. Was well prepared but skimpy on the actual jokes. Ending message: get out the vote. Two and a half stars. ★★ ½☆ ☆

Giacinto Palmieri: Italian Misfit (Free Fringe)
Italian software developer with a master's in philosophy (sorry, you can't hide from Google if you put your life on LinkedIn and Facebook) complaining about English Grammar. Haha, doesn't understand why we say "fucked up" and not "up fucked". Not funny. Gets fake call from his mama. Sterotypes not funny. One star (cause he was free.) ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Lewis Schaffer - Bigger and Blacker (Free Fringe)
New York Jew shtick - very aggressive, egging the audience on and asking them to walk out. Was also violently contrary. Had a few good jokes actually, but left feeling like it should have been better. One and a half stars. ★ ½ ☆ ☆ ☆

Jon Richardson: This Guy at Night
The title pretty much states his theme, he didn’t have one. Which was nice. Found him very amusing, but in a safe way. Laughed at his bitter attitude on life for such a young person, maybe he will grow out of it. Four stars as he made me chuckle throughout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Zoe Lyons: Miss Machismo
Typical comedian fodder, complaining about celebrities and non-famous stupid people, but pretty funny about it. Agreeable and eager to please, had lots of laughs, 4 stars. ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Andrew Lawrence - Soul-Crushing Vicissitudes of Fortune!
This show was soul-crushing, that's for sure. He was so negative and bitter, yet a bit uncomfortable about it. Had a few really well written & performed spews of profanity and insults (the best aimed at the police) but overall no really good laughs. Two and a half stars. ★ ★ ½ ☆ ☆

Four Quarters
Four contemporary dance pieces performed in the back of a church. Really good, moving and funny. Also nice to see dancers who are not rail thin or bulging with muscles, but with more normal body types. Four stars. ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Coffee
My one attempt to branch out and see some theatre backfired severely: This short play got good reviews from all the mainstream broadsheets, but boy was it an unbearable 45- minutes. Too meta (sometimes merely understanding what meta is can be confused with wittiness, perhaps this is why the reviews used the word "witty" to describe this thing). Repetitive bore, couldn’t wait to leave. Then the web-savvy author stalked me on twitter after I panned it in under 140 characters. Eeek. No stars. ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Marcus Brigstocke: God Collar
My companion said as we were leaving "well, that was shite". I didn't quite agree, even though, there was exactly one joke that I laughed out loud at (and it was the most offensive one of the show- maybe that says something about me.) It was a patchy critique of religion, in some but not all of its formations, and yet simultaneously preachy in its tone. I was smiling throughout, expecting something to laugh at, but it never came. He had something in common with Richard Herring: his best jokes were about iPhones. Two stars. ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

And then, one more:

Dan Atkinson: Death By a Thousand Pricks
Squeezed this last one in after I thought I had had enough of the stand-ups. I went hiking earlier in the day (which meant getting up early and taking a two hour train ride out to the foothills, walking about 6 miles in the rain, which was much nicer than it sounds) but still got back feeling restless. I couldn’t face another free show (I had been to one of the very late night free showcases, and it was pretty silly, but not in a good-way silly and not worth even reviewing). The previous morning I had stumbled accidently on a very nice cafe for breakfast (Urban Angel - highly recommended) and sat next to a comedian and his (I think) agent going over his tour plan & budget. It was amusing eavesdropping, peering over his papers and then googling him (yes, on my iPhone, rich with comedian fodder and also useful!) to see who he was. He seemed sane enough (but not that sane) so I figured why not see if there were any tickets left. Well, there was, so I went. It was a pretty good performance, but with only one really good laugh in it. His show revolved around a core of playing snippets of a call-in radio show, and then riffing off of these very easy targets (people who call into talk-radio shows are always pathetic, fringe elements at best). He also obsessed about his polite behaviour, trying to pin down the Great British personality trait: repression. Strangely, overall, I found it charming. Maybe I was tired of being jaded about stand-ups. And there were no jokes about iPhones! Three stars. ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

And my shortened food reviews:
Black Magic Coffee and Monteith's Restaurant - Both really horrible, avoid if you can. No stars.☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Kilimanjaro Coffee, Urban Angel and The Dogs Restaurant - All very, very good. Eggs Benedict at Kilimanjaro absolutely perfect. The Dogs, very good home-style comfort food, good wine AND affordable. Four and a half stars all round. ★ ★ ★ ★ ½

So, the food wins in the end!

A few of my favourite things

2009-05-17T18:27:01Z

Two things I love: cycling around town and coffee. During my week off work I got to indulge in both quite a lot. Sure, I did other things (saw the film Synecdoche, New York and Don John the musical, found my local library, splurged on a session at an expensive Yoga studio, went to the seaside) but mainly I did a whole lot of cruising and drinking. Here is a short list of what I consider to be the best places in London to enjoy a really good cup of coffee (you don't even have to cycle there). It’s by no means a complete map of good coffee places in London, it is particular to me. If I find someplace new I may even come back and add to this post. Also, let me know if you know of any really good spots.

Tinder Box - Islington [Angel] - Their espresso and macchiatos (machchiati?) are perfect. Their espresso is a rich and warm roast. They do put too much milk in their steamed milk drinks for me, and their pastries are bland. But the coffee is a good enough reason to go there and have a look down on the shoppers in the N1 Centre.

Dose [Smithfield's] New coffee shop that serves Square Mile Roasters coffee, my new favourite brand. Small place but very friendly. Haven't tried the food there yet though…

Monmouth Coffee [Covent Garden, Borough Market] Consistently roasting fine coffee for years, their espresso and milk drinks are still very good. Espresso is quite syrupy. Don't do large gallon-sized drinks, which is nice. Pastries from French chain Paul, are hit and miss. Cookies and Macaroons are quite good.

Above: Cafetiere at Cafe 79, Primrose Hill

Café Seventy-Nine [Primrose Hill] Serves Monmouth Coffee in a cafetiere, which is an enjoyable way of enjoying good coffee as long as you have to clean up the grounds later! (At home I use filters for convenience more than anything else - I don’t feel the paper spoils the taste). The vegetarian breakfasts, salads, soups and cakes are excellent too.

Orange Pekoe [Barnes] When I lived in this area I went here as often as possible. Although the focus is on tea, they do excellent cappuccinos. The dark Valrhona chocolate shavings they add on top is the perfect touch (as normally I don’t go near any 'chocolate' on top of a cap.) The sandwiches, breakfasts and cakes also really good.

Other places that get a mention: Konditor & Cook [soho, borough market, other locations], Milk Bar & Flat White [soho] , Brill [Exmouth market].

And … Coffee Chain: EAT If you are stuck someplace without any independent coffee sources, you can do far worse than EAT. They use organic milk, and their espresso is good enough without it.

********

Above: Flyer for Nocturne event, Smithfield Market, Clerkenwell.

And since this post was mainly about coffee, in order to get some cycling bit in: There is an evening cycle race around Smithfield market coming up next month, it looks cool.

Holiday in the city

2009-05-02T10:15:37Z

I don’t have enough money to travel at the moment. But I have decided that should not encroach on my right to take a holiday. So I am looking at next 9 days without work, but also without flight or hotel reservations. I used to believe that a vacation always meant going away. But that idea was borne out of necessity, as when I used to live in America I only got the standard 2 weeks of vacation a year. Over the past few years, mandatory travelling on holidays has meant sometimes spending money on places I can’t really afford. As I don’t have any family close by, I can’t just drop in for a visit so I don’t have any economical choices for going away. And I don’t really enjoy hostels or camping or even cheap hotels. (Yes, I am a snob!)

Taking time off without a place to go at first felt bit strange. I used to think people who had nowhere to go were a bit sad. They would say they were planning on gardening or DIY-repairs or rearranging their closets. That never sounded like a holiday to me. But after a half-hearted attempt to find someplace to go that was interesting and affordable, it dawned on me that staying at home is much more appealing in many ways.

For one thing, home itself is a much better place than it used to be, as I now have a home of my own again after many months of renting rooms in other people’s flats. From on top of a hill in Islington, I now have a fantastic view from a west facing lounge with large windows, best enjoyed from my own custom made comfy couch. I don’t have to share it with a virtual stranger, however nice they may be. I don’t have to look at their naff art or photos of their dead dogs. I can cook a three course meal and leave the Le Creuset soaking in the sink till morning. Plus, if I do want to go out, I am within walking distance to very yummy espresso or amazing Spanish tortillas, two of my favourite things in my neighbourhood. Now I will have time to discover more favourites.

My decision not to go anywhere is also trendy. The recession coupled with the downturn in the pound has made staying put fashionable! (ha). And in a way, it’s a relief. Sure, there are so many places I want to visit, but I’m not a very good traveller. I hate being a tourist, not knowing where the best things are, not having a nice cup of coffee in the morning and my comfy bed at night. Much better to stay at home where there is mostly a known quantity.

I live in one of the best cities in the world, and there is so much here that I still have yet to explore. I will break in my Tate membership card and see a film at the ICA as well as do shallower things like get a makeover at the Bobbi Brown makeup counter at Selfridges and quaff lovely wine at the newest wine bar. And also spend some quality time on my couch watching the sun set behind the London skyline.

The Seven Soho Noses

2009-04-24T13:32:07Z

Yesterday afternoon I decided to get out of the office and take a walk in the lovely spring sunshine. I like walking around Soho, as it’s mainly tourist free (compared to nearby Oxford street) and is also (mainly) free of shops to lure me in. It even allows the opportunity to spot the odd British celebrity. (I have only run across Suggs and Bill Bailey, possibly not the best looking Brit celebrities, but certainly odd.)

On my walk, I passed an interesting cafe and stopped, debating on whether I wanted to add another shot of caffeine into my system. As I hesitated outside, two men walked hurriedly up behind me and pointed to the wall outside the cafe: “There, there it is!” exclaimed the man in nerdy-yet-trendy thick specs. Both the bloke sitting outside the cafe and I looked up at the wall where he was pointing. At first I didn’t see anything, but upon closer inspection I saw it. It was hard to see at first because it was painted the same muddy brown colour as the wall, but it was definitely there: it was a nose. Hanging just above eye level, on the outside wall of the cafe, was a life-sized nose.

The Nose Knows for the Guess Where London group on flickr

The bloke asked “what is it?” and the nerdy-yet-trendy guy replied: “it’s one of the seven noses of Soho.” His friend excitedly added, “Yeah, there’s another on Meard street, and one on D’Arblay street” (and one on another street whose name I have forgotten). The man went further to explain, “If you find all seven noses, you will attain infinite wealth.” Hm, sounds dubious to me. Still, I thought the nose was cool. The man asked the guy how he knew this information, to which he replied that he knew because he had done a documentary about it. (Big deal, I thought, feeling the doc thing had an air of Nathan Barely about it.) The man was equally not impressed, “yeah, he said, but how did you know about it before you made the documentary.” The trendy-nerdy guy was a bit deflated, replying that it was a rumour. He had no idea where it had come from.

This piqued my interest, not in the documentary, but in the origin of the story. So I asked the Internet, and like always, it delivered big time!

Flickr provided a few shots of various noses in and outside of Soho, like this one on Admiralty Arch, and also the answer. If the folks on Flickr can be trusted, the more mundane fact is that in 1996, a sculptor named Rick Buckley “decorated many London landmarks with casts of his nose.” Why, they don’t say, but I think in the name of art is enough (for me). There was nothing online about infinite wealth, nor only seven noses, nor the noses being restricted to just Soho. I suppose if you really wanted to check your facts, you could get a hold of Rick and compare his nose to the ones in the street!

I wonder how rumours like this get started. Maybe it spread because its a good tale, it has those fairy tale qualities: the lucky number seven, strange signs hidden in a maze (Soho), a fortune cookie “infinite wealth” promise. Surely this story was fabricated, perhaps by the artist? It’s a good one, I feel bad for possibly outing it, but maybe I got my facts wrong. The good folks on Flickr have been wrong about strange landmarks before, but the truth does seem to come out in the end. I love the Internet! Without it we would have to trust people like this to give us the facts.

Nothing to say

2009-04-14T11:17:28Z

I do have things to say. Lots and lots of things. Things to do with where I live, where I work, what I like. Also things I don't like. What I believe. Facts, recipes, hints. Links to people, places and things.

If only I could get this to look nice. Then I would start telling you things. Lots of things.

rainy weekend

2008-11-01T11:27:08Z

Saturday morning - I hear the footfall of horses outside the front windows. The mounted police are doing their neighbourhood rounds. I am enjoying a breakfast of what was left in our tiny fridge: organic Swiss chard “baconed up” with pancetta, fried eggs, and wholemeal bread . (Justin had to go out in the cold to fetch the bread from round the corner, from the sadly empty organic grocery. It seems only days before it will be out of business, and yet they still have fresh bread and croissants every day.) I’m listening to Pulp on the iMac in the other room, (which I can now control remotely with my shiny new one-day old iPhone!! w00t.)

Recently I seem to be discovering 90s brit pop, I blame it on Alex James’ book, a Bit of a Blur. first I sought out the entire Blur catalogue, (Parklife is hands down their best album) and now I have moved on to Pulp, which has a very strange back log going back to 1983, not sure how much of that I want to dig out. Pulp’s track “Sorted for E’s and Whizz” always makes me want to get up and wave my arms as if I’m in a stadium.

..and then tomorrow morning,

Oooohh

ooh, when you

come

down.

********

The flat is still a mess, loads of books in boxes. No drapes on the windows and its getting quite chilly, it snowed this week. I don’t mind the mess too much, I have managed to sort out a few things since we moved in, but its slow going. Damn full time job takes up most of my time. When you move in you want everything to be perfect, to match the freshly painted walls and brand new carpets. Then life sets in and 2 months later you still have no window coverings or dresser drawers.

****

I know two different Brits going to New York City next week for work. They both expressed excitement with being there on election day. I found that quite cute, that they want to somehow be involved, even if only as a spectator from the inside. I guess I feel privileged that I can actually vote in this race, even though I don’t live there anymore.

I already voted last month. Thank god I don’t have to listen to the muck going around in America on all sides. Also, suddenly people get very patriotic around elections, and its not a feeling I was ever very comfortable with. There isn’t much to be proud of really, especially now. Hopefully this current election will prove me wrong and redeem America in the world’s eyes a bit. But elections always make me nervous. I have been on the losing team more times then I care to remember, and the heartache only gets bigger everytime.

Free memories

2008-09-26T11:31:40Z

I buy the Guardian today to give me something to read at lunch, because I don’t want to have to go back to the office and eat lunch at my desk. Special offer for a free Starbucks espresso drink inside. Seems they are appealing the ethical guardian readership with their new “our beans are responsibly grown and ethically traded” marketing nonsense. Typical Guardian reader probably wouldn’t be swayed. I, however, am not a typically ethical Guardian reader. I generally avoid Starbucks because their coffee isn’t that great, not because I have some moral beef with the company. But this is a freebie so I figure why the hell not take advantage? Maybe I am a cheap skate?

So I go in there after lunch and get a double shot mocha with whipped cream. I don’t think I have had a Starbucks mocha for at least 10 years! I don’t even realise this fact until I take a sip. The taste brings back a flood of memories. I am transported back to when I used to get one in the morning before work when I worked downtown San Francisco for gap.com. I remember the chill of those brisk wintry mornings and the rush and crush on the BART train and then the 3 block trek to the office, hoping I had enough time to snag a drink before I arrived at my desk ready to toil all day coding web pages selling jumpers and jackets for kids. The job was all right actually. There were lots of friends working there, and the work was a bit challenging as I was just a beginner on the web coding front. The atmosphere was a bit crap though, all of the Gap HQ people who worked in the building were all clones. They were a tall blonde army of women who were immaculately dressed in a completely dull way. The only interesting people where the online folks, but as they had run out of room in their section I was forced to sit amongst these accounting and merchandising un-fashionistas in heels and khakis.

Now I am 8 thousand miles and 8 time zones away from that place. And almost 1o years later in time, I forgot that it even existed. The Mocha brought it all back. I think the memory burst was far more beneficial than the caffeine/sugar rush, because now I am finished with it I have a rather dull headache from the sugar. I remember why I stopped drinking this shit. Maybe in another 10 years I will have another. It just reminded me that, to quote a cigarette advertising campaign :“hey, you’ve come a long way baby!”

untitled

2008-09-11T11:36:51Z

As we get off the plane onto the bus that will carry us the long ride to the terminal, I take note of my fellow passengers. Every single one is dressed for business, with laptop and blackberry. We are all clones. In a way I feel like we are all going to the same meeting, the same offices, although I know this is not true. On this bus I feel as if I am back at school again, and we are on the school bus, headed onto different teachers and different friends, but the same place none-the-less. Welcome to the glamorous world of International business or third grade, sometimes it feels the same.

I have a new job, this is my third week. It realised today that I have done something I didn’t think was possible, I have moved over to the other side. In Internet business terms, the other side being the sales/marketing/management side versus the technical/development/support side. And believe me, there are definitely 2 distinct sides. I’m still more or less in the middle, but somehow very happy I made it over here, where most of the day I am dealing with people and ideas, instead of systems, builds and code. Although I’m still not completely happy, I would actually like to go more into the creative side of “business”, which means marketing and other evil terms that the other side doesn’t like (or understand). But for now I have to get serious about my career. I never thought I would be serious, I must be getting old.

Its hard to get serious when at the moment I am a bit bored to death.

---------------------------

Not having a camera in a new place. It kind of hurts. Being in a new place alone not much to do really but explore and look at things. I don’t think the people who are behind things like “photography free day” really understand that half of the joy is taking the pictures, not having them. Its a fun activity for me. I see ideas for pictures all day long. Sometimes I want to save them. When I don’t have the option at all, it gets annoying. My memory is not as good as a photo. My imagination is better, but that is the problem! Photos are a way of blending your imagination into reality.

This is an MT test

2007-06-19T09:26:42Z

test

ENJOY

2006-05-27T15:06:42Z

en·joy v
1. vt to take pleasure in something
2. vt to have the full and satisfying use or benefit of something
3. vt to benefit from a desirable condition or situation
4. vr to have a pleasurable experience
5. vt to have sexual intercourse with somebody (archaic)

interj
used to express a wish for somebody to have a pleasurable experience