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There’s only one word to describe the sorry state of affairs for my Australia day this year and that is GRIM. It was dark. It was windy. It was FREEZING. Pretty much your average January day in London then, right?
But its Australia day and you want to make the most of it. Having deemed myself too old for any of the hard core Aussie shenanigans like The Church or Walkabout gigs, we decided on a traditional Aussie day BBQ at a friends…. this is what we ended up with….
Pathetic. After spending a total of about 2 minutes around the BBQ, I left the boys to it and went back to the safety of the living room.
OK, truth be told we had a lovely night inside. Steaks were cooked to perfection, the red wine delicious, company excellent as always.
But still, when I compare it to previous Australia Days you have to ask yourself what the HELL you’re doing here? It just happens to land on the best day of the year to prove the point that Australia is better than the UK. It’s like Captain Arthur Philip timed the landing of the First Fleet on purpose! I swear January is the most depressing month of the London year.
Just to emphasize the point here are some photos of my previous Australia days (PS I should never have looked back at these…)
Last week celebrated just 100 days until the Royal Wedding – Excitement!! Anyway, turns out I’m not the only fangirl out there – there are at least 13 others. And they all dressed up like Kate and hung out in front of Buck Palace, so seemingly they are much bigger fangirls than me. Not only are they wearing their own Kate dresses, but they even have fake engagement rings too! Jealous! Awesome!
In breaking news last week….
Buckingham Palace overturns royal wedding teacloth ban
The Daily Telegraph reports that commemorative royal wedding tea towels will be permitted after a ruling last month deemed them “too undignified”. Retail analysts at Verdict have suggested that sales of souvenirs for the royal wedding could boost the retail sector by more than £40mn. It predicts that engagement-related merchandise could be worth between £12mn and £18mn, while wedding merchandise sales could “easily” top £26mn in Britain. Meanwhile, the Evening Standard reports that the Queen has announced that the higher rate of VAT will not be passed on to buyers of souvenirs. A Royal Collection spokeswoman said: “We have taken the decision to absorb the increase simply because we can. I think a lot of retailers are choosing to do the same.”
The Daily Telegraph, Date: 11/01/2011, Page: 3 Evening Standard London, Page: 7(14443602)
Well, that’s nice to know. And in return I’m happily jumping on the souvenir bandwagon. First up, this beautiful engagement mug. Truth be told, I didn’t actually buy this, it was a present from Santa. But he bought it from Amazon – and you can get one too if you like!
Actually, this is a great idea for wedding favours for my own wedding! I’m sure everyone I know is just dying to get a Louarty mug. Maybe I better run that one by hubby-to-be first… and how do I go about getting a coat of arms?
I saw two movies this week – one unbelievably good and the other might have been a joke – nevertheless, both brought about in me this swelling overwhelming golden warmth of happiness and appreciation of the history, development, international influence that has existed in the UK for centuries and that continues to exist here and now in today’s world.
Over the top? OK, a bit. But none the less..
First up was The King’s Speech starring everyone’s favourite Mr Darcy, Colin Firth – as well as Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter. It’s about King George VI’s ascension to the throne and his battle with what seems quite a severe speech impediment. This movie was absolutely friggin amazing. It brought real character to real royals – King George V, Edward VIII, the Queen Mother, even QEII. It showed historic figures just going about their daily lives all over London and the UK. Places I’ve been! Royals I’ve seen! Beauty, history, influence and REALITY. Very cool
And last night I saw the latest Robin Hood interpretation with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett – which for me brought the same sense of bringing the importance of English history to my real world. But while this movie included some great moments, locations and characters in English history – King Richard Lionheart, King John, the Third Crusade, the lead up to the signing of the Magna Carta, Eleanor of Aquitaine – this movie had to be the most historically incorrect movie I have ever seen and didn’t really seem to relate to anything I knew about Robin Hood. For more on this, I found a great blog on the topic. Still, it was fun to watch.
Anyway, the movies as such are not the point. The point is, that “history” has always been a thing of the past (duh) – but these movies remind me just how close history is to the present, how close it is to me! The democracy I live in wouldn’t be without the Magna Carta (or so my dad tells me), the Queen mother lived in my lifetime, I’m planning a holiday to Sherwood Forest (Robin’s home), I work near Harley street (Where George VI found his doctor), I walk in Regents Park (so did George VI). It’s just weird… and very very cool. When did I start liking history so much?
P.S. I’m calling Colin Firth as Best Actor at the Golden Globes
Great news piece showing that perhaps Londoners are catching up to the New World when it comes to bed sizes!
Rise of the king-size as bedrooms become a social space
Figures from Tesco and John Lewis suggest that more 5ft-wide king-size beds are being sold than doubles in Britain for the first time. Tesco says sales of king-size beds and super-king-size beds increased by 45% during the past year. John Lewis says it now sells 34% more king-size than double beds.
The Daily Telegraph, Date: 01/01/2011, Page: 11
You should all know my poor opinion of the midget beds that seem to be the standard here in London (and in case you don’t, catch up here). I really think it is the result of the slow modernisation of London and the fact that we are all taller than we used to be.
Put simply, London has been slower to evolve – bed sizes not keeping up with people sizes (whereas in the “New World” we started tall). I do find it strange that here in the centre of the Western World where some of the best technological innovations are standard (I think the Oyster card is an example), that they are so slow catching up in other areas – other than bed sizes, I think bureaucracy is the best example of this.
Banking bureaucracy is the worst – you still need to go to branches , sign physical forms, they still store them in filing cabinets and inevitably lose them. It’s sad. And incredibly frustrating. So much so that I dont think we should talk about it any more. Let’s focus on the positive; congratulations London for finally realising that big is better!
Upfront: this blog isn’t about life in London. But because I don’t know where else to shout about this amazing beverage and because I like to give away good business ideas on this blog; I think everyone should know about Clamato.
Clamato is a combination of tomato juice, clam broth and spices. If the thought of this combo makes you want to vom, don’t worry, when I first heard what it was made of I felt the same. But the taste! – oh, the taste! OK, well, it mostly tastes like tomato juice (which funnily I’m not a big fan of), but with MORE and BETTER in it.
And to cap it all off it is the key ingredient in my favourite cocktail of all time; the Caesar. It’s just like the Bloody Mary except with clamato juice instead of tomato making it MORE and BETTER! Actually, its possible it was originally invented as a mixer specifically for this purpose (?)
I feel like you aren’t getting what I’m trying to say. You’d better just please go taste it for yourself, I don’t think my message is sinking in. Ah, herein lies the problem. Of course, with the good, comes the bad.
…The juice seems to only be sold in Canada. WHY!?!?! for the love of god! It’s so good! According to the official website (which has a cool little Clamato rap song on it, bless), it would appear that it is sold in the USA too, but I’m telling you; they’ve never heard of it! It’s funny when you hear that the Caesar is Canada’s most popular cocktail, and yet, no-one at Motts (the biggest seller of Clamato & premixed Caesar’s) has cottoned onto the fact that there may be a market outside Canada. THINK PEOPLE.
Anyway, the business idea is obvious. Bring Clamato to the UK people, bring it to the world.
…please!
PS on the upside, here is yet another reason to love Canada!
London and New York City: the 2 great cities of the western world. I’ve just spent a fabulous New Years Eve in New York and I couldn’t help but wonder: which city is better?
First and foremost, both cities are HUGE, have lots of great sites & attractions to see and have even more to offer once you get to know them (restaurants & bars you never would have found without some inside help). Basically they are top of the list when it comes to travel destinations.
Both cities have culture, but New York is vibrant, buzzing with youthful energy where London is historic & old school – at least at first glance. I think London can be just as vibrant, it’s just more niche, concentrated in certain areas and communities and times. London has more variety in this way – the portrait of London is the sum of its parts rather than a whole throbbing city like New York.
New York has better weather; and considering my latest visit was just after a massive snow storm, that’s saying a lot! But the sunshine was there and it made me feel happy after a couple of grey London winter months.
London’s Underground beats NYC’s Subway; trains are more frequent and the information about next trains is more readily available. However I will say that the subway trains seem very wide in comparison to the tube. Staying on the travel theme, New York Airports kick butt over anything London has to offer (except London City Airport, my “diamond in the rough”)
Despite popular belief, New Yorkers are SUPER friendly in comparison to Londoners. New Yorkers are proud, born and bred, rough and tough and fabulous. If I have one more visiting relative/friend who has asked for directions and been told to “f-off” by a Londoner I will scream. Grumpy, grumpy Londoners (but wouldn’t you be with this weather?!?)
Both are multicultural cities to be sure; but it feels like there are a bigger variety of cultures in London. I only know 1 person who was born, raised and still continue to live in London.
London has more parks; but New York has the best park.
New York has bigger skyscrapers, but London has the better architecture.
One’s got a big apple…the other the original big smoke. (I’ll take apple on this one methinks).
Bother cities are loved and hated – but for me, it’s LOVE all around baby.
louashton
