de nada

Worlds collided and we gave thanks.

soundtrack: Norwegian Wood - The Beatles

this is england

soundtrack: Fields of Athenry - Dropkick Murphys

bonfires

It's strange to think this is my second UK-residential Guy Fawkes Night; the England of 2003 and Oxford seems so alien and far away now, another country entirely. Which is all the more ironic given my current beau, and the unexpected recognition of at least three Oxonians at the Battersea pub on Friday night. The weather has not improved, the class consciousness remains palpable, and the sunsets are still guttingly early, but something about this City of London - a little bigger, a little brighter - is making all the difference.

The days pass on the tops of double-decker buses or in the sharp-angled descents of Tube escalators; frowning at tightly printed pages of Conrad in my room or hastily recording a particularly salient point at the wide wooden seminar table; drinking at the Hawley Arms, drinking at the ULU, drinking at the Lord Stanley; markets under railway trestles, misleading slips of paper, wine-fuzzy kitchen gatherings and standing, skunk-stoked and spinning, on a balcony on Camden Road watching fireworks glitter and explode in the heavy evening sky.

And I wonder, what was I so afraid of?

Happy Guy Fawkes y'all.

soundtrack: Unstookie Titled - Babyshambles

little red riding hood

Earlier this afternoon I went to a screening of Harmony Korine's "Mister Lonely" at the London Film Festival. It was brilliant! Werner Herzog, Samantha Morton, and blue-robed skydiving nuns. I was so impressed with Harmony Korine's capacity for optimism and wonder; hopefully it won't take another eight years for him to make something new. I think it's properly released in March - go see it!

soundtrack: Vertigo - The Libertines

wendigo

As if any day when one begins drinking at 4 PM isn't already great, when I arrived home this evening I had a package from my fellow Sullivan and Wikimaster, Ian. It contained hand soap. Hand soap molded in the shape of amputated baby hands. omg LURVE.

soundtrack: Punk Is Dead - Crass

sunday sunday

A wicked weekend.

Friday: compelling lecture; situationist mission; Senate House success; ULU debauchery.
Saturday: lazy morning; lazy tea powwow up Camden Road; lazy Kentish Town meander; a rugby loss and a missed-train gain.
Sunday: sunny stroll to Mornington Crescent; more tea with added Scrabble; toast and hummus as meal replacement; finally starting on all the reading that was neglected for bigger, better things.

soundtrack: Dear Catastrophe Waitress - Belle & Sebastian

shotter's nation

As if getting my hands on the new Babyshambles album a good three weeks in advance of its U.S. release date wasn't boon enough, last night at the bar at KOKO the bathroom graffiti said: "Team Shambles - Headlox's Corner" (a reference to Johnny Headlock, one of the P-Doh entourage). Clearly the stars are aligning; it's only a matter of time until I run into the man himself!

soundtrack: Phenomena - Yeah Yeah Yeahs