Sunday, January 30, 2005

Australia Day Pics!

Hooray!


Crazy Sydney lads.


The perfect football jersey.


The guy with the scarf...


Alice having a pose.


That Hat was stolen...and then stolen back.


It's hat guy again!


If you're going to be patriotic, at least do it in style.


WHAT IS WITH THIS?!!??!


Beanie McBeanBean. Courtesy of some souvenir store in the Queen Street Mall, for five bucks ... Made in China


Stylin'.

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Ironic headlines.

"Howard's tough stance on migrants attracts voters"

"Howard denies refugee policy is rascist"



Sound familiar?



It's Michael Howard, leader of the conservative opposition party in Britain, wanting to tighten control of refugees entering Britain. He wants an Australian-style system, apparently.


Amusing from my point of view.:) Ah, irony.

Friday, January 28, 2005

A License to Dance

So apparently pubs need a license to allow dancing. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! Hence, in our Australia Day celebrations last night at the local Walkabout, we were kicked off the furniture (we were dancing on it) and told 'This is only a pub'. The Brits really need to get a sense of fun.

The Walkabout was PACKED with every single Aussie in Wimbledon, and they played lots of Aussie music like INXS and Silverchair and the Living End, the latter there was much jumping up and down and head-banging to. Heaps of drunk Aussies, which was great - you get a few Aussies together in this town, and it's not hard to do, and it's just chat chat chat chat chat. I also found amusing when this guy walked up to another guy and they shook hands and said 'g'day mate, how you going? can i buy you a drink?". That doesn't happen here - it's a very Aussie male thing to shake hands with a friend I think. Here they just sort of grunt at each other.:) But it was good to be surrounded by Aussies again, you do tend to miss the carefree attitude we tend to have, especially in pubs.

So all in all it was a great night, spoke to heaps of people from BrisVegas, quite a few from Sydney, stole a guys Fosters hat, stole a guy's scarf, which Alice used to mop up a beer spill and then handed it back to him, stole a sign from a construction site and put it on a car ... the sign had been moved this morning to another car ... and ended up absolutely reeking of cigarette smoke and beer. As such, I'm going to have to get my coat dry-cleaned. Luckily I've got a spare. As soon as Alice has uploaded the photos we took last night, I'll post them up.

As for everyone back home - HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Observations of the NATURAL kind...

Just a few things I haven't mentioned yet, but have been thinking about. Firstly, the variety of birds over here is amazing! I'm not quite sure why I've noticed it, and I'm not saying we haven't got a great variety back home, but I think it's because here they're so different and ... stereotypically English in a way. Cute little robins and blue birds and swans and geese and ducks and all sorts of cute little finch-like chirpy things. Very cute.

Also there was a fox outside our work the other day, which was rather weird...he was kind of cute though, wandering around scavaging and doing fox-like things. And there appears to be an abundance of squirrels in certain areas. They're REALLY cute, and put the humble possum to shame. I love possums, but when you compare somethng that looks like a giant rat with a squirrel, the choice is made up quite easily in terms of 'adorableness'.

And, although it's not really a 'natural' thing because I doubt the ones I'm wearing are really made out of sheeps wool and skin, but whoever invented the Ug boot should be given a medal and a bunch of flowers and a nice tasteful gift that shows we're not cheap, but we're not wasting tax-payers money either (I think I learned a thing or two at Justice!).:)

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

EuroDisney update!

We survived EuroDisneyland!! After leaving at some ungodly hour of the morning to get to the train station on time, I fell asleep on the train and missed the channel crossing and all, which is only 20 minutes anyway, but when I awoke the sun was rising over the French countryside and it was just gorgeous. Little cute villages with quaint little houses and churches, and chimneys chugging out smoke. It was just adorable! (Side note - forgot to mention something else adorable - they mail is delivered THROUGH A SLOT IN THE DOOR!!!)

So of course I had a croissant with jam for breakfast. We changed trains at Lille which was FREEZING. Why? because for some reason they've decided this huge major train station in a freezing part of France does not need proper walls. So we waited around there for a bit and froze, got on a train and wound up in Marne de Vallee, the Disneyland station. From there it was a quick train ride to Bussy Saint Georges - Chassey where our hotel was. It's an eeerie town, obviously built to accommodate tourists, of which there were few because it was the low season. So it was almost deserted, and all the buildings look the same. After checking in and finding our room had the most hilarious smallest bathroom ever (below) we headed off to our first day of Disneyland adventure!


SMALLEST. BATHROOM. EVER.

The entrance to Disneyland is pretty spesh, and there's a place called Disney Village just outside the station which is a collection of touristy things, like a HUGE Planet Hollywood restaurant and a big expensive souvenir store. Interestingly, we had to have our bags checked to go to the village, but there was no security at all at the entrance to the actual park, which I found surprising. I was at least expecting a bag check...but yes, crazy french.




Sleeping Beauty's Castle

First stop was Fantasyland and Alice's Curious Labyrinth, in which we went a little mad. Me, because of my obsession with Alice In Wonderland, and Alice, well, because her name is Alice. Unfortunately we didn't actually see Alice or the Mad Hatter or the March Hare - the tea party was closed for refurbishments. But I did get to see the vowel-singing, pipe-smoking caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the white rabbit, Mome Raths, and we got to go in the Queen of Hearts castle. And we saw a rather mad Queen of Hearts, crazily enough.





And of course, we had to do the tea cups:



After that, there was Big Thunder Mountain, which we ended up going on about 3 times over the weekend, most of Frontier Land, the Pirates of the Carribbean ride, which wasn't worth the 40 minute wait, and the parade at night time, which was kind of disappointing. Most of all, it was COLD. I'm talking so cold my toes were hurting, adn I had about three or four layers of clothes on.







Back it the hotel, there was some wacky dubbed tv shows on, and sleep and, it appeared, a bit of snow overnight. My first snow experience! (speaking of which, it snowed around town today but not at my work)



The next day was more Thunder mountain, a crazy haunted house ride, more Thunder mountain, and Discoveryland, which was really disappointing. A couple of the big rides, like Space Mountain, were closed, and unless you were interested in video games there really wasn't a lot to see there. We also saw Mickey's Winter Wonderland ice show, and got to see Mickey and Minnie have a romantic skate together (aw!):



Afterwards we trotted off to the Princess Parade which, despite being in the daytime and therefore no lights, was much better than the parade the night before. Then it was back to (slightly warmer) London and not enough sleep before work today:). I have heaps more photos, so these are just a teaser really.

Anyway, it's good to be back in London but it has given me a taste for France, especially the possibility of Paris. 20 minutes under the Channel really is very weird.

Saturday, January 22, 2005

A hole in my bucket.

The last few days have been quite 'mild' (the Brits love to use that word) which has been fantastic. I don't feel terribly cold most of the time...until today. They're forcasting the possibility of snow for the end of this weekend, and today I'm already feeling the cooler weather change. I don't think I'll go out much today! I've looked at the forcast for Paris this weekend and it's much the same story, except getting down to negative four and negative six degrees, Saturday and Sunday respectively, and only maximums of 6 degrees, so it should be interesting. They're forcasting snow for Paris as well, but not until Sunday nght, when we'll be Eurostarring it back to London. So hopefully all the rides at Disneyland will be available. I have to do the Pirates of the Carribean ride and the tea cups, and get my photo taken with the Mad Hatter and March Hare.

Our train leaves at 6.30 tomorrow morning, which means we have to take a 5.30 train from Wimbledon. Yuck yuck yuck. But as Alice and I are both poor, cabs are not an option. I'm down to my last ten pounds today, but I was paid yesterday. The only problem being that I can't cash my pay cheque until I get a bank account, and I can't do that until Tuesday when I have an appointment at HSBC. Even then I may not be able to get it because of lack of 'proof of address'. However, there are places around that will cash cheques, but they do take a percentage of it. Luckily my friend Justine, a fellow Aussie, has been there done that and has offered me a bit of money to get through the weekend, which I'll pay back to her when I eventually get my bank account up and running.

Other than that, not a lot happening. Had a fantastic inteview yesterday with Suanne Braun, who played Hathor on Stargate. She's fantastic! We had an absolute ball and went through two bottles of wine - all very professional - and spoke for about 2 and a half hours. Really very lovely.

And now I should really get back to work and finish transcribing said interview...well, at least the first twenty minutes of it anyway.:)

Monday, January 17, 2005

Things, things, things...

I've finally decided on a name for my company that I'm setting up - Screaming Flea Media.

My mum will know where that came from;).

Anywho, initially I was going to set it up just because I'm being employed and paid as a freelancer, so by setting up a company I can pay less tax and claim things like a computer and phone when tax time comes around. But then I got to thinking that perhaps I could have a viable business here - the basic idea being I am a source for freelance writers and designers mostly in Australia, but eventually world-wide. I already have friends who are writers/designers in places all over the world, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind a bit of extra cash. So it's a source for both big and small projects. For instance, like what happens at the company I work for, they are contacted by companies such as MGM to produce magazines about their shows. I could source that sort of work, as well as smaller projects. For instance, if something happens like the Tsunami and a newspaper or magazine needs the story, and I have writers on my books who are in those areas, I can source them.

So I'm going to register my business name after the financial year here ends in April, and in the meantime go about setting up my website and all the other sorts of things one has to do.

I'm pretty excited about it:). I really think I could make something of this...obviously it'd take a while, probably a few years, before it becomes somehting I can do full-time viably, but I'd really like to do it. And I really think this is where the future lies...

Apart from that, it's been a good weekend - did a bit of a wander yesterday and had dinner at Kris and Darren's - friends of Alice - last night. And I didn't get up until 11 this morning:). Back to the grind tomorrow however.

And write to me!!! I love getting letters - I've already sent a few back home so hopefully you'll get them soon. If you want my address again, just e-mail me.:)


Sunday, January 16, 2005

Time for an update!

It's certainly been a busy week, but an exciting one nonetheless. First things first, my job - so far I'm absolutely loving it. I get to write about the most insane stuff, and the crew there are fantastic. Great sense of humour and lots of fun to be around. I had my first real London drinking experience on Thursday night, courtesy of the guy I'm replacing having goodbye drinks. Turns out he's not really much of a drinker. However, I didn't pay for one drink all night, which was great for my wallet, not so great for my head! But I survived - after we went to the pub near work, a few of us (including the boss) moved on to London Bridge and finished the night off there. I was fine apart from a slight headache - I refused to have sambulca shots. So work yesterday was good. We went to a different pub for lunch - it's called the Mayflower, right on the Thames, really really old. It's one heating element is a fireplace.

I also had another drinking experience with Alice last night, after we had a bottle of wine at dinner. There is a pub up in Wimbledon Village called the Dog and Fox where a bunch of Aussies work, so they were playing Pete Murray and Crowded House and all those sorts of patriotic tunes. It was fun until we got kicked out at 11.30 - we were the last ones to leave:). Walking home was interesting.

In other news, Alice started thinking about quitting her job to go travelling, and she hated her workplace, on Tuesday, and did it yesterday. So she's now unemployed but she'll still get her next month's pay and her holiday pay. She's planning on moving back to a friend's house near here before she goes travelling in Europe before the money runs out. So I'm going to miss her again, but on the upside Richard and Dan are fine with me staying here and taking over Alice's room, so no more flat-hunting and I actually have a semi-permanent address now. I'm staying in Wimbledon which is great cos it's lovely.

Apart from that, that's pretty much all that's happening. Looking forward to Disneyland and Paris next weekend, and I'm sure I'll take heaps of photos and put them on here:).

Thursday, January 13, 2005

First day over

Today was my first day at my new job and I definitely think I made the right choice. It's a really cool space to work in, great relaxed atmosphere, the hours are good, I can wear whatever I want to work and I get to write a whole heap of stuff on all sorts of things. For instance, today I started working on a spread about ghosts...oooooooooh scary!:)

Tomorrow night we're going out for drinks to say goodbye to the guy I'm taking over from, and it's a welcome for me as well, so that'll be a good initiation. They seem to be a really fun-loving bunch, not to mention incredibly talented, especially their designers.

Apart from that, not a great deal else happening. I went to look at a flat tonight that would be perfect, I'll hear back about that on Friday. I'm also going to have a look at a place on Saturday that's really close to Wimbledon centre as well. So hopefully I'll be able to say in a week or so "i'm going to have a room of my own!". For now, all my stuff is in two plastic crates I bought, and my suitcase...and in random places. It'll be nice to have a bed to myself, and some drawers/wardrobes....I'm looking forward to it, though here has been great.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Quick Update

So I decided on the Stargate mag job, and I have an interview this morning with their company directors, which is apparently just a formality. And I start tomorrow! I can't wait to start earning money! I'm not sure when the pay day is, so I'll have to ask today.


Alice and I decided on a whim last night to go to Euro Disneyland the weekend after next, so we're all booked. I'm so excited! Disneyland! Paris!


And I'm going to have a look at a room in central Wimbledon tomorrow night. It's not available until February, but that gives me time to get some money together for bond etc.


And now I must away!

Career Crisis

Well, not so much a crisis as a decision to be made - I've been offered both the job at Stargate Magazine or, more broadly, Pipsqueak Media, and the job at Robert Walters.

At this point I'm leaning more towards the former. It sounds like a lot more fun, the pay is better, it's office environment is similar to Scene mag back home which was fantastic to work in, and they can guarantee me work for at least a year. It's a quite a bit further to go than RW, but I think the work there would be quite boring, and there's no guarantee that after a few months they'll make me a permanent.

So it looks like I'm now working in the entertainment journalism industry, starting Thursday! Wish me luck!

Sunday, January 09, 2005

5 pound coins

Courtesy of the commeration of the Battle of Trafalga.


Anywho, I got called back to Robert Walters yesterday for another interview - this time with a guy called Darren Lancaster, who would be my boss should I get the position I've gone for. He's a Bid Writer, and I'd be a Bid Writer Assistant...makes sense. It's basically proof-reading, editing, desktop stuff which is pretty cool. It's on a temporary basis to begin with but could become permanent. I'll find out about that on Monday.


On Monday I'll also find out about the Stargate mag job. That'd be a pretty cool job, but it's in a totally different area of London. I'd also have to compare the pay rates... but we'll see what happens. I'll leave it up to the gods. Either way, having a job would be awesome - funds are starting to get a bit tight now, so I'm going to be very frugal for the next couple of weeks.


On a lighter note, Alice and I went to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged last night - it was HILARIOUS! They combined all the comedies into one, and the histories into an American football game. There are only three actors, so they play all sorts of parts with varying degrees of success. The company also does The Bible, The Complete Word of God, and The Complete History of America, both of which I want to see based on last night.


The pubs here are ridiculous, in that they have really stupid licensing laws so they all close at midnight. So ridiculous. So because of that, if you want to stay out later you have to go to a club, and they all have stupid cover charges of like £10-£15 after 10pm.


I can see a lot of drinking is going to have to be done at home:D.


That being said, apparently we're going out tonight but I'm not sure where to, so that should be an adventure. I really want to go see Windsor Castle, but I think I'll save that for Monday.



Yesterday I went to the London Transport Museum, mostly because it's at Covent Garden and I was there, and also because I'd seen a few books about the underground tube stations and rail networks - there's a whole heap of stations and tunnels that just aren't used anymore, and I find that really interesting. I was to be disappointed, however, because it was very much a government-funded/focused display, so there was nothing about these unused rail networks, but there was a whole heap of stuff along the lines of "The tubes are not commercially viable and are very expensive to run, and the government only keeps them running because they have to for all the people of London" *sob!*. Oh, aren't they are heart-felt government?


On my way back I went through Trafalga Square and somehow ended up on Whitehall, which is where all the government buildings are, like the office of Cabinet, and where Downing Street is which, incidentally, has also suffered under the scare of terrorism here and is blocked off on both ends by gates and three police officers. However, I can now say that yes, I have seen Downing Street, and I probably saw the PM's house, except I couldn't see street numbers:D.


And now, it's time to veg out some more. We've had gale force winds here the last couple of days and today is no exception. It's much better to be inside.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Crazy observations

I've noticed a few things the past week or so...

  1. This place is not at all disability-friendly. So many places, including department stores and tube stations, don't have lifts or escalators. And the majority of places don't have automatic doors. It really is kind of archaic for such a big city.
  2. Another archaic thing is their rubbish collections system - they don't have garbage bins to put out, they just pile up their bags of rubbish on the footpath, and then once a week a truck with foor guys walking beside it comes along and the guys pick up all the rubbish and throw it into back.
  3. The ads on TV in foreign countries are always interesting! There seems to be a lot of ads here about financial help and debt consolidation. There's also a lot of ads they show in oz, but with British voice-overs instead.

Other than that, not a lot happening. Still applying for jobs, though with a two-year visa, rather than a longer one, it is proving difficult.

Never mind, I'm sure everything will work itself out...

Thursday, January 06, 2005

The job search begins in earnest!

Today I had an interview for a sub-editor/writer position for Stargate SG-1 magazine and CSI magazine - such a sweet gig! It's very similar to the operation and atmosphere of Scene Mag, and the same sort of conent. Basically they're fan mags, and they're produced in conjunction with MGM. Richard Dean Anderson and Amanda Tapping (the stars of the show, for those who have yet to be introduced to Stargate) even look over it in the approvals process. Very sweet job. I hope I get it - the interview went well, I have to submit a 100-word piece on Telekenisis (don't ask, it's a long story), and it's such a great little office. Only thing is you get paid as a freelancer, not on a payroll, so I'd have to sort out my tax and all that sort of crap myself. Bluuuurgh. It's about £120 a day, five days a week, 9.30-5 each day. So about 600 pounds gross - or about 1500 Australia dollars - a week. Pretty sweet, except from what I've heard they'll take about a third of that in tax.


I also had an interview yesterday with the recruitment agency that Alice works for - Robert Walters. I'm interested in a Bid Writer job they've got going there, but also for temp work if I can't find anything else, so I'm going to ring them soon and find out what they've got for me, if anything.


And today I FINALLY found a handbag! I braved Regent street which, luckily, was nowhere near as busy as last week, and after a few hours and many frustrations I finally found the perfect bag - long enough strap to go over my shoulder, plainish black, big enough to fit my crap in but not too big - for 45 pounds. By this stage, I was so over the never-ending search that I bought it. It was marked down from 90 pounds, so I think I did okay.


And now, off to make phone calls!

Monday, January 03, 2005

Oh Dear, Barney is on television here...

Apart from that slight mishap, HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE! Hope you all had a great one.


I spent New Years Eve on my own private exploration of London. I caught the tube to Tower Hill where, incidentally, I found the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower is just AMAZING! It's very expensive to get in though, and Alice told me her housemates have some cheap passes, so I think we'll go with them in a few weeks. It's just so old! Despite the £13 price tag, I was still very tempted to go in. It's just incredible. So i've posted a few photos of the exterior below, and hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to report on the inside.



From there it's a very short walk to the Tower Bridge, painted light blue because, apparently, that was the Queen Mother's favourite colour. It's also an incredible thing to see, and walk on! It cost £5 to get in, although I'm not quite sure if that was particularly worth it. You only get to go to a certain level in the North and East towers, but you do get to walk across the east and west walkways from there, which have some pretty good views of London. One of the things I noticed from this position was just how flat this country is! No hills really in sight, although I'm sure there will be some further north. Back to the bridge however, and the detail on it is just spectacular, though nowhere near on the scale of St Paul's Cathedral, which was my next stop.





I walked to St Paul's from the bridge along the Thames, coming across this crazy sort of shopping centre on the way. I can't remember the name of it, but it's something to do with nautical nonsense. Apparently it used to be an open dock onto the Thames. Now they've turned it into shops and cafes.

St Paul's is just incredible. The detail inside is amazing - everything from the floors to the ceilings, windows, doorways, edgings - nothing has been spared from detail. There are mosaics and murals on the dome, which is one of the largest and oldest in the world. You can climb to the very top of the dome which apparently affords fantastic views of London, but that involves 530 stairs, and I'm quite sure my knees and lungs wouldn't have made it. HOwever, I did climb to the Whispering Gallery, about a third of the way up, from where you can have a bird's eye view of the cathedral below. It's called the whispering gallery because if you whisper against the wall on one side, a person on the other side can hear you. It was a great vantage point for the murals above, which are currently in the process of being restored. The outside of the cathedral is in the process of being cleaned, so half of it is white, the other a grimy brown and green.

The Crypt was probably the most incredible part of the cathedral. Underneath the main floor, in runs the entire length and width of the cathedral, so it's much like an entire cathedral under a cathedral. Here, in the floors, lies a whole bunch of dead people who were apparently special. Of special note is the coffin and final resting place of Winston Churchill. You basically walk over the graves of the deceased, some of which date back to the 1700's. It's just incredible. Unfortunately so many years of people walking over them mean a lot of the inscriptions are now worn off. They've also 'done up' some of the crypt which really doesn't suit the rest of the decor. It's quite modern looking, which was dissappointing.





After this, I went to Covent Garden and met up with ALice, where we did a spot of shopping. It's in the theatre district, so there are playhouses everywhere, and a really awesome atmosphere. We walked from there to Leceister Square, which also had a really buzzing atmosphere, undoubtably because the New Year's celebrations were not far behind.


Indian Bagpipers busk for donations for the Asian Tsunami appeal in Leceister Square.


Back home, and we got all dolled up for New Year's Eve! Our plan was to go to Trafalga Square, and when we got there the place was packed, not just with people, but with Police. The terror threat over here really can impinge on the celebrations. We saw this sign on a lamppost:



We ended up along the Thames, just down the road from Big Ben, across the river from the London Eye where the most spectacular fireworks display happened at Midnight. Apparently it was done by the same guy who did the Athens olympics. It was just amazing, I've never seen anything so cool. And you think it's crowded at Southbank on New Year's Eve? Try being in London with 25 million other people, let alone catching the tube back!




So that's what's been happening so far - yesterday was spent generally lazing around, and I suspect today will be much of the same:). Tomorrow is a public holiday, and the Harrod's sale starts. Haven't been to Harrod's yet, and I'd love to go, but it's probably madness. I guess we'll wait and see what happens.:)


For now, signing out.

Saturday, January 01, 2005

More photos!

Okay, so it's taken nearly an hour (NB. Do not, under any circumstances, ever get AOL dial-up), but I have more photos from Wednesday!


Westminster Abbey



Regent Street



Houses of Parliament (and Big Ben)



Buckingham Palace



Today I'm off to see St Paul's Cathedral and possibly the Tower of London and London Bridge, before partying in Trafalga Square. Happy New Year's everyone!:)