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We were getting a bit worried there - but now we have our tickets - at least I presume that’s what the big envelope with the crown on the front from the Lord Chamberlain is….

I am staying with my aunt in Croydon on the tip of this big orange arrow.

If you look really closely, you can see the garden in the bottom right hand corner - it’s 7 Robinhood Close, about halfway along on the south side.

To get in to London, I either catch the Northern Line (black) tube from Morden, or the train from Streatham Common station - about a 15 minute trip to London Victoria.

I spent yesterday at the Science Museum with rachel. Had lunch at a crepe shop, (breton style crepes with brie and egg and cafe americano - another failure in my attempts to find a long black in London - I think I will have to make do with double espressos) and then went to the ‘Grossology’ exhibition, involving lots of interactive exhibitions about farting and pimples and suchlike.

Later went to Covent Garden for a watery flat warm beer. There are good beers in London but that was not one to write home about - well not one to write home *positively* about anyway.

Went to catch the tube home, and got stuck on the station platform with 1000 other people when the announcement came over the loudspeakers - trains have been cancelled due to a passenger accident at King’s Cross. You’d think they had some kind of automatic device for getting dead bodies off the tracks by now, surely!

We walked to the next station and eventually got back to Victoria station and caught our trains home. This will teach us to praise the public transport system - the real reason that the British always complain about it is that there is some god of trains that causes them to all break down if people make comments like ‘the trains have been on time this week haven’t they’ or ‘the public transport system here is great’. This is why locals complain so much about it - they are trying to balance out the tourists’ positive comments with negativity to assuage these gods.

I now know (having never before really thought about it) how wierd it can be to check the answering machine and hear those words. It turns out that my aunt has applied to the Palace for tickets to the Queen’s thanksgiving service at St Paul’s, and they were calling to confirm - so think of us when you see the pictures on the news, and check out the faces - down the back somewhere will be us…

BBC 4 is the world’s most interesting radio station. I have to say that I have learned more in the weeks I have been listening to this station than in all the television I have ever watched. This is an article on John Cage and his influence on the world of contemporary music. BBC - Radio 4 - Discover - Features

BBC 4 is the world’s most interesting radio station. I have to say that I have learned more in the weeks I have been listening to this station than in all the television I have ever watched. This is an article on John Cage and his influence on the world of contemporary music. BBC - Radio 4 - Discover - Features

There’s an interesting article on salon about the phenomenon of blogging: Much ado about blogging. It refers to a few other influential political blogs, and one that lists the most linked to blog articles. The current no 1 is The Big Lie, an article by a Dutch journalist who works at the radio station where Pim Fortuyn was killed the other day. There couldn’t be a better example of how blogging may redress some of the inaccuracies promulgated in the mainstream media.

These are my photos and thoughts from the Freedom Trail in Boston, that takes you around sites important in the history of the American Revolution. The trail and the history it illuminates is much easier to understand and ‘feel’ than it would be if portrayed in a classroom or a museum.

The USS Constitution is the last remaining all-sail warship in the world. Known as ‘Old Ironsides’ it was unvanquished in the war of 1812, and has been preserved ever since. As the flagship of the US Navy, it requires an act of Congress to allow the ship to sail. It will be sailing later this year, so if you get the chance, see it!

King’s Church in Boston is an Anglican (Episcopalian) church in the city. It was established to the disgust of the local, and largely Puritan residents, by stealing a corner of a long established burial ground. The interior is lavish and ornate, an obvious contrast with the spartan interior of the Puritan churches. At the time of the Revolution, it was a potent symbol of the British occupation.

The Massechussets State House was designed by Charles Bullfinch, and is an elegant and airy building, like all of his. The gilt copper dome was a product of the Revere foundry.

One of the most peculiar things about this place is the Sacred Cod. I remember reading about this in the excellent book Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World. While I was in the house of Representatives, a group of school kids came in, and the first thing they asked was ‘Where is it’ - pointing in exceitement at the cod, hanging from the ceiling. The House will not sit in the room if the cod is not there, and indeed when it has been taken as a prank, the house has not sat until it is returned. In the senate, which was the original house, there is a replacement cod built in to the chandelier. This is known as the Holy Mackerel.

Paul Revere’s house reminds me of Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford, in that it was a very early example of a building saved by popular demand. Unfortunately it was restored not to Revere’s time, but to the original period. In Revere’s time there was an extra floor.

The statue celebrates Revere’s ride, and in the background is the old north church, where the lanterns were hung to warn that the British were preparing to leave. Interestingly the legend began only when the poem was written in the early 19th century.

Ben sent me these pictures of Atomic, our cat, in his new and exciting life as a farm cat.

An intresting article about the evolution of the eye.
Crystal Balls, Carl Zimmer, April 2002