So, yeah, would you believe I've been living here for two years now? 2 YEARS! 2 YEARS, MAN!! Well, for those of you that get that semi-obscure Jeremy Piven reference, bravo or brava. Otherwise, sod it!

Yeah, so I've been so broke I haven't been able to celebrate it properly, but this weekend, we're brushing off the roof terrace and having a Barbecue. It'll be great to actually use it now that the weather's warmed up enough, and I hope I get some sun on my Vitamin-D-deprived pale skin. Looking forward to having some grilled burgers and hot dogs... with some Pimm's. It's like the shirt says, "Food and Grog."

I can't believe it's been two years. In some ways, coming back to Southern CA so soon after the last trip made it kind of feel like I hadn't left... mostly because I got to see a lot of my friends again this time around.

Northern California was terrific. Waiyee, my friend Sabrina and I drove up, taking PCH most of the way. We had to rush it a little (I don't know how, but I missed Santa Cruz, and we didn't get to see the full splendor of Big Sur this time because we were racing the sun), and by the time we got to Sonoma, the Vineyards had all closed-- but we had an amazing dinner in the town of Sonoma itself.

I brought my camera, but didn't take as many shots as Waiyee.. I will post her's as soon as I get them.

Ahh, the visit was over too soon, alas. It might be a while before we get back to California, but we'll certainly be back in the USA within 12 months...

March 2007 San Francisco

Most of you probably already know this, but generally, being "pissed" is a good thing in England. Well, that is to say, "Pissed" and not "pissed off," that meaning still holds true over here, but they're two separate definitions. Pissed means drunk, to a degree, generally with a positive connotation (although it might depend on the circumstances-- if you were "so pissed last night that you ended up in Trafalgar square with no clothes on," then generally that's a little too pissed... obviously).

And a few, related sub-definitions:

Piss up. Primarily a party where lots of drinking is going to be going on. "We're out for a piss up tonight."

On the piss. As in, "Going out on the piss," means to head out with the intention to get tipsy.

Piss-take. Now, this one's a little different. Generally refers to a making fun of someone or a practical joke of some kind, as in the verb taking the piss: "Are you taking the piss?" (which the American equivalent is "Are you pulling my leg?"). Used as a noun, it becomes piss-take, as in "I came outside and my car was missing. At first I thought it was a piss-take."

Me, during a night out on the piss in Brugges:

Americans would normally say, "Period," but this generally means either a portion of time or, more commonly, female menstruation. So I try not to use this term too often. Thank goodness we also say, "Dot," or else my job in IT talking about IP addresses (192.168...etc) would be highly "humourous" to everyone around me. Although, that being said, most Brits speak fluent American (Thank you "The OC" and "Judge Judy"!!), but sadly, the reverse is not true. Which is the reason for my new series, The Brit-ctionary.

Anyone interested in the power of video? I've been frustrated with my lack of updates, and have been thinking lately (after walking the streets of the Capital listening to music) that if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a thousand pictures would be worth a googol of them! Or whatever the non-copyrighted mathematical term is. I was listening to David Holmes' track 7/29/04 The Day Of from the Ocean's Twelve soundtrack, and couldn't help but think how apropos it was while walking around and looking up at tall buildings in the City.

And now for your New Year catch phrase: If 2005 was alive, and 2006 was sick, then 2007 is... Heaven? I know you guys can do better than that, so please post below...

2006 in Review

Another year has flown by! Well, it seems that way in retrospect, but I have to face it, it was hardly torture. It was my first full year in London, I've been working, traveling and enjoying life.

I'll start at the beginning of the year and try to work backwards, filling in gaps as I go. In January, I was still working for Robert W. Baird, an investment bank in the City. My contract initially was only meant to go for a couple of months, so I was pleased to know that they wanted to extend my stay to help with some new computer rollouts slated for later in the year.

I'm now working for an insurance firm that's part of Lloyd's in the City and am enjoying things. Mayhap not as much as at my previous post with Baird, but I'm earning enough of a living that I can afford to move into a new flat in West Hampstead. I know! Get me, I'm right posh! :P

In March, we flew to New York for an extended weekend, staying just off Times Square in Manhattan. Now what you have to understand is that I like cities, and New York was far and away one of the most impressive sights I've seen. It was also the first time being back in the USA since leaving nearly a year before.

It was kind of an odd summer, we didn't get to take as many trips as we would have liked because of scheduling, but we did get to Turin (gorgeous city, I highly recommend it) and Berlin in the late summer where we visited with Frank and Krista who were there visiting with family.

In November it was off to Italy again for Waiyee's birthday. It was a bit cold, but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

This December of course, we came back to California for the first time in almost two years. We had a great time visiting with friends and family. We had stopped off in Chicago for a few days, to attend my friend Tiz's wedding. Tiz is a Londoner, originally from Italy, and his wife is a greek American (I'm sure their parents are looking forward to the fiery children everyone knows they will have!), so us Yanks really do get around! Dina is going to be moving over to the UK to be with her new husband, and we had to show our support for a fellow transatlantic romance!

I had forgotten how big the portions are already, though, the meal at the wedding was nothing short of amazing, particularly when you consider that it was prepared for over 400 people! Greek dancing ensued, but Waiyee and I were starting to feel the effects of jet lag so we unfortunately had to retire early.

Meanwhile, back in California, there were parades and bandstands at the ready for our return. Well, not really, but there might as well have been for all the people that went out of their way to greet us and spend time with us while we were there.

We weren't there a day before we were on a road trip to Vegas (actually Henderson), where my parents have recently bought a new place. It's amazing what one can get for the money outside of California (and London!) and the house was fantastic, almost surreal. It was like a palace for two, and we were the honoured guests.

We didn't spend much time on the strip, but we did get to the new Wynn Casino (weird 60s kitsch decor, like Alice in Wonderland as done by Liberaci) and spent some time in Downtown, at Fremont Street (where all the locals hang out). Of course there was copious shopping to be had (had to take advantage of that 2-1 exchange rate!!) and lots and lots of inexpensive food to eat. I never have had a fatter, happier tummy!

It was terrific seeing everyone, and really felt like home again for me. But of course not being terribly organised, there were a few people we didn't get to properly hang out with, but overall we got to see and hang out with most of you.

Well, hopefully you all will have a safe and Happy New Year, and I hope the holidays have been kind to you as they have been for me. Even though I'm jet-lagged beyond belief, I look forward to coming back again for a visit.

Take care everyone and have a wonderful start to 2007. I look forward to seeing you all again!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ahh, Venice...! I think it's fitting that my first post in a looong while is dedicated to this startlingly beautiful city. You really can't fully imagine what it's like until you see it for yourself, the place is truly inspiring and makes you appreciate all the works spawned by the myriad artists who have spent time there.

(Check out the link at the bottom for more pictures)

We arrived at night on a Saturday. It's wintertime of course, so we missed out on a little of the ambience, but that means we also missed all the crowds and rampant tourism of summer. That's one thing that has really shaped and colours the year-round inhabitants of Venice, the tourism. You can't help but notice how jaded they are towards visitors, understandably so. I heard some figures bandied about, but in essence there's only something like 10% of population that are actually residents within the central part of the city itself. That being said, it's still a wonderful place and generally people aren't rude or obnoxious (had a much less pleasant experience in another city with loads of canals: Amsterdam).

St. Mark's Square was simply amazing, and as one astute observer recently pointed out to me, is one of those famous places that's actually as big as it seems in the photos. A lot of European squares seem really big in films and pictures, but when you actually get there in person you realise how much smaller the people were at one time (take the home of William Shakespeare, Stratford-Upon-Avon, for instance... some of the entrances to buildings literally came up to my neck!). But Piazza San Marco is really impressively big. It was recommended to us before we arrived to find a nice table someplace, sit back, have an expensive drink or two (tourist trap prices apply in and around the Square of course) and enjoy the symphony of competing musicians around the square. But unfortunately (as you might be able to see from the photos), it was too cold for that, and the square was mostly filled with camera-holding tourists and pigeons.
Well, the pigeons weren't holding anything but feathers. And poop.

We did have a couple of Bellinis at Harry's Bar, the place the drink was invented. It wasn't a transcendental experience, but enjoyable nonetheless. As for the trattorias (loosely translates as family restaurant, according to an Italian friend of mine), we ranged around and found some great, truly wonderful food. The picture at the top is the Ponte de Rialto, one of the prime picture spots along the Gand Canal that winds through the heart of Venice. Our hotel was not far away, upon an excellent recommendation by Waiyee's friend Sophie, and was just a short walk to the Rialto.

The streets are quite Byzantine, and I didn't realise quite how quaint (and bewildering) they can be. When we arrived by bus at the Palazzo Roma, I suggested we try walking across Venice to our hotel. Waiyee thoughtfully cautioned me that there may only be a circuitous route, and there are lots of blinds and doubling back where one finds the pathway ends in a canal with no bridge to the other side (or in fact, just buildings facing the water). We took the water bus, but as it was nighttime, we didn't really get to see the full grandeur until the next day.

Coincidentally, our trip coincided with my flatmates Steven and Justin, who were also celebrating a birthday that had recently passed. We got to hang out and do some sightseeing with them and on their last day, we took a boat out to Burano, a quaint little island just on the north eastern side of Venice. It was very brightly coloured and reminded us a lot of Portmeirion in Northern Wales with all the little buildings with their startlingly-coloured shutters thrown open, and replete with a curiously leaning tower reminiscent of the large one in St. Mark's Square. After lunch, where Steven charmed the aloof paisano to make two pizzas especially for us, we headed to Murano, a larger neighbouring island that's known for it's glass-blowing. It had all the hallmarks of the quintessential tourist trap, but still had quaint little canals in a mimickry of it's larger cousin Venice.

Monday was Waiyee's birthday and we celebrated it leisurely, climbing the tower and wandering around to our heart's content. We took a gondola ride and after hearing that these rides generally cost a small fortune, were surprised at how inexpensive it was... only costing me the equivalent of a month's salary in Pounds Sterling, converted to that US funny-money we Yanks like to use as legal tender. We enjoyed it, but within the first five minutes, a representative of an avian species decided, no doubt suffering from some sort of flu or general incontinence, to grace us with his presence from above. Luckily it only landed on a small bit of clothing and didn't ruin the experience. Waiyee snapped some choice shots of the gondolier in action while he rowed back to return our camera tripod, which I had cleverly secreted aboard his vessel before disembarking. Naturally, I couldn't have forgotten the stupid thing, only causing us a slight panic as we tried in vain to shout across the Grand Canal for him to come back. Well, perhaps that downpayment on the ocean liner I had initially paid him gave him pause long enough in closing up shop for the day to row back to us, or maybe it was simple good nature, but I suppose we'll never know.

Well, I think I'll leave the account for now, my brain grows weary at recounting nonsensical things, and anyway, there are plenty of pictures to sort through anyway. I have a backlog of posts that I'd like to get through, so please visit again soon, there's more to come.

Jon

Venice 06

Well, as most of us Americans aren't aware, it's World Cup season in Europe, and this year it's being hosted in Germany. It's five weeks of matches between countries, and every time there's an England game, normal life sort of stops. People pile into pubs to cheer our boys on. There are "come on England" ads and posters everywhere and nearly everyone's work has a raffle on. To my eyes, it's kind of like the Superbowl or "World Series Baseball", just stretched across five weeks (who'd have guessed there were so many countries over here!)... so far England's doing well, and is still in the running, although isn't the top pick for finalists just yet. I'm sure most of you aren't interested in "Soccer" so, I'll just move along now, god knows I'm having trouble getting excited about it (although for fear of being lynched, I'm keeping my ear to the ground). Waiyee and I had our first BBQ of the season during England's first game-- we invited all the other non-footie fans and had a nice relaxing afternoon.

So, Waiyee's friend Sophie was kind enough to get all of us tickets to Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre the other night. I normally don't go in for musicals, but it was a cute, light-hearted evening and anyway, it's Mary friggen' Poppins, so since I'm living in London, I thought I would have no choice but to see it! I think all the American tourists had a similar thought, as the place was jam-packed with Yanks.

We're going away to Portmeirion in Wales next weekend, Waiyee's kind and thoughtful gift for my birthday, coming up on July 5th. In case you don't already know, Portmeirion is this quaint little place with all sorts of buildings transplanted from Italy and various places, and was the set for the obscure 1960s British television show The Prisoner. It was a truly great show, very intelligent and challenging, particularly for its time, starring Patrick MacGoohan (he played the vicious King Longshanks in Braveheart, among other roles). Anyway, I've wanted to visit Portmeirion ever since I saw the show-- it's about a 5 hour drive, so it's not that close by, but hopefully we'll have nice weather as the area is supposed to be just beautiful.