Tag: London

Humor, Links, London November 29, 2015

Weekend Links

There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear — the city of London and the South Seas.
-Herman Melville

I’m getting old, kittens, I have now taken a day-time nap two weekends in a row. This is unprecedented as I historically have been unable to sleep at all during the day unless pretty badly ill indeed. I’ve also found a silver hair so my goal of achieving Cruella de Vil like locks may yet become reality.

The weekend is just winding down here at Small Dog headquarters, so I’m off to bed with a pile of library books while Jeff unwinds with basketball. We spent the last two days taking in markets and Christmas decorations but alas, Monday and responsibility beckons. Here are some links to help postpone it just a little while longer…

CGP Grey has a new vid on the inequitable bio-hazard swap of the Columbian Exchange. Let’s hear it for the “soap and soup” phase of history.

Belgium, I love and miss you, you brave and wacky bastard. As long as Belgium stays defiant and weird, guys, I genuinely believe hatred and terrorism are doomed.

Thoughts on managers and the perfect opportunity to share stories about good and bad bosses. To the comments!

Another YouTube link, this time from the Royal Ballet on the history of pointe work.

Dance, jump on it…

Cheese laws.

Thoughts on tiny houses, living with less, and appropriation.

Why is American dress so casual, and is it a bad thing?

This sent me on a delightful half hour of Etsy searching.

Gotta say, there’s still plenty of park canoodling these day.

Humor, London November 23, 2015November 22, 2015

Skipping a Heartbeat

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Something pretty for your Monday, kittens.

Covent Garden often has installation artwork on display, but the city went nuts (myself included) for Charles Pétillon’s installation Heartbeat.

It’s down now, replaced by festive decorations (check those out too), but I’m still thinking about the gorgeousness weeks later, so I thought I’d spread some of the fond memories to kick the week off on a positive note. I’m waiting until Thanksgiving has passed to crack out the Christmas music and kick off yuletide, just three more days, but this is a nice amuse bouche, non?

Humor, Links, London November 1, 2015

Weekend Links

“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

It’s the first of November, everyone’s a bit confused as to where the year has gone, and we’ve turned on the heating for the first time. We are once again in that magical time of year where you can use your pipes to dry your laundry. Urban living, kittens!

In related news I finally replaced my winter coat (several years old) with a sleeker model, bought some ridiculously luxe smelling and seasonally appropriate candles, and picked up some slippers. I think cool weather has arrived. Even though the British weather is being, well, British and we’re having an odd, alternatively warm and cold weekend. I’m convinced the Brits talk about the weather so much because it makes no sense and all and sundry are constantly baffled by it.

Anyway, here are your links and let me know what your getting up to this week!

Garance Doré on French style.

Speaking of fashion, there has been a number of major shakeups in the industry lately. WWD has a good piece on the topic, burnout, and whether or not we have reached peak “fashion.”

Thoughts on working from a reformed overworker.

Big fan of this idea!

Number five, all the way.

Hm. Perhaps if Jeff continues to veto my desire for a partially shaved head a la Natalie Dormer, this will be deemed acceptable?

Well, let’s face it, this is a holiday necessity!

NaNoWriMo returns! Know anyone who’s doing it?

Saying no. Brilliantly.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…

Costume designs behind my beloved Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

A surprisingly great read about a lesser known part of the postal service.

Britain, London October 28, 2015October 25, 2015

London Snapshot

London, thou art the flower of cities all! Gemme of all joy, jasper of jocunditie.
-William Dunbar

Food, Humor, London, Theatre October 26, 2015October 25, 2015

Answering the siren call of David Suchet

Oh, I love London Society! It is entirely composed now of beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics. Just what Society should be.
–Oscar Wilde

The conversation that led to this adventure, almost verbatim:

Me: “David Suchet is in the Importance of Being Earnest, in drag, as Lady Bracknell. I’m not so much asking for permission to buy tickets…as telling you that we’re going.”
Jeff: “Obviously.”

Excuse the hilarious faux-fashion shot (stolen from Jeff’s Instagram) but I finally got the chance to break in my kimono evening jacket after scoring it for a bargain when good-luck-charm Caitlin was in town, and it was an event that needed to be documented.

And if ever there was a night for pink suede stilettos, Oscare Wilde calls for it, I feel.

Beloved in this household as the definitive Agatha Christie’s Poirot, the guy has some serious comedy chops. It’s impossible to leave an Oscar Wilde production feeling glum, but on this occasion we downright laughed ourselves silly and left in a good mood to forage up some dinner. Happily we quite literally stumbled upon Sticks’n’Sushi in Covent Garden, who proceeded to put a dent in our wallets because the food was so darn good that we couldn’t stop ordering it.

In a final burst of hedonism, we went for their combo deserts which I cannot recommend enough. The “black” box (as opposed to the “white”) was particularly delicious, but scarfed down my bergamot creme brulee with the most enjoyment.

Britain, Expat, Humor, London, Travel October 7, 2015October 6, 2015

Dublin Pt. 2

“My heart is quite calm now. I will go back.”
― James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

We only had two days to enjoy it, but we rung a lot of pleasure out of 48 hours in Dublin.

We ate at pubs specialising in traditional music (referred to as “trad”), and wandered Temple Bar following the sound of fiddles.

We stumbled upon hidden gems. Outside of Queen of Tarts we found a very small market where I fell in desperate love with a stall that sells old maps and reproductions with an appropriate name and signage…

When not at Cow’s Lane, he’s found just outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Which is great because I walked away from a glorious reproduction map of an late 19th, early 20th century publication detailing “Dublin’s Greatest Evil” and marks every then-operating pub in the city. I immediately regretted this decision and so when we quite literally stumbled upon the seller again in another part of the city, I parted with some euros gladly.

Even better, we happened to be in town on the right day to enjoy a once-a-month flea market that I fully intend on going back to enjoy someday because it was stuffed with treasure. London is great for antique or vintage shopping but it can get pricey really quickly. This place by comparison had some really good deals and I had to restrain myself from making furniture purchases because at the end of the day, we still live in a shoebox. But someday…

The market has an indoor space as well for food, books, prints, and collectibles that was also great to explore. Dogs were everywhere which on the one hand was a lot of fun and on the other, exacerbated our puppy lust something fierce.

48 hours flew by and Kelsey and Cody had to jet off to the Isle of Man to enjoy the grand prix (as one does, darling), but we naturally had to first repair to safe ground for a fortifying snack pre-flight…

Before catching a flight a la James Bond, by walking out on the tarmac. In the still (not to harp on this, but seriously) gorgeous weather.

We’re planning a return trip, obviously.

Food, Humor, London September 2, 2015August 31, 2015

Yeah to Yeah! Burger

“Yeeaaaahhh!”
– Every CSI Miami episode ever

We are always up to include a new burger in our rotation but I’ll be honest, it takes quite a lot to impress us. We know from burgers, guys.

And so let me, with that very humble intro, make you known to Yeah! Burger. Currently serving out of two pub locations, it’s a sort of pop-up-but-not-at-all sort of joint that makes some truly gorgeous meals. We have only every made it to the Star of Kings, near Kings Cross station which is a fabulous venue in it’s own right. It’s an eclectic mix of old new, Empire, and modern Britannic goodness. Victorian taxidermy and beat up leather sofas, modern lighting in one corner, antique mirrors in the other, and the fabulous, woody smell of a really good pub throughout.

And as for the food!

Bonus husband objectifying.

I have loved everything we’ve ever eaten here, each burger is a delight. Piled with toppings and sauces, it’s nearly impossible to go wrong. However I give my very enthusiastic recommendation for the hombre fries, to which Jeff adds his furious cosign, and my favorite is the O.G. because I’ve never met an avocado I didn’t like.

In fact, the first time we ate there we were so impressed that we went back a scant week later and took advantage of the sunlight by eating on their patio. Summer in London is a lovely piece of work, but you have definitely got to seize the Vitamin D when you can. We want to make it back again in the near future, hopefully while we still have daylight during sensible hours, but the way the weather’s been recently, no promises. About the outdoor eating, I mean, the eating itself is definitely happening.

Britain, Humor, London, Travel May 28, 2015May 25, 2015

Discovered Up My Street

“And even this heart of mine has something artificial. The dancers have sewn it into a bag of pink satin, pink satin slightly faded, like their dancing shoes.”
― Edgar Degas

As a child one of my favourite films was “The Tales of Beatrix Potter.” A ballet film based on the works of the famous children’s author and illustrator, it was produced by the Royal Ballet and is an utterly charming piece of work to me even now. It was choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton and, true to ballet, there is no speaking. It’s just dancing and absolutely charming costumes based carefully on the drawings of the original stories.

It turns out, those costumes are now stored just a few minutes walk from my flat!

Sands Films studios is a famous costume making workshop, a small film studio operating since the 1970s, and also the home of a vast photo library open to the public that contains a vast collection of original images. Unlike a number of archives, it’s available to anyone who wants to use it for research and reference purposes. It is just behind St. Mary’s church and across the street from the notable Mayflower pub.

The workshop has made costumes for a number of notable films over the decades, including recent ones like Lincoln, The Young Victoria, Marie Antoinette, and Les Miserables. They have also made costumes for TV programs, operas, and stage productions. If you’ve seen these or most major British/British made period films over the last handful of decades, there’s a good chance you’ve admired some of their handiwork.

Though it’s operational hours clash with my work, if there is every a day that a holiday and an opening meet up, you can bet I’m finding a way to make a visit happen. I have no idea what I’m going to find, but I’m determined to talk my way into as much as possible. The worn out VHS tape in my parent’s basement demands it!

Food, Humor, London, Travel May 26, 2015May 26, 2015

MEATliquor – not MEAT-licker it turns out

“When people pile seven things onto one burger, it drives me nuts!”
– Bobby Flay

Jeff is extraordinarily good at managing our culinary escapades here in London. A fair amount of the restaurants, markets, or goodies featured here at SDS are due to his fairly consistent research into the city’s food scene. I mean, I enjoy a good nosh and do my best to stay abreast of the food news, but for him, it’s more of a calling. So when he read about MEATliquor, conveniently nestled just behind Debenham’s on Bond Street, he immediately put it at the top of our To Try list. Our quest for London’s best burgers is never ending, after all, and it would be a shameful shirking of our duty to let a place as favourably talked about as this go untried.

True to its name, the menu is divided pretty squarely into burgers and booze. Although, having been raised teetotal, its nomenclature caused a moment of hilarity. Until we set foot in the joint, every time I heard the name, what I heard and saw in my head was “Meat-licker.” When the menu was set down in front of me I had a good laugh at myself. Naivete notwithstanding, there are plenty of nice things to drink for the virtuous and I can particularly recommend the Brown Cow, a root beer float. And let the record show that is high praise coming from me as I traditionally have not been root beer floats’ biggest fan.

The artwork is decidedly punk and not particularly child friendly, so I’d recommend keeping this a grownups only meet up place. However I can squarely assert that the soundtrack is fantastic, rock and blues without stop. We prefer not to deal with crowds when we don’t have to so we went during the lunch hour, but apparently at dinner the line can stretch down the street. There is a sign of hilarious “waiting line rules” that I failed utterly to snap a photo of but must try to nab on a future look in.

This was our first visit to MEATliquor but not our last because the burgers really are very nice. And for my money, this place makes the best onion rings I have had in London to date, bar none. Jeff is a fan of the chili cheese fries but always manages to eat a suspicious amount of my rings anyway, the sneak. There are no napkins, just paper towels, the only mustard is French’s, and everything is served on a single tray when it comes to the table. It’s the precisely correct amount of gritty fun you need when you’re looking for a juicy burger on a weekend ramble.

Humor April 29, 2015April 25, 2015

London Snapshot

“I always want to find the best burger in town.”
– Dennis Quaid

Date night.

Small Dog Syndrome

Tag: London

Weekend Links

Skipping a Heartbeat

Weekend Links

London Snapshot

Answering the siren call of David Suchet

Dublin Pt. 2

Yeah to Yeah! Burger

Discovered Up My Street

MEATliquor – not MEAT-licker it turns out

London Snapshot

Humor. Opinions. Life in London.

Humor. Opinions. Life in London.

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