McVitie's

On that scenic morning with Addison Lee, one of the new places I passed by was the McVitie's head office.  I snapped and emailed it to Mr C who is positively mad about McVitie's.  Turns out that he was just tucking into a pack of their ginger nut biscuits, live.  An ad-worthy moment.



Camera-phone series #25.

Convergence

Waking up late a few days ago, I took an Addison Lee to work. The driver somehow decided to take the local roads instead of the zippy A40. The scenic route was taking too long, we were stuck behind a whole herd of police horses on their morning stroll, and I was running late.

Normally I would have expressed some displeasure, but I didn't because it was such a treat to be chauffeured around on a sunny morning, seeing new neighbourhoods with half-sleepy eyes. And then, there was a point when a cyclist squeezed between our cab and the horses in order to overtake us.

In that singular moment, transportation across time converged.

Google logos

»Google Logos

I stumbled upon the »repository of Google logos which is great fun to browse.  I learnt that apart from celebrating holidays, artists (in the wide sense of the word), heroes (dads and mums included*) and codes (bar, braille, Morse, Unix), Google also likes elections and games (Olympics, Tetris, Pacman).

Outside of the established Western world, Japan and Turkey got their customised logos quite early on, followed by Thailand, China and even Singapore (2009 - after they set up their office here). You also see that as the official logo got more established over the years, they took more artistic liberty to venture away from the confines of its shape.

Above is the customisation for Australia Day on 26 Jan 2011. 



* It is a bit annoying that mums always get just a flower, but dads get to lie in a hammock while the lawn gets mowed by the kids.

Sculpture at Raffles Place

I'm fascinated by veins and sinews.  My favourite ones are »here.

Probably the first tattoo design I'm enamoured by

Credits: »Wellcome Collection

Let's see if I change my mind five years down the road.  (My problem with getting a tattoo!)

The »Skin exhibition at the Wellcome Collection is very good by the way.  It's not necessarily pretty though, so go with a strong stomach.  It is, as the Collection bills itself, a 'destination for the incurably curious'.  Thanks Ms K!

Hidden Salzburg

After you are done with the heaving poshness of the Salzburg Festival, go seek out these two hidden gems. Don't forget to share tables with locals at the lovely »Zum Fidelen Affen.

The Kruetzer Quartet

Playing Charles Ives' Piano Trio (1911): Moderato - TSIAJ (This Scherzo is a Joke) - Moderato con moto.

Everyone goes banging mad after a while in the TSIAJ.  I like!

More Wilton's

The »Kruetzer Quartet is the focus of their attention.

Crazy about this music hall

Been there twice this month.

»Wilton’s is the oldest surviving Grand Music Hall in the world. It belongs to the first generation of public house music halls that appeared in London during the 1850s and which, only fifty years later, had all but disappeared. Now owned by the Wilton's Music Hall Trust and run by a very small and dedicated team of people, it is once again becoming a centre for innovation and excellence, both locally and internationally. Originally 5 terraced houses, John Wilton opened Wilton's Music Hall in 1858. Since then it has been home to the missionaries, survived two world wars, been a rag warehouse and unfortunately become derelict.

Harmonie

That's the name of my fountain pen, I found out today.

And I FINALLY found someone who is able to locate and order in a replacement nib from France.

Ecstatic!

More fractals

Photo credits: Simon Tatham

The fascinating results you get when you graphically map how the Newton method finds an approximation to multiple roots, and homes in on them.

From the »very simple and readable NYT column on mathematics by Steven Strogatz.  During the languid days of being a data-entry clerk in between high school and university, I devoured a couple of pop math books from the library.  The interest has remained since.

The stegosaurus veg

Ok, that's just the »romanesco sitting on my takeout box.

But if I were teaching my kid about dinosaurs, I would serve this fascinating creature on his dinner plate. (It's quite tasty actually.) And while we are at it, we might as well learn about »fractals and »logarithmic spirals too.

Perrier-Jouët at Harvey Nichols

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Get there before 5 pm if you want a seat.

Helmet heartthrob

While the other gals were ogling over Chanel bags (one or two which are no doubt quite worthy of ogling), I was eyeing this at Selfridges.

But actually, my dream helmets are these ones from »Les Atelier Ruby.

And oh yes, having access to a bike would be nice.

A Single Man

Rushed past the poster at the tube last night. Walked backwards to look at it.



And ooo, just take a look at »this delicious scene.

A beautiful night at the opera

That's how Mr D describes his daughters.

Sinewy fist on clutch

Which saw me through school and drove me everywhere for the past 30 years.

Feisty Ravel

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Heard this live last night during the Winter Concert of my Goodenough College. It is so fantastic, live. (It is equally fantastic to live among musicians too.) The French violinist was feisty, had wild blond hair and appropriately broke from the norm of concert black »to don a yellow gypsyish dress.

Non-live, this version by Vengerov is the best in my opinion. It gives me a neck-ache to watch his contorted posture, but I like his interpretation and especially relish the accompaniment of the harp and orchestra.

Radio call

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I love the crackling sound of the radio call that was so common in cabs 20 years ago.

It took me a while to recall my father's radio call code name when I was watching the film, but I finally did. It was 42. As he was often late in picking me up when I was a child, I used to make many a calls to the radio call station from a public phone, asking the operator to transmit a message for 42 to hurry. I remember the operators' voices - there were a few of them, nearly all women except for the boss, who occasionally helped out during peak hours - and the anticipation in guessing their faces when my father took me to the radio station during Chinese New Year period one time.

A very well-done film by the way. The »soundtrack is by Tom Waits. I've just entered a contest for opening tickets to »Jarmusch's latest film. I hope I win it.

Thailand, thy name is intricate