Wow, lots to catch up on. Too much to blog via iPhone, so may fire up the frankenmachine and sit properly at a desk for the first time in weeks. Church this morning was pretty good – outdoors again. Next week we go back to two services, and this year there will be much more differentiation musically and liturgically. Thanks be to God, I’m a High Church 77 Prayerbook / 82 Hymnal Liberal… I’m tired of singing out of Gather (a Catholic, slightly charismatic songbook) and never knowing which prayer to recite because my vicar loves to pull things out…
-
-
“He who is tired of London is tired of life. ” We’re not tired of London, and are already plotting a return trip. But it’s time to move on to the Cotswolds for five nights and we won’t miss our cramped little hotel room near Paddington. On Sunday, I made good on my threat to attend services at St Johns-Hyde Park. Met the Rev. Margaret Legg, who presided while the Vicar preached. Very diverse, forward looking people- they’re looking forward to the Blessing of the Horses Sep 21, where the vicar will don cope and split cassock and bless the…
-
We leave in 2 hours. Yeah, we like to hang around OHare and not run late. The TSA guy was way too cheerful; what’s in his coffee? We’re on standby for business class and it’s nice that AA’s gate monitor actually shows our request. I got a courtesy Space-A upgrade put in the record by the sales rep, and it looked good last time I checked. Nothing certain until our asses hit leather AND we’re in the air, but surely 11 years of booking biz class on AA for my corporate clients increases my juju. I’ve been fighting a cold…
-
Here are some of the things I’ve accomplished thus far or need to get done for our impending Big Trip to Great Britain: Air reservations American (fooey, coach. No agent deals available) Hotel reservations London Stow-on-the-Wold York Dublin Rail and transit Purchased Heathrow Express tickets online rather than burn a rail day Ordered Essential London Kit Britrail Flexi-pass Advised Stow hotel our arrival time Need advise London, York, Dublin friends of arrival times Need book York-Dublin in Britain L28 per person at station Home Front Book petsitter for Riley Stage packing items Need tidy Need make packing list Pack Gear…
-
Next up, a free application shows the status of the London tube lines in a slightly different way… clean, simple, but there’s not a lot to it: Pretty straightforward – when you click the blue i for more information, you get: And that’s it – no maps, no routefinder, but more updates are promised in future versions – iTunes still shows version 1.0
-
This little app won’t be that useful on our upcoming trip to Britain, but we should be able to access it via hotel wifi. It’s called “Tewks London Tube.” The first screenshot shows our closest station as the crow flies. A Londoner might find this feature useful, especially when deciding between several nearby stations. For us, it’s just a little frustrating, as it’s several thousand miles away at the moment. The next screenshot is a close-up of the London Bus map, which shows plenty of detail as to routes and gives an idea of where to catch one of the…
-
Can I use my iPhone in England? – Apple – Wireless Forums from AT&T Yes it will work there. Make sure you call ATT and have international provisioning add the international roaming feature if you don’t already have it. Its free but you have to ask them to have it added, it comes turned off by default. Warning – data is EXTREMELY expensive over in Europe — you can ask ATT to turn off your data while you are overseas and turn it back on when you return (They will balk at the request, ask for a supervisor). Make sure…
-
Caveat Lector » Trafalgar and Westminster Despite my mother’s enthusiastic recommendation, I found Westminster Abbey a difficult place to visit, and should I return to London, I don’t believe I will return there. The church itself is well-built and handsome, but its graceful old bones are impossible to see for all the plaques and busts and sculptures and coats-of-arms and regimental flags and inscriptions and decorated tombs and every other imaginable memorial created by the hand of man tumbling all over each other and fighting for attention. Many of them would be quite beautiful, were there enough negative space around…
-
I just heard Jon Ronson on This American Life, in a piece about Lord Clarendon, his resting place at Westiminster Abbey, and the legal concept of Habeas Corpus, which is relevant to the issue of Guantanamo prisoners held indefinitely, without access to lawyers, information, or with any hope of a fair trial or release. It was amazing, because the conversation he had with a guide at the Abbey about Clarendon and the Puritans, who were the theocratic-dominionist Religious Right of their day put a lot of historical perspective on current events. And I could swear that David, his guide, could…
-
Before Originally uploaded by GinnyRED57. Taken from a similar POV as Against Racism Against Poverty Against War