June 19, 2006

London 2006

-World Cup World Cup World Cup
-magic sleep cocktail for plane trip over = 2 Dramamine + 2 Melatonin
-Stone Roses + Nick Drake
-mysterious ketchup packet on my breakfast tray
-shortest passport control line ever
-hugging Brent for the first time in a year
-gyoza + amai udon
-British Museum favorites, except Babylonian friezes closed bah
-Future City: Experiment and Utopia in Architecture 1956-2006 at the Barbican
-Archigram postcard!
-brownie in the sun by the fountain
-the steps of St. Paul's
-Muji gel pens!
-dosa + thali to rival Udupi Palace
-surreal theatrics from Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter in Aurelia's Oratorio at the Lyric Hammersmith
-pints at the Princess Louise
-full English breakfasts
-morning stroll through Hyde Park with the flowers blooming and the geesies bathing and the doggies leaping
-Thomas Demand's deceptive photographs at the Serpentine
-Thomas Demand artpack (things to do in the gallery and at home)
-Modernism at the V&A
-Utopia button!
-passionfruit and mango juice in front of a Jeff Koons sculpture in the V&A courtyard, children splashing in the fountain nearby
-Brent-guided tour of the rest of the V&A, including an amazing '60s fashion exhibit
-watermelon + white bean salad, fancy fish 'n' chips with roasted haddock and garlicky new potatoes
-Bas Jan Ader's brilliant sadness and slapstick at Camden Arts Centre
-exhibition file notes from Bas Jan Ader, as well as the Tacita Dean show I saw last time
-vanilla ice cream in the garden
-strong desire to rent an attic room in a house on Arkwright Road and work at the Camden Arts Centre forever and ever
-Jean-Luc Moulene's gently humorous photographs at Thomas Dane
-the column scaffolded but Alison Lappert resplendent in Trafalgar Square
-Dutch tempers on display in the Netherlands/Cote d'Ivoire match
-pizza and catching up with Libby and Aidan
-leaving Kosmos at the Camden's People Theatre a happier person than it found me
-pints at the Museum Tavern
-snack haul: cheesy Whotsits and Quavers + praline Flake bar + chocolate Hobnobs + Boost bar + Dairy Milk bars (Caramel, Bubbly, Creme Egg)
-Alex James is looking scruffier than when Erika danced with him at that party 10 years ago
-Dirty Pretty Things, The Kooks, The Klaxons, Lily Allen
-morning stroll along the Embankment
-Architecture Week highlight: flock of sheep charging out of Borough Market to great cheers from the crowd
-Renzo Piano in a "trust me, i'm an architect" tee, leading the sheep across the Millennium Bridge
-fruit smoothie on the seventh floor of the Tate Modern
-the entire Tate Modern, rehung
-pad see ew with prawns and scallops and squid
-mint-chip ice cream cone in Russell Square amidst low-flying pigeons
-pasta with zucchini, wild mushrooms, basil pesto and fresh parmesan + passionfruit tart + a bottle of Italian red with Ally and Mike
-Hammersmith Bridge and the Thames in the gloaming
-USA/Italy match in the Notting Hill Arts Club with Brazilian funk coming from the turntables
-indie pop, northern soul, Motown, girl groups and '60s torch songs at the Phoenix
-6 pounds left on my Oyster card for the next trip
-last-minute retail therapy at Heathrow in the form of a Liberty-print bag
-Virgin Atlantic personalized film fest: Match Point, The Squid and the Whale, A Cock and Bull Story, Junebug, most of Narnia
-flying home with the word "loved" stamped on my hand
-no blisters!
-not a single damn SUV

Posted by nightfall at June 19, 2006 08:13 PM