Citizens of Britain! We come in peace, and herald the arrival of our royal family: Mang Thomas, Mama Sita, and Boy Bawang!
you are SO welcome!
LLDD-HYPHEN-L / LLDD-BABY HIGHLIGHT-OF-THE-MONTH
Camden is one of those places that lays claim to having a happenin', stylish and bohemian scene -- and which would be so much more enjoyable but for the too-cool-for-school, hipster and pa-intellectual types that seem to flock to it. I once, for instance, sat across a Camden man and woman on a train who were having an "argument", i.e., duelling monologues meant to display purportedly deep and sharp reasoning (in voices calibrated to be heard by all those around them, of course). The woman had noticed that the man had looked at another girl in an attractive outfit, and was now expressing measured indignation. The man, in turn, went into the equivalent of the "she had it coming" defense, stating he was essentially expected - nay, compelled! - by culture and norms to look at the other woman. His finishing line (verbatim): "So ask yourself: are you mad at me, or are you mad at society?"
So yeah, Camden.
To be sure, Camden has its charms, and many of the people and attractions there are genuinely interesting. The shopping is particularly funky - not unlike Portobello Road or Brick Lane. And if you ask the LLDD-Hyphen-L, Camden has the distinct advantage over anywhere else because: 1) you can go in and out of there by gondola; 2) she discovered - and is now 100% certain - where my next diplomatic assignment will be.
The home office has been alerted. There will be no discussing or negotiating this.
LONDON LIVING HIGHLIGHT-OF-THE-MONTH
The Sports Guy laid down the canons that led to my selection of a Premier League team, so then too shall he be cited as to my presumptively allowable sports bigamy, a.k.a, "baby, it's not cheating if we're doing it in a different quadrant of London." The qualifying factors:
- Was I into the "other" team as early as the seminal book about it and way before the crappy Jimmy Fallon movie adaptation? (Yes. Yes, I truly was)
- Are the "other" team's fans suitably diverse, ranging from The Queen to Fidel, from Depeche to-ahem-Damon. (Yes. And hi, Matt. Long time no see.)
- Does the name of the team lend itself to fantastic joke photo-cropping opportunities to make real fans look like an "arse"?
Yes! And score!
Well, then. I love you Arsenal, I do!
The "Marshall" was kind enough to take me and another Embassy colleague to an Arsenal match - a Champions League fixture, no less. It was a truly unforgettable experience, although I guess I was giving off too bad of a sports bigamy vibe, because: the Gunners were shut out, lost and snapped their long home-winning streak; and the visiting fans - even when the match result was still in doubt - were far louder (and had a lot more clever chants) than the home ones. A pair of die-hard Arsenal supporters directly in front of us lamented the lack of volume from our section of the stadium, yelling "Bloody hell, we got us a bunch of ambassadors here!" I wanted to yell back, "One: I haven't even been promoted to FSO II yet; and Two: hey, you just be thankful for the trophies that you already have"
and for the kinds of statues on your grounds
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