Ramblings of a Technology Addict

Friday, December 6, 2002

30 November 2002 Tara Copthorne
Since the weather hasn't been so hot, I'm doing most of my typing in the hotel. I wish so much that I could be creating this travelogue from a museum, or posting it in a library, but instead I'm doing it here at the end of each day. This morning we got up very early and headed for Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill. Had a small english breakfast in a mediterranean café on Pembroke Road. Walking up Portobello in a crowd was a trip. As we reached the market, there was a woman in perfect whiteface, made up as a mannequin, but a moving one. Her movement were slow and methodical and even paced. She was as fluid as an animation, and as serene as a buddhist monk.
Onward into the market, we encountered one of the most diverse pieces of culture we've seen since arrival. With people speaking Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, and Japanese. The market is basically a pedestrian way lined with antique dealers, grocers, goods makers and all sorts of knick-knacks that you could imagine. Unreal. The prices were very reasonable, I spent less than £50 for all that stuff. We were intending to go to lunch at Tamarind, turns out it's closed. We wandered up to Russell Square to North Sea Fish for fish and chips. Tiff and I each had the rainbow trout, which was basically an entire rainbow trout, battered and fried and served with chips. Unbelievable good. Tasty!
From there it was back to the hotel to drop the bag and stuff before heading off to the Victoria and Albert Museum (the V & A) where we saw artifacts from the 14th century, as well as a historical journey through England from 1500 to 1760. It was impressive to see all the artifacts, from Heraldry and Family Crests to Suits of Armor. We wandered on back to the hotel to download pictures from the museum.
After a brief rest, we were back out again, having met up with Andy, designer of the Net:Sight browser and LockJaw puppetmaster for some dinner. We took the Tube to Leicester Square to find some dinner, and boy did we find something. We wandered through the Theatreland district, searching for a decent spot for dinner, and finally settled on an Italian panini place where we sat down, talked immersive fiction, what's worked and what's not worked, what's in the pipeline, and just general stuff. Was a great time! From there we headed to Westminster and bid him a fond farewell, since he was due back in Ipswich. We took the opportunity to walk over to the Eye and try to get tickets, alas they were closed. Got to hear Big Ben chime at 2200, however, which was thoroughly pleasant, as that's been something I've wanted to hear for quite some time.
Tonight's non-sequitur moment belongs to the London cabbies. I love these guys. They drive quickly, accurately and are incredibly polite. They don't mess around in getting you to your destination, their cabs are sanctuaries from the city around them, always clean, always comfortable and roomy and they're always a great idea. We were talking with the cabbie tonight, he was great, a distinct contrast from the DC cabbie who often will charge you extra for fun, won't speak English or be knowledgeable about DC streets, and forget about getting there in any kind of hurry. DC, you've got a long way to go to reach London's cabbies, they're tops.
Tomorrow we'll get up and go to the British Museum, followed by the Jazz Brunch at the Tate Modern. We'll go through that with Lisa and then off to the Globe and the Clink. If time permits, we'll get to the British Library as well. Then we've got an Eye flight at 2000, followed by dinner somewhere, possibly Tamarind. Want to keep it inexpensive, though. Then Monday, we'll end up going to Greenwich in the morning, St. Paul's in the afternoon, and if we've time, the Museum of London. Then Tuesday morning, it's breakfast, packing and then home. A busy time for us...but good fun.
London's been an amazing adventure and one I will not soon forget.
10:13:05 AM comment []

Starting the day with a great phrase...
"Work like you were living in the early days of a better nation"
Now that ladies and gentleman, is a statement to live by. It comes to me via a fantastic article on an information library that's being put up in the Presidio in San Francisco. (Link via Danny O'Brien's Oblomovka and NNWL)
Brewster Kahle's project to archive books that are either out of print, or in the public domain for easy re-printing on demand (cost a buck a book, too) is a noble one. He's right, too much of our history is in books that are beginning to fade with time. When I was a kid, I loved to walk into my Dad's office and see his wall of books. From floor to eight foot ceiling on the far side of his office stood a bookcase that covered the walls, all full of his books. Books that he had bought, Books his father had bought. Books that will, with time, degrade and fail. But projects like Kahle's, and his mission to "make a better world, by building it" speak to me on a deep an visceral level.
But the quote that I began with is one that I think we all have to examine. The dawn of convergence and connectivity is an important time, and by using it properly, by building infrastructure, both software and hardware, we can provide ourselves a world that is more connected, that has more knowledge easily available and provides us with better information.
8:59:55 AM comment []