Hey all,
Profuse apologies to my colleagues Niall and Zayn. They asked me to make a guest appearance on their podcast last week to talk about the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. I was supposed to spread the word and in all my excitement about haggis below I completely forgot! If you're into sports or funny people (that should cover just about everyone), please check out their podcast, Timeout. Just another example of the talented people I get to work with here at City!
Happy Friday!
Love,
Jess
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London. Show all posts
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The gift of the haggii
That was supposed to be a riff on the short story by O.Henry but I'm not sure if it works.
Isn't O. Henry a cool name? Sounds like an exasperation.
Last week, before I started drowning in coursework and regular work and lovely London people, I was invited to a Burns supper. This is an annual Scottish tradition celebrated on or around the birthday of national poet/megastar Robert Burns.
The main ingredients of this dinner are as follows:
--Haggis (explanation to follow)
--Poetry
--Scottish accents
--Scotch (to assist affectation of aforementioned accent) (alliteration!)
--Karaoke
That last one is optional, but luckily the wonderful people at this dinner were musically and poetically inclined! Check out the festivities:
The feast, including haggis, tatties (potatoes) and scotch.
Glamour shot of the haggis. Haggis, according to the great Wikipedia, is "a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach."
Obviously eager to try this delicacy, I took a heaping portion.
The first bite. In case my poker face is too convincing, I am feeling a mixture of uncertainty and terror. Do I like haggis?
I do! Truly though, haggis is good stuff. Granted, the one we had was a slightly classed-up version from supermarket/sanctuary Waitrose and not in an actual sheep's stomach, but it was definitely not awful.
Tipsy laird, a delicious trifle that was the perfect boozy finale to a great night of lovely people, tasty food and fantastic poetry. This may have been my first Burns supper but I hope it's not the last!
Hope everyone's having a good week!
Love,
Jess
Isn't O. Henry a cool name? Sounds like an exasperation.
Last week, before I started drowning in coursework and regular work and lovely London people, I was invited to a Burns supper. This is an annual Scottish tradition celebrated on or around the birthday of national poet/megastar Robert Burns.
The main ingredients of this dinner are as follows:
--Haggis (explanation to follow)
--Poetry
--Scottish accents
--Scotch (to assist affectation of aforementioned accent) (alliteration!)
--Karaoke
That last one is optional, but luckily the wonderful people at this dinner were musically and poetically inclined! Check out the festivities:
The feast, including haggis, tatties (potatoes) and scotch.
Glamour shot of the haggis. Haggis, according to the great Wikipedia, is "a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach."
Obviously eager to try this delicacy, I took a heaping portion.
The first bite. In case my poker face is too convincing, I am feeling a mixture of uncertainty and terror. Do I like haggis?
I do! Truly though, haggis is good stuff. Granted, the one we had was a slightly classed-up version from supermarket/sanctuary Waitrose and not in an actual sheep's stomach, but it was definitely not awful.
Tipsy laird, a delicious trifle that was the perfect boozy finale to a great night of lovely people, tasty food and fantastic poetry. This may have been my first Burns supper but I hope it's not the last!
Hope everyone's having a good week!
Love,
Jess
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Things I learned at the National Portrait Gallery
Okay, please stop looking at me like that. I know it's been forever since I blogged, and several of you have been kind enough to remind me of this on an almost daily basis (I love you, Clem), but I'm back!
One of the reasons it's taken me forever to update is because every time I think about how much I have to tell you, I get really overwhelmed.
Whose fault is that? Mine! But in order to prevent hyperventilation, I'm going to fast forward through a few things. Please forgive me. I, like nearly everyone else on the planet (except bad people), plan to do better in 2011!
1) My days spent in Iowa were wonderful and filled with wonderful people.
2) My birthday was super wonderful, and also filled with wonderful people, and a bit too much cider.
******************
And now we're caught up to today! Since I'm leaving for Dublin tomorrow (woop!), today was pretty much a work day. But this morning I went to the National Portrait Gallery with Niall and Ammo and here is what I learned:
1) You can die of a cherry overdose. Seriously. Some lady who was some royal man's mistress (they really like mistresses) actually died of a "surfeit of cherries." Since I do not like cherries, except when maraschino and in cocktails, this sounds like a pretty awful way to go.
2) Oliver Cromwell killed a lot of Irish people. Niall, who is Irish, was less than thrilled to read the info next to Cromwell's portrait, which talked about what a fantastic military commander he was. That is definitely true, but there was hardly a mention of the fact that he killed A LOT of Irish people. Thankfully Niall cleared this up for us through thinly suppressed rage.
3) British children are really cute. I actually knew this before, but it was confirmed by the gaggles of schoolchildren parading around the museum in their dapper little uniforms. They have posh accents, most of them are pretty well-behaved, and even the ones who are naughty achieve instantaneous forgiveness because of aforementioned accents.
4) Famous British people made some really odd choices about who or what would be included in their portraits. My favorites were a guy who chose to have himself immortalized with a young boy tucking in his pants for him (creepy) and another guy who had his portrait done with a literate monkey by his side. How do I know the monkey was literate? Because he was reading a classic novel using his opposable thumbs, of course!
5) You should be careful how you act because someday if your portrait is in a museum they're going to tell everyone. Prime example: Samuel Johnson's portrait was accompanied by text that described him as, "Massive, ungainly, plagued with nervous tics, [and] the victim of melancholia [who] could not bear solitude." Oh, and it also thankfully mentioned that he invented the dictionary. Yikes.
Our trip to the museum ended with a lovely lunch in Trafalgar Square and a nice walk back home. It was so good to see everyone over the break but I'm very happy to be back in London, too!
Off to Dublin tomorrow! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Love,
Jess
One of the reasons it's taken me forever to update is because every time I think about how much I have to tell you, I get really overwhelmed.
Whose fault is that? Mine! But in order to prevent hyperventilation, I'm going to fast forward through a few things. Please forgive me. I, like nearly everyone else on the planet (except bad people), plan to do better in 2011!
1) My days spent in Iowa were wonderful and filled with wonderful people.
2) My birthday was super wonderful, and also filled with wonderful people, and a bit too much cider.
******************
And now we're caught up to today! Since I'm leaving for Dublin tomorrow (woop!), today was pretty much a work day. But this morning I went to the National Portrait Gallery with Niall and Ammo and here is what I learned:
1) You can die of a cherry overdose. Seriously. Some lady who was some royal man's mistress (they really like mistresses) actually died of a "surfeit of cherries." Since I do not like cherries, except when maraschino and in cocktails, this sounds like a pretty awful way to go.
2) Oliver Cromwell killed a lot of Irish people. Niall, who is Irish, was less than thrilled to read the info next to Cromwell's portrait, which talked about what a fantastic military commander he was. That is definitely true, but there was hardly a mention of the fact that he killed A LOT of Irish people. Thankfully Niall cleared this up for us through thinly suppressed rage.
3) British children are really cute. I actually knew this before, but it was confirmed by the gaggles of schoolchildren parading around the museum in their dapper little uniforms. They have posh accents, most of them are pretty well-behaved, and even the ones who are naughty achieve instantaneous forgiveness because of aforementioned accents.
4) Famous British people made some really odd choices about who or what would be included in their portraits. My favorites were a guy who chose to have himself immortalized with a young boy tucking in his pants for him (creepy) and another guy who had his portrait done with a literate monkey by his side. How do I know the monkey was literate? Because he was reading a classic novel using his opposable thumbs, of course!
5) You should be careful how you act because someday if your portrait is in a museum they're going to tell everyone. Prime example: Samuel Johnson's portrait was accompanied by text that described him as, "Massive, ungainly, plagued with nervous tics, [and] the victim of melancholia [who] could not bear solitude." Oh, and it also thankfully mentioned that he invented the dictionary. Yikes.
Our trip to the museum ended with a lovely lunch in Trafalgar Square and a nice walk back home. It was so good to see everyone over the break but I'm very happy to be back in London, too!
Off to Dublin tomorrow! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Love,
Jess
Sunday, December 12, 2010
I predict a riot! Or a flash mob...
I'm cured! It's a Christmas miracle! Or maybe my one-woman anti-scurvy campaign paid off.
Either way, I was feeling good enough today to head to Camden Market with some great girls, where I experienced the first of several bouts of nostalgia--it's Christmas!
side note: "It's Christmas!" is an excuse that Liz and I have adopted as a way to make ourselves feel better about everything from procrastination to extra glasses of wine to gluttonous crepe consumption. I was always subconsciously using this, but it feels good to acknowledge it aloud!
Anyway, we cruised around the stalls for some delicious dinner, and after nearly being swayed by dim sum, curry and churros (not all together), I chose this delicious seafood paella:
Made me nostalgic for the table-sized paella that Margaret, Libby, Genevieve and I consumed when we visited Madrid.
After our delicious meal, I scooted off to meet up with several other former dancers to see the English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.
I ate fancy ice cream. In a gorgeous theater. And talked ballet (Did you see that developpe? Look at those cabrioles!) with more great girls. Perfection.
Check out this amazing theater:
This made me nostalgic for Katerina, because she's a beautiful dancer, and for the time we all went to the symphony, because I remember feeling the same (premature?) sense of maturity and class.
The flash mob thing comes in now. Remember yesterday when I made that flash mob reference about how many tissues I bought? If you don't, that means you didn't read my blog yesterday, but don't worry because a) I'll never know b) you can just scroll down and c) it was written in delirium so you're really not missing much at all.
Anyway, some of you inquired as to what a flash mob is. A flash mob, according to the Wizard of Oz (I mean Wikipedia) is "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then disperse."
This is possibly my favorite flash mob of all time.
So now that everyone's on the same page, I'm happy to report that after we left the ballet tonight we saw the remnants of a flash mob!
On our way to the Tube we passed by Leicester Square and overheard these raucous santas, I'm assuming left over from this Santa flash mob that happened in Trafalgar Square earlier today.
Aren't they cute?
Well, these were, but the ones we encountered right outside the ballet were drunk as skunks and fairly crude. Let's just say they made requests that I will not stoop to repeat on this semi-family-friendly blog.
Thankfully, the ones in Leicester Square (though also drunk as skunks) were totally harmless. You'd think they would be singing Christmas carols, but surprisingly they chose Singin' in the Rain as their rallying cry.
No, not the classy Gene Kelly version, but the camp version.
If any of you clicked that link, I apologize for subjecting you to singing almost as tone-deaf as my own.
That song made me miss Girls State, particularly Ellen's fearless song-leading (n.b. she has a wonderful singing voice). Nostalgia trifecta complete!
***
On top of heading to Oslo in January, some friends and I decided to take further advantage of Ryanair's super cheap January specials and head to Dublin, too! It's going to be a crazy month!
Tomorrow I have hours of mundane stuff before I fly to Israel to visit Libby on Monday (!!!!!!!!!), but the light at the end of the tunnel is that I'm going to see Somewhere (more trailers!) at Screen on the Green tomorrow night.
Screen on the Green is a local gem of an independent cinema where you get to sit on couches instead of in weird movie theater seats. I'm pumped.
Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
Love,
Jess
Either way, I was feeling good enough today to head to Camden Market with some great girls, where I experienced the first of several bouts of nostalgia--it's Christmas!
side note: "It's Christmas!" is an excuse that Liz and I have adopted as a way to make ourselves feel better about everything from procrastination to extra glasses of wine to gluttonous crepe consumption. I was always subconsciously using this, but it feels good to acknowledge it aloud!
Anyway, we cruised around the stalls for some delicious dinner, and after nearly being swayed by dim sum, curry and churros (not all together), I chose this delicious seafood paella:
Made me nostalgic for the table-sized paella that Margaret, Libby, Genevieve and I consumed when we visited Madrid.
After our delicious meal, I scooted off to meet up with several other former dancers to see the English National Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.
I ate fancy ice cream. In a gorgeous theater. And talked ballet (Did you see that developpe? Look at those cabrioles!) with more great girls. Perfection.
Check out this amazing theater:
This made me nostalgic for Katerina, because she's a beautiful dancer, and for the time we all went to the symphony, because I remember feeling the same (premature?) sense of maturity and class.
The flash mob thing comes in now. Remember yesterday when I made that flash mob reference about how many tissues I bought? If you don't, that means you didn't read my blog yesterday, but don't worry because a) I'll never know b) you can just scroll down and c) it was written in delirium so you're really not missing much at all.
Anyway, some of you inquired as to what a flash mob is. A flash mob, according to the Wizard of Oz (I mean Wikipedia) is "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then disperse."
This is possibly my favorite flash mob of all time.
So now that everyone's on the same page, I'm happy to report that after we left the ballet tonight we saw the remnants of a flash mob!
On our way to the Tube we passed by Leicester Square and overheard these raucous santas, I'm assuming left over from this Santa flash mob that happened in Trafalgar Square earlier today.
Aren't they cute?
Well, these were, but the ones we encountered right outside the ballet were drunk as skunks and fairly crude. Let's just say they made requests that I will not stoop to repeat on this semi-family-friendly blog.
Thankfully, the ones in Leicester Square (though also drunk as skunks) were totally harmless. You'd think they would be singing Christmas carols, but surprisingly they chose Singin' in the Rain as their rallying cry.
No, not the classy Gene Kelly version, but the camp version.
If any of you clicked that link, I apologize for subjecting you to singing almost as tone-deaf as my own.
That song made me miss Girls State, particularly Ellen's fearless song-leading (n.b. she has a wonderful singing voice). Nostalgia trifecta complete!
***
On top of heading to Oslo in January, some friends and I decided to take further advantage of Ryanair's super cheap January specials and head to Dublin, too! It's going to be a crazy month!
Tomorrow I have hours of mundane stuff before I fly to Israel to visit Libby on Monday (!!!!!!!!!), but the light at the end of the tunnel is that I'm going to see Somewhere (more trailers!) at Screen on the Green tomorrow night.
Screen on the Green is a local gem of an independent cinema where you get to sit on couches instead of in weird movie theater seats. I'm pumped.
Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
Love,
Jess
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Blurgh, or should I say lurg?
Today I stayed in all day, aside from a trip to Sainsbury's to buy enough tissues to make the clerk think I was planning some avant-garde flash mob.
Still sick, but the benefit of this illness is advancing my fluency in British by adding another local term: lurgy.
Apparently this is the colloquial moniker for the super-cold plaguing myself and several others on my course.
I am in love with this word, namely because it's so phonetically accurate. Indeed, I feel very lurgy.
Noun and adjective? Such versatility!
***
Other exciting things that happened today:
1. I consumed my fifth carton of orange juice in only 2.5 days. For one feverish deranged second, I panicked because I couldn't remember if scurvy is caused by an overdose of vitamin C or a deficiency. I'm an idiot; obviously it's the latter. Thank you, Wikipedia.
2. I'm going to Norway for only 6 GBP! That's about $9. I'm going in January, which is going to be about as cold as Iowa, but I don't care about the temperature because I've been wanting to see the Vigeland sculptures in Frogner Park since the first time I saw a picture several years ago. Thank you, Ryanair!
***
Need a good cry? Not really in the mood to cry but still want to read an incredibly well-told story?
The Washington Post published this story yesterday and it's tragically beautiful. Also a really creative way to merge social media and journalism. If your subject isn't around to tell you her story in her own words, why not turn to networking sites (with permission, of course).
Makes me think about what kind of story each of us is leaving behind.
***
For a happier ending, another video!
Check out this cool series of commercials from MSNBC's rebranding campaign. It's no secret they've always pushed the progressive agenda, but I respect the fact that at least they're being up front about it.
Hope your Friday was lurgy-free!
Love,
Jess
Friday, December 10, 2010
Protests, Pastries and Penguins
Okay, this post actually doesn't have much to do with penguins, but I prefer alliteration in threes and I LOVE penguins.
As for the protests though, yes, they are happening here but I am not involved in them nor am I covering them. I really appreciate all of the e-mails I've been receiving asking if I'm okay, but rest assured that even though students from City are participating, the actual demonstrations are taking place far from my university.
Several of my colleagues have been covering the protests, and aside from a few lost phones, everyone has stayed safe. For excellent coverage, I recommend following my colleague Sarah on Twitter. She does a great job of incorporating multimedia.
London is an interesting place to be right now. To be fair, it always is, but with the student protests and Wikileaks, there's a lot of global news coming out of this city at the moment.
The Frontline Club, the journalism hub where I spent the midterm elections and have attended several interesting debates, issued a statement this week revealing that they have acted as a safe haven for Julian Assange for the last several months.
Though my personal impression of Assange was hardly favorable, the idea of Wikileaks as a form of journalism is now unavoidable, and it will be fascinating to see how it evolves in the face of Assange's arrest and such international backlash.
***
In other news (the kind related to my life and far less consequential than the aforementioned), tonight was another fantastic night. I learned how to make authentic french crepes, and though my first attempt was fairly pathetic, after the second crepe I was flipping with panache. So much fun!
Unfortunately, I only have photographic evidence of the crepe failure, because the rest were so good I got caught up in the moment and ate them.
Crepe fail:
Additionally, Clem (my french crepe guru/friend) has picked up on the fact that I often say "jeepers." She asked Liz what this meant, and Liz sent her a web link to a definition. Apparently she really liked it and is incorporating it into her vocabulary, along with other Americanisms she asked us for like "get it girl" and "good call."
In exchange, I am trying to pick up french slang. So far I'm working on "ca dechire," which Clem says is the french "jeepers" equivalent.
***
Finally, since I blogged/whined earlier today about being sick, things have started looking up, namely because I love sentimental videos. Some of you (you know who you are) have accused me of being incapable of real-life sentiment, but if that's the case then I make up for synthetically-inspired emotion ten-fold.
The one that's really getting me at the moment is Google's recently released Year in Google Searches.
It makes me nostalgic for this one, which legitimately made me well up in the middle of a New York City bar during the Super Bowl.
Which is almost as embarrassing as when I got weepy after watching this British Christmas commercial at Allister's aunt's house.
Finally, I love movie trailers, and am especially excited about this one. It's been out for awhile in the US, but I'm going to have to wait until January to see it here in the UK. Another movie that glamorizes the life of an overworked journalist? I'm in.
Plus I'm a sucker for a montage and Harrison Ford.
***
p.s. I said there wouldn't be penguins but I changed my mind! Last feel-good video of this post goes to Ralph, the bald penguin at Marwell Wildlife Center here in the UK. Apparently he was the alpha penguin until he lost all his hair. The lady penguins were giving him the cold shoulder until Ralph Lauren (yes the Polo guy) designed him a neoprene suit and then voila! he was back on top! My goal is to see him in person this spring. Swoon.
Happy Friday!
Love,
Jess
As for the protests though, yes, they are happening here but I am not involved in them nor am I covering them. I really appreciate all of the e-mails I've been receiving asking if I'm okay, but rest assured that even though students from City are participating, the actual demonstrations are taking place far from my university.
Several of my colleagues have been covering the protests, and aside from a few lost phones, everyone has stayed safe. For excellent coverage, I recommend following my colleague Sarah on Twitter. She does a great job of incorporating multimedia.
London is an interesting place to be right now. To be fair, it always is, but with the student protests and Wikileaks, there's a lot of global news coming out of this city at the moment.
The Frontline Club, the journalism hub where I spent the midterm elections and have attended several interesting debates, issued a statement this week revealing that they have acted as a safe haven for Julian Assange for the last several months.
Though my personal impression of Assange was hardly favorable, the idea of Wikileaks as a form of journalism is now unavoidable, and it will be fascinating to see how it evolves in the face of Assange's arrest and such international backlash.
***
In other news (the kind related to my life and far less consequential than the aforementioned), tonight was another fantastic night. I learned how to make authentic french crepes, and though my first attempt was fairly pathetic, after the second crepe I was flipping with panache. So much fun!
Unfortunately, I only have photographic evidence of the crepe failure, because the rest were so good I got caught up in the moment and ate them.
Crepe fail:
Additionally, Clem (my french crepe guru/friend) has picked up on the fact that I often say "jeepers." She asked Liz what this meant, and Liz sent her a web link to a definition. Apparently she really liked it and is incorporating it into her vocabulary, along with other Americanisms she asked us for like "get it girl" and "good call."
In exchange, I am trying to pick up french slang. So far I'm working on "ca dechire," which Clem says is the french "jeepers" equivalent.
***
Finally, since I blogged/whined earlier today about being sick, things have started looking up, namely because I love sentimental videos. Some of you (you know who you are) have accused me of being incapable of real-life sentiment, but if that's the case then I make up for synthetically-inspired emotion ten-fold.
The one that's really getting me at the moment is Google's recently released Year in Google Searches.
It makes me nostalgic for this one, which legitimately made me well up in the middle of a New York City bar during the Super Bowl.
Which is almost as embarrassing as when I got weepy after watching this British Christmas commercial at Allister's aunt's house.
Finally, I love movie trailers, and am especially excited about this one. It's been out for awhile in the US, but I'm going to have to wait until January to see it here in the UK. Another movie that glamorizes the life of an overworked journalist? I'm in.
Plus I'm a sucker for a montage and Harrison Ford.
***
p.s. I said there wouldn't be penguins but I changed my mind! Last feel-good video of this post goes to Ralph, the bald penguin at Marwell Wildlife Center here in the UK. Apparently he was the alpha penguin until he lost all his hair. The lady penguins were giving him the cold shoulder until Ralph Lauren (yes the Polo guy) designed him a neoprene suit and then voila! he was back on top! My goal is to see him in person this spring. Swoon.
Happy Friday!
Love,
Jess
Thursday, December 9, 2010
List!
Life updates in list form (because there aren't many, they're fairly mundane, but I'm trying to keep my promise to blog!)
1. I am sick. This time it's a little more serious than my man-flu circa October 2010 but I'm not dying or anything. Just really disruptive in the library with my honking and hacking. Yes, I'm incredibly attractive and mucus-y right now. Oh, were you eating? I'm sorry!
2. In my endless quest to obtain a British debit card, I went in for my bajillionth round of arguments with Barclays yesterday. Sensing that I was on the brink of utter despair, the teller chose to make a highly unoriginal joke about my last name, something about how funny it was that I have been thus far unABEL to get a debit card. I tried to chuckle through the tears.
3. Some friends and I went to see the band Interpol, which was a fantastic concert!
That was kind of a short list, but aside from that I've mainly just been catching up on work and chugging orange juice.
AMENDMENT: Upon review, I realize that list was 66.6% complaints. Not acceptable. London is chilly but beautiful right now, and I'm in the middle of a very work-hard, play-hard week, so I really shouldn't have any complaints at all! Plus, everything is uber-Christmasy here right now.
Tonight I'm getting together with some girls to watch Gossip Girl and the best Christmas movie ever made, Elf. Margaret, you are going to be sorely missed but I'm sure we'll have a repeat viewing when I'm home (soon!). On top of that, my french friend Clementine is making crepes.
That post may have been 66.6% complaints, but life is 110% great!
(Math was never my forte.)
Love,
Jess
1. I am sick. This time it's a little more serious than my man-flu circa October 2010 but I'm not dying or anything. Just really disruptive in the library with my honking and hacking. Yes, I'm incredibly attractive and mucus-y right now. Oh, were you eating? I'm sorry!
2. In my endless quest to obtain a British debit card, I went in for my bajillionth round of arguments with Barclays yesterday. Sensing that I was on the brink of utter despair, the teller chose to make a highly unoriginal joke about my last name, something about how funny it was that I have been thus far unABEL to get a debit card. I tried to chuckle through the tears.
3. Some friends and I went to see the band Interpol, which was a fantastic concert!
That was kind of a short list, but aside from that I've mainly just been catching up on work and chugging orange juice.
AMENDMENT: Upon review, I realize that list was 66.6% complaints. Not acceptable. London is chilly but beautiful right now, and I'm in the middle of a very work-hard, play-hard week, so I really shouldn't have any complaints at all! Plus, everything is uber-Christmasy here right now.
Tonight I'm getting together with some girls to watch Gossip Girl and the best Christmas movie ever made, Elf. Margaret, you are going to be sorely missed but I'm sure we'll have a repeat viewing when I'm home (soon!). On top of that, my french friend Clementine is making crepes.
That post may have been 66.6% complaints, but life is 110% great!
(Math was never my forte.)
Love,
Jess
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sigh of relief--now Christmas!
You know how some people have blogs and every post starts with an apology for the inexcusable time lapse between posts?
This has become one of those blogs.
But not for long! Because my pre-New Years resolution is to never ever let such a lag happen again!
(In case you were wondering, I plan to resolve to do something else (life?) better on actual New Years. Some of us just need more than one resolution.)
Because I am such a slacker, I hardly know where to begin with what happened over the past week. Mostly I was engulfed in schoolwork, since our term ended Friday.
However, OUR TERM ENDED FRIDAY!!!!!
So I managed to do some fun things in between. Here is a sample in photos!
Visiting the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park--full of delicious German food, ice skating, creepy Santa statues and an animatronic moose that speaks German and sings George Michael tunes.
(thanks for the photo, Niall!)
Presenting to the Barking Rotary club--a lovely group (as all Rotarians are!)
Cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery while Christmas shopping on Portobello Road. Many of you have astutely pointed out that I mainly blog about food. Are you surprised?
Oooh! Another food picture! This was my first kebab. A momentous occasion. Clearly I hated it :)
That is just a little tiny morsel of the chaos that was my life for the past ten days or so, but I promise I will be a more devoted blogger from here on out! (To be fair, I warned you about my commitment issues from the outset).
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and is gearing up for a wonderful holiday season!
Love,
Jess
This has become one of those blogs.
But not for long! Because my pre-New Years resolution is to never ever let such a lag happen again!
(In case you were wondering, I plan to resolve to do something else (life?) better on actual New Years. Some of us just need more than one resolution.)
Because I am such a slacker, I hardly know where to begin with what happened over the past week. Mostly I was engulfed in schoolwork, since our term ended Friday.
However, OUR TERM ENDED FRIDAY!!!!!
So I managed to do some fun things in between. Here is a sample in photos!
Visiting the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park--full of delicious German food, ice skating, creepy Santa statues and an animatronic moose that speaks German and sings George Michael tunes.
(thanks for the photo, Niall!)
Presenting to the Barking Rotary club--a lovely group (as all Rotarians are!)
Cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery while Christmas shopping on Portobello Road. Many of you have astutely pointed out that I mainly blog about food. Are you surprised?
Oooh! Another food picture! This was my first kebab. A momentous occasion. Clearly I hated it :)
That is just a little tiny morsel of the chaos that was my life for the past ten days or so, but I promise I will be a more devoted blogger from here on out! (To be fair, I warned you about my commitment issues from the outset).
I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and is gearing up for a wonderful holiday season!
Love,
Jess
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Nuts!
Sorry about the title. I'm running low on brain fuel this week.
It's not totally out of left field though, because I'd like to say a few words about pecans:
1) They are very hard to find in Britain. At least on their own. They are rampant in nutty mixes, but if you want a bag of pecans (like I did today) to make a pie, best of luck. The only place I found them was Waitrose, a beautiful and decidedly perfect supermarket only semi-deserving of its elitist reputation. Alas, they were totally sold out, probably hoarded by the frenzied American woman who overheard my accent and asked me if I'd managed to find a turkey roasting pan. If this is like the infamous time I couldn't find scissors and I am just being an idiot and there's a huge pecan depot somewhere, please help!
2) Thankfully, my lovely parents sent me a care package today with one bag of pecans, so I made a pie! Even though I am an avid baker in the U.S., I still am not thrilled about all the extra work (read: math) involved in converting here, but I think it turned out okay. It looks normal and smells normal, so stay tuned for updates tomorrow on whether it was edible. My crust isn't quite as pretty as my mom's, but a girl has to have goals, right?
3) Pecans are so niche here that a friend who shall remain nameless didn't even know what they were. After I told him/her I was making a pecan pie, I got a blank stare. "It's a nut," I said. "What's a peccannut?" he/she replied. Peccannut is the easiest way I can phonetically type the way this person said pecan-nut. Let the cultural exchange continue!
4) This one's not about pecans anymore but I like lists. Shopping for Thanksgiving today meant another adventure in the supermarket with some things with different names. I asked one of the Sainsbury's employees to show me where the chicken broth was, and he took me to chicken breasts. After some verbal floundering I figured out I should have said chicken stock and we would have been fine.
5) Thankfully (so many things to be thankful for!) Niall came along with me, and was like my own personal Sacagawea, guiding me through the fairly foreign terrain of the British grocery store and finally leading me to the Pacific--err--checkout. Except after he helped me, I didn't persecute his people, rob them of their lands and make them march barefoot across the continent.
6) Which brings me to my last item on the list. It's funny how many non-Americans have asked me exactly what Thanksgiving is, and then seemed genuinely perplexed about why we would have a huge feast with the Native Americans and then treat them like enemies. Thankfully (again!) post-colonial retrospectives don't really shine pretty lights on many countries, so I just give a little chuckle and then apologize on behalf of the pilgrims.
That's all I've got for now--off to do more work and then looking forward to giving thanks! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Love,
Jess
It's not totally out of left field though, because I'd like to say a few words about pecans:
1) They are very hard to find in Britain. At least on their own. They are rampant in nutty mixes, but if you want a bag of pecans (like I did today) to make a pie, best of luck. The only place I found them was Waitrose, a beautiful and decidedly perfect supermarket only semi-deserving of its elitist reputation. Alas, they were totally sold out, probably hoarded by the frenzied American woman who overheard my accent and asked me if I'd managed to find a turkey roasting pan. If this is like the infamous time I couldn't find scissors and I am just being an idiot and there's a huge pecan depot somewhere, please help!
2) Thankfully, my lovely parents sent me a care package today with one bag of pecans, so I made a pie! Even though I am an avid baker in the U.S., I still am not thrilled about all the extra work (read: math) involved in converting here, but I think it turned out okay. It looks normal and smells normal, so stay tuned for updates tomorrow on whether it was edible. My crust isn't quite as pretty as my mom's, but a girl has to have goals, right?
3) Pecans are so niche here that a friend who shall remain nameless didn't even know what they were. After I told him/her I was making a pecan pie, I got a blank stare. "It's a nut," I said. "What's a peccannut?" he/she replied. Peccannut is the easiest way I can phonetically type the way this person said pecan-nut. Let the cultural exchange continue!
4) This one's not about pecans anymore but I like lists. Shopping for Thanksgiving today meant another adventure in the supermarket with some things with different names. I asked one of the Sainsbury's employees to show me where the chicken broth was, and he took me to chicken breasts. After some verbal floundering I figured out I should have said chicken stock and we would have been fine.
5) Thankfully (so many things to be thankful for!) Niall came along with me, and was like my own personal Sacagawea, guiding me through the fairly foreign terrain of the British grocery store and finally leading me to the Pacific--err--checkout. Except after he helped me, I didn't persecute his people, rob them of their lands and make them march barefoot across the continent.
6) Which brings me to my last item on the list. It's funny how many non-Americans have asked me exactly what Thanksgiving is, and then seemed genuinely perplexed about why we would have a huge feast with the Native Americans and then treat them like enemies. Thankfully (again!) post-colonial retrospectives don't really shine pretty lights on many countries, so I just give a little chuckle and then apologize on behalf of the pilgrims.
That's all I've got for now--off to do more work and then looking forward to giving thanks! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Love,
Jess
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A Royal Wedding!
This post is dedicated to Miss T., who is among my most faithful readers and is the only reason I know how to properly use an adjective clause (my bread and butter).
__________________________________________
Aside from a very brief break to dye my friend Liz's hair while we watched Gossip Girl and ate delicious macarons from Selfridges, my week thus far has been work, work, work.
But, just like Harry Potter, Britain has given me yet another thing to look forward to--a royal wedding!
The Sun is predicting that almost half the world will watch William and Kate tie the knot on TV, but I will happily be one of the thousands of celebrity mongers camping outside the gates of whatever venue they choose.
Don't worry Mom, I won't be camping alone. Many of my excited female colleagues have already joined the excursion.
The frenzy here in London has spread to the production of cheesy memorabilia (which started at noon yesterday), and speculation as to which designer dress Kate will choose. I pray she doesn't pick any of these icky Telegraph predictions.
In perhaps the best homage to all the hoopla going on here, The Guardian did a lovely spread of every front page Kate and Will story from around the world. This should give you an idea of the magnitude this wedding has already reached, and of the brilliant array of newspapers available in this country. I particularly love The Daily Mirror's puntastic headline. They never disappoint.
That's all I've got for now--back to work--but happy hump day everyone!
Love,
Jess
__________________________________________
Aside from a very brief break to dye my friend Liz's hair while we watched Gossip Girl and ate delicious macarons from Selfridges, my week thus far has been work, work, work.
But, just like Harry Potter, Britain has given me yet another thing to look forward to--a royal wedding!
The Sun is predicting that almost half the world will watch William and Kate tie the knot on TV, but I will happily be one of the thousands of celebrity mongers camping outside the gates of whatever venue they choose.
Don't worry Mom, I won't be camping alone. Many of my excited female colleagues have already joined the excursion.
The frenzy here in London has spread to the production of cheesy memorabilia (which started at noon yesterday), and speculation as to which designer dress Kate will choose. I pray she doesn't pick any of these icky Telegraph predictions.
In perhaps the best homage to all the hoopla going on here, The Guardian did a lovely spread of every front page Kate and Will story from around the world. This should give you an idea of the magnitude this wedding has already reached, and of the brilliant array of newspapers available in this country. I particularly love The Daily Mirror's puntastic headline. They never disappoint.
That's all I've got for now--back to work--but happy hump day everyone!
Love,
Jess
Friday, November 12, 2010
Speed Hating and Deathly Hallows
The Harry Potter 7 premiere was incredible! We saw all the stars of the film and got autographs and talked to a bunch of them. It was pure madness, with tons of screaming girls and cannons that shot fire out of the cinema marquis. A night I will NEVER forget.
A few photos, sorry a couple are blurry!
The Cinema
Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood
Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy
Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger
*********
After the premiere, I went to cover an event for my story next week called speed hating. Speed hating is like speed dating, except instead of talking for three minutes about your interests or how interesting you are, you have a rant about all the things you hate.
If this sounds negative and depressing, it's not. In fact, as I was observing the couples, I couldn't believe how happy people were while talking about the things that really get on their nerves. I guess it's comforting to bond with a stranger over a mutual pet peeve!
Then, I got the chance to try this speed hating, and it was really fun. Two years ago, a bunch of us participated in a speed dating study for money at Northwestern, and this was 1,000 times better.
My interview with the organizer confirmed my suspicion that the people attracted to this sort of event tend to skew toward the witty and sarcastic.
This was further confirmed when someone tried to convince me that haggis is a three-legged version of a wombat, and you can go hunting for them in the Highlands.
Never have I been so embarrassed about my gullibility, but it was a great laugh!
And a great story for next week's newsday, I hope :)
Tomorrow I'm off to the country for the weekend, and really looking forward to quiet and local brews! Hope you have a great weekend too!
Love,
Jess
A few photos, sorry a couple are blurry!
The Cinema
Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood
Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy
Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger
*********
After the premiere, I went to cover an event for my story next week called speed hating. Speed hating is like speed dating, except instead of talking for three minutes about your interests or how interesting you are, you have a rant about all the things you hate.
If this sounds negative and depressing, it's not. In fact, as I was observing the couples, I couldn't believe how happy people were while talking about the things that really get on their nerves. I guess it's comforting to bond with a stranger over a mutual pet peeve!
Then, I got the chance to try this speed hating, and it was really fun. Two years ago, a bunch of us participated in a speed dating study for money at Northwestern, and this was 1,000 times better.
My interview with the organizer confirmed my suspicion that the people attracted to this sort of event tend to skew toward the witty and sarcastic.
This was further confirmed when someone tried to convince me that haggis is a three-legged version of a wombat, and you can go hunting for them in the Highlands.
Never have I been so embarrassed about my gullibility, but it was a great laugh!
And a great story for next week's newsday, I hope :)
Tomorrow I'm off to the country for the weekend, and really looking forward to quiet and local brews! Hope you have a great weekend too!
Love,
Jess
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Where's Hermione's time turner when I need one?
Our professor just sent an e-mail detailing what we're doing for the next week, and it is an insane amount of work. Since I'm spending the weekend in the country with Allister's lovely family, that means double work before I leave and after I get back.
But you know what? I have motivation. Because tomorrow I am going to Leicester Square to camp out for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one!
I intend to do my very best to touch Daniel Radcliffe. Not inappropriately, but in an appreciative sort of way.
It's going to be a very work hard, play hard kind of week. The best kind.
Stay tuned for creepy papparazzi-esque pictures of any celebrities I manage to get near!
But you know what? I have motivation. Because tomorrow I am going to Leicester Square to camp out for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one!
I intend to do my very best to touch Daniel Radcliffe. Not inappropriately, but in an appreciative sort of way.
It's going to be a very work hard, play hard kind of week. The best kind.
Stay tuned for creepy papparazzi-esque pictures of any celebrities I manage to get near!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Irony and Tigers
After yesterday's post, I was fairly committed to writing something frivolous and entertaining today.
Then a friend posted this essay by Alice Gregory from n+1 on Facebook. Sorry everyone!
I don't agree with all of it, but it really seems to capture the anxiety-ridden frenzy plaguing many 20-somethings today.
Especially as a journalist, I am constantly under pressure to rack up the most Twitter followers, the best optimized blog, the strongest merger of professional and personal life on Facebook. They call it social capital, and I definitely understand its benefits, but it's "exhausting." As Gregory writes:
I have the sensation, as do my friends, that to function as a proficient human, you must both “keep up” with the internet and pursue more serious, analog interests. I blog about real life; I talk about the internet. It’s so exhausting to exist on both registers, especially while holding down a job. It feels like tedious work to be merely conversationally competent. I make myself schedules, breaking down my commute to its most elemental parts and assigning each leg of my journey something different to absorb: podcast, Instapaper article, real novel of real worth, real magazine of dubious worth. I’m pretty tired by the time I get to work at 9 AM.
And one more passage:
The internet’s most ruinous effect on literacy may not be the obliteration of long-format journalism or drops in hardcover sales; it may be the destruction of the belief that books can be talked and written about endlessly. There are fewer official reviews of novels lately, but there are infinitely more pithily captioned links on Facebook, reader-response posts on Tumblr, punny jokes on Twitter. How depressing, to have a book you just read and loved feel so suddenly passé, to feel—almost immediately—as though you no longer have any claim to your own ideas about it.
I realize the irony in the fact that I'm writing about this on the internet, and I read it on the internet, and found it through a social network that the essay lambasts.
And you're probably assuming from the last two blog posts that I am becoming anti-Internet, and will retire to a Walden-style cabin and reject these 21-century distractions. But we both know that won't happen.
Like everything, the internet has its pros and cons. Without Skype or this blog or Facebook, I would certainly feel so much more disconnected thousands of miles away. I love the internet (a strong statement). But that's because it allows me to stay in touch with all of you!
****
Okay, that's enough about that. In other news, this article from MSNBC was posted by my cousin Libby and totally makes me feel good about my tiger adopting decision.
I'm looking at my little stuffed tiger and the pictures of the real one in Nepal and hoping she's safe!
****
Now for something frivolous and entertaining! If you've made it this far, thanks for sifting through my angst! Hopefully this will put you in a better mood.
It makes me so excited to go to Israel and see Libby (not my cousin but almost my sister), and then to head home for the holidays and see my parents waiting for me at baggage claim!
My dream is to be involved in or be coincidentally around for one of these flash mobs. It will happen someday, I'm sure.
I hope you're having a wonderful week so far!
Love,
Jess
Then a friend posted this essay by Alice Gregory from n+1 on Facebook. Sorry everyone!
I don't agree with all of it, but it really seems to capture the anxiety-ridden frenzy plaguing many 20-somethings today.
Especially as a journalist, I am constantly under pressure to rack up the most Twitter followers, the best optimized blog, the strongest merger of professional and personal life on Facebook. They call it social capital, and I definitely understand its benefits, but it's "exhausting." As Gregory writes:
I have the sensation, as do my friends, that to function as a proficient human, you must both “keep up” with the internet and pursue more serious, analog interests. I blog about real life; I talk about the internet. It’s so exhausting to exist on both registers, especially while holding down a job. It feels like tedious work to be merely conversationally competent. I make myself schedules, breaking down my commute to its most elemental parts and assigning each leg of my journey something different to absorb: podcast, Instapaper article, real novel of real worth, real magazine of dubious worth. I’m pretty tired by the time I get to work at 9 AM.
And one more passage:
The internet’s most ruinous effect on literacy may not be the obliteration of long-format journalism or drops in hardcover sales; it may be the destruction of the belief that books can be talked and written about endlessly. There are fewer official reviews of novels lately, but there are infinitely more pithily captioned links on Facebook, reader-response posts on Tumblr, punny jokes on Twitter. How depressing, to have a book you just read and loved feel so suddenly passé, to feel—almost immediately—as though you no longer have any claim to your own ideas about it.
I realize the irony in the fact that I'm writing about this on the internet, and I read it on the internet, and found it through a social network that the essay lambasts.
And you're probably assuming from the last two blog posts that I am becoming anti-Internet, and will retire to a Walden-style cabin and reject these 21-century distractions. But we both know that won't happen.
Like everything, the internet has its pros and cons. Without Skype or this blog or Facebook, I would certainly feel so much more disconnected thousands of miles away. I love the internet (a strong statement). But that's because it allows me to stay in touch with all of you!
****
Okay, that's enough about that. In other news, this article from MSNBC was posted by my cousin Libby and totally makes me feel good about my tiger adopting decision.
I'm looking at my little stuffed tiger and the pictures of the real one in Nepal and hoping she's safe!
****
Now for something frivolous and entertaining! If you've made it this far, thanks for sifting through my angst! Hopefully this will put you in a better mood.
It makes me so excited to go to Israel and see Libby (not my cousin but almost my sister), and then to head home for the holidays and see my parents waiting for me at baggage claim!
My dream is to be involved in or be coincidentally around for one of these flash mobs. It will happen someday, I'm sure.
I hope you're having a wonderful week so far!
Love,
Jess
Monday, November 8, 2010
Does an objective press exist?
Or maybe the better question is, can it?
One common link I find between the press in London and the press back home is a political identity that's associated with each newspaper or television station. The only exception to this is perhaps the BBC, which is the strange and wonderful thing they refer to here as a quango. The BBC aside, some of these associations are more deserved than others, some are in spite of efforts by the publications to appear non-partisan, but nonetheless they exist.
Today in lecture we had a representative from the UK Press Complaints Commission (PCC). She took us through the PCC's Editor's Code of Practice, a.k.a. the journalist's handbook on how not to get fired. Very useful stuff :)
I was somewhat surprised to find that the first tenet of the code, Accuracy, contains this sub-clause:
iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
In other words, you're allowed to take sides, you just have to own up to it and keep it in the opinion pages.
This got me thinking--obviously press objectivity has been in serious doubt for some time, and it's always going to be a gray area, but how many of our news organizations (both in the U.S. and abroad) will own up to their particular slant? You can judge a paper by the candidates it endorses, but a paper can say it endorses them for the greater good of the people and not for towing a party line. Are those slants something these organizations are internally aware of, or an identity that really is projected upon them by the public?
Probably a mixture of both, but I can't help thinking that as soon as you attach a certain political label to a news network or paper, they are almost fiscally obligated to follow it.
In the age of the 24-hour cable news network and online newspapers grasping for just a few page clicks, if you don't have a specific niche audience, you die. It therefore makes sense to keep catering to the people who come to you expecting a certain line of commentary or way of presenting the news, because you still have employees to pay and advertisers to satisfy.
The easiest target for this line of thinking is of course, FOX news, but they are certainly not alone. Say what you will about their "fair and balanced" coverage, but what they are doing is making them money.
Then the question becomes whether you associate these political leanings with the opinions of an organization's employees and owners, or if you attribute it to the sum of its parts.
For example, Rupert Murdoch (owner of FOX, Sky News and several prominent global papers) publicly supported Barack Obama, but recently donated $1 million to the Republican party. Tit-for-tat, is that balanced?
Or, the more recent question has been whether journalists as individuals are allowed to have political preferences.
Keith Olbermann's imposed hiatus on Friday is just the latest in a run of journalists being reprimanded for their political associations, as the New York Times pointed out today. It seems that more and more journalists have recently suffered professionally for political affiliations.
Is that a bad thing? If you believe in a non-partisan news media, definitely not. But how long can the non-partisan media continue to exist?
People like to read and see things that re-affirm their mindset. That's why niche media seems to be more successful now than the major networks.
But as people seek websites and newspapers and cable news that present one side of the story, the path is cleared for extremism and ignorance. I'll be the first to admit that I don't really enjoy reading commentary from perspectives I don't agree with, and it's much harder for me to seek them out.
I do believe a fair and balanced press can exist, I'm just not sure it can compete.
One of our tutors told us that if we got into this business to give the people what we think they need instead of what they want, we should get out now. But ratings and readership indicate that maybe what many people want is an unbalanced press. As certain networks and publications become more and more partisan, the few objective outlets that exist continue to lose out.
And I can't help but think that the actual ones who lose out are the people.
***
Disclaimer: This is just my opinion! If you totally disagree, leave a comment below and let's talk it out.
One common link I find between the press in London and the press back home is a political identity that's associated with each newspaper or television station. The only exception to this is perhaps the BBC, which is the strange and wonderful thing they refer to here as a quango. The BBC aside, some of these associations are more deserved than others, some are in spite of efforts by the publications to appear non-partisan, but nonetheless they exist.
Today in lecture we had a representative from the UK Press Complaints Commission (PCC). She took us through the PCC's Editor's Code of Practice, a.k.a. the journalist's handbook on how not to get fired. Very useful stuff :)
I was somewhat surprised to find that the first tenet of the code, Accuracy, contains this sub-clause:
iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
In other words, you're allowed to take sides, you just have to own up to it and keep it in the opinion pages.
This got me thinking--obviously press objectivity has been in serious doubt for some time, and it's always going to be a gray area, but how many of our news organizations (both in the U.S. and abroad) will own up to their particular slant? You can judge a paper by the candidates it endorses, but a paper can say it endorses them for the greater good of the people and not for towing a party line. Are those slants something these organizations are internally aware of, or an identity that really is projected upon them by the public?
Probably a mixture of both, but I can't help thinking that as soon as you attach a certain political label to a news network or paper, they are almost fiscally obligated to follow it.
In the age of the 24-hour cable news network and online newspapers grasping for just a few page clicks, if you don't have a specific niche audience, you die. It therefore makes sense to keep catering to the people who come to you expecting a certain line of commentary or way of presenting the news, because you still have employees to pay and advertisers to satisfy.
The easiest target for this line of thinking is of course, FOX news, but they are certainly not alone. Say what you will about their "fair and balanced" coverage, but what they are doing is making them money.
Then the question becomes whether you associate these political leanings with the opinions of an organization's employees and owners, or if you attribute it to the sum of its parts.
For example, Rupert Murdoch (owner of FOX, Sky News and several prominent global papers) publicly supported Barack Obama, but recently donated $1 million to the Republican party. Tit-for-tat, is that balanced?
Or, the more recent question has been whether journalists as individuals are allowed to have political preferences.
Keith Olbermann's imposed hiatus on Friday is just the latest in a run of journalists being reprimanded for their political associations, as the New York Times pointed out today. It seems that more and more journalists have recently suffered professionally for political affiliations.
Is that a bad thing? If you believe in a non-partisan news media, definitely not. But how long can the non-partisan media continue to exist?
People like to read and see things that re-affirm their mindset. That's why niche media seems to be more successful now than the major networks.
But as people seek websites and newspapers and cable news that present one side of the story, the path is cleared for extremism and ignorance. I'll be the first to admit that I don't really enjoy reading commentary from perspectives I don't agree with, and it's much harder for me to seek them out.
I do believe a fair and balanced press can exist, I'm just not sure it can compete.
One of our tutors told us that if we got into this business to give the people what we think they need instead of what they want, we should get out now. But ratings and readership indicate that maybe what many people want is an unbalanced press. As certain networks and publications become more and more partisan, the few objective outlets that exist continue to lose out.
And I can't help but think that the actual ones who lose out are the people.
***
Disclaimer: This is just my opinion! If you totally disagree, leave a comment below and let's talk it out.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Flowers, Fireworks and Serious Fun
Yesterday was the best day ever. Okay maybe not the best day ever, but it was pretty up there.
I got up bright and early to report to Normand Park in the borough of Fulham, where we kicked off our "Focus on the Crocus" bulb-planting campaign. We were positioned right near a fitness center, so kids coming in and out from swimming lessons helped us plant about 1,000 bulbs.
It was SO. MUCH. FUN. Being on a university campus, I spend a lot of time with 20-somethings (who are great), but it was so nice to be able to hang out with kids and help them get their hands dirty.
We also raised nearly 80 GBP for the PolioPlus campaign, and the Rotarians spoke to the parents about the campaign while we planted. When the croci pop up in February, the purple will hopefully be a reminder of Rotary's efforts to eradicate polio thus far. Here are a few snapshots courtesy of Nat:
After the event, a few of the other volunteers and I grabbed lunch at a lovely vegetarian restaurant in Fulham, and I headed back to Islington. But there wasn't much downtime, because another of the Ambassadorial Scholars invited us to Battersea Park to watch the fireworks for Bonfire Night.
Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night, was actually Friday, but I wasn't feeling well so I wasn't really up for it. No matter, because Saturday was spectacular. Kara and I met up with Angela, the scholar, and some of her friends from Westminster University, and watched the giant bonfire and some really great fireworks. The fireworks were timed to pop music, and everyone was singing and drinking mulled wine and just having a great time. Check out how big this fire was:
We were pretty fired up (pun intended) after the show, so we migrated to Covent Garden for much-needed food and drink. We ended up at a bar called Freud (after Sigmund himself) and met up with some more Westminster people. After that, around midnight, we headed to Fabric, one of the largest nightclubs in London.
I haven't been dancing in some time, so Fabric was the perfect way to end the night. Or enter the morning. I finally got back to my room at 5 a.m. for some much-needed shut-eye.
It was a weekend filled with wonderful new people and all the fun we could possibly pack in. I am so exhausted, but so happy!
I hope all of you had a great weekend, too!
Love,
Jess
I got up bright and early to report to Normand Park in the borough of Fulham, where we kicked off our "Focus on the Crocus" bulb-planting campaign. We were positioned right near a fitness center, so kids coming in and out from swimming lessons helped us plant about 1,000 bulbs.
It was SO. MUCH. FUN. Being on a university campus, I spend a lot of time with 20-somethings (who are great), but it was so nice to be able to hang out with kids and help them get their hands dirty.
We also raised nearly 80 GBP for the PolioPlus campaign, and the Rotarians spoke to the parents about the campaign while we planted. When the croci pop up in February, the purple will hopefully be a reminder of Rotary's efforts to eradicate polio thus far. Here are a few snapshots courtesy of Nat:
After the event, a few of the other volunteers and I grabbed lunch at a lovely vegetarian restaurant in Fulham, and I headed back to Islington. But there wasn't much downtime, because another of the Ambassadorial Scholars invited us to Battersea Park to watch the fireworks for Bonfire Night.
Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night, was actually Friday, but I wasn't feeling well so I wasn't really up for it. No matter, because Saturday was spectacular. Kara and I met up with Angela, the scholar, and some of her friends from Westminster University, and watched the giant bonfire and some really great fireworks. The fireworks were timed to pop music, and everyone was singing and drinking mulled wine and just having a great time. Check out how big this fire was:
We were pretty fired up (pun intended) after the show, so we migrated to Covent Garden for much-needed food and drink. We ended up at a bar called Freud (after Sigmund himself) and met up with some more Westminster people. After that, around midnight, we headed to Fabric, one of the largest nightclubs in London.
I haven't been dancing in some time, so Fabric was the perfect way to end the night. Or enter the morning. I finally got back to my room at 5 a.m. for some much-needed shut-eye.
It was a weekend filled with wonderful new people and all the fun we could possibly pack in. I am so exhausted, but so happy!
I hope all of you had a great weekend, too!
Love,
Jess
The Elections from Abroad
I spent election night at the Frontline Club with the London American Expat meetup group. The Frontline Club is a hot spot for London journalists, so my colleagues and I were right at home. I went with a couple of other Americans on my course, along with an Italian, an Irishman and an Australian.
When we arrived around 9 p.m. local time, the place was fairly packed. As the results from Kentucky and Indiana came in, the mood seemed to go a bit sour. Most of the Americans I talked to at the event were hoping the Democrats would make a strong showing.
Of those I talked to, there were mixed feelings about Obama, though nearly everyone admitted they supported him strongly in 2008. There is a general fascination over here with the Tea Party, and, of course, with Sarah Palin.
As the projections continued to come in, the crowd began to dwindle. I was one of the last to leave, around 2:30 a.m. local time, because I was waiting for results from Iowa. What surprised me most was that at 2:00 a.m. only five people were left, and only two of them American (myself and the guy who organized the event).
The organizer said in 2008, they held an election watch party and 4,000 people came. He estimated that for this watch party about 125 came. The midterm elections may not provide as much drama as a presidential year, but it's a shame they don't draw the same interest.
The night itself was very interesting, and my apologies to those who expected better live tweeting coverage. I became so wrapped up in conversation with different people (American and non-American) that it became difficult to stay connected on my phone. All things, considered, a good problem to have.
When we arrived around 9 p.m. local time, the place was fairly packed. As the results from Kentucky and Indiana came in, the mood seemed to go a bit sour. Most of the Americans I talked to at the event were hoping the Democrats would make a strong showing.
Of those I talked to, there were mixed feelings about Obama, though nearly everyone admitted they supported him strongly in 2008. There is a general fascination over here with the Tea Party, and, of course, with Sarah Palin.
As the projections continued to come in, the crowd began to dwindle. I was one of the last to leave, around 2:30 a.m. local time, because I was waiting for results from Iowa. What surprised me most was that at 2:00 a.m. only five people were left, and only two of them American (myself and the guy who organized the event).
The organizer said in 2008, they held an election watch party and 4,000 people came. He estimated that for this watch party about 125 came. The midterm elections may not provide as much drama as a presidential year, but it's a shame they don't draw the same interest.
The night itself was very interesting, and my apologies to those who expected better live tweeting coverage. I became so wrapped up in conversation with different people (American and non-American) that it became difficult to stay connected on my phone. All things, considered, a good problem to have.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Election night!
Well, at home it's still election day. But I'm gearing up to cover the midterm results live from London, where a group of expats is gathering at the Frontline Club to watch the votes come in.
Wanna know what the Brits and Americans abroad think of our vote? Follow my first attempt at live-tweeting at www.twitter.com/jjabels.
There's another Tube strike going on here tonight, so I should be starting coverage around 9 p.m. UK time, or 3 p.m. CST.
If you're reading this and you're American and you haven't voted, please go vote!
Full updates tomorrow, after I sleep a little :)
Love,
Jess
Wanna know what the Brits and Americans abroad think of our vote? Follow my first attempt at live-tweeting at www.twitter.com/jjabels.
There's another Tube strike going on here tonight, so I should be starting coverage around 9 p.m. UK time, or 3 p.m. CST.
If you're reading this and you're American and you haven't voted, please go vote!
Full updates tomorrow, after I sleep a little :)
Love,
Jess
Monday, November 1, 2010
A Weekend in Photos
Who's a slacker when it comes to blogging? You're right, it's me!
Before I start apologizing about not blogging, I'm just going to skip past that and go straight to the recap.
Friday:
Allister and I met for lunch at Borough Market, a gourmet food hot spot that smells like cheese that's so fancy you're supposed to ignore the fact that it smells so bad. It also houses my all-time favorite dessert, banoffee pie, and a super cheap steak sandwich that made it the perfect way to start the weekend. We grabbed our market fare and ate it on the steps of a nearby cathedral that's probably several hundred years older than America. Standard. A few snapshots:
Steak sandwich smothered in (what else?) ketchup.
Allister waits for beefy goodness.
The British invented a lot of great things, but banoffee pie is probably the best.
Saturday may have only been October 30, but since hardworking graduate students can't really go out on a Sunday night, we did Halloween a bit early. One of my colleagues hosted a costume party, which was really fun, and I dressed as a flapper. I quickly found out that the term flapper does not exist here, so some people didn't even think I was dressed up! Either way, it was a good Halloween.
Sunday was recovery day. I slept and worked, not much to report.
****************************
Today was heavy on classes but also heavy on fun. Liz and I took a lovely walk down to St. Paul's Cathedral as the sun was setting, then we made our way over to Fleet Street, the former hub of the London press. Liz had to head back to class, so I wandered across Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern, where I met up with another Rotary Scholar and we perused the third floor. Mary Dwyer, I really missed you during this trip--I needed your art expertise :) Along with some fantastic works from favorites like Matisse, Kandinsky, Pollock and Rothko, I really enjoyed seeing a few artists I'd never encountered. Here are a few that really struck me:
Dod Procter, Morning , 1926
Juliao Sarmento, Forget Me, 2005
******************************
St. Paul's and Millenium Bridge from the bank by the Tate
After the Tate we walked home through London at night, and it was beautiful. We crossed the Thames over Millenium Bridge, up through St. Paul's and Holborn, then I came home to my cozy dorm. All in all, a fairly perfect fall day.
Hope everyone had a happy Monday!
Love,
Jess
Before I start apologizing about not blogging, I'm just going to skip past that and go straight to the recap.
Friday:
Allister and I met for lunch at Borough Market, a gourmet food hot spot that smells like cheese that's so fancy you're supposed to ignore the fact that it smells so bad. It also houses my all-time favorite dessert, banoffee pie, and a super cheap steak sandwich that made it the perfect way to start the weekend. We grabbed our market fare and ate it on the steps of a nearby cathedral that's probably several hundred years older than America. Standard. A few snapshots:
Steak sandwich smothered in (what else?) ketchup.
Allister waits for beefy goodness.
The British invented a lot of great things, but banoffee pie is probably the best.
Saturday may have only been October 30, but since hardworking graduate students can't really go out on a Sunday night, we did Halloween a bit early. One of my colleagues hosted a costume party, which was really fun, and I dressed as a flapper. I quickly found out that the term flapper does not exist here, so some people didn't even think I was dressed up! Either way, it was a good Halloween.
Sunday was recovery day. I slept and worked, not much to report.
****************************
Today was heavy on classes but also heavy on fun. Liz and I took a lovely walk down to St. Paul's Cathedral as the sun was setting, then we made our way over to Fleet Street, the former hub of the London press. Liz had to head back to class, so I wandered across Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern, where I met up with another Rotary Scholar and we perused the third floor. Mary Dwyer, I really missed you during this trip--I needed your art expertise :) Along with some fantastic works from favorites like Matisse, Kandinsky, Pollock and Rothko, I really enjoyed seeing a few artists I'd never encountered. Here are a few that really struck me:
Dod Procter, Morning , 1926
Juliao Sarmento, Forget Me, 2005
******************************
St. Paul's and Millenium Bridge from the bank by the Tate
After the Tate we walked home through London at night, and it was beautiful. We crossed the Thames over Millenium Bridge, up through St. Paul's and Holborn, then I came home to my cozy dorm. All in all, a fairly perfect fall day.
Hope everyone had a happy Monday!
Love,
Jess
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Now Presenting....
Today I gave my first presentation here in London, to the Hammersmith Rotary club (my host club). They were so welcoming--as I've found all Rotarians are--and I really enjoyed getting to know them and their guests over a lovely dinner.
Just before the meeting, I stopped in at a coffee shop, where the cashier asked me if I was American. This happens a lot over here, and it's hard to tell when that question is a gateway to a whole conversation or just simple curiosity. In this case, it was the former.
The cashier, who was Italian, said he didn't want to offend me but he had some questions about America. Mainly he wanted to know if we still see ourselves as the leading world power, and whether many of us really pay attention to what's going on in the rest of the world. He was concerned with some of the crazy stories he hears about our country, especially with the midterm elections and some of the radical rallies taking place.
I told him that I can't vouch for the entirety of America, but I do think most Americans try to pay attention to what's going on beyond our borders. However, I explained that in today's climate, if you've lost your job or your house is being foreclosed or your kids are sick, worrying about yourself can be all you can really handle. I said people are just frustrated, and they often need their own personal security before they can start worrying about others. I wish that wasn't the case, but it's true.
He asked me about the soaring rhetoric that we hear in our campaigns (and not just from Obama), and whether Americans really believe that we really still are the "last best hope" or the great global leader. He said he feels Americans are somewhat naive about losing status to countries like China and India.
I told him that some Americans feel our country still bears the brunt of global responsibility, but you hear speeches talking about America's greatness because that's what people vote for. They want to believe America is still great and that we will continue to be great, because that signals security and stability, which goes back to feeding your kids and keeping your job.
No matter how long I stay here or how comfortable I become, it's encounters like these that remind me that I am still a foreigner here. And that's okay. I hope that by the time I left the coffee shop, the cashier understood where I was coming from, and maybe his ideas about America have changed a bit. Then again, maybe he found me to be fairly naive :)
********
In other news, my tiger came today! Not the actual tiger I adopted--my room is far too small for that--but a little stuffed tiger and a postcard of the one I adopted. Her name is Kamrita, she's a Bengal Tiger from Nepal, and she has two cubs!
I guess that makes me a grandmother :)
Just before the meeting, I stopped in at a coffee shop, where the cashier asked me if I was American. This happens a lot over here, and it's hard to tell when that question is a gateway to a whole conversation or just simple curiosity. In this case, it was the former.
The cashier, who was Italian, said he didn't want to offend me but he had some questions about America. Mainly he wanted to know if we still see ourselves as the leading world power, and whether many of us really pay attention to what's going on in the rest of the world. He was concerned with some of the crazy stories he hears about our country, especially with the midterm elections and some of the radical rallies taking place.
I told him that I can't vouch for the entirety of America, but I do think most Americans try to pay attention to what's going on beyond our borders. However, I explained that in today's climate, if you've lost your job or your house is being foreclosed or your kids are sick, worrying about yourself can be all you can really handle. I said people are just frustrated, and they often need their own personal security before they can start worrying about others. I wish that wasn't the case, but it's true.
He asked me about the soaring rhetoric that we hear in our campaigns (and not just from Obama), and whether Americans really believe that we really still are the "last best hope" or the great global leader. He said he feels Americans are somewhat naive about losing status to countries like China and India.
I told him that some Americans feel our country still bears the brunt of global responsibility, but you hear speeches talking about America's greatness because that's what people vote for. They want to believe America is still great and that we will continue to be great, because that signals security and stability, which goes back to feeding your kids and keeping your job.
No matter how long I stay here or how comfortable I become, it's encounters like these that remind me that I am still a foreigner here. And that's okay. I hope that by the time I left the coffee shop, the cashier understood where I was coming from, and maybe his ideas about America have changed a bit. Then again, maybe he found me to be fairly naive :)
********
In other news, my tiger came today! Not the actual tiger I adopted--my room is far too small for that--but a little stuffed tiger and a postcard of the one I adopted. Her name is Kamrita, she's a Bengal Tiger from Nepal, and she has two cubs!
I guess that makes me a grandmother :)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Humanity at its best(?)
Every night, starting from around 7 p.m. onward, I play witness to all extremes of human emotion. Why, you ask? Because my window faces an alley, and that alley is a direct route from the main road to the pub.
In the past few weeks I have seen and heard more fights, crying drunk girls, professions of love, lad banter and earth-shattering belching than I can begin to describe.
But tonight is the best, because as I write this an enterprising group of youngsters is filming an amateur rap video in my sketchy little alley. If they become famous some day, it'll be nice to say I saw them in their infancy. I'll admit the song isn't bad, but the video is full of the requisite crotch-grabbing and scowling you would expect.
***
As promised, a recap of the discussion of the international aid budget discussion at the Frontline. Most of us in attendance agreed that the panel could have used more dissenting opinions. The consensus among the panelists, all of whom work in the aid industry, was that we have to find more effective ways to deliver aid to the people who really need it rather than potentially corrupt governments.
I was surprised to hear that most panelists agreed that project-based aid is no longer the focus we should take. Instead, they said we should be focused on multilateral program aid, and on helping develop better government infrastructure to ensure stronger trade partnerships and growth. The latter portion makes complete sense, but shying away from project aid is a fairly big shift from the last 30-some years of aid philosophy. It will be interesting to see where things go.
The final thing discussed that I found really interesting, especially being from the agriculture epicenter of America, was the fairly hostile attitude toward the subsidies we give farmers in America. It's logical that the non-West is angry, since producers who could be selling cotton, grain and other goods for a minuscule price can't increase their profits because we give such high subsidies to our farmers. Still, it's hard for me to be against that when those same farmers are my family and friends. It's an interesting debate, and one I look forward to learning more about as the term goes on.
We had such beautiful weather today, I'm putting going to the park and visiting Borough Market at the top of my to-do list for the weekend :) I hope everyone had a good Wednesday and is gearing up for the weekend!
Love,
Jess
In the past few weeks I have seen and heard more fights, crying drunk girls, professions of love, lad banter and earth-shattering belching than I can begin to describe.
But tonight is the best, because as I write this an enterprising group of youngsters is filming an amateur rap video in my sketchy little alley. If they become famous some day, it'll be nice to say I saw them in their infancy. I'll admit the song isn't bad, but the video is full of the requisite crotch-grabbing and scowling you would expect.
***
As promised, a recap of the discussion of the international aid budget discussion at the Frontline. Most of us in attendance agreed that the panel could have used more dissenting opinions. The consensus among the panelists, all of whom work in the aid industry, was that we have to find more effective ways to deliver aid to the people who really need it rather than potentially corrupt governments.
I was surprised to hear that most panelists agreed that project-based aid is no longer the focus we should take. Instead, they said we should be focused on multilateral program aid, and on helping develop better government infrastructure to ensure stronger trade partnerships and growth. The latter portion makes complete sense, but shying away from project aid is a fairly big shift from the last 30-some years of aid philosophy. It will be interesting to see where things go.
The final thing discussed that I found really interesting, especially being from the agriculture epicenter of America, was the fairly hostile attitude toward the subsidies we give farmers in America. It's logical that the non-West is angry, since producers who could be selling cotton, grain and other goods for a minuscule price can't increase their profits because we give such high subsidies to our farmers. Still, it's hard for me to be against that when those same farmers are my family and friends. It's an interesting debate, and one I look forward to learning more about as the term goes on.
We had such beautiful weather today, I'm putting going to the park and visiting Borough Market at the top of my to-do list for the weekend :) I hope everyone had a good Wednesday and is gearing up for the weekend!
Love,
Jess
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