Manchester is a good place

Yesterday I got to spend a great day in Manchester, one of my favourite cities. I attended a conference on electronic resources, accompanied by my lovely boss (lovely because she's professional and fair, not because she's wild or anything). We arrived a bit early due to train timings and had the chance to walk around a bit in the lovely sunshine and have a coffee at the fab Philpotts near Piccadilly Station. Whilst out and about I realised how gorgeous the Victorian buildings are in that part of town. The brickwork was especially brilliant in the bright sunshine and I could've stayed there all day.

As in other visits to Manchester, I realised something I really like, the friendliness of the people. People working in shops are warm, people walking around don't look cross, and there is a really strong vibe to the place. I can't confirm the source of this civility, but I really like being there.

Yesterday in London

Our Saturday was spent in London, mixing art and friendship.

The art part came from a visit to the Pop Life exhibit at Tate Modern. The artists in this show were all pretty well known (or at least their names were familiar) and getting to see them within their work was fascinating. The Andy Warhol video pieces were fantastic; including his very funny (and rather hammy) bits from Saturday Night Live broadcast on 31 October 1981 and his fab guest appearance on The Love Boat. We also got to see him in a cool TDK advert.

I truly enjoyed getting to see the re-created Pop Shop by Keith Haring. I could've lived without seeing Jeff Koons' Made in Heaven, but I'm glad I now understand the hype. I found Damien Hirst's Twins so cool, and enjoyable for Bailey because she got to chat with the twins. I also enjoyed Gavin Turk's Pop (1993).

There were more pieces I'd love to learn more about but couldn't buy the catalogue because one piece in the show was deemed indecent and taken down, and can't be included in the catalogue either. I'm still pretty bitter about the entire situation.

But that was in the morning. From Tate Modern we walked to Charing Cross to meet our friend Susan B. Susan is a NJ childhood friend of Judy's, and has known me since, well, before I was born. Susan is visiting friends in England, and we arranged to meet up for some quality time together. This allowed Susan to meet Simon and Bailey, and for us all to meet her lovely friends and hosts Andrea and Ricky. After our hugging reunion, we went to Wagamama in Leicester Square and learned about the history of that area of Charing Cross from Ricky, who was raised in a flat on Charing Cross Road. Imagine my thrill! After our lovely and chatty lunch, we visited Covent Garden, in the company of Ricky who gave us fascinating commentary and took us to two beautiful churches. These churches are St Paul's, also known as the actors' church, and Corpus Christi.

After a rather emotional goodbye, we headed along the Strand to walk back to Tate Modern to get the car. It was a gorgeous day in beautiful sunshine and a great time was had by all.

It's all unrelated

First things first, happy 6th birthday to Bailey girl. She started the day very early, ready to make the most of every moment of her day. She had presents with the family this morning and will have family birthday tea (thanks to Grandma and Grandad) tonight. Saturday is her kiddie party, a shared one with three others in her class who share their birthday. Sunday is our birthday brunch, for more grown-up friends and loved ones, and a fine excuse to have people over for eats. I enjoy being host even if we have one of the most casual houses around...

Next thing, I just read CNN coverage that some idiot heckled our president last night... What is that about?!? You don't get to yell out "You lie!" when the President is addressing our government. What is wrong with this guy? I'm completely offended by the lack of respect, manners, and professionalism; it's like nothing I've ever experienced and I live in England where these traits, and more, surround me...

For those of you who didn't see my confession of lust on Facebook, I really want the Abraham Lincoln hand...

I'm certain, no one will ever eat at the Fat Duck again, regardless of how much kitchen cleanliness standards are improved...

The other day I saw a vanity plate that spelled out something I could only translate as "cholera". I really tried several times to figure out what else it could mean, and each time it ended in the same disease name.

SO my kind of humour

From the Times on Saturday...

One weekend, two very different museums

Saturday we headed into London, with the aim of seeing Exquisute Bodies at the Wellcome Collection. Although the website warns some of the items in the exhibit may be upsetting to younger-than-18s, we decided to manage anything we as parents didn't want Bailey to see, as we saw the exhibit. I'm glad to report the visit was a huge success. The models in the exhibit were fascinating, and we each enjoyed it on whatever level we could.

We also visited the two permanent exhibitions in the Wellcome Collection, Medicine Man all about Henry Wellcome and Medicine Now about how we understand health and medical care. Both were interesting and engaging to the three of us, and contained loads of interactive displays to engage Bailey. To make it even better for her, the lovely gallery assistant gave Bailey a discovery pack full of all kinds of fab activities for the younger ones. My fav was a hunk of real modeling clay, to be used to recreate the viewer's favourite votive (see the second imagine in Seeking Help if you'd like to learn more). Huge WELL DONE to the Wellcome Collection for reaching out and engaging the young visitors.

The rest of the fine Saturday was spent browsing the bookshops of Charing Cross Road. It's not at all the book lover's paradise that it used to be; even when I arrived in 1995 there were countless independent booksellers along the road. Today most of the little ones are gone, but we made the most of Foyles and Blackwell's, where I again marvelled at the Espresso book machine.
Today's Bank Holiday Monday museum visit was to the Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden. This museum has figured it out; draw in the families who are all reading Roald Dahl, make small but very fun and interactive gallery exhibit, then finish it with a huge hands-on room of creating fun book-related crafts. There was even a little station to make a short film, which Bailey did and I attach to this post. The museum also includes a reading room, for individuals to relax and read Dahl stories and for groups to enjoy story-telling sessions running throughout the day. To top it off, there's a lovely and well-stocked shop and a fab cafe including patisserie quality treats. What more could we need?

RIP Dominick Dunne

This morning's news of Dominick Dunne's death brought me much sadness. I've been a fan of his writing and his style since I read him in Vanity Fair magazine years ago. I've also read his books, and his audio version of Another City Not My Own has been enjoyed for miles and miles in my car.

What I've enjoyed most about his writing is his clear sense of right and wrong, and his candor about his own limitations and demons.

Enjoy his Vanity Fair archive. These articles continue to provide the goods, but I'm going to miss him.

Lands' End hipster?

Check out this hipster in the recent Lands' End catalogue.

On Hamlet and bookselling, not at all related

First on Hamlet... Last night I went to see the Donmar's Hamlet (at Wyndham's Theatre). The place was packed, with people standing along the walls as well, and of course I'm certain it was interest in Jude Law instead of pure Shakespeare admiration. That's OK though because Jude Law and cast put on a top show. They made Hamlet as dark as possible (and the shades of grey and black staging helped), with acting in fantastic form. Jude Law did grief and madness so very well. To make the show even better, the cast was very good looking, with costuming that made everyone look hip and cool. There were lots of smart overcoats on the handsome men in the cast; always a beautiful site.

Second, on bookselling... It's with sadness I heard about the closing of Sarasota News and Books. Admittedly, living 4000 miles away makes me a pretty poor customer but I do try to stop in there (mostly through homage to the original bookstore on this spot, Charlie's News) when in town. Unfortunately visiting this store was more out of something to do than the resolution to a book search. I mostly found people chilling in the cafe and browsing, staff either flirting with customers or being aloof, but little buying. My only proper book search there turned out to be a disappointment (OK, my standards are rather high...I am a librarian afterall). I was reviewing the cookbooks and three very old gossip mags hidden behind a one of the titles. That showed me two things; one, that their magazine inventory isn't incredibly robust and two, that the shelves hadn't been strict tidied in about 12 weeks. Regardless, RIP Sarasota News and Books. You'll be missed and remembered. The thing I'll remember most is when one of your staff members (who we will leave nameless, as not to embarrass), when asking what I did for a living and hearing I was a librarian, asked if I ever had sex in the bookstacks in the library. What more can I say?