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coalescentWell I don't know about anyone else, but I had a pretty good day yesterday.
Into London at lunchtime to meet up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
despotliz and have lunch at a cafe just across from the British Museum that, when we asked for iced water, brought us two glasses of water and a small dish of ice cubes. Plus a spoon, naturally. The toilets were also interesting since they (a) were very narrow and (b) had motion activated hand driers. The practical upshot of which was that any time anyone went into or out of the loo, there was a brief VHWOOM sound.
After that it was on to the London Review of Books bookshop, which was smaller and more antiseptic than expected. As you might expect, though, the selection - at least, the various non-fiction - was varied and fun to browse. We didn't have time to stay long. This is probably a good thing for my wallet.
Onwards again to the Institute of Contemporary Arts where we joined up with Mike and were frankly amazed by the sprawling and massively interconnected OuBaPo (not actually online yet, but it will be), and entertained by the rubber ceiling of the computer room. Poke it, and it wobbles; disconcertingly like being underwater.
snowking joined us, then Nick and Roxanne, and by that point it was time to wander off in the direction of the Eye. On Westminster Bridge we were accosted by an art student handing out flyers for the nearby Saatchi exhibition. "Tell them my name, that I sent you. My name is Tobias," he said.
At this point, the weather was grey, and there were even a few spots of rain. On the upside, we did manage to claim some sofas in All Bar One, where I opened presents whilst waiting for others to turn up. Gotta say, people did well with the presents this year. Of particular note was the copy of the Due South pilot (not available on DVD) fromdespotliz, and the magic glowing ball from tinyjo (who was apparently under the impression that brassyn is a guy) and elleblue. And the promised copy of Fuzzy Dice from the earthling contingent. But really, they were all great.
There followed a period of waiting, enlivened by snacking on Thai chicken with sweet chilli dip and a variety of breads, and the arrival of many, many people; aside from those already mentioned, present weretruecatachresis, squigglyruth, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
domh, davehiggins ("I said I don't have a livejournal, and that's true. Now, if you'd asked me whether I had an account on livejournal.com..."), Angharad, David, Leo, Chris, Louise, Ollie, Rachel...and bringing up the rear, Clare, Gary and Louise. And I could swear I'm missing somebody off, but I can't think who. There were twenty-three of us riding on the Eye, at any rate. Naomi was ill.
Check-in was remarkably quick and easy (perks of booking a private capsule), and then it was up into the sky! And somehow, the sun came out. It was still cloudy overhead, but over to the west you could see the sun setting and it was pretty spectacular, lighting up the city in golden orange. The trip went far too fast.
Down from the Eye and off to the restaurant. On the way we lost an Oli but gained an Erica. And despite my trepidation, I thought it turned out to be a pretty good place. Maybe a little too loud, but it was the loud of people talking, not the loud of brain-hurting music. The food was extremely nice; just the right sort of spicy, warm but not hot. And considering the size of the party they were dealing with, I thought the service was fine. If there was a downside it was that we were slightly pushed for time at the end of the meal, with people having to throw money at me and run off to catch last trains. I wouldn't normally complain about people throwing money at me, but it did mean I didn't get to properly say goodbye to everyone as I would have liked to.
There was also a whistle-stop visit from Tom, who only managed to leave Oxford at ten past nine and made it to the restaurant just after eleven, and had to leave to catch a connecting train immediately. Still, the effort was appreciated.
Many people attending had digital cameras. I was not one of them. As and when photos become available, I'll link to them.
That's a hint. :-)
So, like I said, I had a pretty good day. Up there with the best of my birthdays. And I'm frankly amazed I managed to persuade that many people to come to London for the evening - cheers, everyone. It was great to see you all. Hope you enjoyed yourselves. What am I going to do next year...?
Into London at lunchtime to meet up with
despotliz and have lunch at a cafe just across from the British Museum that, when we asked for iced water, brought us two glasses of water and a small dish of ice cubes. Plus a spoon, naturally. The toilets were also interesting since they (a) were very narrow and (b) had motion activated hand driers. The practical upshot of which was that any time anyone went into or out of the loo, there was a brief VHWOOM sound.After that it was on to the London Review of Books bookshop, which was smaller and more antiseptic than expected. As you might expect, though, the selection - at least, the various non-fiction - was varied and fun to browse. We didn't have time to stay long. This is probably a good thing for my wallet.
Onwards again to the Institute of Contemporary Arts where we joined up with Mike and were frankly amazed by the sprawling and massively interconnected OuBaPo (not actually online yet, but it will be), and entertained by the rubber ceiling of the computer room. Poke it, and it wobbles; disconcertingly like being underwater.
snowking joined us, then Nick and Roxanne, and by that point it was time to wander off in the direction of the Eye. On Westminster Bridge we were accosted by an art student handing out flyers for the nearby Saatchi exhibition. "Tell them my name, that I sent you. My name is Tobias," he said.At this point, the weather was grey, and there were even a few spots of rain. On the upside, we did manage to claim some sofas in All Bar One, where I opened presents whilst waiting for others to turn up. Gotta say, people did well with the presents this year. Of particular note was the copy of the Due South pilot (not available on DVD) from
despotliz, and the magic glowing ball from tinyjo (who was apparently under the impression that brassyn is a guy) and elleblue. And the promised copy of Fuzzy Dice from the earthling contingent. But really, they were all great. There followed a period of waiting, enlivened by snacking on Thai chicken with sweet chilli dip and a variety of breads, and the arrival of many, many people; aside from those already mentioned, present were
truecatachresis, squigglyruth, domh, davehiggins ("I said I don't have a livejournal, and that's true. Now, if you'd asked me whether I had an account on livejournal.com..."), Angharad, David, Leo, Chris, Louise, Ollie, Rachel...and bringing up the rear, Clare, Gary and Louise. And I could swear I'm missing somebody off, but I can't think who. There were twenty-three of us riding on the Eye, at any rate. Naomi was ill.Check-in was remarkably quick and easy (perks of booking a private capsule), and then it was up into the sky! And somehow, the sun came out. It was still cloudy overhead, but over to the west you could see the sun setting and it was pretty spectacular, lighting up the city in golden orange. The trip went far too fast.
Down from the Eye and off to the restaurant. On the way we lost an Oli but gained an Erica. And despite my trepidation, I thought it turned out to be a pretty good place. Maybe a little too loud, but it was the loud of people talking, not the loud of brain-hurting music. The food was extremely nice; just the right sort of spicy, warm but not hot. And considering the size of the party they were dealing with, I thought the service was fine. If there was a downside it was that we were slightly pushed for time at the end of the meal, with people having to throw money at me and run off to catch last trains. I wouldn't normally complain about people throwing money at me, but it did mean I didn't get to properly say goodbye to everyone as I would have liked to.
There was also a whistle-stop visit from Tom, who only managed to leave Oxford at ten past nine and made it to the restaurant just after eleven, and had to leave to catch a connecting train immediately. Still, the effort was appreciated.
Many people attending had digital cameras. I was not one of them. As and when photos become available, I'll link to them.
That's a hint. :-)
So, like I said, I had a pretty good day. Up there with the best of my birthdays. And I'm frankly amazed I managed to persuade that many people to come to London for the evening - cheers, everyone. It was great to see you all. Hope you enjoyed yourselves. What am I going to do next year...?
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no subject
Date: 2003-06-28 11:42 am (UTC)tinyjo (who was apparently under the impression that brassyn is a guy)
!!
I'm a girl!
Photos
Date: 2003-06-29 02:19 pm (UTC)That's a hint. :-)
The photos I took are at http://www.davehiggins.org.uk/photos/range.shtml?user=dave&range=4343-4348