Notes on a riot....

In case you haven't guessed yet, I lead a comfortable, pleasant middle-class life (for evidence, see my 10 best things about London below). For the most part, my choice of where to live, work, and spend time is, knowingly, what N and I call in the "Guardian bubble". There is another, less safe, less pleasant London out there, but it's mainly in my best interest to stay they heck out of there. Though London is interestingly mixed up (you can be on a posh shopping street one minute, and turn the corner onto a council estate), you instinctively get a feel for where you belong and where you don't.

And in general London's two solitudes of haves and have-nots live in a state of entente cordiale: we know that the other group is there, but as long as we ignore them and they ignore us, everything is fine, right? (See James Meek for a much better illustration of what I'm talking about.) Never mind that, especially for young people, being poor and under-educated is a horrible trap, even here in this most beautiful and interesting of cities. What's to be done?

Around every two months I head off to a dingy community hall with a bunch of other professionals from businesses small and large. We're there to support the Spear Course: an initiative to help unemployed young people gain the life skills and confidence to help them into the mainstream work world. What we're there for is to be 'mock interviewers' - we're each paired up with a young person, and we go through a few rounds of interviewing them and giving them feedback on where they could improve. It's a surprisingly moving experience for interviewers and interviewees alike: for us, it's one of the only opportunities to actually connect with the sorts of young people who might intimidate us on the streets otherwise and realise that they have the potential to be smart, good, hard-working kids if given the right chance. And I always get a feeling that for the interviewees their experience with us might well be one of the only times they've had an adult conversation with someone who isn't a teacher or a parent or from their immediate community. For them it is a glimpse into the other world that you and I inhabit so effortlessly: a decent job, being treated with respect because of your achievements and talents, having the potential to move up the career ladder and plan for the future.

When you interview one of the Spear students they choose for you an example job that they'd like to have; their choices are almost heartbreakingly practical: I've recently interviewed two young women who both wanted to work in a boarding kennel for dogs. And it makes you think: if these young people are having such a hard time getting entry-level jobs like these, there's something horribly wrong somewhere. This financial crisis might be more than just a VAT raise and slightly lower house prices in West London.

The instructors at Spear tell us that the young people we're speaking to are battling issues that we in the other world couldn't imagine: some of them don't have very good literacy, numeracy or conversation skills, thanks to a lifetime of poor schooling at inner-city sink schools. Many of them have never been around people with jobs and haven't learned the rewards and confidence that come from working. And a few of them think that life is just about 'getting and spending' - what's the point of working if it doesn't immediately result in a life full of money and bling? Why start on the bottom rung?

What happened this week in this wonderful city was disgraceful and horrible and deserves to be condemned. There was no excuse for it happening this time, and no excuse if it ever happens again. However, to me it felt like a bolt across the bow from the other world - a horribly fashioned cry for participation in something other than the script that's been already written. Those who did wrong this week deserve punishment. But the rest of those in the parallel universe need our acknowledgment and our help: as our world has become marginally worse due to the financial crisis, theirs has become more difficult than ever.

10 years in London

...and here are the 10 best things about living here. Totally subjective. And true - in no particular order until we get to the last, most important, one.

1. The weather

This is controversial as I am writing this on a very wet and windy July evening, after a day of being blustered about in a raincoat. However, as someone who has lived places both very hot (Houston, Texas, when I was a little 'un) and very cold (Edmonton, Canada) I'm like Goldilocks - I like stuff in the middle best. And London's temperate, soft weather is just right for me. It's never too hot or too cold and, if you have a few layers, a brolly and a mackintosh, you'll be fine. There is no inherent risk in the weather here - you won't die of thirst in the heat, or get buried in a snowdrift. The chances of the bus doing a unplanned 360-degree spin on an icy road is very low. It might be a little damp, and a bit dreary sometimes. But it's predictable, mild, and sort of fun to grumble about.

2. The restaurant scene

I'm one of those people who can never truly be unhappy. And that is because there is a breakfast, lunch or dinner in my future. Or some sort of interesting ethnic cuisine to try. Or a kind of cheese I've not tried before. Or a pastry...(I could go on). London is great for people who love to eat. I know you might be thinking that it's all overpriced fish and chips and full Englishes, and you can still find that if it's what you're after. But in the 10 years I've been here I've seen London transformed from a place where foodies felt a bit sheepish about their passion, to a town which cultivates and embraces the food-obsessed. Oh, and the restaurants I've loved the most in the 10 years are The Gate in Hammersmith for fab vegetarian fusion, The Belvedere in Holland Park (pictured), for an impressive date night in beautiful surrounds, Koya, for amazing Udon at shared tables in Soho, and I also must confess to a secret passion for London's version of a diner chain: there are a few outlets of Richoux dotted throughout the city where you can eat fishcakes and neck sav blanc in a room that's probably not changed since William Morris's time...

3. Wimbledon

OK so I come from a tennis-obsessed family so I'm biased here (you probably already know my standard story about my tennis genes: inherited from Great Aunt Nina who was in the 1939 mixed doubles final at Wimbledon, passed down through the generations to dyspraxic me: hence a tennis-watching gene only, but it'll do) but the world's best tennis tournament is just two stops on the tube away from home! And I've been three times! And I saw Nadal! And Wimbledon is always good: I love the ceremony, the tradition, the way it's both completely up to date and timeless, the way the sound of tennis balls on grass courts means summer, sweetness and a little bit of melancholy.

4. Buses

I'm not ashamed to tell you - I love taking the bus. There is nothing better than piling on to a double decker, climbing up to the top deck, and spending a while just staring out the window, at the city which never ends, at people and places you've never seen before, at all of the architecture and history. It's slow travel at its very best. I've become somewhat of a bus boffinette over the years: name a route and I'll tell you where it's going. Oh, and if you're looking for some scenic routes might I suggest the 9, from Hammersmith to Piccadilly, the 15 from Paddington to Liverpool Street, and the 4, from Archway to Waterloo.

5. The streets

The city where I spent most of my childhood and adolescence was very modern. We had almost no street names: instead the clinical, understandable and soulless grid system, which dooms most modern North American cities to being all likey-likey. In London it's really easy to get lost. And so you need to spend time with your A-Z, getting to know the streets and alleys - and you get to know their names. Angel Walk, Queensway, Cowcross Street, Poultry, Bleeding Heart Yard...

6. History is here with you

It's an obvious reason to like this city. Churchill walked the streets and watched the Blitz from his rooftop. Elizabeth I had strategy meetings in the hall where I got married. London is a patchwork of stories: modern and ancient and anytime in between: stories told in blue plaques and architecture and place names.

7. Having afternoon tea at a posh hotel

Bliss. Sandwiches, scones, pastries, silver teapots and tea strainers, waiters sliding back and forth refilling your tea, sitting at a banquette in an extraordinary interior, modern or traditional. A little bit of ultimate luxury for a few hours, which leaves you feeling like you're in a novel or a film. BTW my favourites so far (I've still got lots to try: I'm gradually working through all of the London hotels recommended by the Tea Council) are the Langham (pictured) for contemporary patisserie and an art deco vibe, and Brown's for scrummy sandwiches, relaxation and an open fire.

8. Green spaces

Visit NYC or Chicago or even Paris and you'll find greenery mainly in big civic parks. We've got those here in London in spades, but we've also got heaths, gardens squares, commons, and just about any other variety of green. One of the great advantages of all of this greenery is that even though you're living in one of the west's biggest cities, you don't feel far away from the natural world. Nature is always here - where I live there are blackbirds, robins and wood pigeons singing in our shared back garden, and I can walk for 5 minutes and see herons and cormorants shaking their feathers down on the riverbank, and sometimes after dark you see the shining eyes of foxes in the bushes. (photo is of the lovely Chelsea Physic Garden btw!)

9. Concerts

London has a great music scene. Everyone plays here. When I first moved here I'd drag N along to just about anything because I was so overwhelmed by it all. However, there's more to love than just the depth and breadth of what you can see any night, because London concert venues can be pretty special too: I've seen gigs everywhere from the Royal Albert Hall to Wilton's Music Hall. Quite often what we'll go see depends on where they're playing... some personal favourites include Bush Hall (pictured), Wigmore Hall and pretty much any of the venues at the South Bank Centre. Some memorable gigs in the 10 years include Pink Martini at the Roundhouse, Joe Henry at the Bush Hall, Death Cab for Cutie at the Dublin Castle (tiny pub: this was before anyone over here knew who they were!), Liza Minelli at the Albert Hall (yes!) and REM at the Hammersmith Apollo.

10. London is for everyone

And this is the most important thing and what's really kept me here for 10 years: London is really fabulously inclusive. People from all around the world live here. People with all sorts of accents live here. You can do pretty much what you want (within the law, of course) and be who you want and no one bats an eyelash. I worried when I first moved here that I'd always feel 'foreign' and too aware of being only half-English, with a funny old voice, too sibilant on the S's and stuck somewhere between Texas and the middle of the Atlantic. But London doesn't care. London just wants you to be here, and be part of it all. If you are lucky enough to be able to live here. London will have you. There is a London which is for you...

2010 in review - 12 days too late!

Why hello there - I'm impressed that you're still reading.

2010 was in many ways a great year because nothing happened. Life was the same and it was fine: London as interesting as ever, work OK, all of that. No big upsets, no drama. The best moment was somewhere in the Swiss Alps on a train. The worst was becoming completely disillusioned by a political party, after finally letting myself 'get political' here in the UK after nearly 10 years of living here. See previous post for optimism and idealism: that's all gone now.

Here's what I liked...

Movies

This was not a great year for film to be honest. The blockbusters (Iron-Man 2, Inception) were dissapointing and there was only a scattering of indie films on the scene and they. And they were mostly boring. However, I did really love "The Kids are Allright" for showing an America completely free from gun nuts, Glen Beck and social networking. Oh, and speaking of social networking, "The Social Network" was pretty snappy as well.

Other winners included "The Secret in their Eyes" - a moody, stylish thriller from Argentina and "Please Give" - featuring some pleasantly neurotic New Yorkers.

Music:

Oh god was this my most apathetic music-year yet? I am very tentatively slightly creeping back into it due to Spotify, but in 2010 I really found myself lost beneath a lot of old stuff and struggling to find new stuff I really connected with. For what it's worth, I liked the new Goldfrapp, and the new Pink Martini, and my Spotify outings with Broken Bells and The Clientele have been pretty satisfying so far.

Gig-wise, I'd have to vouch for the Kate McGarrigle tribute concert at the Festival Hall. As you can imagine it was pretty emotional, but funny, sweet and beautiful too.

Art:

Another year of dissapointing blockbusters, especially concerning those two old friends, Van Gogh and Gaugin. But there were some gems, specifically Alice Neel at the Whitechapel, Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde at the Tate and Decode: Digital Design Sensations at the V&A. I am so geeky that I saw Decode twice!

Books:


I'm looking forward to getting completely stuck into my new Kindle in 2011 and not having to worry about waiting for the paperback - liberation!

The only real 'published in 2010' book I can think of that I'd recommend wholeheartedly is Barbara Demick's "Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea", which was completely fascinating and heartbreaking. I also quite liked a few other recent books, like Lionel Schriver's The Post-Birthday World (which led to an ongoing minor obsession with watching snooker on TV), The Song Before it is Sung, by Justin Cartwright and Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger.

My best book memory of 2010 is sitting in the middle of the Thames at the Teddington locks, reading Dodie Smith's 'I Capture the Castle', which, though it's from 1948, was definitely the best thing I read all year. If you haven't read it you need to!

Food and hotels and other stuff:

Food-wise my best dinners were are The Glasshouse in Kew for my birthday dinner, and a slap-up meal that I won (thanks NomNomNom and @anniemole) at 2-Michelin starred Le Gavroche - I am still thinking about the passionfruit souffle with hand scooped white chocolate ice-cream. Yum! Oh, and I've had a few memorable dim sum outings at Pearl Liang in Paddington: have the wasabi prawn dumplings and seafood noodles.

Outside of London, I think my best meal was at Cafe Italiano in beautiful Florence.

Best afternoon tea was at old-skool family owned hotel The Goring, which was a pleasant surprise. And N thought that some American tourists mistook me for a minor celeb. So that was exciting too.

As far as hotels go, I have a new favourite in the UK and it's Cotswold House in Chipping Campden, which serves up a wonderfully relaxed country-townhouse feel without any attitude. Rooms are great, the food's awesome and the spa is lovely, and you can do any amount of beautiful walks from there. Do go!

Righty-ho - that's about it for 2010: year of stasis. You could say stagnation, but a lovely stagnation. Time to bring on the drama for 2011!

May 6 2010

It's been a while. Don't worry, I've still got an accent.

I've brought the blog out of semi-retirement tonight because it's a big occasion here in the UK - election night.

As of July I will have lived in the UK for 9 years. I'm lucky enough to be a citizen, thanks to dear old dad, and it's been a great place to live for the past most of a decade.

You can say what you like about New Labour (and there's a lot to say, believe me.), but the country I've lived in since 2001 is one which is prosperous and modern, with a great health service, decent transport, and a meaningful role on the world stage. The past few years of this century have been rockier than the early ones, but the country has stood up surprisingly well in the face of the financial meltdown, and, interestingly, having a little bit less has brought Britons back to their core values: fairness, keeping calm, and a genuine relish for the 'make do and mend' way of life.

We've now come to the end of a surprisingly exciting election campaign, and I dearly hope that tomorrow morning the country (my country?) wakes up to a continued period of progressive politics (helped, in no small part by my party of choice, the Liberal Democrats.) Britain is a fair and progressive country, and it's been horrible, over the past weeks, to see how much scaremongering the popular (and especially Murdoch) press has been up to. Especially around the issue of immigration. Britons, we are better than this. Tell me you can see through it.

And so, here I am - hovering somewhere between outside and inside, feeling like part of the electorate, but also acutely aware of the distance between me and the bulk of the country. But it's that outsider view that has let me see how genuinely, well, wonderful, Britons are - quirky, self-deprecating, smart, moderate people, who deserve politics that represent their natural commitment to fair play and decency.

End of decade part II -my top 10 albums

I must guiltily confess that this was the decade which started off with being a girl music geek obsessive...and as the years have passed this aspect of me, has, somewhat sadly diminished. Is it getting older? Is it being happier? Is it having a long-term stable relationship? For whatever reason, only a few albums (and to be honest, only a few songs) really connected with me this decade. And here they are...in no particular order expect for the last and best one.

Furnace Room Lullaby - Neko Case & Her Boyfriends (2000)
Songs of heartache and trauma by Patsy Cline's rightful heir. None of her other albums compare.

Supernature - Goldfrapp (2005)
Combine 70s glam rock with electronic styles and the Frapp's ethereal voice, and you get something intense, fun, and lively

Hang on Little Tomato - Pink Martini (2004)
Eclectic mix of retro 50s jazz and latin styling for the new millenium

Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains of Wayne (2003)
Deftly penned chronicles of average American lives twinned with 80s-influenced power-pop & a few synth sounds. Tons of fun.

The Covers Record - Cat Power (2000)
The rawness of her voice, the pared-down arrangements, the emotions conveyed....

Josh Rouse - Nashville (2005)
Jangly guitars and great songwriting from this musical polymath. I also loved his homage to the year of his birth, 1972.

And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out - Yo La Tengo (2000)
Atmospheric, thoughtful, sonic landscapes

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)
Slightly surrealist glorious harmonies from a bunch of beardy guys from the American Northwest

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema (2005)
Supercharged supercrazy Canadian power pop

and finally, my favourite album of the decade is by my favourite band of the decade...it is of course:

Plans - Death Cab for Cutie (2005)
Fantastic best ever-effort for DC4C (though it was a tight battle between this one and their previous effort, the stellar Transatlanticism) - songs heaped full of storytelling, tempo changes, and lots and lots of hooks and harmonies. If you don't have it you need it.

End of decade part I - my top 10 films

Completely subjective and I'm sure I've left lots out. But anyways...

in no particular order:

• Little Miss Sunshine.
  Loved it, and not just because I kind of look like a 30 something version of Abagail Breslin. Sweet, charming, kooky, all that. And we saw it at the Little Theatre Cinema in Bath, which added to the cosy experience
  
  
• Xmen 2
  The thinking woman's superhero film. Lots of Wolverine action didn't hurt either. I also liked The Dark Knight and Ironman a lot too, but not quite as much as X2.
  
  
• Talk to Her
  Best. Almodovar. Ever. All of the usual themes and colour are there, but this one has added depth and real feeling.
  
  
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  Soul, regret, unrequited love, and plenty of kick-ass female martial arts action. What's not to like?
  
  
• The Lives of Others
  Great German film about staying human in the face of state control.
  
  
• Together
  Fun romp through 70s Swedish utopia. Yup, things go wrong.
  
  
• Before Sunset
  In which Richard Linklater answered the 'what if' question at the end of the equally good Before Sunrise. It's also about suddenly finding yourself in your 30s...
  
  
• The Life Aquatic
  Under-rated Wes Anderson gem in which the usual kooky setup actually enhances the story and the performances. And the soundtrack of Brazilian Bowie covers is ace.
  
  
• Bright Star
  My only entry from this year - a quiet, thoughtful meditation on poetry, nature, and an interesting depiction of life in this city nearly 200 years ago.

Random cats...

Oh gosh after a rather exhausting year it looks like I am slowly learning to enjoy the web again, thanks to a very silly side project that N and I have been mucking around with. If you too follow cats around in the street, please join us at www.randomcatproject.com.

Other than that no big updates. I've broken my finger in a hotel room incident, I've been back and forth from London and the USA and Canada and right now I'm watching (ahem) dodgy live streams of the US Open tennis coz I can't bear to give Murdoch even one penny of my money. Especially after what his son said about the BBC!

And...news on the accent. It is now the accent of no country, seemingly too enounciated to accurately sound American or Canadian again (I've been working on my Ds and Ts), and too casual and vowelly to be English. Hmmm.