Been very lazy - sorry all - here are my postings (from bebo) to cover the 2 weeks:

Divine Decadence
OH MY GOODNESS...I SAW LIZA MINNELLI!!!

I was walking to work in Berwick Street and there she was, in her standard uniform of a black velour tracksuit, jet black hair and telltale shake/tremble. My jaw nearly hit the floor. I messaged Mum straight away as she is a huge Liza fan. Coincidently I am off to see Cabaret on Saturday.

Little else to report from here. Hope to watch the ARL Grand Final on Sunday at the Slug & Lettuce in Fulham even though I am not too sure who is playing...Very excited that the new baby (Justine and Patrick's - not mine...) is nearly here - there is so much fabulous baby stuff to buy here - I must show restraint.

Another Friday in London
Well Michael and I sang and danced up a storm this morning, well ok, I sang and Michael laughed. We exhausted all show tune and musical options on youtube - we had Bassey, Rent, Sinatra, Cats, Chicago, Cabaret, Susperstar to name a few. Look out Broadway.

Back at work now - grr. Had a nice afternoon peruse in Primemark, or shall I say Primarni as Nikki calls it - bless the shop that sells HOT red flats for eight quid.

Random London sighting today - smack bang in the middle of Oxford Street there are spots for cabs to park. Imagine a little space for cabs to park in the middle of George Street in Sydney. Madness.Lara sent me a text yesterday describing Oktoberfest as the easter show with beer and lots of slapping - good times!

Midnight Madness
At work last night (in fact this morning - bless the graveyard shift) some of the staff came back to the office after farewell drinks to scam their free cab home - that's the spirit. Dear Jamie had started rather early and gone pretty hard i.e. he was asleep! In a moment of sober clarity (I was the only sober one - what an insane feeling that was), I decided it was time to draw on his face. I started with a simple "Hi" then the boys took over with some other not-so-nice-words. The floodgates were seemingly open so I follwed suit by drawing the obligatory penis near the mouth sketch. I felt like I was in a teen movie!Best part was that Lisa and I got to see Jamie and his brother Charles home in the same cab, so we got to laugh at him for an extended period! Charles was far more contained so he got to relish in it as well.Once again, London brings out the maturity in us all...


Life is a cabaret old chum
Loved Cabaret, even though the Sydney production was alot better and some of the performers voices were drowned by the music - it is simply one of the best shows ever and one cannot be disappointed.On Sunday some filthy thing decided to imbed itself in my eye and there it stayed for the better part of the afternoon, burning like an inferno! Good times. Thank goodness I had nurse Briony on hand to take care of me.Got to work at Motion Control today which is the production part of things (I am usually in post production) - it was good to see a different stage of the whole process, and it is MUCH calmer there than back at the Rushes offices.Waiting for news about the baby - Juz has been induced so I am eagerly looking at my phone every two seconds for the call from Granny Franny in Oz.


I AM AN AUNTIE
Justine and Patrick are the proud parents of little Isabel - not so little in fact - she was 9 odd pounds! Dark hair and eyes and just beautiful, of course. Mum and Bub are doing well.Am yet to speak to Mum but she will no doubt be doing cartwheels - she finally got a little girl after all these boys...


Grumbling in the rain
London is grey and wet. People's faces have dropped, umbrellas are a weapon and body parts are numb... I had a classic London moment as a black cab sped past and splashed a puddle the size of an olympic swimming pool, on me.

I have been raving on about my neice to anyone who will listen - I am doing a Fran! Everyone loves the pictures and agrees that she is beautiful. Bless.

Katie and I are in planning mode for Scotland and Ireland - how good it feels to be making travel plans again - GET US OUT OF DREARY LONDON NOW. I will stay on a bit in Ireland to do Belfast as well - really keen to see the difference from Ireland to Northern Ireland.

Plans for Paris are also underway albeit at a slower pace - damn travelling in a group. Have visions of us breaking into Edith Piaff (that was her name, right???) tunes after a few too many reds. Pam and Stevie will be over from Oz as well which will be fabulous.Stay tuned for more cranky ramblings, the direct result of this morbid weather.


Latest happenings in Old London Town
The battle lines were drawn last Thursday, Aussies versus Poms, and I was one man down with Lisa still crook at home. The silly boys at work think it is hilarious to say I am a convict and to bring back penal colonies etc etc. My weaponry words of choice revolve round our amazing country and climate etc etc, but they would not give up, insisting how lowly I was because I am from 'convict stock'. I began to point out to them that this too is English stock hence little difference in us - all comes back to Brits. This simple concept was lost on them - I stopped so as not to confuse the poor darlings.

Another regime that has infiltrated the Rushes kitchen is The GBK regime aka We-are-becoming-addicted-to-the-fabulous-Gourmet-Burger-Kitchen-and-are-ordering-it-for-dinner-way-too-much! See pics in my photos.

Walking home on Friday night I saw a curious site for the first time since arriving in London - street urinals. Not public toilets or those semi-enclosed urinals, simply a plastic frame that makes 4 joined urinals. When nature calls eh...

As I was standing on the platform at Piccadilly after my urinal education, I looked down at the tracks to see LOTS of tiny rats running along the tracks. We all know my aversion to rats but I remained surprisingly calm. There were quite a few, racing round like there was no tomorrow - theory does say there are more rats in London than people.

Next intriguing moment of my journey home from work on Friday was the activities only one street away from my own - police everywhere, yellow tape ropping off the street, broken glass and a big crowd. I was too embarrassed to ask what had happened but the street was still taped off the next day and night with police mingling - I took a snap as Lisa and I were making our way to the movies (Devil Wears Prada - good stuff). We didn't see anything in the paper, but another domestic/stabbing/shooting/fight no doubt. A bit desensitised to the crime now. Right near work today a street was quardoned off with police guard and the forensics crew taking evidence at the scene - in the jumpsuits like proper CSI workers. In such a big and populated city, you actually see such crime in front of you, wheras in Sydney it is less apparent.

I had a great day yesterday visiting Holly and Lucy - had been way too long but we made up for it and didn't draw breath. Lucy has wonderfully organised more tickets for me tonight, this time to Wicked, so full reports tomorrow. Alyssa is as gorgeous as ever - she loves her hummous and pita bread for dipping - very sophisticated, especially in comparison to the Vege sandwiches and chips that our pre-school lunches comprised of! Very cute.

Ali received a delivery of Mint Slice biscuits from home - mmm...