Web Tool: iConcert

I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful little add-on for iTunes — it's called iConcert. It produces a calendar of up-coming concerts for artists in your iTunes library. It's mighty handy, and because it's a plug-in for iTunes, everything is tidy and in one place. And it's even available for those folks on a Windows machine.

I first read about it at Lifehacker, way back in January. Better late than never, eh?

Charing Cross Road & The History Boys | Part V of Driving to London

So after a trying and equally delightful first day back in England, I was ready for a solid night's sleep… which is exactly what I got. So I got up bright and early, and lazed about the flat for an hour or so — eating breakfast, catching some of the odder moments of English television programming, and showering — before hitting the streets of London.

The plan for the day?

A cruise up and down Charing Cross Road and where ever else my feet my take me. The road divides the Covent Garden area to the east and SoHo to the West neatly, and snakes through the theater district and Chinatown… and it's famous for it's myriad bookshops. The last being my main attraction to the road, and the thing which first brought me here many years ago during my first visit to London.

So with a little breakfast in my gut, I headed-out. The day was cool and bright — perfect for a walk — and the stones were damp and clean from an evening's rain. I wandered back up to where Mihaela and I had walked the evening before and snapped some photos, then followed a number of small alleys over to Leicester Station. It was early, and everything was shuttered, and only a few shop keeps were out getting their displays ready for the day's business. So I did a lot of window shopping (my favorite kind!), and walked and re-walked most of the paths that criss-cross the neighborhood.

I noticed, early-on, that The History Boys was showing in the neighborhood, and decided to grab a ticket when the box office opened at eleven. In the mean time, I wandered… going into book and curio shops as they opened one-by-one, finally returning to the theater at 11 and snagging a ticket for the night's show.

From the theater, I walked a few steps down to St Martin's Spice and had a delightful lunch of curries and papadams… and then my walk up Charing Cross began in earnest, and I visited every book seller that caught my interest. Somewhere along the way, I called Mihaela, and we met-up at her school office, and spent a little while together before I headed to the theater.

The show was heart-breaking, thought-provoking, and amazing… and I purchased a theater edition of the book and headed out around the back of the theater to take one of the alleys back to the flat. It was a fortuitous choice, and I saw the cast exiting the backstage door. But I was too shy to ask for any autographs, as I didn't have a pen. I vowed to return.

The evening ended with dinner in the flat, and a little television while I wound-down from the day's excitement.

Next Stop: A Dinner Party!
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Photos from this leg of the trip can be found at my flickr account... starting with this photo I took of a mail truck.

Back from London

So, I've just returned from a short vacation across the pond in London. It was a wonderful (WONDERFUL!) trip... and I can't thank my bud Gareth enough for hosting me nor Mihaela enough for taking time off here-and-there to play.

The trip, strangely enough, began by driving to Los Angeles — with a stop-over in Las Vegas to see my sister and her family — to wish an old roommate well on the eve of his wedding. I then took-off from LAX for a flight to London with a stop-over in Chicago. I had hoped to attend church with Mihaela Sunday morning, but snow delays in Chicago and two hours spent in London customs (good GRIEF) nipped that in the bud. Instead, I went straight for Gareth's and a short nap. After that, I walked the city a bit and then met-up with Mihaela to show her around a bit (this wasn't my first time to London, and she hooted that she should be showing her around... but she enjoyed getting the night off from playing tour guide). The plane ride wasn't all bad, of course... I met a delightful woman named Felicia, on her way to London with a pal before heading to South Africa on Fullbright.


MONDAY

I woke well-rested and set-out to see some more of the city. I focused on the book sellers of Charing Cross Road, and picked-up tickets to see the London production of History Boys, that night. Lunched at a wonderful little tandoori restaurant called Saint Martin's Spice, then headed over to the London Business School to see Mihaela before returning to Covent Garden for the play.


TUESDAY

Slept like a baby again, and woke to Gareth fumbling with his keys as he returned from his week-end out-of-town. I had accidentally locked him out. I was installed comfortably in his bed, so he crashed on the couch for an spell before he headed in to the office (OUCH!). After my morning routine, I set-out to do a little food shopping for a dinner party Gareth and I were hosting that night...

The whole day was a lot of fun — shopping, cooking, and chatting the night away.


WEDNESDAY

Wednesday morning, I took it slowly — I hate to rush while on holiday — and didn't get out of the flat until after one. From there, I hoofed it up to the New London Architecture... and shot plenty of photos on my stroll. After drooling over all the amazing maps and maquettes, I hopped the tube back over to Baker Street to catch-up with Mihaela. We chatted, then took the tube out to Notting Hill, where Manu (her amazing boyfriend) joined us for a walk up to this amazing little book store that specializes in food literature and cookbooks. I'd found it on my last trip to London, and was determined to return.

From there we headed down to Victoria Station and the Apollo Victoria to see Wicked. I flirted with Adam, one of the theater workers while they ran-off to find some pizza for Manu (no complaints), and then we settled-in for a delightful evening of song, dance, and deciphering.


THURSDAY

My last day in London wasn't as sunny as the rest of my trip... but no bother. I packed in the morning, then walked over to St Jermyn to do some clothes shopping, and then up to the Marlybone high street to window-shop a spell. Gareth met me there for dinner at Fish Works — and he treated, which was especially nice.


FRIDAY

Breakfast at Paul with Gareth, then a tube ride to Heathrow and my 11am direct flight to LAX. The plane ride was nice... no new friends made, but I did catch edited versions of Running with Scissors and Little Miss Sunshine. So no complaints... landed in LAX and spent 15 minutes in customs (way to GO!)... and then six HOURS snarled in LA traffic. Ugh. I had hoped to sleep at my sister's in Las Vegas, but I was full-on hallucinating in Victorville, so I got a hotel.


SATURDAY

Got into Las Vegas at 9am and spent the morning with my sister, my niece, a nephew, and one of his best friends. Sissy treated us all to lunch at PF Chang (I had never been before) before I hit the road one last time... and I finally collapsed in my very own bed last night at 10 pm.

That's not all I have to say, of course, but that's enough for now... pictures and more stories to follow!

:)


PS... Now that I'm back, I can let it out of the box that the poem The Frail Light of Light is a short homage (no pun intended) to the men of London... which means I've changed the word "subway" to "tube".