The Underground Man

London from the air

I visited London today and saw it from the air.

There is a relatively new icon in London--the London Eye. It is a giant Ferris wheel apparatus opposite the Houses of Parliament that elevates the visitor something like 135m over the surface of the Thames.

I'm not altogether sure what I think of it. It is certainly a tourist attraction and does give one a very unusual view of the city of London. That said, I'm not convinced that I would ever ride it more than once (nor would, I imagine, most Londoners).

I've seen a lot of changes from the London I remember of the 1970s. Most for the better. The tube is cleaner, more extensive (it now goes to Heathrow), the food in the city is much, much better. On the down side, there have been huge increases in the cost of living, the cost of homes have gone out of sight, public drunkeness has taken a serious upswing, and a lot of ugly architecture has been created (one very odd structure looks like an egg stood on end--60 floors high--it's nicknamed "The Ghurkin").

Having seen a lot of "question time"--where the Prime Minister has to account for his actions in front of the Parliament and answer questions--I remain convinced that the Parliamentary system, as practiced here, is far superior to the American system of government.

One just cannot get to be leader of a party, and Prime Minister, without having a brain and being able to think on one's feet. Some might argue that President Bush shows this is no longer (if it has ever been in the American system) a prime criteria for being leader of the free world but I think it should be.

To France..

Well, I remain completely unsure of my job efforts here in the UK. I have had extensive interviews (something like a dozen) with an interactive agency here and I still don't know if I'll be offered a position.

I am, however, off to Paris for the weekend. I leave tomorrow on the Eurostar (such a brilliant train) and will be back Monday afternoon. Too short a visit, in my opinion, but since I have to sleep on a friend's couch, it's probably best.

Now if I can just squeeze in a visit to my French bank, and pick up some good foie gras, I'll be a happy man (of course, visiting my friends is a big priority).

A visit to Duxford

I visited Duxford last weekend with my cousins. The Duxford site is one of the campuses of the Imperial War Museum. This campus is north of London, in the Cambridge area and was an active aerodrome during the WWII (the American 8th Air Force was based there I believe).

To someone who had grown up steeped in the legends of Nelson, Wellington, and the heroes of the Battle of Britain this was a memorable visit. It was a perfect English summer day. Blue skies, puffy clouds, 70+ degrees. Much the same as it was in the summer of 1940 when the battle was fought. One can just imagine, hearing the sound of a Spitfire and a Hurricane warming up their motors, what it might have been like when Duxford was an active aerodrome. Pretty romantic stuff.

The Imperial War Museum is England's museum devoted to the wars of the 20th century. Unlike just about any other museum I can think of, it actively works to preserve and restore functioning war machines. This includes, at Duxford, main battle tanks and armored cars as well as WWI and WWII vintage aircraft.

There is a major air show coming up shortly (the anniversary of the D-Day landings) and so we were fortunate enough to see some of the warbirds warming up for the show. They have huge restoration and conservation hangars there (restoration is returning to flying condition, conservation is preserving for exhibition only) and they allow visitors to walk through all of them.

There is a new hangar on the field just to house some of the American planes, including both a B-52D and an SR-71 Blackbird. They have removed the motors from the Blackbird and I was able to get within a couple of feet of it for a nice photo. I've got to say the safety-wiring is as good as anything I could do.

To my untutored eye there is quite a difference in the apparent complexity of the two motors. Yet, they both propelled planes at Mach 1.3 or better (I think the maximum "acknowledged" speed of the Blackbird is Mach 2.5). Both have titanium skins. Very cool technology. Sad to think that neither is flying anymore. But the U2 still is. Weird, eh?

Hangar 1 used to be the main hangar and now that a lot of stuff has been moved out it is home to one of the original Concorde prototypes. I'm looking forward, on my return to Seattle, to visiting the Boeing museum and seeing the one that was just flown in there. This one at Duxford was either the 2nd or 3rd produced and was an instrument testbed. I saw a huge radiation detector just aft of the cockpit. A sign next to it explained that they were not sure how much radiation the passengers would receive while the plane cruised at altitude (about 60,000 ft).

Take a gander at the cockpit of the prototype. It is stunningly complex. My uncle (who works evaluating commercial airline simulators) has a poster of an Airbus cockpit on his office wall). From here I can see maybe one dozen controls on the cockpit firewall for pilots to fiddle with. A huge difference (as one might expect) in thirty years.

One looks at the cockpits of vintage planes (like the Spitfire) and sees the huge complexity of the 60s-90s planes and now the new simplicity of modern planes. Why do we have to keep learning that simplicity enhances performance?

The Royal Mail

I didn't realize that the US Postal Service was a private entity. Somehow, I perceive d that it was owned and operated by the US Government. Apparently not the case. Just when it was privatized (if it was ever government-owned) I don't know.

Apparently, the U.K.'s Royal Mail was privatized a couple of years ago. At one time, it was without doubt, the best government agency, allowing for several daily deliveries in the capital.

During the hey-day of the British Empire it was possible to send letters back and forth in the capital in a single day. So one could write to invite someone to lunch at one's club, have it declined, write to suggest meeting for dinner, and have it accepted. All this is in a single day.

Unfortunately, the Royal Mail has fallen on hard times. Adam Crozier, who so badly mismanaged the Premiership as their Chief Executive, has taken the post of Chief Executive with the Royal Mail. Shortly thereafter, they dropped the second daily delivery of mail in an effort to cut costs (the service is running seriously in the red at the moment--this is an unintentional joke--the Royal Mail's livery is bright red).

In any event, a recent expose on the TV related how a percentage of mail goes missing each day and how badly postal workers treat the mail in the process of handling it (a reporter got a job with the Mail and secretly videoed some of the goings-on).

This has led to a huge uproar and the BBC commentator pointedly asked Crozier the other morning whether he would offer up his job as payment if the 1st-class letter service didn't improve. In a recent test conducted by the BBC, only 58% arrived in one day, the Royal Mail's own measure of acceptable service. (Their target is 92.5%).

A consumer group, Postwatch, watches the performance of the Royal Mail very closely and reports to the government regulator (put in place because the delivery of mail has been opened up to competition).

All in all, I think it's a good thing to move services into the private sector. I still think that they need regulation (but then my uncle would violently disagree I'm sure). I can just imagine what a monopolistic service might charge for access to mail that you had to have delivered.

But wait, we have examples of that already, don't we?

Just look at Microsoft.

Where will the spinning wheel stop?

I'm off to play golf on a lovely English summer afternoon.

While I play my fate (employment-wise) is being decided. After about 15 hrs of interviews they are having a meeting to decide whether I am going to have a job here.

With any luck I'll be able to forget about it for an afternoon while I try to break 90 (though after a long winter layoff I suspect that is a forlorn hope).

A Nation of Gardeners

It's funny. I remember from my history lessons that the French (probably Napoleon) disparaged the English as a "nation of shopkeepers".

I don't think that's quite accurate. From what I have seen of modern England, it would be much more accurate to call England a nation of gardeners. Many DIY (do it yourself) shows have at least some element of how to improve your garden, and in most of the home shows the garden is a key element (even if it is postage-stamp sized).

It seems like the English middle class (such as they have here) pay lots of attention to the upkeep of their yard, choices of flowers, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the factors dividing the population from the latest immigrants. (Somewhat understandably, if you're hungry or looking for a place to sleep the garden is not at the forefront of your mind).

Then again, perhaps my perception is colored by living out in the country (at the moment).

Daily Mirror editor sacked

Interesting.

There is still a culture of personal responsibility here in the UK (unlike the US, unfortunately). About a fortnight ago, the Daily Mirror (one of the capitol's major newspapers) published photos of British troops abusing a prisoner on their front page. This was the day after the first pictures of American GIs abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib were published.

It turns out that they were faked (this is not to say that abuses haven't happened, just that the troopers haven't been stupid enough to provide photographic evidence). Conclusive proof came out yesterday morning and by evening the board of directors of the paper had sacked the paper's editor, Piers Morgan.

He has been quite a figure of celebrity this last couple of weeks, going so far as to insist that even if the photos were faked, they "represented" what had actually happened in British-controlled prisons in Iraq and that he would not step down. There had been numerous calls for him to do so in the event that they were proved to be fake.

My point is that there has been an expectation that he would step down in the event that the paper had been hoaxed (as they appear to have been; they didn't create the photos themselves, they merely bought them). I don't think I'm wrong in suggesting that that would be a highly unusual action for an American editor.

Then again to contradict myself, didn't the editor of the NY Times get the sack when one of his writers was proved to have fabricated stories over an extended period of time?

Censorship in the US

I just found an interesting article in the Guardian about US censorship of news concerning the prosecution of the Iraq war.

This, of course, is becoming more of an issue with the probable release of even more horrific pictures from the torture garden of Abu Ghraib.

Quite a few psychological studies have been done on the subject of how people can be brought to torture others. I think key in most (if not all) of these is permission/encouragement from figures of authority.

I am surprised that the US military is not prosecuting this more completely (and perhaps more openly) but I would warrant that this is because of the political ramifications to the Bush government (and their bid for reelection).

The unfortunate base truth is that these sort of things will most likely go on in every war. In fact, they are possibly necessary to the successful prosecution of some aspects of modern warfare. But it would seem that this wasn't a professional operation, run to break the spirit of professional terrorists but rather more a "Lord of the Flies" sort of thing--a bunch of young, ignorant American GIs operating under the color of authority.

What puzzles me is that Rummy and Co. thought they could keep it under wraps. There must be some overweaning arrogance at work..

Barbarism and the Iraq War

This post is under the election category 'cause we were brought this war by GW Bush and Co.

I was reading some commentary in the London papers yesterday and this morning about the murder of Nicholas Berg. The thought came to me: how is this any different from the murder of some 22 prisoners in American care at Abu Ghraib (and other facilities in Iraq)? They didn't die of natural causes. They were tortured to death. At least Berg died relatively quickly (as opposed to being beaten and suffering for hours).

While I deplore Berg's murder and would love to see his killers caught and punished, I can see why the Muslim/Arab world sees this as nothing more than "payment in kind".

Don't get me wrong. I'll all for hunting down and exterminating terrorists. But I feel like this war has drifted very far from any claim that we are in there to "help Iraqis set up a democracy" (my words). We are now an occupying force, unwanted by the vast majority of Iraqis. Since they are relatively blameless in the regime of Sadaam Hussein (indeed, we kept him in power as long as it served our interests) we should leave their country to them.

Except of course for those lovely oil fields.

Elgin Marbles in the British Musuem

I saw the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum a couple of years ago. They were brought back to England in the very early years of the 19th century by Lord Elgin. "Looted" is perhaps not too strong a term, as Greece was under the Ottoman boot at the time and the Turks gave Elgin permission to take the marbles. They are key sculptures from the Parthenon (and other structures in Athens) and have been a bone of contention between the Greek and British governments for probably 150 years.

The Guardian recently had an article on a debate over the return at the Oxford Union (the world's most famous debating society). It seems like sentiment is running about 2-1 for returning the marbles (though those worthies representing the British Museum's point of view withdrew from the debate feeling it was rigged).

Personally, I think I tend toward the idea that the marbles should be returned. Greece is a thoroughly modern country now and given that they can provide an adequate home it would be a good gesture. (Originally one of the reasons cited for taking the marbles to England was that they couldn't be conserved in an environment where people took potshots at them.)

Of course, once the floodgates are open, where does it stop? One would have to return most of the contents of the Louvre and the British museum if country of origin and acquisition by other means than payment/gift were the controlling factor.

As far as the British Museum losing them, why not simply display copies? With our modern technology, it would easily be possible to make copies indistinguishable from the originals.

After all, isn't it the form of sculpture that we appreciate?

Steeplechasing

I did the Dick Francis thing last Sunday and went to the Steeplechase races at Plumpton. They had three forms of horse racing: hurdles, steeplechase, and flat racing.

Flat racing is the same as we have in America, except the distances are much greater (typically over 2 miles). Also, the course runs counter-clockwise on grass, not dirt.

Hurdles racing is low hurdles, spaced about 1/8 mile apart. The fence is about 3ft high.

Steeplechasing is (I'm guessing here) a simulation of the effort needed to chase foxes. So the fences are brush and are between five and six feet high. About the same spacing, maybe a little wider than the hurdles.

All the different types of races were between 2 and 3 miles (which I think most Americans would find quite surprising). That, and a lot of the horses were raced on only 6 days of rest. I really thought that would be too little but in at least one of the races I won the winner only had 6 days.

Entry fee to the races was £8 (about $16 a current exchange rates) and the minimum bet was £1. I bet in every race and had two winners and one place. I probably spent something like £15 more than I made (including the gate fee) but I had a great time. I could see being a regular at this.

It's a bit different than American flat racing (which bookies over here apparently regard as completely crooked). I couldn't find anyone to take a bet on the Triple Crown though I'll try again as the next race approaches. There is much more of an element of chance in steeplechase (the horse may take the fence badly, balk, or the rider may misjudge the approach). My perception is that there are additional elements of skill required of a jockey (and of a horse) in steeplechase that make it much more difficult than flat racing. I frequently saw horses among the leaders have a dramatic change in their position based on how they took the jump. So it's not pure speed that makes a steeplechaser.

I think it's much harder to pick winners outside the favorites in steeplechase and so that makes it more interesting.

Liverpool nearing the Champions League

After Liverpool's convincing win against Birmingham Saturday (and Newcastle's draw) they need only to draw or win against Newcastle next weekend to be assured of fourth place in the Premiership.

This is of critical importance because they were knocked out of all the cup competitions (League Cup, FA Cup, and UEFA Cup) in late mid-season and were too far off the top three teams at the mid-season point to challenge for the Premiership title.

Fourth place is the last guaranteed entry to the Champions League tournament that runs concurrently with the Premier League. It used to be called the Cup Winner's Cup (that's a mouthful) and has been the world's premier club competition for a generation at least.

The tournament was expanded to a much larger field some years ago, so now the top two clubs in each country's domestic league are guaranteed entry and, depending on the size and quality of your domestic league, up to another two teams are entered into what are called the group phases of the competition. Of course, it's much better for most teams to win a guaranteed place. Then there are far fewer tough games to play and its easier to concentrate on your domestic season and you don't get as tired.

But evidence has shown that it's also not a bad route to go through the group phase because teams can gain the proper mindset and can gain real confidence in their abilities.

Underlying all this is that there are huge cash windfalls for teams in the Champions League. Because its such a high-profile competition in Europe, there is a lot of TV money and huge merchandising potential the longer one stays in the competition. Winning or even just making the semi-finals can mean another £10-20 million pounds for a team for just one season.

This can, and has, allowed some teams to really consolidate their fortunes and become powers in their domestic leagues (a la Deportivo La Coruna) or concomitantly, broken teams that have decided to spend in the expectation of a return to the Champions League that doesn't happen (a la Leeds United).

Next Sunday Newcastle United battle Liverpool for that last, and vital, fourth spot in the Premiership. Liverpool's fate is in their hands^H^H^H^Hboots--if they win or draw the match they are assured of fourth place.

Thai PM to buy part of Liverpool FC

Well, fascinating news in the press this am. It's been reported that the Thai PM is interested in buying a share of the Liverpool FC.

This would result in some £30 million being made available to manager Gerard Houllier for this summer's transfer window (in which English clubs may buy players from other teams). Already, we have the mouthwatering prospect of leading French striker Cisse joining the team to partner Michael Owen.

£30 million would buy all but the top five or six players in the world (whether Liverpool could pay the wage bill is another matter). Personally, I would hope to buy one or two major players and one or two hot prospects for the future. Admittedly, general manager doesn't seem a role well suited to Gerard Houllier as most of his signings haven't proved out as great players.

But we live in hope.

Plus ca change..

Off to the pub last night (my cousins took me on a little crawl) and I was given to thoughts of the differences between America and Great Britain.

As a life-long expat (having left Liverpool aboard a steamship for the US in 1967) I have had a romanticized view of the UK for many years. Now, in my first visit since the late 1970s, I am spending a protracted period of time here as an adult.

There are many differences, some troublesome, some positive. One of the troublesome differences came up in a discussion last night about the whole concept of "defending one's home". I mentioned that I would have no difficulty whatsoever shooting an intruder into my home and the women in the family were horrified (the men were like "here, here"). Funny. But apparently recent decisions by magistrates in this country have made it possible to jail homeowners for defending themselves against intruders with deadly force (one can still own a shotgun here). A farmer shot two intruders a couple of years ago (one killed, one paralyzed) and was sent to prison for a couple of years. They were advancing up a stairwell and failing to respond to his challenges from the top of the stairs when he shot them. In another case, a woman stabbed an intruder with a kitchen knife and was prosecuted.

Perhaps I've lived too long in a violent society but it seems totally out of line when one cannot defend oneself against an intruder.

Another, more positive difference, was that homes here take much longer to build. They are built of stone, concrete, and brick (with steel substructures frequently) and are built to last. Completely different from the average residence in the US. The practical reasons for this are manifest in England's history as an island nation--they nearly defoliated the forests in the several hundred years where naval building was dependent on wood. So it was natural to extend the use of other materials (the pub I was in last night had its main structural beams taken from a man o' war of Charles II's era).

One wonders if this leads other cultural differences, home ownership being such a crucial part of our society.

Some progress

Well, I've had my two interviews in London and I think both went fairly well. One of the two firms will be having me back for more interviews. Both positions sound very interesting, although one presents a lot more challenges than the other.

I like challenge, so that isn't a barrier. The question is whether the compensation will be worth it--I really have no idea how much they might offer should they prove to be interested and that is definitely a gating factor considering the cost of living in London these days.

That being said, there is something attractive about living in one of the world's greatest cities. While I love San Francisco, I don't seem to be able to make headway there in my job hunt, and the Seattle market seems almost as slow.

Portobello Road

I spent some time in Portobello Road today (and the Notting Hill Gate area). Notting Hill Gate has apparently become tres chic since the publication of the film starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts (note to self, see it again).

I am sort of tentatively scouting out potential areas to live in the event that I get a job offer while I'm here. I'm still enough of a city dweller to want to live some place with a little variety and spice.

Portobello Road certainly seems to fit the bill. Lots of low-end antique shops, some interesting restaurants (not enough IMHO), and quite a few street vendor stalls selling all manner of bric-a-brac.

I wondered up and down the street for quite a while and came to the conclusion that my teen-age cousin (she) could find anything her heart desired in the way of fashion accessories. I found an interesting "grotty" sort of hard-tail Harley (I would love a bike here I think). I'm not sure whether this beastie is a pan-head or a shovel-head but it reminds me that it might be worthwhile importing old American iron to the UK (they sell for quite a bit more when gussied up in France).

Prices seemed somewhat reasonable for flat shares, running about £75/week to £200/week on the high end. But I'm not sanguine about my chances given that I am neither female nor gay (those seemed to be the two essential, not mutually exclusive, requirements to let a room in a flat).

My parents used to live in Kensington High Street and having seen the rise in prices here in the capitol, its a great pity the family didn't hold onto their property. I don't think it likely that I would be able to afford to buy an apartment here unless it was vewy, vewy small (cue Elmer Fudd voice).

I've been terrible

about entries since I've gotten here. In part, my family here in the UK is split across two homes. Of course, the one I'm not staying in is the one that has DSL. The other part is that both homes are bloody cold--the English are hardy people and my family have turned off their heat now that it is May. So in spite of being inured to the weather in the Pacific Northwest, I can barely feel my fingers as I type this (I'm wearing my USAF flight jacket so at least part of me is warm).

I feel guilty but I have some excuse. In the mean time I have been huddled on the couch, watching SkyTV satellite and enjoying the football coverage. We are coming to the end of the season and their a few crucial games left. Tonight is the 2nd of the Champions League semi-final matches and it is Chelsea v. Monaco. Chelsea are down 3-1 going into tonight's match and need to win 2-0 to go through to the final on the away goals rule (goals scored playing away from home are worth more in tiebreaks than those scored at home). It should be a very exciting match.

Coffee here sucks. Have tried three or four different coffee places (including a Starbucks on the Strand) and none have yet been able to provide me with a non-bitter espresso. But the tea is excellent.

I'll be taking three-day, two-night visit to Paris in the next couple of weeks to see friends. I'll have to do all my espresso swilling then..

DSL finally

I've finally got my Titanium laptop hooked up to my uncle's DSL line. What a pain. Three possible software configurations offered by Tiscali (here in the UK) and no advice as to which one to use. The third (and final) try finally worked. So after an hour of futzing around I can move content back and forth to my Web site.

It's perpetually raining here. It is amazing to me how different the weather can be in London and then thirty some-odd miles south. I was in London yesterday for a couple of sets of interviews and took the train south (actually, took the wrong train and ended up in deepsest Kent) and found the weather much more pleasant just a short distance away. It actually hailed yesterday.