Andrew

Jesus, the British media have really got it in for (Prince) Andrew right now.  It's almost obsessional.  Personally, I couldn't care less.  So he's never paid rent?  Whatever.   So he's been in orgies with Epstein and a bunch of underage girls?  Yep, that's despicable but am I surprised?  No.  Historically, I don't think that's anywhere near as depraved as some of the other deeds that Royals have done over the years.  I'm not a royalist, never have been, never will be, and I think it's an absolute disgrace that UK taxpayers still partly fund the Royal family.  And invariably Americans always ask me what I think about the Royal family - but I think they find Harry more interesting than Andrew.  Perhaps that's because they don't want to face the truth that the current US president has probably engaged in similar, if not worse, behavior than Andrew.   

Westminster and St James's

Here are some photos from a walk I took around Westminster last week.  I've done this walk before, and I'm sure I've probably posted a very similar set of photos before, but whatever.

Rain

I guess I've had pretty good weather during my trip back to the UK, since today was the first day where it really rained.  It's a good job I didn't have anything planned today.  More so because I didn't get much sleep last night - so I've been feeling quite awful today.  I've definitely caught a cold, and I wonder whether I just didn't eat enough yesterday - and the combination of the two has really hit me hard.  Hopefully whatever ails me doesn't linger - as I have a wedding to attend next weekend. 

Palace 3-3 Bournemouth

Well, that was something.  A 6-goal thriller.  A match that I should be happy that Palace got a draw in because they were 0-2 down at halftime and twice had to come from behind.  Yet I'm frustrated because despite Mateta getting a hat-trick, he missed an absolute sitter at the very end that would have given us all 3 points.  For a team that prides itself on its home support, the first half was extremely disappointing - the away section was clearly louder, indicative of a very sloppy start to the game by Palace.  But the second half was so much better - the crowd was rocking (particularly the Holmesdale Road end), and I think would have erupted had we got that winner.  As for the stadium itself - there's no sugar-coating this, it's a dump.  Kind of run-down, kind of past its best, kind of small, not in the best neighborhood, weirdly right next to a big Sainsbury's.  I was seated about halfway between the half-way line and the goal-line in the south stand - among a lot of older season ticket holders - and had a pretty good view of the game, although frustratingly I was seated too far back so that the video board was blocked by the stadium roof.  You'd think it wouldn't be too much trouble to put another monitor up that we could actually see what was going on - especially with the increasing reliance on video in the game (there were a lot of VAR checks during this game).  But a big bonus is that I had a couple of empty seats next to me, so I was able to stretch out - it would have been very cramped otherwise.  Would I come back here?  I think so - the atmosphere makes up for any shortcomings.

Industrial Agriculture

I've just had a delicious curry.  And that was preceded by a delicious fish 'n' chips last week.  You just know I have to do the English staples when I'm back!  And when I add in roast dinners, sausages, pies, and pastries - I don't think you realize how good you have it here.  And then it dawns on me just how bad American food is.  Over-processed, full of additives, full of preservatives, high-sugar and high-fat.  And everything fresh and healthy is incredibly expensive - certainly a lot more expensive than here.  Bread.  Chocolate.  And basically anything that contains corn syrup - which is most things in America - is so much worse.  Good luck RFK Jr in making America healthy again.  I don't think the US government has a chance in hell of overturning industrial agriculture.       

The Lookout and Horizon 22

I went to a couple of high-rise viewing platforms in London today - The Lookout and Horizon 22.  Both required booking tickets in advance, although at least they were free.  And both buildings were located next to each other, so the views were somewhat similar.  And it may have been an overcast day, but the views were great.  Neither had full 360 degree views of the London skyline - but Horizon 22 is slightly higher (58th floor versus 50th floor), has more space (including a small cafe and better toilets - indeed The Lookout only has one stall for everybody) and a slightly wider view, but was a lot busier.  Unfortunately I think it's nearly impossible to avoid getting reflections in the photos.

The Lookout

Horizon 22

I also did a bonus walk around Westminster while I was in town - I'll post some photos from that sometime next week.

World Cup Update

It's sadly official, but I got an e-mail from FIFA today notifying me that I was not successful in the first opportunity at buying World Cup tickets.  Which sucks, but which I had pretty much guessed.  It feels especially egregious getting the e-mail the day after England officially qualified - the first European qualifier in a suspiciously easy group.  So my chances of obtaining tickets for a game are seemingly dwindling.  I have a bad feeling that I'm going to have to shell out a lot of money if I really want to watch a game live.  Which I do.  The early prices when I looked on the official FIFA resale site the other day were outlandish.