leaning back

With my flat as full of furniture as I can bear and almost all of the shelves having found their places at the wall, it's time to kick back and enjoy a leisurely evening or two. What's going on? How is London?

Full of contrasts, more than anything else. Next to average people getting by and distressed folks scrounging for their next meal is unbelievable wealth, shamelessly flaunted. My neighborhood sports a large market and lots of little shops, most selling household goods, furniture or clothes, inevitably cheap. Immigrants are everywhere. The vendors already recognize me as a regular. The few white faces are easy to remember. This is not upscale. However, it takes only three minutes on my bike and I see Porsches parked at the side of the road, and ten minutes into my morning commute I usually pass the first Lamborghini, Maserati or Rolls. The area around Imperial College might just be the world's largest Mercedes showroom.

Consequently, you can live in style. The other day I saw a 200-square-meter penthouse at Hans Crescent for rent. Right behind Harrods, perfect for watching all the Saudis spending US oil money. Priced to go at five thousand pounds per week. At the other end of the spectrum, the beer at Imperial costs less than two pounds for a (British) pint, cheaper than anywhere outside Germany or the Czech Republic, and Forrest's bread is a steal at less than a pound. Shopping around is key.

Somewhat non sequitur, the contrasts continue on the radio. BBC2 is a pretty eclectic station (though far from hip). Every hour, their music changes, and even within a show, they fill the range. I know that I tend to be impressed by radio that's new to me. I immediately fell in love with K-BER 101 and (of course) X96 when I moved to Utah, but that crush only lasted a few weeks. Then I noticed that the music wasn't any better or any more diverse than what I was used to but just different and all the sad repetitive same after a while. My hopes are still alive that the Beeb might be another kind of radio.

One step back. Let's not get too excited. My plans do not include sitting at home listening to the radio like an old geezer. Isn't there life music in this town? I'll update on that soon.