I spotted this interesting-looking Italian restaurant on a side street in St. John's Wood while walking home last night. I think that purple light is what caught my eye. The fact that Nanook of the North walked through my photo at the perfect moment was simply good luck.
(Does anyone remember the movie "Unzipped," featuring Isaac Mizrahi and a bevy of supermodels, from 1995? It was a documentary about Mizrahi creating a fashion collection loosely based on Nanook of the North. Maybe that person above is wearing one of his creations?)
Anyway, back to the restaurant. I really like the tree in front, bedecked with baubles.
They could be Christmas baubles, but they seem more like year-round baubles. Especially the chandeliers.
Given how many of you yesterday said you'd check out the QAA podcast in response to my positive review, let me just add a belated cautionary note. It is a very loosely scripted podcast. It's not like "Serial" or NPR or anything that polished. It's more like sitting in a college dorm room with some buddies who are all smoking joints and talking about current events. There's a lot of swearing and semi-pointless sexual and pop culture references amid the actual news. Over time, as you get to know the hosts, their personalities and quirks become endearing, and they are not misogynistic or destructively "bro-ish." In fact, quite the opposite. So I don't mean to discourage anyone from listening. But you deserve to know a little more about what you're getting into!
I had another very busy day at work yesterday, mostly covering new books. Our new library assistant can't start soon enough, I'm telling you! (I think her start date is next week.) I have a whole lot more to do today. Last night when I got home I spent three hours in blogland answering comments and catching up on blogs, so at least I no longer feel behind in that regard.
I can get a lot done when I turn off the TV -- but that's also my evening bonding activity with Dave, so I can't cut it out entirely. Otherwise we'd both be sitting with headphones and staring into screens, lost in our own little worlds. At least television is a communal activity! (Unless Dave is watching "Downton Abbey" or "West Wing" for the 500th time. He can do that by himself.)
I must confess that I have never sat around in a "college dorm room" smoking "joints" with some "buddies". At university, I studied hard - spending much of my time in the library or reading and crafting assignments into the small hours of the night. I guess that higher education is different in America.
ReplyDeleteYou can do both, you know.
DeleteUum... I think you have put me off that podcast now!!
ReplyDeleteLOL! Knowledge is power!
DeleteYeah, no thanks. I have books I'd rather read.
ReplyDeleteWell, there's that! I can't read while I'm walking home, though. I guess I could do an audio book but I've never gotten into those.
DeleteI miss sitting around a college dorm room with my buddies smoking joints. On second thought, I simply miss getting stoned. I was hoping for a pizza chandelier, but I love the look of that place and the ornamented tree with the crystal chandeliers.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long, long time for me. I don't miss it now, but those were fun times!
DeleteI love the tree full of lights. And I think I'll pass on the blokes sitting around podcast, but thank you for the review.
ReplyDeleteThey do have several women on too, but the main three are all guys.
DeleteThat's glorious lighting! I might have to walk by that one next time! (Or even stop for lunch!) I go back and forth from book to TV. Sometimes there's no energy for anything else! I'm glad the new assistant starts soon. Perhaps things will be better.
ReplyDeleteI hope so! She'll really help us keep up with all the back-office stuff -- the finances and the book covering and cataloging, that kind of thing.
DeleteThe chandeliers in the trees make me want to do that at my house!
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea, isn't it?!
DeleteAnd of course that makes me want to listen to the podcast even more. We do eventually become fond of certain podcasters, don't we? At least I do.
ReplyDeleteMan. That is tree jewelry! And I love it!
I think a good podcaster forms a relationship with his or her listeners. We do get quite attached over time!
DeleteI love the bauble tree! I would listen to the podcast if I listened to podcasts - ha!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should try! I don't listen to many. This one alone keeps me busy!
DeletePretty baubles, like ice crystals.Appropriate in winter and probably quite refreshing in any summer that deigns to grace the British Isles.
ReplyDeleteYeah, when (if) the street gets sun it must be a good look.
DeleteTell Dave I'll join him on West Wing. I've watched that series at least 4 times and have been thinking about watching it again. Maybe I'll start it in another 30 or 60 days when we are deep into the next administration. It's good to see how things should be as opposed to how they are.
ReplyDeleteI love that decorated tree in front of the restaurant. Surely no one is using those two outdoor tables right now. They have them all set up and ready to go just in case.
Sharon, I can only get short clips on YouTube now…I need the box set!
DeleteI think we used to have it on one of our streaming platforms but then it disappeared. Dave, you HAVE at least one season on DVD! But I'll consider this a gift suggestion. :)
DeleteThat's how I dress when it is cold, Steve! It isn't a fashion statement - it is just to keep warm. Next Monday our high temp will be 6° F so a person has to bundle up! ;)
ReplyDeleteWell, it's MUCH colder where you are than here -- we never see temperatures that low. But I don't really begrudge him/her for staying warm. :)
DeleteI would love to eat at that restaurant but I was mystified by the hopeful outdoor dining area paired with the person in the huge parka. I've never watched West Wing, perhaps I should?
ReplyDeleteI think you'd really like it! It's a kind of liberal perfect fantasy of what working in the White House should be. If government really worked that way we'd all be a whole lot better off.
DeleteSomehow medical marijuana edibles aren't quite the same as sitting around getting stoned with your friends.... (I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing)
ReplyDeleteYeah, an edible seems more medicinal, doesn't it?!
DeleteA laid-back, unfiltered style can be pretty fun once you get into the rhythm of it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, exactly! It's part of the charm of the podcast.
DeleteThe tree is really bedazzled. I'd eat at the restaurant just for the chandeliers in the trees.
ReplyDeleteAs Jabblog said, I wonder what it looks like in sunshine?
DeleteI actually have the things to make a chandelier in my outdoor space. I love that bedazzled tree. It's spectacular. But my outdoor space will not be nearly as bedazzled at all that.
ReplyDeleteI never even though of hanging a chandelier outdoors, but why not?
DeleteI love the tree. I'll pass on the podcast, I never listen to them anyway. Wouldn't even know how. I've read a bit about American Colleges in novels and seen some in movies, their biggest claim to fame seems to be the beer and pot memories of the people who went there.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not all "Animal House," but there is a certain rite-of-passage party lifestyle in college, particularly in the early years.
DeleteThe tree is very cool. Someone spent a lot of time doing that. I'm not a fan of pod casts, for one thing I don't have them on my phone, because I don't have ear buds or whatever they're called these days. I do like reading transcripts of pods that Greg Sargent does, so there's that.
ReplyDeleteI gotta say, I LOVE my earbuds. (I got AirPods, so no wires.) They have changed my life!
DeleteI do like all the crystals hanging from the tree, uh yeah, says the woman with lots of crystals hanging in her window. I hope they are up year round.
ReplyDeleteI imagine they are. Maybe the silver balls are especially for Christmas. I'll check back in July!
Delete