A (not quite) meaningless friendly

With MLS out of season, U.S. Mens' coach Bruce Arena has called a large number of MLS players into camp in Los Angeles, looking to keep them fit in the off-season. Normally, this time of year would see the Nats playing a few meaningless friendly matches against other countries. But this year is different. Because it's a World Cup year, each and every player called into this camp is fighting for one of the precious few remaining spots on the 23-man roster that will travel to Germany this summer. Some of the players in camp now have no chance of making the squad, but there are quite a few "bubble" guys who are doing everything they can to catch Arena's eye. One of those players is Taylor Twellman (in the center of that celebratory sandwich). Despite the fact that Twellman plys his trade for the New England Revolution and has scored some big goals against DC United in the past, I'm a fan of his play. He's a scrappy striker who is always willing to give up his body if there's a chance to score. He's been fairly prolific at the MLS level when healthy, but until recently, was never quite able to translate that scoring ability to the international level. After 11 scoreless appearances, some very bad luck, and one great goal called back by a laughable offsides flag, Twellman finally got his first goal last October against Panama. But today he showed the type of play National Team fans have been hoping for, putting home a hat trick as the US dominated Norway 5-0. All the more impressive considering two of his goals were headers. Taylor is (rather generously) listed as 5' 11" in his US Soccer profile, while the average height of the Norweigian defense today appeared to be 6' 7", so the fact that he was dominant in the air today tells you something about his play. But what I really like about Twellman is that he also plays pretty good defense for a goal-scorer, buzzing around the opponent's half and often pressuring defenders into turning the ball over. In one sequence today, he chased down two Norweigian players, eventually slide-tackling the ball away in the US half of the field. Sometimes his enthusiasm gets the best of him, but he's not the type of striker who drops his head and stops running when the other team has the ball, which makes me respect him.

Overall, it was a pretty good showing for a very young US squad. Granted, Norway didn't bring much in the way of experience, and I would have liked to see the US's passing be a little quicker and sharper, but there was an obvious quality difference between our B team and Norway's B team. After a yawner of a scoreless tie against Canada last weekend, today's result should be a welcome confidence boost, since the spring friendlies should get more difficult as the World Cup approaches. In February, the US takes on a World Cup-bound Japan squad and a local rival in Guatemala, and in March they travel to Europe for matches against Germany and Poland, as well as a chance to get a look at the stadiums where they'll be playing in June. By then, the competition should be pretty fierce, since those games will likely be the last chance for players to make an impression before Arena locks in his final roster.

Oh crap. I'm old.

Sweet Jesus. I just made the mistake of looking at the Top 100 songs on the iTunes store. I really try to be open-minded about music and not be a snob, because I've owned plenty of questionable music in my day (anyone remember Ray Parker, Jr.?), but this list is just a big steaming pile of crap. I found 11 songs out of the 100 that I can bear to listen to, but everything else just sounds horrible. So, am I losing it, or is it just that the average iTunes customer is a teenager cursed with horrible taste? I think I feel bad for the kids.

(Songs in bold are the ones I own)

1. Breaking Free, Gabriela & Troy, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
2. Check On It, Beyoncé & Slim Thug, #1's
3. Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten
4. Get'cha Head In the Game, Troy, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
5. Grillz (Dirty), Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp, Sweatsuit (Explicit Version)
6. Start of Something New, Gabriella & Troy, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
7. Dirty Little Secret, The All-American Rejects, Move Along
8. We're All In This Together, High School Musical Cast, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
9. L.O.V.E., Ashlee Simpson, I Am Me
10. Dance, Dance, Fall Out Boy, From Under the Cork Tree
11. What I've Been Looking for, Ryan & Sharpay, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
12. Stick to the Status Quo, Martha Cox, Ryan, Sharpay & Zach, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
13. We Belong Together, Gavin DeGraw, We Belong Together - Single
14. I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper), T-Pain & Mike Jones, Rappa Ternt Sanga
15. Photograph, Nickelback, All the Right Reasons
16. Temperature, Sean Paul, The Trinity
17. You're Beautiful, James Blunt, Back to Bedlam
18. Stickwitu, The Pussycat Dolls, PCD
19. Shake That, Eminem, Curtain Call
20. Laffy Taffy, D4L, Laffy Taffy - Single
21. Everytime We Touch (Radio Mix), Cascada, Everytime We Touch
22. Run It! (Featuring Juelz Santana), Chris Brown, Chris Brown
23. Bop to the Top, Ryan & Sharpay, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
24. What I've Been Looking for (Reprise), Gabriella & Troy, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
25. Pump It, Black Eyed Peas, Monkey Business
26. When There Was Me and You, Gabriella, High School Musical (Soundtrack)
27. Gold Digger (Featuring Jamie Foxx), Kanye West, Late Registration
28. Yo (Excuse Me Miss), Chris Brown, Chris Brown
29. My Humps, Black Eyed Peas, Monkey Business
30. Sugar, We're Goin Down, Fall Out Boy, From Under the Cork Tree
31. Upside Down, Jack Johnson, Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George
32. Lights and Sounds, Yellowcard, Lights and Sounds - Single
33. Perfect Situation, Weezer, Make Believe
34. Beverly Hills, Weezer, Make Believe
35. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, Trace Adkins, Songs About Me
36. There It Go (The Whistle Song), Juelz Santana, What the Game's Been Missing!
37. Grillz (Clean Version), Ali & Big Gipp, Nelly & Paul Wall, Sweatsuit
38. Goodbye For Now (Radio Edit), P.O.D., Goodbye For Now
39. Who I Am Hates Who I've Been, Relient K, Mmhmm
40. Feel Good Inc., Gorillaz, Demon Days
41. 100 Years, Five for Fighting, The Battle for Everything
42. Don't Cha, The Pussycat Dolls, PCD
43. Because of You, Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
44. Jesus, Take the Wheel, Carrie Underwood, Jesus, Take the Wheel - Single
45. You're Beautiful, James Blunt, Back to Bedlam
46. When I'm Gone (Explicit Version), Eminem, When I'm Gone - Single
47. Better Days, Goo Goo Dolls, Better Days - Single
48. Boyfriend, Ashlee Simpson, I Am Me Pop
49. Yeah!, Usher featuring Lil' Jon & Ludacris, Confessions (Special Edition)
50. You and Me, Lifehouse, Lifehouse
51. Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It (Explicit Version), Dem Franchize Boyz Featuring Peenut & Charlay, Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It (Explicit Version) - Single
52. Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
53. Mr. Brightside, The Killers, Hot Fuss
54. Fireman, Lil' Wayne, Tha Carter II
55. Move Along, The All-American Rejects, Move Along
56. These Words (I Love You, I Love You) [Manny Marroquin Mix], Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten
57. Stay Fly, Three 6 Mafia featuring Young Buck & Eightball & M.J.G., Most Known Unknown
58. Rompe (Explicit), Daddy Yankee, Barrio Fino en Directo (Explicit Version)
59. Fresh AZIMIZ, Bow Wow, J-Kwon & Jermaine Dupri, Wanted
60. Hollaback Girl, Gwen Stefani, Love, Angel, Music, Baby
61. One Wish, Ray J, Raydiation
62. Unpredictable (Main), Jamie Foxx & Ludacris, Unpredictable
63. We Be Burnin' (Legalize It - Album Version), Sean Paul, We Be Burnin'
64. Don't Forget About Us (Radio), Mariah Carey, Don't Forget About Us - Single
65. Soul Survivor, Young Jeezy & Akon, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101
66. Chariot, Gavin DeGraw, Chariot
67. Boondocks, Little Big Town, The Road to Here
68. Hung Up, Madonna, Confessions On a Dance Floor
69. Gold Digger, Kanye West & Jamie Foxx, Late Registration
70. Georgia (Explicit), Field Mob, Jamie Foxx & Ludacris, Ludacris Presents...Disturbing Tha Peace
71. Heard 'Em Say (Featuring Adam Levine), Kanye West, Late Registration
72. Turn It Up (Explicit Version), Chamillionaire, The Sound of Revenge (Explicit Version)
73. King Without a Crown, Matisyahu, Live At Stubb's
74. Bat Country, Avenged Sevenfold, City of Evil
75. Soul Meets Body, Death Cab For Cutie, Plans
76. Be Without You (Kendu Mix), Mary J. Blige, The Breakthrough
77. If It's Lovin' That You Want, Rihanna, Music of the Sun
78. Collide, Howie Day, Stop All the World Now
79. Walk Away, Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
80. I'm Sprung, T-Pain, I'm Sprung - Single
81. Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Green Day, Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Single
82. Just the Girl, The Click Five, Just the Girl - Single
83. When I Get Where I'm Going, Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton, Time Well Wasted
84. Kerosene, Miranda Lambert, Kerosene
85. Behind These Hazel Eyes, Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
86. In da Club, 50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin'
87. Laffy Taffy (Explicit Album Version), D4L, Down for Life
88. One, Two Step, Ciara featuring Missy Elliot, Goodies
89. Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right, Billy Currington, Doin' Somethin' Right
90. The W.A.N.D., The Flaming Lips, The W.A.N.D. - Single
91. Someday, Nickelback, The Long Road
92. There It Go! (The Whistle Song) [Radio Edit], Juelz Santana, There It Go! (The Whistle Song) - Single
93. Live Like You Were Dying, Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying
94. Bless the Broken Road, Rascal Flatts, Feels Like Today
95. Beep, The Pussycat Dolls, PCD
96. Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off, Joe Nichols, III
97. Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day, American Idiot
98. Switch, Will Smith, Switch - Single
99. Have a Nice Day, Bon Jovi, Have a Nice Day
100. Let's Get It Started (Spike Mix) [Bonus Track], Black Eyed Peas, Elephunk

And as long as I'm complaining, I think it's time for iTunes to rethink how they categorize their songs. There is not a single thing "Alternative" about Fall-Out Boy. There's not even really anything "Alternative" about Green Day anymore, either.

...and Double Blah

Not much happens in this town in the winter. Now that the holidays are past and the Colts are out of the playoffs, we've sort of descended into a city-wide malaise. Despite some weirdly warm weather, it's been pretty gray and crappy here, and it seems to be sucking the energy out of everybody. I've definitely been feeling the effects. Work has been kind of shite lately, and I've been doing a lot of reading and sudoku, as well as little projects around the apartment. I'm finally getting around to framing some posters I bought last year, reorganizing my cabinets and closets, and replacing some household necessities like towels and pillows. The excitement just keeps coming.

Not much to report on the pop culture front. I did get some good tickets to Oasis's show at the Murat in March, and both Matisyahu and Sigur Ros are playing here in February. If I'm lucky, I'll make it to all three shows. Otherwise, I'm very slowly working through my Netflix queue and list of movies to see in the theater. I want to try to see some of the major Oscar flicks in the next few weeks. I've already seen Walk the Line and Syriana, so it looks like it's true crime and gay cowboys for me!

Um... I probably won't ever repeat that.

Blah

Gray winter days suck.

Looking into the future

What with movie award season in full swing, I thought I'd give you a glimpse at what's guaranteed to be 2006's biggest blockbuster. Superman Returns? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? A Narnia sequel? Spielberg or Jackson's next epic? No, my friends. Following Woody Allen's cue, this director is making a return to form, going back to what made him famous in the first place... filthy dialogue and trivial geek-speak spewed forth from the mouths of New Jersey slackers. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Kevin Smith's Clerks 2. This trailer got me so fired up, I had to buy the song from iTunes. (That would be Anthrax's re-recorded version of "Among the Living" from their 2004 album, The Greater of Two Evils.)

Speaking of geek-speak, it seems Chuck Klosterman (who I usually find a little tiresome in Spin and Esquire) is now writing a column for ESPN.com's Page 2. His topic? Why we feel the need to compare white athletes to other whites and black athletes to other blacks. Aside from being one of the weirdest and most thought-provoking columns I've ever read on ESPN's site, I challenge anyone to find another sports-related article which quotes the editor-in-chief of Slam magazine and Malcolm Gladwell. And as a second challenge, try to find at least 10 regular ESPN.com readers who know who Malcolm Gladwell is. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this piece.

And while on the subject of thought-provoking articles, I couldn't pass this one up. On Sunday, the New York Times ran the ultimate typography-nerd story. Unfortunately, it's already gone into their pay archive, but the gist of it is, a small segment of designers and type nerds are up in arms about the anachronistic use of typefaces in movies. The current example? In Good Night and Good Luck, the CBS logo, shown prominently in the studio where much of the film takes place, is set in Helvetica. However, the movie takes place in the early 50's, and Helvetica wasn't created until 1957. For more on the misuse of typefaces in period movies, see Mark Simonson's Typecasting. As a bit of a type nerd and also someone who examines printed materials on film much more closely than the average person, I find this whole thing very interesting, but also somewhat funny. Perspective, people.

Year-end, shmear-end...

So I thought about doing a 2005 wrap-up like I did last year, but to be honest, I'm kind of tired of year-end lists. Instead, here's a few things I covered at one point or another this year. Some of them were released in years prior to 2005, but they're all things that made my year enjoyable.

• sudoku
• going to England for the first time
• Bloc Party's Silent Alarm/Silent Alarm Remixed
• Sufjan Stevens's Illinois
• Danger Doom's The Mouse and the Mask (and all of MF Doom's music that I heard this year)
• Eric Johnson's Live from Austin, TX
• Matisyahu's Live at Stubb's
• Gorillaz's "Feel Good Inc"
• Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek"
• Weezer's "Perfect Situation"
• Doves at the Vic Theater, Chicago
• the 2nd night of U2 at the Wachovia Center, Philadelphia
• Gift of Gab & Lateef/Mike Relm/Twilight Sentinels at the Patio, Indianapolis
• Kings of Leon at the Music Mill, Indianapolis
• discovering Last.fm
• Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line
• the last two minutes of Layer Cake
• the fact that Batman Begins was nothing like Joel Schumacher's Batman movies
• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
• Chuck Dugan is AWOL by Eric Chase Anderson
• Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
• My Name is Earl
• Arrested Development, on TV and DVD
• the Freaks and Geeks DVDs
• the Spacecataz bonus feature on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Four DVDs
• Cartoon Network's Star Wars: Clone Wars series

What?

All you kids who unwrapped iPods under the tree this year, beware. A Rolling Stone article says recent studies are determining that most people who listen to their iPods frequently are doing damage to their hearing. Pete Townsend, who's been outspoken on the subject of hearing loss since announcing he was suffering from tinnitus in 1989, has spoken out on the subject, warning iPod owners to take care lest they suffer the same fate he did. Personally, I have a little trouble believing that an hour of daily iPod use will have the same effect as years of standing in front of Marshall stacks cranked to 11, but hey, I'm no audiologist. The article also makes it seem like the overall ambient noise the world deals with on a daily basis has increased in recent years, so I would imagine that has something to do with it too. And if scientists are looking for someone to blame for hearing loss in young people, forget iPods. How about going after the kids with the window-rattling amps in the back of their crap-ass hatchbacks? Damn punks and their rap music!

More Eric Johnson

Yeah, OK, so I'm obsessed at the moment. But I did find that Eric was on NPR's Weekend Edition in August. There's also a few RealPlayer files of his performance, as well as three files from his most recent album, Bloom.

Johnson is God

In almost every successful musician's career, there is one legendary show that puts them on the map and gives them the necessary buzz for their breakthrough. For Eric Johnson, that show happened to be televised. In 1988, Johnson appeared on Austin City Limits and proceeded to tear the roof off, blowing away the audience and taking up the sceptre as his generation's greatest guitarist. Tapes of that show are much-coveted and hard to come by, so thankfully, ACL has released it as part of their recent series of CDs and DVDs. I've been a fan of Johnson's since 1990, when I first heard his song Cliffs of Dover on the radio. At the time, I was just starting to play guitar, and I bought a book of songs from Johnson's first two albums, hoping to teach myself to play like him. I remember the guy behind the counter at the guitar store wishing me good luck at figuring anything out, saying he had been playing for 20 years and couldn't make heads or tails of a lot of the songs. 15 years later, I understand why: human beings aren't supposed to be able to play the guitar like this. That is just sick fretwork. But until today, when I bought Live from Austin, TX, I assumed that much of Johnson's incredible sound could be attributed to studio trickery and overdubbing. Despite having seen him live way back in November 1991, I was still unprepared for this recording. Onstage, he is constantly dancing on his effect pedals to switch them on and off, but effects can only do so much. A lot of what he does with the instrument can only be appreciated by someone who plays, but even non-guitarists have to be blown away by this disc. This is the result of sheer, unadulterated talent. The speed, fluidity and tone that he's able to get playing by himself is unbelieveable, and it's made even more so by the fact that he doesn't limit himself to one genre, blowing through rock, blues, jazz and country styles, often in one song. Aside from cementing my belief that Johnson is from another planet, listening to this CD has managed to both make me feel incredibly untalented and also convinced me that it's time to buy an electric guitar. Hope my neighbors are tolerant...

London Day by Day

First off, my photos are posted at Shutterfly. I apologize if anyone tried to get in and ran up against pasword protection. That should be disabled now. Email me if you're having any problems. Now on to the travelogue.

This trip came about because Todd works for a major airline and is able to fly anywhere they go as long as there are empty seats on the flight. So he suggested we try to go to England for a soccer game, and I, never having been out of North America, thought this was a fantastic idea, since he can also bring friends for a very cheap price. So we decided to try for last weekend so that we could see the Fulham-Blackburn match and get to see several American players plus Ryan Nelsen, a Kiwi who used to play for DC United. My trip began on Thursday night:

-------------------------------
Thursday
Drive to Chicago. Arrive around 8:30 Central Time. Look at flights with Todd. There are 5 possible flights, 3 from O'Hare and 2 from Washington-Dulles. Based on flight loads, we decide to try for the Dulles flights. Am a little apprehensive, because we could potentially sit in Dulles for 10 hours and not make it to London. Sleep very fitfully. Toss and turn while imagining all the things that could go wrong. I hate being a Type-A.

Friday
Up at 5:00 CT. Leave for Midway at 5:50. The El station is freezing. Begin the "Day of Airports". Check in for flight to Dulles, which is a fairly easy process. Get on the flight, departing at 8:30 CT. Arrive at Dulles at 11:45 Eastern. Go to gate for first flight to London, which doesn't leave for over 6 hours. Terminal is dark, crowded, and under construction, so we take a tram to a different terminal. Eat lunch, play cards, read the manual for my new camera, and do sudoku puzzles until 5:00 when we head back to gate and register for the flight. Lots of nervous nail-biting ensues. Todd checks at desk several times. Things seem to be looking good, but when all the passengers have boarded and it's only us and 8 other standby passengers left, the woman at the desk says she won't be able to add us to the flight due to weight restrictions. Crap. This means another 3 hours of killing time in the hot crowded international terminal. After dinner, we head back to the gate and begin talking to a couple who had also tried to get on the first flight. The man is a pilot for Todd's airline and tells us that the weight restriction is due to a fire at a fuel depot in London which has raised fuel prices and caused the airlines to want to conserve as much as fuel as possible on flights to London. He tells us that the flight we couldn't get on went out with 30 empty seats. We begin to feel very negative about our chances for the second flight, which is a smaller plane. This leads to more nail-biting, stress, and adrenaline rushes, but when the plane is only halfway boarded, the woman at the desk calls our names. We're on! We're seated in business class. I sit next to a Simon Cowell look-alike who's apparently on the Atkins diet, since he refuses to touch anything containing carbs. I attempt to sleep for most of the flight, but again sleep fitfully, waking at every small bump of turbulence and imagining the plane falling 30,000 feet into the icy cold North Atlantic. I hate being a Type-A.

Saturday
Arrive in London at 9:50 Greenwich Mean Time and are whisked through Customs. Stop to withdraw pounds at an ATM and purchase a 3-day Tube card, and then we're off to Covent Garden and our hotel. As the announcements say, we "mind the gap" as we "alight" at Covent Garden station, where it's only a short walk to Seven Dials and our hotel, the Radisson Edwardian. Check in, dump our stuff, wash up, and then head out again. Lunch at the White Lion pub. I have sausage and mash and drink London Pride. Yum. Then back on the Tube for the 20-minute ride out to Fulham, followed by a 10-minute walk along the river to Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC. We take in the atmosphere and squeeze our way into the club shop, then enter the stadium, drink a quick pint, and take our seats. The stands quickly fill in. Only two Americans are playing, Brian McBride for Fulham and Brad Friedel for Blackburn. No sign of Carlos Bocanegra or Ryan Nelsen. After a quiet first half, Fulham scores just before halftime, soon after halftime, and gives up a late goal. According the diehards next to us, this is typical of the season, as is the referee's horrific mistreatment of Fulham (which neither Todd or I have noticed). These same guys also teach us several colorful new phrases. After the game, we go down to field level to take some pictures and notice a group of kids and parents being escorted onto the field. We surreptitiously attach ourselves to the group and soon learn that the pitch is laid down on a base of sand which allows them to control blah blah blah. In between yawns, we notice the players jogging on the field for their post-game cooldown, and at that moment, Brian McBride passes by. Todd flags him down and we go over to chat. This is the second time we've met (not surprisingly, Brian doesn't remember), and he is just as classy this time. In fact, we think he was inviting us to Fulham's Wednesday match if we were still going to be in town. We talk a bit, snap a photo with him, and then let him finish his cooldown. Todd and I leave the stadium, stopping at another Fulham store before taking the Tube back to the hotel. We set out in search of a pub where we can see highlights from all the other matches of the day, but after a long search through Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, we end up at an American-style sports bar, where we're able to see the last 15 minutes of Manchester City-Birmingham City as well as the New England-Tampa Bay football game. We eat dinner, but the food and beer are somewhat disappointing, so we head back to the pub across the street from our hotel, The Crown. I drink something on tap called Bombardier. Not bad. After drinking, we go to the hotel and crash. My Type-A neuroses take the night off, and I fall asleep within moments of lying down.

Sunday
Have croissants and coffee at a French bakery on the circle. Best latte I've ever had, hands down. We set off for a day of sightseeing. Weather is cold, but bright sunshine. So much for London's famous rain and fog. Start by taking the Tube to St. Paul's where I try to get in touch with my mate Neil. Can't figure out the stupid English phone numbers. A recorded woman keeps telling me the number can't be recognized. Sorry, Jamo. Take pictures of St. Paul's. My new camera rocks. Walk down to the Thames and cross the Millennium Bridge. See Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the house from Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, and the site of the Clink Prison. Cross back over the river on London Bridge and walk along the river side to the Tower of London. Take a walking tour guided by one of the Royal Yeomen. Take lots more pictures. Finish our tour around 2:00 and decide we're hungry. Take the Tube to The Blackfriar Pub. I have fish & chips and mushy peas and drink some kind of bitter whose name I forget. Am surprised at how much I like mushy peas. Interior decorations are terrific in this place. While we're inside, clouds roll in and the weather becomes more what you would expect from mid-December London. After eating, we head to Big Ben and Parliment. Take more pictures. Am really loving my camera now. Walk past Westminster Abbey, but it's not open on Sunday. Head back to hotel, pausing on the way to do a little shopping around Covent Garden. Then back on the Tube to the Tower of London again where we meet Leslie, our guide for London Walks' Jack the Ripper tour. She's cute and has a great Irish accent. Grrr. She takes us (and 30 other people) through the East End, stopping at several murder sites and giving us an insane amount of detail about the murders and the case. Very enjoyable. I'm surprised again by how many buildings from the time of the murders are still there, in basically their same form. The tour ends at the Ten Bells Pub, where apparently the Ripper stalked several of his victims. It's too crowded, so we set off in search of dinner. End up in the Spitalfields Market at a place called Giraffe. It's a cafe offering fairly healthy food and is apparently partnered with the Putumayo music label, so we had our first healthy meal of the weekend accompanied by a great soundtrack. I order a Coke, which comes in a bottle and somehow tastes different, which puzzles me until I look at the ingredients. Aha. No high fructose corn syrup in English Coke, only pure sugar. After dinner, we're wiped, so we head back to the hotel. Watch highlights of the Tottenham-Middlesbrough and Arsenal-Chelsea matches from that afternoon and some kind of crazy English talk/game-show with a surprisingly funny Robbie Williams as the guest. Type-A is still on vacation, and I crash again.

Monday
Back to the French bakery for breakfast. Second latte is just as good. Spend some more time in the shops around our hotel. Pick up some gifts and find lots of shoes and clothes I'd like, but stop myself from buying anything by mentally calculating the prices in US dollars. Nearly give myself a heart attack on several items. Check out of the hotel at 12:00 GMT and head to the Tube for our last ride to Heathrow. No problems with the flight this time, as we only wait five minutes for our boarding passes. We're in first class for this trip. Beginning to get spoiled. We take off about 4:00 GMT. Spread out in my spacious chair and watch Crash (excellent) and Bewitched (utter crap) on my personal movie system. Eat the delicious 5-course meal, then play rummy with Todd for most of the rest of the trip while watching the progress of the flight on the map available on our video screens. Land at O'Hare at 6:10 Central. Slowly make our way through Customs, hop on the El and meet Cynthia at the other end. Show her my pictures from the trip, then load up the car and head back to Indy. Arrive home at 12:30 Eastern. Have been gone exactly 4 days, 6 hours. Feels like a month. Wish I could go back (although maybe minus the day of sitting in the airport). I may be wiped, but it was totally worth it.
-------------------------------

So that's the trip. I should pause here to say Todd is The Man. I would never have been able to take this trip without him, and I owe him big time. I loved London, and despite what several people told me to expect, I didn't find it dirty at all. Certainly the Tube stations were much cleaner than the New York subway. All the English we interacted with were very polite and helpful, even the ones who weren't in the service industry. I loved that London has so much history and yet feels very young. I can't wait to go back sometime.