F A S H I O N

Word of the day: vest
Regular old tank tops are referred to as vests and vest vests are referred to as waistcoats.

What I learned this weekend:

Today (the 11^th day of the 11^th month) was Remembrance Day (BBC background) to commemorate the millions who died in WWI and WWII. All week people have been wearing paper poppies on their lapels to commemorate this. Apparently some younger generations are also tying in the Iraq war with this remembrance. My analysis definitely says that the British are completely capable of being patriotic and protesting at the same time. There is definitely a vibe of "support our troops and not the war."

Also, fireworks are a regular occurrence in November, as yesterday I saw another display for the Lord Mayor's Show (some London hoopla about something that has been going on for a zillion years). I didn't wake up in time to see the traditional parade portion, but I was out my dark at 5 p.m. to see a fancy display of 'works over the Thames.

What I love about London: FASHION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oxford Education
So I FINALLY hit up the famous shopping on Oxford Street. It was perfect timing, as the street was lit up and the big department store windows were decorated for Christmas. It had a magical feel to it, despite being the busiest place I’ve encountered in this usually uncondensed city.

I found 5-pound tank top (vest) with tons of cities on it (my way of finding a fashionable souvenir) in the three glorious floors of H&M. We also witnessed the cheap chaos of Primark. (Like, seriously, this place is cheaper than Steve & Barry's, even with the exchange rate at times!) And of course, I was introduced to the most awesome store that one could never get set foot in in America: Top Shop. It was a little pricey for my current situation, but I felt in awe of its rooms and rooms of fashion's latest sequins and baubles. I would be fine with dying and being buried there immediately.

Big cities keep getting better and better. I mean, can London throw anything else at me to make it even better? I dare it too.

I am now watching: The X Factor, the British version of American Idol; it seems to be even more lackluster than the American show. Sharon Osborne is a judge, as well as snippy Simon Cowell -- but he is definitely not himself without Paula around.

Music and Muscle Aches

Word of the day: bloke
man

What I learned today: Walking around in high heels all day from meeting to meeting is not ideal.

What I love about London: Taking a train, a subway, a bus and a boat all in one day.

Good News vs. Bad News

Good news: I made it through filming three interviews today all over London. And I think the footage is OK, despite some interesting sun glares, crooked cameras and scripted answers…

Bad news: I think I am permanently paralyzed from wearing high heels.

Good news: I only have one more interview left for the DVD.

Bad news: I still have one more interview left for the DVD. Yesterday I learned the oxymoron of corporate communication when I went all the way to the other side of town to have my interview canceled.

Good news: I am finally in the warmth of my bed ready to watch my dose of Thursday American shows.

Bad news: I don’t have any wine. Or even any tea.

Good news: I am going to Amsterdam next weekend!!!!

Bad news: How on earth am I going to finish up the DVD stuff, write an article and redo our surveys handbook in the next two weeks? Oh well, I guess there is never a good time for a holiday. (Oh my, I just said “holiday” instead of “vacation.” Yet I’m kind of over the novelty of me saying English words.)

Good news: I found new London music. Jessica and I found a cheap rock show in London at this hole-in-the-wall hipster bar in a slightly dodgy area of Hoxton called The Macbeth. Actually, random tidbit: I read today that this is the pub where Amy Winehouse’s husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, assaulted a guy. Fielder-Civil was in the news today after being arrested for allegedly trying to pay the guy off to get him to not press charges.

The Macbeth could be a bar in Athens, Ohio, just with more skinny jeans and European haircuts. When the song “Big Pimpin’” came on after a wave of indie songs, Jessica pegged it as “classic ironic hipsterism.” We clearly adored this type of atmosphere, because we are both wannabe hipsters at heart.

The bands were definitely of the strange variety you expect from these sort of things -- both riveting and underwhelming at times. But that’s why I love local shows so much -- they are one of kind and can’t really be recreated. While the songs you liked at a bar might ring in your head for days and days, often it won’t ever sound the same on an album (although it will certainly sound better on an album). It’s about being somewhere with some no-name band that suddenly matters for that moment. Plus it was pretty cool to realize all of their London references wouldn’t be understood in Ohio. That’s the beauty of local music.

I am now listening to: Orphans & Vandals, with London-inspired “epic” songs as Jessica describes them. I also enjoy the fun horns of Scottish band Future Retro Champions.

From the Trading Floor

Word of the day: row
British people use this word more to mean “quarrel,” and I really like it. Saying “I got in a row with Matt last night over something stupid,” sounds much better than “I got in a fight with Matt last night over something stupid.”

What I love about London: clicking my heels around as another businesswoman in one of the top financial districts in the world, tucked away among cathedrals and monuments.

Floored
Well, I should be sleeping because I am interviewing one of the most important financial guys in the world tomorrow, but I am having trouble sleeping because I am interviewing one of the most important financial guys in the world tomorrow.

Yes, the intern and her trusty camera and list of questions will be interviewing the head of a huge custodian bank. I hope I don’t have one of my Bridget Jones moments. Or the lens cap is on.

Today I did two interviews and really have gotten the hang of operating the camera as I interview, although the multi-tasking situation is not ideal. The questions were scripted by my editors ages ago though, so it doesn’t require the usual interaction of interviews I normally do.

In order to get b-roll (the footage you see in filmed interviews that isn’t just a talking head) today, I went to the trade floor of an inter-dealer money broker. Oh my god -- it was pandemonium -- full of a lot of guys in suits that seemed like they were trying to safely land the Apollo or something. Shouting out “I’ve got a swap!” and rolling up their sleeves and getting on little black phones -- it was just like the movies. It reminded me a little bit of the excitement of how daily newsrooms are portrayed. Although I don’t think the idea of a crazy newsroom actually reflects reality the way the idea of a crazy trade room apparently does.

I tried to get out of there after I did a couple pans of the room, because I heard them mumbling about the camera and staring at me like I was from outer space. (I didn’t see any other females in the room.) The communications director warned me that they might push or curse in order to do their job “which is to make money,” so I tried to stay the heck out of their way.

I would love to have been a wallflower for the rest of the day. As I looked at their computers scrunched together like urban housing, I wondered what these people running the markets were like and how they shut this off at the end of the day and go home and be normal. I wondered if they are like the people in London I see every day who look like they work too hard at making it the center of finance in the world. I wondered what they were even doing.

I am now listening to: (Oh my gosh, you are all going to be shocked that I am listening to Christmas music at all -- and this early!) I can’t tell you which one, but my hint is that it’s a famous Christmas song by a pop diva that was featured in a movie that took place in London. Yep, that's the one.

My New Fame in the Securities Services

Word of the day: cheers
Can’t believe I didn’t use this yet, as it is the most London of all London phrases. Sure, we say cheers before a drink or sometimes at the end of e-mails, but here it replaces everything. For instance, today as I left the grocery store the grocer said “cheers.” Or when I was chatting with someone on a boat ride, as I left he said “cheers.” Or when someone agrees with you, they will probably say, “yeah, cheers.”

It basically means nothing and everything, as my colleague Christopher points out. I absolutely adore it.

What I learned today: Working from home can be fantastic. Writing news while your laundry is going is much better than writing news while your co-worker makes an ad sales pitch in a loud, monotone voice. I’d get depressed if I worked at home every day though. And I’d probably never get out of my PJs.

What I love about London: Sitting at my kitchen table and looking out over the Thames and the skyline of Canary Wharf.

My Name on the Big Screen
Well not the big screen, but maybe on the screens of big people. Basically, as I mentioned, I am playing a large role helping the aforementioned Christopher, Global Custodian’s multimedia editor, with our first-ever DVD on the securities industry. And I get to be in the credits (posted below).

Just to brag about GC for a second, it is actually really at the forefront of multimedia in Europe, thanks to Christopher. It was definitely the first trade pub in our field to do multimedia. We do podcasts every week as well as vodcasts every once in a while. My first vodcast will be posted later this month.

But anyway, I’m kind of nervous to be filming for the first time, as well as interviewing some of the most powerful financial people in the world in my $40 suit. But you know, whatever.

I did feel really excited when Christopher showed me the credits. It was funny how much we picked them apart. You don’t even think about how long it can take to design credits until you do it. But anyway, I enjoyed Christopher’s finished product and the hilarious upbeat piano music. We discussed setting the DVD to reggae or techno, you know, livening up the securities services, but maybe next time.

And that’s why I get to work from home so much, because I’m running around doing interviews and don’t have time to pop into the office. So on one hand it’s a lot busier and requires me to wash my hair and iron clothes more (boo). But it’s also really nice to get the heck out of that fourth-floor office with a broken lift every once in a while.

We’ll see how I feel about having three interviews on Friday ... and what next week will be like when I realize all the work I have to catch up on in back at the GC homestead.

Cheers!

I am now watching: The millionth and probably final version of our DVD credits that Christopher is uploading on YouTube. Oh what an exciting life I lead!

Foreign Correspondence

Word of the day: bin
Clearly it’s a trash bin, not a trash can. The British might be onto something.

What I learned today: What is “Ohio” to the big financial executives? Well, I was interviewing one of them for the documentary we are doing about the current state of the securities industry. He asked me where I was from in America, and I told him Ohio. The first city he thought of? Bowling Green. 'Tis a shame. He also thought there were mostly hick towns there. I definitely couldn’t argue with that, of course.

Wait ... Am I the country-bumpkin-turned-city-girl to these people? How funny. I am from suburban Cincinnati ... Wait that doesn't prove much, does it? I did used to frequent shows for a band that sings a song "I Wrecked My Tractor."

What I love about London: Now that it is fall and the tourists are gone, London is finally London, bedecked in scarves and colorful leaves and gray skies.

Whatever Happened to a Good Old E-mail?
Being abroad definitely makes me more in touch with people. I feel like half of my night is e-mailing. Look, it’s midnight and I’m finally blogging. I have been chatting online and checking my e-mail pretty much non-stop since I walked in, even still talking to my colleague Christopher in NYC (the time change makes work hours ambiguous).

The truth is, I think I was supposed to be alive in the 19^th century, because I would be good at being Emily Dickinson, writing letters and short poetry all day. I’d get a little sick of myself, but my job would be writing poetry to become famous as soon as I died -- how cool would that be?

My correspondence skills, I must say, are very unusual -- but I think important! One should not underestimate the power of a nice long e-mail to an old friend, circa 2001.

Then again, half my day at work is e-mailing, so how can I stand to e-mail at the end of the day? One day at work I figured I sent 75 e-mails. My boss gets 600 e-mails a day, so I doubt he is sending gchats to his old chums from university after work. That could be me someday!!

But on the other hand, it’s important not to let the drudge of work keep one from letting her fingers flow over the keyboard to type a proper electronic correspondence to friends and family. Or else the art of Internet communication will slip away entirely. Before you know it, our kids won’t even be able to write a good, old-fashioned e-mail anymore!!!

That’s why I will send them abroad. Bring back the Grand Tour.

I am now reading: This Onion article really sums off the office life for me:
Study Finds Working At Work Improves Productivity
My daily dose of the Onion really gets me through the work day!

Exclusive: Ellie Behling Sightings in London

Word of the day: wanker
I feel awkward saying what it means, but I know that this is what my flatmate calls her boss.

A few things I learned this weekend:

• Public transportation seems great, but it really takes way longer and is just as expensive as gasoline. But I am just mad that I spent about $60 this week running around London that I wouldn’t have spent if I didn’t lose my unlimited monthly travel card. It should come back to me whenever the Royal Mail feels like bringing it here!!! Well I guess it didn't stop me from cavorting about the city this weekend.
  
• Americans did not invent fireworks when they gained freedom from the British! In fact, I saw plenty of fireworks for Guy Fawkes Day this weekend. Apparently Guy Fawkes was a guy who tried to blow up Parliament in the 17th century … and the British celebrate this. But then again we also kind of celebrate a made-up event of Columbus making the amazing discovery of America.
• Speaking of discovering America, I found out some history about my part of the woods in London -- which is the Surrey Quays district of the Docklands. Yes, there is something here besides the one shopping center (woo!) and a few pubs. Apparently the Mayflower docked and sailed from this area! Maybe I will have a drink to that when I'm stranded here at Thanksgiving.
  

What I love about London: The amazing graffiti, such as the famous Banksy.

Weekend Update

And now if I were famous and the tabloids had been hounding me all weekend (which is exactly what they do in London), they could write several stories, such as:

E.llie Behling was sighted in London’s hip East End today talking to bassist Nick McCarthy from rock band Franz Ferdinand. Behling was wandering around famous record store Rough Trade when her friend Jessica Lee spotted McCarthy, and the three chatted. McCarthy was carrying a pile of albums and said he was “stocking up.” Behling left the store empty-handed, but was sipping a latte.

Behling then wandered to Brick Lane, where she bought a cheap necklace from a vendor, and then was later spotted eating pie at The Old Truman Brewery.

Later that afternoon she was back north in Camden Town for the third time this week. Behling is a bit of a Camden Market regular, and had on a new houndstooth-patterned hat when passersby saw her head for home. A person next to her on the tube says they heard Bob Dylan’s “Brand New Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat” playing on her iPod.

Or other stories could be:

Ellie Behling was spotted in a devil costume at Camden Town’s Koko club with several other masquerading individuals on Friday night. The old opera house was a much more grandiose venue than the rock shows we usually find her attending in dingy bars of Ohio. She allegedly darted out early, probably to catch the last tube back to her home in Southeast London.

***

Ellie Behling was seen wandering the majestic rooms of South Kensington’s Victoria & Albert museum alone on Saturday. She spent a long time in the fashion display and reading the captions on the medieval tombs, and also lingered by a display of iron key designs from hundreds of years. The starlet was heard telling someone on her mobile that it was “the coolest museum in London yet.”

***

The amazing choreography of fireworks celebrating Guy Fawkes Day boomed in Battersea Park Saturday night, and onlookers included Ellie Behling, observing the British holiday for the first time as she sipped mulled wine. She and a pack of girls then crossed the glowing Albert Bridge before heading home.

***

It’s suspected that Ellie Behling must have had a night in after a long weekend in London, probably doing something completely self-promotional and lame like writing in her blog and watching Ghost while admiring her new hat in the mirror.

I am now watching: Yes, Ghost. And before that it was Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (oh British TV).

[Edit: I deleted a photo from this page.]

Miss America? I Don't Always

Summary: Once again I laugh/cry over the U.S. for its precious puritanism.

Word of the day: snogging
In case you don’t know this one, it’s kissing.

What I learned today: America is intolerant of atheism. Sure, I always knew this, but I didn't realize how much it stands out on a global level for these sorts of things. When I first got here, one of my co-workers showed me an article about active atheist Philip Pullman visiting the U.S. The article described the U.S. as a place that criminalizes atheists. This was shocking to two English co-workers. A lot of the English (although I wouldn’t exactly call them people with a reputation for religious tolerance), just accept it as another belief like Islam or Judaism. On the other hand, some Americans don’t accept other religions period, do they?

To continue that thought…

There’s a new movie coming out called The Golden Compass. My flatmate loved the book and is excited about it. I was going to try to read it before the movie, as it looks like a thrilling fantasy, and it has a ferret in it. Then I received the following e-mail yesterday.

Now I wouldn’t bother reading this whole e-mail, because I didn’t. And I don’t mean to pick on the person who sent it, because she is like a sister to me. But it is just so American I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Subject: FW: Movie Boycott (The Golden Compass)> I sent this out earlier, and my son added this additional information from Snopes. Just click the link. Thanks to Greg and Carolyn. If you forward, please blind copy and remove addresses.> Carol> I checked this out at www..snopes.com. This email/story is completely true. There is a lot of information to be gleaned from http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp and I encourage all to read the information provided on this link.> Gregory T. Lloyd, DVM> If you have children or grandchildren, here’s a heads-up!> Carol> Well. ain't this a nice 'howdy do'![http://by103w.bay103.mail.live.com/mail/SafeRedirect.aspx?hm__tg=http://65.54.174.249/att/GetAttachment.aspx&hm__qs=file%3df97f5cbc-4cd9-4fc9-86ce-4d77b33b5df2.gif%26ct%3daW1hZ2UvZ2lm%26name%3daW1hZ2UwMDEuZ2lm%26inline%3d1%26rfc%3d0%26empty%3dFalse%26imgsrc%3dcid%253aimage001.gif%254001C817E9.FF79F2A0&oneredir=1&ip=10.1..106.200&d=d1237&mf=0]> ________________________________> Subject: Movie Boycott (The Golden Compass)> Just an FYI for those of us with children or those of us who know people with children should be aware of.> This Christmas there will be a movie released starring Nicole Kidman called 'The Golden Compass'. This is based on a the first book of a triology by a British author named Phillip Pullman. It is children's fantasy in the likes of Narnia or Lord of the Rings. It is being released by New Line and Scholastic Entertainment (the same as Scholastic books in our schools). Phillip Pullman is hoping that the movie will spark interest in reading of the books.> The evil force in the books and movie is 'The Magisterium' with priest, cardinals, popes, conclaves etc. Phillip Pullman is a 'devout' atheist who wants to slowly and unasumingly enter the minds and hearts of our children and poison them. In the books, especially the third book, there are mentions of horrific deaths and the killing of God. This is suppose to be a mercy killing since by this time God is old and decrepit.> Dr. William Donohue was on EWTN last night talking about this. For more information please go to www.catholicleague.org. Please let other people that you know understand that this is anti-catholic/anti-christian/anit-God movie and that Phillip Pullman is trying to get young children to become atheists--maybe without their parents knowledge--by reading the books. I'm sure the movie is a milder version than the book--they usually always are.> Let's do our best to get the word out to boycot this movie! INSTEAD, let's go see 'Bella' and let that movie make as much money as possible!!> =======================> FOLLOW UP ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007> =======================> Well, and as these things go.....I was flipping channels this morning and on the Today Show was an excerpt from the movie 'The Golden Compass'. Apparently it is Al Roker's book of the month for children! They are also going to have a sweepstakes for someone to win a trip to England for the premier of the film and will have Philip Pullman on the Today Show-- next month I believe! See how fast the devil moves!! Let's keep on getting the word out! We've got to be as dedicated to the preservation of Truth as the devil is in destroying it!!

I am now dressing up as: The devil! I actually wore my devil Halloween costume on the tube after a few too many two-for-one beers as well. It seems only appropriate, as I was the Bible character Eve last year. We know it's her fault sin exists at all.