Morrie. There has been a bit of press recently relating to the London mayor which I have found interesting.
A few months back Sarah and I were lucky enough to vote for a London mayor. You see, we weren't voting for a new mayor, but to see if London would have a mayor at all! The vote turned out yes (to having a mayor).
But now things are getting weird. It seems that each of the major political parties in the UK are putting forward one candidate. I don't see what national politics should do with a London mayor. I would much rather have an independent mayor. Maybe someone who has been influential in industry, or a doctor perhaps.
There is one political candidate, Ken Livingstone, who is currently very popular and is likely to win the election for mayor. However, he is most closely aligned with the Labor party, which currently has the majority of seats in the federal government.
But Tony Blair, the Labor Prime Minister has 'gone off' Livingstone and is thinking of introducing an 'interview' of potential people who could represent the Labor party as London mayor. And everyone knows that Livingstone will fail this interview. The issue is also that Livingstone, even though he doesn't care too much for Blair, would prefer not to snub the Labor party which he has been supporting for so long.
A good mayor is someone who is outspoken and part of the community. Someone who really tackles issues relating to Londoners. A man or woman of action. I am appalled at how a London mayor can be associated with federal politics. What happens if a different party wins the next federal election? Will Londoners elect a different mayor? That's stupid. To be totally honest, I feel that London shouldn't even be the seat of federal government. I feel that the capital should be moved to another city, such as Winchester, or better yet, Carlisle.
Anyway, enough ranting, I apologize about not updating the ol' website last week, but we do have a life, eh! Seriously, we're sorry.
Sarah managed to hook up with Tim and Kerry for a pint after work on Friday and had a great time catching up. We also invited Tanya, Amanda and Greg over for lunch on Sunday. We ended up spending the entire day and evening together and I can't remember having a better time just hanging out in a long time.
Did some shopping in the city a couple of times. Bought some books, and a great new computer game called Fallout. Funny enough, we were walking on The Strand Saturday and bumped into someone I knew. That was totally freaky. But I was shocked even more when I got a call from Andy. His flat mate Susan saw Sarah and I walking on the Strand. She saw us talking to some guy and didn't want to disturb us (plus she was on the other side of the street). The probability of this happening is low, very low.
Even though the weather's been plummeting we still managed to spend an afternoon walking through Hampstead Heath and an afternoon in Richmond Park. We love getting out for a short walk now and again, and personally I find London air pretty good. There are lots of polluting cars, but not too many industries.
We went to see The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) in Picadilly Circus and had a ball (see review below). We also went to a fantastic pub with Amanda called The Coronet on Holloway Road. It used to be an old movie theatre.