Urban Giraffe

Apart from bills the only thing that comes through my post box are flyers for local pizza companies and private hire taxi firms. I wish I could get Akismet for my post box (or maybe this already exists - a big dog).

Anyway, a while back I found an unusual hand-printed business card had been slipped in alongside the junk. I almost threw it away before noticing that it contained the URL for a WordPress.com blog. On closer inspection it turned out to be an advert for a blog about the area in which I am living, and which must have been hand delivered by the author - an unusual way to promote a blog. I can't imagine that a similar online method of promotion would have made it past spam filters.

The blog itself is an interesting read and I've already learned about several places of interest in my local area, as well as reading about some of the more colourful local characters. It seems that sometimes hand delivered spam is ok.

Spitalfields Life

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Yes, this is one of those late-late February New Year round-ups! And what a year it's been in general. Moving back to the 'real world' (aka London) has now come and gone, and I'm safely wrapped up in trying to stay ahead of the world's general downward curve.

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Next week sees the beginning of the Chinese Year of the Rat, and with it millions of Chinese will celebrating with their families. The rat symbolises wealth and prosperity to the Chinese, and I'm hoping this is a good sign as by the end of the month I will be moving to London to restart Life 2.0.

My feelings about this are mixed. In many respects I'm looking forward to having access to all the modern goodness that I'm used to, but in others I'm expecting severe culture-shock as I rejoin the familiar rat-race (pun intended). Like many Chinese at this time of the year I shall be catching up with family (although hopefully not hampered by extreme weather conditions). Following that I'll be faced with the rather more difficult prospect of finding employment and a place to live.

Seeing as the internet is ideally built for self-promotion I thought I may as well mention that if anyone happens to be in the position of needing a full-time London-based developer then please do get in touch. There's some more details about my skills here, and it should be noted that I can do other things besides PHP/WordPress. Pimp-mode over.

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I'll admit a certain liking towards end-of-the-world movies. For me there's something irresistible in seeing what happens when everything goes wrong and Bruce Willis doesn't manage to save the day. It was with delight that I watched 28 Days Later, a 2002 movie by Danny Boyle and Alex Garland about a horrible blood-spitting disease that strikes Britain. Maybe it was the bleak London vistas, maybe it was the unrelenting music and in-your-face video, or maybe it was just the fact that it was a great budget movie that packed a big punch.

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After a long hiatus I am back in Prague, and it's feeling good. Norway was a fantastic country to stay in. The countryside was, to use a ropey-old expression, drop-dead gorgeous. The people were very friendly, and I enjoyed myself a lot. Living in a hotel for so long did have its downsides, and I don't miss that at all, but I succumbed to a reward scheme and have earned myself enough points to stay somewhere lovely.

My previous impressions of Oslo were more or less accurate, but I will update them here. The most important thing is that yes, Norway is indeed an expensive place. Even compared to London. When you look at simple items such as a stick of chewing gum or a can of coke, and find that they are up to five times more expensive, you start to take notice.

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