The concept was pretty self-explanatory - a series of portraits of English people now living in NYC. Some of the usual suspects featured (Zoe Heller, tosspot Sting), but my favourite was Hamish Bowles - European editor-at-large for Vogue, he's superbly dapper in dogtooth check and a silver-topped cane, a one-man-oasis of sartorial calm against a backdrop of Yellow Cabs. Couldn't normally give a toss about fashion folk, but I do think he's a bit of a dude (he'd probably wince at being thought of as a 'dude'):
Snappy
(If you're reading, LouLou - it made me want to head Stateside for a visit - got home and started looking for flights in the Spring...)
Whilst I'm doing my stint as patron of the Arts, I like to think I'm single-handedly saving Crouch End Library from closure. I took some CDs out a few weeks ago and, like the absent-minded type I'm wont to be, promptly forgot all about them. Unearthed them yesterday, from under a pile of books and crosswords. I can remember thinking "oh dear, I might have to pay a pound or two in fines".
Wrong. £15.60. Yes, that's FIFTEEN POUNDS AND SIXTY PENCE. I thought I'd gone deaf. "Pardon???", I said at least once. But the fault was mine, so I coughed up. Funny thing is, I know one of the CDs is part of a HMV Classical collection that are only £4.99 to buy. I paid £5.20 in fines on that alone. None of this is good for my wallet, but I'm hoping the library staff will get to keep their jobs in these times of local government cuts (and maybe end up getting a better class of biscuit with their cuppa this week).
