london still

yep. i'm in london as we speak. in my opinion, it's just like melbourne, except suffering from gigantism. there's just more of everything. i start walking somewhere, and the same buildings just repeat themselves for "miles" n miles.

the plane trip was hell. twas cramped and boring. there wasn't much to do except sleep and eat. i was sitting next to an old woman for the first half of the flight. half the space for my feet was taken up by huge bunches of flowers belonging to her. i got sick of them in the end, and just stepped all over them. i spilt the box of breakfast cereal all over my lap. at heathrow i saw police with submachine-guns, but other than that it was extremely quite. it took me ages to find the underground tube, first i had to catch a connecting bus to a station. the trains here are very narrow, and you sit facing inwards, facing the person opposite. it's like they were designed to mimic the tunnels they have to go through, as i guess they were. they're probably what happens when both the trains and the tunnels are invented at the same time, you end up with a perfect fit.
it took me ages to find the hostel i was staying at. i walked the wrong way and ended up in hyde park, when i was sposed to go the other way. it's in a very posh part of town, full of clothes shops, like a kind of brighton suburb, called kensington. it's very near notting hill. it's in a very nice park, and there's squirrels. the weather here is very nice, i can wear a tshirt all day. i almost got hit by a car crossing the road, because the lights are different here, and i thought i still had time to get across. the guy was driving a mercedes and i stuck my fiinger up at him, even though it was my fault, so he pulled over and started abusing me. he looked a little like the prince of wales. there's tons of people riding bikes round here, but i wouldn't. i don't know how they don't have more accidents, it's like they exist in seperate dimensions, and just pass through each other. only about 1 in 6 wears a helmet as well. i started walking this orning to see what i could see, so far i've been to hyde park, royal albert hall, seen the changing of the guard at buckingham palace, and trafalgar square, carnaby and bakers street and some other stuff. i'm starting to get bored. i guess i'll go to some museums now or something.

travel

every now and then i wonder about the whole "travel" thing. not the seeing new places part, but the unnaturaleness of the methods we use to transport ourselves there. there's an inherent grace and beauty in walking and running, and even in simple machines like bikes and boats, that seems to be missing from the more modern transport machines.

when you think about it, how dangerous are cars? sitting in a steel and glass box, traveling at 100 kph, on a smooth surface, while trying to stay between some painted lines on the road, while cars head towards you in the opposite direction centimetres away. so much of this system seems on be based on trust and pure belief. if someone proposed the concept today, it would probably be thought of as too unsafe to use.

and aeroplanes/airplanes (sp?) what's up with them. most inhuman way to travel ever. what would the world be like if everyone walked from place to place, and communicated via technology? would everything still work? if oil goes up in price much more, it may cost too much to travel overseas, and ordinary people won't be able to afford it. how would that affect our minds?

sweet as candy

London Calling

and first 8 days in britain, not sure what i'm going to do there

leaving

i'm leaving on the 23.


not long now.