Shaken - not stirred

This evening I met up with Steve and Sophie, a lovely couple who live in Balmain and who I met a few weeks ago at the Avenue Q big night out; we met in one of the local pubs that has a special 'Martini' night on Thursdays - basically 17 different types of Martini from apple, honey and cinnamon (which is pretty much what I have on my porridge) to chocolate. 

Here's a conversation I had yesterday at the Library:

Security Guard: You can leave your bag in one of these lockers for free.

Me: Oh right, thanks very much.

Security Guard: ... Do I detect an English accent?

Me: [Oh god please no....] Errr,.. maybe [I know what's coming next... he'll ask where I'm from....]

Security Guard: I thought so! So whereabouts are you from?

Me: [keep this simple, bland, general, and therefore short] London.

SG: Oh, I have family from there.

Me: [of course you do....] Oh that's nice. Where?

SG: B-rom-ley [pronouned like it's a sacred burial site] In London [oh, London! glad you explained where it was].

Me: Oh yes, I've heard of Bromley. 

If you've not checked them out, on the left are two blogs worth reading (both BBC). Nick Bryant is excellent; in fact yesterday I was going to blog about Senator Fielding having read the Sydney Morning Herald, but NB beat me to it on his blog. Mark Mardell, also BBC, has just replaced Justin Webb as American correspondent, and he's also very good.