Living Up to One's Reputation

My faithful readers (if there is such thing) may remember that I lost my wallet (unless it was picked off my pocket, which is more likely) back in December. In the wallet, I was carrying my ID card and my driving licence; both documents I don't usually need in this country. I going back to France next month for a week and will be requiring my driving licence as I intend to drive once there. I am told that the ... errr... best way to get a new copy of my licence is to go through the French Consulat. I don't want to think of what the not so good ways can be like!

My previous, and thankfully limited experience with this outpost of the dreaded French Administration taught me that they are not very efficient, not really bothered with helping anyone and that going to see them, means getting up early to queue for most of the morning. I also know that all sorts of unexpected documents will be asked from me for my request to be met.

To try and find out more about the ....errr... best way to proceed, I first visited their website. Not a word about driving licences there and all the information seems to be directed to French tourists not the people living in this country. Thanks! The site looks rather shite and there is no way to get in touch with them electronically.

They give out a phone number however, which I have just tried. I ended up in the loops of an infuriating answering system which goes on for ever, delivering irrelevant information. When I finally got to an option vaguely corresponding to what I was looking for I was told that the option is not available!!!!

This means I am going to have to take half a day off and go and queue... Vive la France! No, Really!

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A Short History of the Elephant and Castle and Its Name

Last night I attended a lecture by local historian Stephen Humphrey who discussed the general history of the Elephant & Castle, focussing more particularly on what he called its heyday (between 1850 and 1940). This is part of a week-long art project ( The Elephant Project ) hosted in an empty unit on the first floor of the infamous shopping centre, aiming to chart some of the changes currently happening to the area. When an historian starts talking about the Elephant and Castle, there is one subject he can not possibly avoid, even if he wanted to. Indeed my unsuspecting announcement on Facebook that I was attending such talk prompted a few people to ask the dreaded question: Where does the name of the area come from, for realz? Panoramic view of the Elephant and Castle around 1960/61. Those of us less badly informed than the rest have long discarded the theory that the name comes from the linguistic deformation of "Infanta de Castille", a name which would have become at

pink sauce | life, with a pink seasoning

As of tonight, my blog Aimless Ramblings of Zefrog , that "place where I can vent my frustration, express ideas and generally open my big gob without bothering too many people" which will be 6 in a couple of months, becomes Pink Sauce . While the URLs zefrog.blogspot.com and www.zefrog.eu are still valid to access this page, the main URL now becomes www.pinksauce.co.uk. There is a vague plan to create a proper website for www.zefrog.eu to which the blog would be linked. Why Pink Sauce , you may ask. It is both simple and complicated. For several years, I have grown out of love for the name of the blog. It felt a bit cumbersome and clumsy. That said, I never really looked into changing it, seriously. Tonight, for dinner, I had pasta with a special pink sauce of my concoction ; single cream and ketchup. I know most people while feel nauseous at the very though of the mixture but trust me, it's gorgeous. Don't knock it till you've tried it. After having had my platte

Review: Park Avenue Cat @ Arts Theatre

As we are steadily reminded throughout the hour and half hour of Park Avenue Cat , the new play by Frank Strausser, which had its "world premiere" this week-end at the Arts Theatre, time is money. Most of the play takes place in the office of a posh LA therapist who charges $200 per hour. So, having sat through the play, I am wondering why the author spent time writing it, why a production team spent time putting it up and why I and any audience member are asked to spent time (and money) watching it. The play, said to be "a triangle with four corners" (!), brings together a therapist (Tessa Peake-Jones), who is probably not enjoying her job all that much), Lily (Josefina Gabrielle - the eponymous Parc Avenue cat) as well as Philip (Gray O'Brien - aka Tony Gordon in Coronation Street) and Dorian (Daniel Weyman), Lily's lovers. In an interview on the play's dedicated website, Strausser (who was in the audience) explains that he thinks comedy comes out of a

Pink Sauce

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