Nominations for the Razzies are out. It doesn’t look too good for Episode II, either…

So I woke up this morning to find the ground covered with about 3 inches of snow. Which would normally make me very happy, except that I was already planning to take my Explorer in for service today. So after checking to see if the service department would be open (they weren’t), I called the “snow emergency phone” at work – and sure enough, ETS was closed today. So I’ll have to take my truck in on Monday, and I still get paid for today. Everyone wins. So long as everyone is me.

Snow Day became Sleep Day, until the sound of the plows became too much to deal with, at which point it became Laundry Day. Not terribly exciting, but something that needs to be done. I wish I had something more exciting to report, but…well, I’m not very exciting.

Here’s a short clip from Todd Graff’s new film, Camp. This movie is near and dear to me, not only because it was written by a Stagedoor alum, but also because it’s a (somewhat fictionalized) dramatization of Stagedoor. In fact, the whole film was shot at Stagedoor. (Did I mention Stagedoor?)

This makes the 4th day in the last two weeks I’ve had to stay EXTRA late to make sure everything that needs doing gets done. I’m kinda tired. And I have a meeting with a client in the morning. (Which, by the way, I’m not looking forward to.) I need a stiff drink and about 12 hours of sleep.

Since we don’t have AdCritic to refer to for Super Bowl ads this year, AOL Broadband has posted versions of a good majority of them here, including the T3 and Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions spots.

So, it’s Sunday afternoon, and I feel like I should be doing something useful – cleaning my room, grocery shopping, paying bills, I don’t know. Instead, I’m watching shows off my TiVo and trying not to think about the week ahead of me at work.

*sigh*

Well, as most of you know, I have been back in the country for the last few days…I’ve spent most of my time unpacking, doing laundry, and generally relaxing and chilling out. But before I get too far removed, let me give you the low-down on the last few days of my vacation.

Monday was another walk-around day – we started the day with the tour at Kensington Palace. A little piece of advice to the travellers-to-be: unless you’re facinated by the way people dressed at court over the last few centuries, skip the first floor and go straight to the second. The first floor (actually, the first LAP of the tour) is all about dress. Specifically, Diana’s dresses. (Well, why not. It WAS her residence, after all.) For people like me, the second floor is much more interesting – that’s where you’ll find the Royal Apartments. This is (in my opinion, anyway) the interesting part, since you get a full picture of life at court, and how business was conducted. The palace has been beautifully decorated – in some places with replicas, in some with the original decor – and is definately worth a visit.

Following lunch, we checked out the “Bond, James Bond” exhibit at the Science Museum. It was a typical retrospective-type exhibition, but it was still really neat to see some of the props (Bond’s cars, Jaws’ teeth) close up. I also took a Bond trivia quiz while I was there – not surprisingly, I scored pretty well. From there we briefly checked out the National Gallery, but as we were running short on time, went straight to the National Portrait Gallery – essentially a history lesson with lots of pictures, but very interesting.

Another show on Monday night – this time, “Auntie & Me”, a very dark comedy about old age and dying. Very very funny. The show was somewhat short, so after the movie we cut across Leicester Square to see “Chicago” (the movie, not the live show – I just wanted to specify, since they’re both running in London). I still can’t get used to the idea of buying booze at a movie theatre, let alone actually taking it into the theatre. But then, I’m not used to people selling me ice cream in a theatre either. It’s a cultural thing.

Tuesday was mainly a shopping day – the National Portrait Gallery shoppe, the Cinema Store, Tower Records, Virgin Megastore, The BBC Shop, The London Transport Museum (for Jen’s “Mind the Gap” shirt, among other things), lots of other shops in Covent Garden…well, you get the idea. That took up the better part of the day. Top it all off with “Anything Goes” at the National Theatre and a nice dinner at the Prospect Grill in Covent Garden, and that’s a pretty complete day.

Wednesday was the our flight back – but before we left the hotel, I snapped some pictures of Russell Square from the terrace on our hotel room, and ran down to the Safeway for some essential exports – Apple Tango, HobNobs, Wine Gums and (this is perhaps the most important thing) Penguin Bars. The minibus ride back to Heathrow was uneventful, if not a little boring. Naturally, when we got to the airport, it started to rain. But at least the computers didn’t go down this time.

I went a little nuts in the Duty-Free area. If you haven’t travelled internationally, the Duty-Free area is where you can buy stuff (candy, chocolate, clothing, alcohol, cigarettes…damn near anything, really) without paying local taxes or duties for exporting/importing. We finally have some booze to go in our “bar”, I got Bry his beloved Crunchie bars, I bought a bear for Julie from Harrod’s, more Wine Gums…the list goes on. But I managed to get everything into the overhead compartment, and that’s what counts.

And now I’m back. La la la. Pictures will be coming shortly – I’m in the process of choosing the best ones and giving them witty captions.

So, one of the things that I just don’t get about London 2003: one of the most popular mobile phone ring tones is the dit-dit-dit-DAH-DAH-dit-dit-dit SOS tone. I just don’t get it.

Well, today was supposed to be the outing to Paris, but Eurostar said “I don’t think so”. So, in response, we slept in. Well, not so much “slept in” as “missed the wake-up call and massively overslept”. Which was no big deal, as we didn’t have much of a plan for the day anyway.

We first headed over to Camden Market, home of clothing bargains and contact highs. Seriously. I swear, there had to be someone smoking up in every third stall. I had been looking for posters, prints, or other such wall hangings for the apartment, but found nothing I would call “acceptable”. (And, for the record, I don’t consider a flag with Bob Marley’s picture on it made completely from hemp “acceptable”.) After that, we took the tube down into Kensington, had some fish & chips (well, chips in my case. I’m not big on the seafood), and strolled around, admiring the architecture. We got nostalgic for our old digs, and took the District Line another two stops to Fulham, to visit the flat that was my home for 5 months in ’96.

What I found when I got to Fulham Broadway station amazed me. I’m still trying to register it. The last time I had been in Fulham, 7 years ago, it was pretty much like any other suburban London neighborhood. A supermarket (Safeway), a few high street shops (WH Smiths, Boots, etc), but for anything fancier than essentials, you had to go to a high street in either Kensington or Hammersmith. Hell, the nearest cinema was over a mile away in Chelsea. So imagine my shock as I exit the Tube and found a brand new shopping centre, complete with a new supermarket (Sainsbury’s), a Virgin Megastore, and an honest to god, brand new, 9-screen cinema. And what’s more, the whole area around Fulham Broadway has started to turn upscale. I noticed that a lot of the people moving from shop to shop were younger, hip, urban types, not the older, somewhat bitter people I remember from before. Fulham, it seems, is the new Chelsea.

Anyway, a quick stroll over to 29 Shorrolds Road (still painted green with a red door, and very possibly with the same curtains in the window), an even quicker nostalgia walk up North End Road, and it was back to the Tube. We headed over to Tower Hill for London Walks‘ Jack the Ripper Walk. Lead by a certified Blue Badge who has written books on the Ripper murders (and who gave Johnny Depp his education in the Ripper for his role in “From Hell”), we talked around the city and the East End, stopping at locations significant to the Ripper legacy. (The Ten Bells pub, incidentally, is still open for business.) I didn’t have much interest in this walk going in, but to hear the details from someone who really knows what he’s talking about makes all the difference in the world.

Anyway, that was pretty much the day. From there, it was Wagamama’s for some ramen, then to easyEverything so I could post this message. Now, it’s back to the hotel for sleep. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be getting to the National Gallery (among other places) before yet another show.

While I’m thinking about it, here’s the rundown of what I’ve seen so far:
“My Fair Lady” at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
“The Talking Cure” (with Ralph Finnes) at the National Theatre
“The Breath of Life” (with Dame Judy Dench and Dame Maggie Smith) at the Haymarket
“Mnemonic” at Riverside Studios
“A Laughing Matter” at the National Theatre
and “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” (with Brenda Blethyn) at the Strand

There you go. More later…