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Well the web is still working.	permanent url:/home204.htm | week 204 | 21 January 2002
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ANTICS QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Amanda : What's wrong with you, John? You're cursing very early this morning. AROUND THE OFFICE: Rumours and speculation Fry still the most tempting breakfast O'Sheas practically empty on Monday SERVICES SEARCH WALTZER Search through the archives. GOOGLE SEARCH Search the web. TOP SITES Mark Jordan's Punchbear personal site. Alan Currie's Purgatory Records dance label. Larry, Gareth & Ed's Danger Here football site. REMINDER Get e-mailed reminder every Tuesday. WALTZER.NET CONTRIBUTE The Waltzer Experience is a Tuesday weekly underground culture magazine for the Clonskeagh office. Waltzer welcomes submissions to waltzer@waltzer.net. ALAN WALL Alan Wall is a graphic designer who's interested in photography, web design, Dublin culture and writing.

Culture Approaching London As I walk down the rickety Ryanair stairs, the English drizzle blows into my face. I walk over to the terminal building where Nora, my flight attendant, is waiting. I ask her to go out with me and Gillo some time and she agrees. I had been talking to her on the plane about how I didn't know she was a flight attendant when I met her before in McSorley's some weeks previously. Once downstairs on the train platform, I miss my train by the few seconds that I spent wondering if it was the right train and why did it have business class written on it. I go back to the shops to kill some time, but they are all closing. Suddenly I see a bar. Hello! Hmm, buy a double and get the mixer free. Nice one. "Two Technics please." Have you got Gemimi mixers? Ho ho, I kill myself. I sit down at the bar window with my double vodka and Coke. Many men in their 20s are sitting alone. I spend a few minutes devising a system where you get a card that says either "welcome" or "do not disturb" so people travelling alone don't have to drink alone. Looking over there is a restaurant that was BK or M the last time I saw it. It occurs to me that I haven't eaten since lunch and it's well into the evening now. Down to the trains again and Jump aboard a waiting train and make my way into London.

Culture Leaving London As my train leaves Liverpool Street Station I recall how much I relied on London Transport over my trip. Mairead had said that I'd enjoy using the underground and she was right. She and Mandy told me that I'd love London and they were right. Despite Ben's constant put-downs and pessimism I thought it was a marvellous place. I saw Soho, Covent Garden, The Tate, Piccadilly Circus, Harrods, and Somerset House. I was in a tiny Spanish bar, another pub pretending to be a restaurant "I have room for four people if they eat something." I stayed in a nice hotel in the west end among all the theatres and shops. The light is slipping away now and the journey home seems negligible and irrelevant. When I get back to Dublin I want to embrace the city more than ever. I want to see everything, do everything. London is a great city but we live in Dublin. There's no point lamenting that fact, so we might as well make the most of it. And Dublin is a fine city to make the most of.

London Cool things about London The people are polite and helpful when talking to you The Underground is really easy to use I encountered no violence, crime It's a lovely looking city It gave me something to write about this week They appreciate art, architecture and design Loads of cool shops Very culturally diverse You can get Cherry Coke, Absinthe and Pro Plus Crap things about London You can't get a fried breakfast too easily Full of tourists It's very expensive They don't know how to pour a Guinness

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