A news article in the Metro this morning made for pretty interesting reading.
Scientists reckon they’ve found a way to bring people back from the dead. They tested a procedure on dogs who’d clinically died and had absolutely no sign of physical or mental activity. They filled the dog’s body with an ice cold saline solution to preserve the organs, and then replaced it again with blood, applied some electricity, and brought the dogs back to life, apparently with no loss of mental or physical function. The dogs had been clinically dead for up to three hours. The scientists are hoping that this application could be used in the future in situations such as patients who died through massive blood loss. Whilst it sounds very interesting (and of course taking into account further tests before (if they get!) approval), it raises some very interesting ethical and spiritual issues, doesn’t it?

I am offically Happy.
As I’ve not mentioned, I joined Weight Watchers two months ago to shift the excess weight that’s crept up on me over the last 5 years. In the first month, up to the end of May, I lost 6.5lbs. Due to birthdays and holidays, I hadn’t been since May 28th. Having spent the last couple of weeks eating generally celebratory food or stuffing myself down in London, I highly expected upon returning to the meetings to have put on some of the weight I already lost. Au contraire. I’ve lost another 5lbs!
To celebrate, I went out and bought a dress for the charity black-tie ball I’m going to on July 16th. It’s beautiful, and it looks like this.

The things we do for our loved ones - I’ve just put the redesign of my Dad’s blog live after tinkering with it for a good while. I think it looks rather nice, personally. Go congratulate him on it or something.

Back home in Sheffield now, as of yesterday, and I was very happy to discover my house was just fine. I always come back from holiday with the terrible what-if thought that my house just might have caught fire / blown up / got hit by a nuke whilst I was away.

Anyway, lots of fun, back to reality tomorrow, alas. Just remembered something that I wanted to add about the holiday, though. Whilst at Sally Lunn’s in Bath, a group of three guys sat down at the table next to us, and they were chatting away about various things, including the old house we were in.

One of the guys remarked, “I heard that this place is haunted.” Really?, thought I. Didn’t know that. Then the guy continued with, “Mind you, I’ve never seen a ghost in all the 200 years I’ve been coming here.”

I liked that. I guess the olde ones are the best.

Nearing the end of the week down here in London, alas, but we’re certainly making the most of it.

Wednesday was tourism day, and the three of us wandered around the Tower of London in the rain (it’s been a long time since I was last there), and then headed over to Westminster to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and followed it up with a flight on the London Eye. It’s unfortunate the weather was poor, as the view is much nicer on a sunny day, but we still had good enough visibility for me to point out things like St Pauls and Buckingham Palace to Vicki and Jess. After some more walking around, we headed back to the flat to rest our tired feet for a while, and then in the evening headed out to see Phantom of the Opera. We got there at 7.30pm on the dot, and I’d been extremely concerned we’d get there too late (due to delays leaving the flat). As it was, we were admitted through a side door, but got there before the curtain went up, but only by a minute. It was a close call! As ever, the show was fabulous, and we were humming the songs all the way back home - via Ben and Jerry’s!

Yesterday we took a trip out to Bath to visit the Roman Baths ruins and museum. I’d never been there before, and it was actually more than I’d expected, very impressive. Bath itself is a beautiful place too. Jess, having studied Latin and Roman history for the past 3 years, absolutely adored it. We stopped off at Sally Lunn’s before we left Bath, the oldest house in Bath (c.1490) and now a olde tea shoppe. I introduced Vicki and Jess to the delights of a clotted cream tea (on a traditional Sally Lunn bun, no less), and then we headed back to the train station and, on a whim, decided to go to Cardiff. This was absolutely great for me, having lived in the Cardiff area for seven years, so I showed Vicki and Jess around the place, reminisced about what I recognised and marvelled at how many changes there were. Jess picked up a Swatch watch and some CDs, and we headed back to London via Bath again, and pretty much crashed at the flat.

Today is scheduled to be more sedate after the stuff we’ve crammed in over the last few days. There may be a trip to the London Dungeons later, and the possibility of a show if we can get tickets. Jess would like to see We Will Rock You, and I wouldn’t be overly averse to seeing it again, but we’ll see how it goes. And oh yes, sushi is an absolute must for food, apparently.

London continues to be great fun.
We Will Rock You last night did indeed rock me, I’d see it again without hesitation. Picked up my friends from Victoria this morning, and we spent the day wandering around London’s shops until they finally had to admit defeat and take a break after the long journey. Introduced them to the wonders (ahem) of the London Underground, and we’ve just had the guilty and dubious pleasure of a cholesterol pizza at a nearby and well known pizza chain in Leicester Square.
Tourist time tomorrow, with trips to the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey planned, followed by an evening at Her Majesty’s Theatre watching the excellent Phantom of the Opera.

Well, here I am down in London for a week (and somewhat to my shame, updating for the first time in nearly two months - yes, I KNOW, Dad).

I’ve got some friends from the US coming over on Tuesday morning for a week, so I’ll be playing tour guide. Came down myself early to reacquaint myself with the place, and as well as being footsore from wandering around yesterday, I’m shocked! I know it’s the capital city, but I don’t remember it being so huge and diverse…and frankly, and I never thought I’d say this but, brilliant. Got loads planned for my friends - we’re seeing Phantom of the Opera on Wednesday, going to all the touristy places like the London Eye and Tower of London, shopping in Camden Town and Covent Garden, going out of the city to Canterbury and Bath, and much more besides.

I’m very pleased with myself this morning, as I’ve managed to snag myself a half price ticket from tkts (the official ticket sellers) to We Will Rock You at the Dominion tonight, up near the front of the circle. Really looking forward to it as I’ve heard excellent things about it. I saw Queen and Paul Rodgers in concert up in Sheffield last month, and whilst the theatre production isn’t the real thing, it’s still Queen.

Trying to decide what to do during the day, but I reckon first priority is checking out the right Tube stops for places like the Tower and London Eye, and then checking trains to Canterbury and Bath. Oh, and getting breakfast! I hear Starbucks calling my name….