Hermenautic Circle blog

* Above, 'voto en blanco' propoganda, with a leftist bent.

Mexicans vote in mid-term congressional elections on Sunday and the most remarkable thing about the whole affair is that so many voters are planning to cast their ballots for no one. The "voto en blanco" or "voto nulo" movement calls for the nullifying of a ballot by placing a huge X across the entire sheet, a gesture of protest and dissatisfaction with the political parties and the entire Mexican political system. Grassroots, decentralized, and non-ideological, the movement is picking up steam.

And why not? The economy is faltering. The traumatic, trippy and only vaguely rationalized narco war has no end in sight. None of the parties' platforms offer a fundamentally radical shift from the country's current course, or if they do, there's little reason to believe anything a Mexican politician says or promises.

"Do you think Mexicans have no memory?" this pro-voto nulo clip asks. At this site, the message is: "Absenteeism is apathy, voting blank is participation."

Indeed, as much as 70% of voters are expected to stay away from the polls on Sunday. The ruling PAN is hoping to expand or at least hold on to its bloc, but most analysts and polls suggest the resurgent PRI will be declared the winner overall on Monday. Voto nulo is not expected to crack 10% of votes cast, a small figure but an undeniably bold message in the long run.

Supporters of voto nulo that I've spoken with -- known by some as anulacionistas -- say they're fed up with what they call a charade of a system. They range from disgruntled ex-politicians, to middle-class elites and active left-wingers, undeterred by the criticism that voto nulo would only weaken Mexico's nascent democracy.

"What kind of democracy are we talking about?" said Benjamin Argumento. "The people voted in 1988 for Cárdenas. Cárdenas won the election, and they didn't let him govern. The people voted for López Obrador in 2006. López Obrador won the election, and they didn't let him govern. The candidates we have today are from the media, from the corporations, who will not give any result, any benefit, for the citizens."

* This is the first election in Mexico in which I am able to participate as a voter. I'm still not sure how I will mark my ballot. More on Monday.

What’s up? Anybody seen any good videos lately?

Any … umm … normal videos, made by normal people?

To get venture capital you need to be pitching a business which can get very big. To make a music company which does that much volume you need to pursue mainstream listeners. To capture mainstream listeners you need content in the short head.

Ergo, eMusic did a deal for music from Sony’s catalog, like Bob Dylan. To do it they needed to raise prices substantially.

But eMusic’s longtime subscribers were evidentally able to get by without Sony’s catalog, and were customers on the basis of lower prices.

The new prices are about double the old ones. The new catalog is shallower, not deeper, so it doesn’t serve the needs of this user base. Higher prices, lower quality.

You see where I’m going with this. Good luck and god speed to you, eMusic. May the road rise with you and the wind be at your back. See ya wouldn’t wanna be ya. Git along little dogie.

But here’s what I’m wondering: who’s going to serve us niche buyers? Is there really no business here? Because I personally wanted more hopelessly obscure electronica, comedy proto-funk, and barely audible wax cylinders, and I can’t be the only one. So whose customer are we now?

And I don’t mean which baby business is willing to take our money until it grows up. Our money’s green as anybody’s — who want it?

There’s a tension between profitability and scale. With niche customers you can earn more per customer but less overall, because there are fewer customers… So don’t talk to me about long tail music, because it’s really a different kind of business than short head music. It’s not selling more of less. It’s a different kind of product with higher margins but lower volume.

For a carnivore, a barbeque can easily become too meaty: a sausage, a lamb chop, a chicken drumstick, oh and one of those minute steaks too – it all adds up. Ketchup does not count as one of the five-a-day. Here are my recommendations for vegetable dishes to cook on the barbecue to break up the monotony of sausages.

Asparagus
New season asparagus brushed with olive oil and quickly grilled over the barbeque is perfect. At its best from late May through to June. Season with salt and pepper.

Banana chillis stuffed with halloumi

Corn on the cob
For this old favourite, the fresher the corn the better. As soon as corn is picked it begins to deteriorate, the texture goes chalky and the sweetness starts to go. If the cobs are in their husks, wet the husks so they don’t catch fire. If the cob does not have the protective husk, brush the kernels lightly with oil and cook, turning frequently. Serve the cobs with butter that has been mixed with finely chopped red chillli, chopped parsley and sea salt.

Peppers and anchovies
Halve red and yellow peppers, brush the skin lightly with olive oil and fill each half with a couple of roughly chopped anchovies, a few capers, black pepper and some oil out of the anchovy jar. Grill over the barbeque until the peppers soften and start to char. Serve with torn basil leaves.

Tangy tomato relish to go with vegetable kebabs and/or red meat

Sweetcorn relish

Vegetable kebabs

From Democracy Now:

Zelaya Vows Return as UN, OAS Condemn Coup

Honduras is facing growing regional and international pressure to restore the overthrown President Manuel Zelaya. Earlier today, the thirty-five-member Organization of American States said it would suspend Honduras unless Zelaya is returned to office within three days. The ultimatum follows Tuesday’s unanimous decision by the UN General Assembly to condemn the coup. Addressing the UN, Zelaya stuck by his vow to return to Honduras on Thursday despite threats of arrest.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya: “A crime has been committed, a crime against humanity, a crime which we all regret. I am going to return on Thursday, because they expelled me by force, and I’m going to return the same way I always return: as a citizen and as the president.”
Zelaya is expected to meet with US officials in Washington today, but not President Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile in Honduras, protests against the coup continued with traffic blockades in various parts of the country and the teachers’ union announcing an indefinite strike. There were also reports of the brief jailing of at least seven journalists.

Click for full story.

Sardines are good value compared to other fish and their oil content makes them perfect for a spicy sauce and will help keep the flesh moist on the barbeque. Stopping fish from sticking on the grill can be a problem, but a light coating of oil on the skin and a fish holder will see you right. I make the Moroccan chermoula at home and take it camping with me in an airtight jar, where it will keep for a week.

Chermoula

Ingredients
1 tsp paprika
A pinch of chilli flakes or cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
4-6 tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
80g (large bunch of) coriander, chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt to taste

Method
Crush the garlic, chilli flakes and salt together in a pestle and mortar, then add that mix to the other chermoula ingredients. Taste, spice it up if you want a stronger sauce but remember you only using a teaspoon or two for each fish. As with any marinade you need to leave it for at least half an hour, preferably longer for the flavours to soak in.

To prepare your sardines and couscous

Ingredients
1 or 2 sardines per person, if you are serving other meat or fish
Olive oil for brushing
Couscous
2 tbs herbs such as mint, parsley and/or coriander chopped
1-2 tbs olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper

Equipment
Barbeque or campfire
Fish holder
Teaspoon

Method
Gut and rinse the sardines and put a teaspoon or two of the chermoula in the cavity of each fish. Rub the skin lightly with olive oil and leave for at least twenty minutes, longer if possible. Over medium heat on the barbeque or campfire place your sardines, turning once, very carefully. A fish holder is useful as it stops you losing your fish to the sticky bars of the grill. You can see the flesh turn from translucent to opaque when they are cooked. Serve hot with couscous.

To go with your fish, serve instant couscous which is ideal for outdoor living, following the instructions on the packet. Once the couscous is rehydrated add the olive oil, lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper, stir well with a fork to separate the grains.

Easy Rider (dir. Dennis Hopper, 1969), like it's lesser-known sibling, Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), poses the question, where are you going when all the roads are mapped?  In their constant motion, Wyatt/Captain America (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) are seeking unmapped territory, but the only unmapped territory is within. By refusing to settle in one place, by being nomads, they are refusing the predetermined categories of social role and occupation.

Freedom has been synonymous with freedom of the open road since before this country was founded: freedom to wander, to break free of the boundaries of town, city, job, habits, and self, and simply go and see what and who you might find.  The hippies in Easy Rider are icons now, and were icons then.  But they're on a journey much older than hippies - the Beats, too, had their road, the hobos theirs, the frontiersmen and pioneers their roads, stolen from and grafted on top of the Native Americans' trajectories in space.

The film itself is an icon: look at them, cruising past the mountains!  Back when you could just go on the road and hitchhike to a commune and really drop out.  Freedom just to be, it's a beautiful thing.  What the icon leaves out, but the film does not, is the violence inherent in the system.  You do not escape by dropping out.  In fact, says George (Jack Nicholson, in his first significant film role), the ACLU lawyer they pick up in the south, dropping out can risk greater violence:

"Billy: What the hell's wrong with freedom, man? That's what it's all about.

George: Oh yeah, that's right, that's what it's all about, all right. But talkin' about it and bein' it - that's two different things. I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. 'Course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free 'cause then they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.

Billy: Mmmm, well, that don't make 'em runnin' scared.

George: No, it makes 'em dangerous."

Along the way they come across various propositions about living a life.  They start in southern California where they sell some presumably high-grade cocaine picked up in Mexico to a Hollywood jet-setter (played by Phil Spector) at an airport, where the rush of the planes overhead echoes the junked cars in the Mexican lot, referring to roads: ahead, not taken, open, empty.  Having finessed the money they take off across the great western landscape, where they literally ride into the Hollywood sunset; Monument Valley is the iconic setting for innumerable westerns.

Picking up a hitchhiker they head for the New Buffalo commune near Taos, New Mexico. (For the film it was re-created in California, since New Buffalo did not allow filming at the time.  See Lisa Law's website for some great photographs of the real thing.)  Here they find a hippie encampment with giant domes, VW microbuses, a mime colony, about a million kids, and free love, man.  Also, agriculture.  Or at least what the hippies are hoping is agriculture in that high desert landscape.  You can see in their faces that the realities of utopia have set in, and it isn't all sitting around playing guitars anymore.  It's work and negotiation and compromise, and not that any of that is bad necessarily, but the fences are showing. The hitchhiker gives them some LSD,

"Stranger: When you get to the right place, with the right people, quarter this. You know, this could be the right place. The time's running out.

Wyatt: Yeah, I'm, I'm hip about time. But I just gotta go."

So they hit the road again, with the arbitrary aim of reaching New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras.  They spontaneously join a high school parade in some small southern town and get arrested for their trouble. In jail they meet George sleeping it off in the drunk tank, who sobers up and negotiates their freedom. He warns them about "attacks on longhairs," and then decides to go on the road with them, producing an old football helmet for the ride.

They stop in a cafe where they are refused service and threatened with violence, while a booth of high school girls perks up and swarms them asking for "rides."  They do the wise thing and leave, but the threat later becomes real despite their continued motion.

In Mardi Gras they go to a brothel and pay for some hookers.  The 60s was still not a great time for women, or their representations in media!  And then they decide to wander out into Mardi Gras and take the LSD, ending up at one of the above-ground cemeteries where they are subjected to the fisheye lenses and heavy editing of the filmed acid trip.  It's not a bad one, as filmed acid trips go.

There is more road ahead, but it's more for us, than for them.  Society opened up, after the 60s, because of the 60s.  Forty years later, our identities are expanded, and more porous.  We're actually expected to find ourselves!  But in short order, and then make something of it.  Or not, but at least be hip to the niche marketing opportunities, on either the buyer or seller end of things.  Freedom is: buying these sneakers! Using this hair color!  Seeing this movie!  And, collecting these action figures!  Additional helmet accessory sold separately.

There's something inside all of us that still wants to be on the road, that always wants it. To be always in motion is to hold one's self in a suspension just above making a choice, in the hopes that in the moment before a decision, all choices are possible.  Or perhaps, that one might never need to make a choice at all: the promise and danger of the endless picaresque.

[From my review on the Brattle Theater Film Blog.]

Cool and recommended campsites in the UK plotted on the map below, along with a few of our favourite music festivals and places where we can have open fires and cook.

Notice the lovely flame symbol indicating campsites that allow fires. Each entry links to reviews from The Guardian and even the relevant page from Cool Camping (Punk Publishing).

View Campsites, UK in a larger map

There’s a great take on Life Inc on UK-based site Bookmunch

Unfortunately, the nose dive has also brought to light a whole bushel-load of corporate, business practices that underline, perhaps more pointedly than anyone would’ve expected, how money is the only God big business respects. Perhaps the best example of this is the story about how Goldman Sachs were betting against the long-term future of US corporate giant AIG, making money on their eventual demise and then further recouping from the US government’s bail-out of AIG (when AIG had to pay Goldman Sachs back all the money it owed them). Douglas Rushkoff, the author of Life Inc, told Bookmunch that he understands how people can be overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. ‘The problem is just too big,’ he writes in his book. ‘Concern becomes cynicism, cynicism becomes despair and despair becomes self-preservation. Maybe I can insulate my family from the problem.’ But there are things we can do.

more…

Hal Niedzviecki most recently appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #294.

Hal Niedzviecki is most recently the author of The Peep Diaries. He previously appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #47.

[PROGRAM NOTE: At the 24:03 mark, a woman with a laptop demanded that Our Correspondent talk with less vivacity, suggesting that Our Correspondent was talking in a "disturbing" manner. Never mind that people sitting closer to us did not complain and that someone even approached Mr. Niedzviecki after the interview, wishing to know what the book was all about. Never mind that, prior to Mr. Niedzviecki's arrival at the cafe, Our Correspondent observed said woman needlessly chewing out a happy couple for daring to laugh at a joke. However, in the woman's defense, it is true that Our Correspondent did become quite excited when talking with Mr. Niedzviecki and perhaps raised his voice just a smidgen and perhaps should be pilloried in some form for daring to express considerable enthusiasm about Niedzviecki's book. We are very well aware that, due to the present economy, enthusiasm has worked against us when trying to persuade various editors to hire us. And if this strange prohibition keeps up like this, there won't be any enthusiastic people left working in media. (Indeed, there are some telling signs that the enthusiastic who are gainfully employed are beginning to lose their enthusiasm, and this saddens us.) But we note this incident in the event that listeners are confused as to why Our Correspondent and Mr. Niedzviecki began to talk quieter during the latter half of this program.]

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Considering a few definitions of reality.

Author: Hal Niedzviecki

Subjects Discussed: [List forthcoming]

Correspondent: But you’re assuming that the vulnerability is there because you are inadvertently transmitting information. What if you are cognizant of every single thing that you write? Every single tweet that you post? I mean, I don’t think you quite understood Twitter. I certainly don’t use Twitter in the way that you literally use it — in terms of answering the question, “What are you doing?” A lot of people use Twitter in different ways. I use it to exchange links and to brainstorm with other writers and other thinkers. “Oh, well that’s an interesting thought that you had on this!” And it’s a very valuable tool. In fact, I would say that Twitter is probably responsible for fifty 1,000-word pieces I’ve written in the last year. Or something like that. So I’m saying that it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’re assuming that everything you’re putting out there is personal. But if you’re careful about the personal, if you’re cognizant about the personal, this shouldn’t even be a problem.

Niedzviecki: Oh sure. Absolutely. That’s all well and good if you aren’t putting personal information online. The fact is that millions of people every day are putting personal information online. And that’s probably the #1 primary use of the Internet right now. So okay, your experience is slightly different.

Correspondent: But you’re saying that personal information is…

Niedzviecki: But that’s not really relevant to the question.

Correspondent: I think it is relevant. Is it perhaps a scenario in which you may be, or any of us may be, overstating the importance of our own personal information? Perhaps it really doesn’t matter. If I go ahead and type in “I had a tuna fish sandwich for lunch,” I don’t think that it’s a betrayal to the corporate empire. You know what I mean?

Niedzviecki: Well, I mean, it’s all gradations. I mean, again, this is a topic that I’m not even that excited about. I’m not incredibly hot under the collar. This is just one aspect of the whole phenomena of peep culture. Which is what I call being peeped by the other. We’re peeping ourselves. You know, we should just back up to the whole beginning of this thing, really. Can we do that?

Correspondent: Yeah.

Niedzviecki: Can we back up to this topic? Let’s do that.

Correspondent: Certainly. But if we want to go to the beginning, I mean, it’s not necessarily contingent on the Internet. People were exchanging information and humiliating before the Internet. As you even point out in the book, there was this notion of gossip. There was this notion of spreading rumors about people. We can even talk about the humiliation videos that you mention in this book. Like, for example, the Star Wars kid. Well, is it worse to have the so-called humiliation through a video as opposed to having somebody pilloried in the town square? “Hey, you’re an adulterer and you’re terrible!” And having people throw tomatoes at them? That, to me, seems worse. If you have to go ahead and do it, you may as well go ahead and do it in the form of a middleman here with the Internet.

Niedzviecki: Well, the Star Wars kid’s choice was not being put in stocks in the town square or being forced to wear the dunce cap around the village versus Internet humiliation. It’s not like there was a choice he had to make, right? He never had a choice one way or the other. The basic premise of the book is that pop culture is shifting to peep culture, and that peep culture is the process by which we garner entertainment through watching other people’s vibes. So in pop culture, we watch celebrities and professional entertainers. And now we have peep culture, where we kind of scroll through other people’s lives in the same way we would scroll through TV shows.

Correspondent: Everybody?

Niedzviecki: Not everybody. But a large majority of people. And we’re moving in, you know.

Correspondent: Well, a large majority. Are we talking 51% or 90%?

Niedzviecki: You know, I couldn’t tell you the exact percentage of people.

Correspondent: I think it’s important to have the exact percentage.

Niedzviecki: Well….

Correspondent: Just to get a sense of how much of an epidemic this is.

Niedzviecki: Uh, I’m not an alarmist. I’m not calling it an epidemic. It’s a cultural shift. What we’re doing is — okay, we want numbers. Then, we’ve got to look at reality television. That’s obviously a big part of this, let’s say. We know that ten million people watched the debut — the series debut — of Jon & Kate Plus 8 recently. Previous to that, there was a record five straight Us Weekly covers featuring their eight kids and their marital problems. Okay, that’s ten million people right there. You’ve got in America — you have another ten million people on Facebook. You’ve got your Twitter users. I don’t know how many of those there are. Of course, these categories naturally overlap. You’ve got your Flickr, your Twitter, your YouTube, your Google. I would say that that it’s hard to imagine too many people whose lives aren’t touched in some way by this move to peep culture. The number of people who are actively posting stuff online about their lives and that material is then being used by others for their amusement. It would be hard to give a precise number, but it is certainly — I’d have to say we’re looking at least half the American population who is involved in this.

Correspondent: Half the American population? ‘Cause you said ten million. And the American population is actually 300 million. So that is actually one…

Niedzviecki: I never said ten million.

Correspondent: You said ten million, for example, for this reality TV show.

Niedzviecki: I said ten million people watch that particular show.

Correspondent: Yeah. Ten million. 300 million people. What about the 290 million other people who…

Niedzviecki: But that’s just one show. Then there’s Facebook and Twitter and Google and blogging and every other thing I could think about.

Correspondent: We’re not even in double digits here percentage-wise.

BSS #294: Hal Niedzviecki II (Download MP3)

A few quick things while I have a signal here: I was very, very happy to see that The BLDGBLOG Book made it onto SEED Magazine's "Books to Read Now" list, and I enjoyed Jim Rossignol's honest review of The BLDGBLOG Book, as well.
Pick up a copy here, if you don't have one yet.
In less self-interested news, I arrived back in London last night to find a huge stack of mail – including Vicente Guallart's recent book Geologics, published by Actar, ETH Studio Basel's brand new MetroBasel comic book (available in English), and the most recent issue of MARK Magazine.
Also, I will unfortunately not be able to attend this, but tonight, 3 July, down in Bermondsey, Blueprint Magazine is hosting a design picnic to celebrate their own newest issue – stop by if you get the chance!
And provided I can magically slice open the structure of the day and find two extra hours waiting patiently for writing, I will get some regular posts up again this weekend.

Serves 4

This recipe requires the larger pale, green, mild chillis common in Middle Eastern supermarkets, but I have known my local supermarket to stock them too. When you choose the chillis, bear in mind you will be stuffing them so get the fattest ones. They go well with tomato salad, pittas and lamb kebabs. You won’t need salt as the halloumi is a very salty cheese. Be careful with the chillis, they can easily split as you prepare them.

Ingredients
4 banana chillis
100-150g (or ½ packet) of halloumi, cut into thin lengths
Olive oil for brushing

Equipment
2 metal or bamboo skewers, not thick ones as they tend to split the peppers
Sharp knife
Chopping board

Method
Roll the chillis between your fingers, this will loosen the seeds inside. Chop the top off each and shake out the seeds, poke out the white bits with a skewer or knife, don’t break the skin though. Put a couple of pieces of cheese into each chilli, you want to be generous, but be aware the cheese will melt and fall out of the top if it is overstuffed. Brush or rub them with a light coating of oil. Now comes the skewering. The skewers will be passing horizontally through a line of vertical chillis. Pass one skewer through the top of each chilli. Pass a second skewer through the bottom of each chilli. Barbeque over a medium heat, turning once or twice using the skewers as handles. They are ready when the cheese is melting and the skin of the peppers blistering.

Serves 4
These kebabs need as much love and attention as sausages and will take a similar time to cook, so don’t leave them until the last minute, nor put them on when the barbecue is at full heat.

Ingredients
1 aubergine, cubed into 2cm pieces (chop these first and salt them as below)
2 courgettes, cubed into 2cm pieces (chop these first and salt them as below)
1 onion, cubed into 2cm pieces
2 red peppers, cubed into 2cm pieces
2 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Equipment
Barbeque/campfire
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Sieve
Mixing bowl
Skewers
Kitchen towel or clean t-towel

Method
Put the courgette and aubergine in a sieve and cover with salt, about two tablespoons worth. Leave for 15 minutes, while you prepare the other vegetables and rosemary. Rinse the aubergine and courgette under running water and pat dry with kitchen towel or tea towel. Put into the bowl with all the other vegetables and rosemary, olive oil and pepper. Mix thoroughly rubbing the rosemary into the vegetables. Thread onto the skewers, making sure each kebab has a bit of everything, probably 8 to 10 pieces per skewer. Grill over a medium heat until the vegetables start to colour and soften.

This relish really goes well with barbequed chicken or home-made burgers. If you don’t like chilli or you intend feeding the relish to children, omit the chilli. Start cooking this as soon as you can on the barbeque so that you can eat it with your meat. The relish will save in a jar until the next day, in fact it might be nicer.

Ingredients
1 corn on the cob
1 red pepper
¼ red onion, finely chopped
¼ to ½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
1 handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 bulb of garlic, soaking wet
Juice of ½ lime
Pinch of sugar
Salt
Vegetable oil

Equipment
Barbeque or campfire
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Bowl
Spoon
Tinfoil

Method
If the corn is still in its husk, then wet it so that it does not burn. If the cob does not have the protective husk, then lightly brush the kernels with oil. Roast the corn, garlic and red pepper on top of the grill. Turn the pepper and corn to cook them all over. Remove the pepper when the skin has blistered and blackened. The kernels of the corn should be softening, and the the garlic needs to be soft so that its flavour is sweet rather than strong. Skin the pepper once it is cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic out of its skin, cut the kernels off the cob. Mix it all together in the bowl, season with salt and sugar and leave for a little while before serving on the side.

Free Hall & Oates CD with a $150 purchase at Uline? And it’s Live? Sold! Only thing better would have been Unplugged. # Pazzo bookish seal of approval? @mbattles @HILOBROW @bostonbookfest @gerryos #followfriday #ff # Ezra Pound letter re: Mussolini up for auction Tue in Northampton, MA. I’m putting the over under [...]

'Do you believe in ghosts?' asked Mr Mulliner abruptly.

I weighed the question thoughtfully. I was a little surprised, for nothing in our previous conversation had suggested the topic.

'Well,' I replied, 'I don't like them, if that's what you mean. I was once butted by one as a child.'

'Ghosts. Not goats.'

'Oh, ghosts? Do I believe in ghosts?'

'Exactly.'

—P.G. Wodehouse, 'Honeysuckle Cottage'

from the counterfactuals conference:

1. The Laboratory for Counterfactual Research (German-language site), creators of the Empathy Project - if you are in Berlin in August, you will be able to get Compassionate Plants or an Empathy Sundae if you stop in at the right place...

2. With video games, mechanics usually trumps semiotics; also, Tamagotchi graveyards!

3. Dinner at The Court Restaurant in the renovated central courtyard at the British Museum - I have not been back since that space was transformed from the old Reading Room, it is quite magical...