Y'know why London's so cool? You're walking past an ugly modern office/studio-type building in Soho and you see a sign on the front in large letters that reads (garbled through my memory filter): "William Blake was born in 17XX on a house that once stood on this site." Writers, murderers, musicians, thousand-year-old abbeys, centuries-old pubs, gothic cemeteries, the Thames, Roman walls, palaces, Whitechapel, Baker Street, it all happened here. Blows my flippin mind.

Five more days to Canada!!!!

Wow, I can't believe I've been here almost 8 months and today was the first time I visited Highgate. Wonderfully old and decayed in a trendy sort of way. Yukiko and I took a long walk through side streets and narrow back alleys to let mom finish her school work. So I still haven't seen Highgate Cemetery (which would have meant wheeling the stroller down and back up yet another steep hill) but I'm getting closer. Some awesome glimpses of the city far below - or at least there would have been if it wasn't covered in smog.

Oh, I forgot to mention this guy. Now that's true grit.

Our local newscast can be viewed here if you have realplayer.

Yes it's often cloudy here but the textures and colours in the sky, not to mention the dramatic afternoon light, is awesome. Especially this time of year with the fresh lush green of spring and the purple pink of cherry blossoms.

Or it could just have been the prelude to the hail 'n' thunder extravaganza that just passed by.

Yukiko rolled over by herself today. Now life has become more complicated as we have to start thinking safety. I dread thinking about what will happen when she learns to walk - she has strong fast legs and I know we'll never catch her once she tastes freedom.

Added some more pictures to Yukiko's home page.

The things you learn... "If they change hands enough, banknotes can be tainted by all sorts of things. A BBC survey suggested that 99% of the �24.7bn of notes in circulation in 1999 had traces of the drug cocaine on them."

Yukiko ate pasty rice gruel for the first time today. Another milestone in her over-documented life.

Yoshie and Yukiko got me Walking Haunted London for my birthday!! This will be fun. Especially since a large number of the ghosts are in old pubs. Cheers.

I saw Body Works today. Fascinating. At times creepy, always educational and definitely done with an artistic flair. A most enjoyable way to spend an Easter Sunday.