Events

This coffee shop, on Bermondsey Street: And this airplane: Actually, the A380 was pretty cool inside, though I may have erred getting an upper-deck seat. Next trip to London, I'll go for a lower-deck seat if I can. (Or even business class...hmmm...)

Getting off the airplane yesterday, I discovered that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is hanging them up: After nearly three decades of intense public life, from Chicago to the White House to Congress and back again, it was time for this “empty nester”—the term Emanuel kept dropping, to move on. Likely with a huge push from his wife. The prospect of the upcoming election, which Emanuel insisted he “without a doubt” would have won, wasn't the deciding factor. In the interview, Emanuel also said he’s “probably...

I'm sitting in Heathrow Terminal 5 watching planes take off and hoping space opens up in the pay-as-you-go lounge. Wow, do I miss having airline status. Obviously posting will be light today. Tomorrow I hope to get my annual Parker Day photo, just a few days late.

Apparently Josef Ratzinger, who resigned from being Pope, seems not to understand how resignations actually work: Ever since Pope Benedict XVI became the first pontiff in six centuries to abdicate the papacy, transitioning to a life of near seclusion in a Vatican City monastery, there have been questions about how the notion of two living popes would impact the Roman Catholic Church. The events of last week offer something of an answer. Although many people hoped to hear from Benedict amid new...

This is how I spent an hour of my holiday today: It's beautiful out: 21°C, mostly sunny, with a gentle breeze. But I walked that far in less than an hour, so I'm now back at my hotel to shower. Still, this is exactly how I needed to spend today.

In late 2016, someone apparently attacked American diplomats in Cuba and China with a device that caused people to hear loud sounds and experience concussion-like brain damage. Now, doctors working with the attack victims may have figured out what it was: The medical team that examined 21 affected diplomats from Cuba made no mention of microwaves in its detailed report published in JAMA in March. But Douglas H. Smith, the study’s lead author and director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the...

Started at Caffe Nero, Earls Court, London

Started in London; finished on BA297 over Labrador Sea

I mentioned earlier today (yesterday BST) that I sought the Source. Here it is: That monument marks the official head of the River Thames, though in September after a long, dry summer, there isn't a lot else that would convince you. Still, boundaries and origins have always fascinated me, so I just had to see it. Naturally, the closest pub to the monument capitalizes on its notoriety: Also just as naturally, my trip to Kemble required a totally unanticipated hour and 20 minutes in Swindon, which...well...

Today's plan is to hop a train for about an hour and 20 minutes and look for a specific monument in a field. One hopes that today I'll remember to put sunscreen on my face. It is, in fact, possible to get a sunburn in the UK in September. Details and photos tonight.