Mr. Corking and Me - Peckham in June

Cork Man emerges, originally uploaded by kuchen.

Crok Man painting, originally uploaded by kuchen.

Cork Man's new shirt, originally uploaded by kuchen.

beer by Trac 2000, originally uploaded by kuchen.

How many wharves?

Thinking about stopping for a drink in Covent Garden? Do not go to the Cross Keys. On Wednesday I happened to stop in here with Teri, before her "surprise" late birthday party. I have never seen a bartender in any particular hurry to wait on somebody, but as I surveyed the taps he impatiently insisted on my order. After I randomly picked one, he asked what Teri would like. Here we go.

"A glass of water please."
"Excuse me?"
"A glass of water."
with a sneer now: "Sorry, I didn't catch that."
"A glass of water."

He then began to mumble something to a guy at the end of the bar and I felt a little uncomfortable. We quickly stepped outside and sat on the curb with our glasses, as the tables were all full. The real tragedy of this story, though, is that Crossbow (what I ordered) is the most godawful brew in the world. Why do people like cider?

Oh, by the way, you can drink on the street in London! It's like, say you're walking down the street with your buddy and you find yourself standing under a beautiful maple tree. Well, pull out that bottle of wine and a couple of glasses from your bag and stand there and make it a party!

Teri's party was something of an odd event. It was organized by a couple of her Chinese co-workers, but they couldn't come because of work. So they put us on this bus out to Hackney or Islington or something which took forever. Then we found the restaurant which had a private back room with a big karaoke system and flashing lights. Lu and I sang a poignant version of "Scrubs", but I was disappointed because they didn't have any M.C. Hammer in that damn machine. The evening ended with Lu drunk and clutching the microphone, telling everyone to "find their happy place". Happy Birthday Teri!

Yesterday we chilled with Wendy, our Bushwick comrade. We went to the British Museum and there was a huge group of young South Korean naval cadets, wearing their white uniforms. Wendy and Teri followed them around the Rosetta Stone and Parthenon friezes, taking pictures. Of the cadets. Teri will probably have the pictures up on her blog soon.