I have just been lent the Cathedral of the Sea (La catedral del mar) by Ildefonso Falcones, and I haven’t been able to put it down since. Magnificent, intoxicating – although simple in style – the story is simply captivating. From the very first chapter you are brutally introduced to the ways of medieval Barcelona and Catalunya. You follow a tale of father and son as they struggle from slavery through diseases, war and noblemen conspiracies,  never loosing hope. Fate, love, money and Inquisition fight each other for power, while in the background the Santa Maria del Mar Cathedral is slowly being built by the ‘people’ of Barcelona.
This book is a keeper.

As recent figures show there is still a lot of abuse going on in email marketing among UK businesses. 31% of the companies are breaking the anti-spam laws when sending out their email newsletters and building mailing lists. Your customers’ trust is priceless, so make sure you don’t loose it by not respecting their rights. Nothing annoys more than spammy emails, that you are not able to unsubscribe from. This is something that your webdesigner should always advise you about, however: – make sure every form on your website, that collects the visitors’ data, includes an opt- in or opt-out option – make sure every email that you send includes the usubscribe information and that this is clearly visible. moreover, make sure it works (and it’s free)

on saturday i got ambushed on picadilly circus, some kind of a game,
two kids asking me questions and looking expectantly at me while i
miserably failed to answer any of them.
so here the go:
1. the
cheapest student underground fare from zone 1 to 3? – I THINK it’s
£2.00 outside peak hours, as the student discount only applies to
season tickets, but feel free to correct.
2. how much does Big Ben weigh? – as far as i can find about 15 ton, how can you expect anyone to know that??
3. since when are the coronations carried out in Westminster Abbey? – i think since 1066, the coronations of King Harold and William the Conqueror.
(there were more questions but i gave up)

That’s it, i bet YOU wouldn’t have known that.