After the boys of summer have gone

Spotted this magnificent birdie − a Harris Hawk − perched on the forearm of its handler, as I made my way up Garrick Street yesterday morning.

The only incident of note on my walk in this morning was having to step around a large ruptured plant plot outside Maison Touregue in Greek Street. When I set off for the pier around seven the night before Soho had been packed with people making the most of the last luminous evening of summer. The familiar classics of bossa nova muzak were being warbled to an appreciative audience of patrons at the Cafe Boheme along with the loiterers clustering outside on Old Compton Street.

A couple of interesting links to report. Ryan Carson writes about his discovery that social software can be almost as time-consuming as a day job, while Waiter likens the mispronunciation of foreign words on bistro menus to "walking around with toilet paper stuck to your shoe."