Weird and exhilarating.

Weird that it'll soon be possible to buy Prada or Versace in Shepherd's Bush.

Not that it ever has n't been. It always has in a sense. Virtually that is. You could lay your hands on something close, nearly there, but not quite; still it resembles one of those mighty premium brands. Logos might not be in the right place and the colour not exact, a shade or two off, but leave exactitude to the connoisseurs. What mattered was that it was almost identical. Close...and a cigar as well.

From this month, it'll be the real thing. No copies. Pure. Pukka. Courtesy of Westfield, the shopping supertanker that's moored itself permanently by Shepherd's Bush Green.

I still find it bewildering that somewhere I've known as a near neighbour has all sorts of high end, luxury shops and others just as alluring and exotic.

Exhilarating that in around forty-eight hours, there'll be a new US President, and it'll not, if there's any karmic justice or plain common sense, be a Republican.