Passing through

It is the 150th anniversary of the London tube, a section of which constitutes the first subterranean railway in the world. I am a fan of tubes, including the Métro de Paris, the Петербу́ргский метро and, more recently, the Budapesti Földalatti Vasút. The idea of a nether world beneath the bustling of the streets above reminds me of Greek myth; the way you enter by one hole and pop up somewhere else reminds me of the topological shortcuts implicit in the Einstein-Rosen bridge. No wonder the fares are astronomical.

I am also a connoisseur of mugs; so I was happy to combine enthusiasms in one little object of desire: this commemorative mug from Oxford's Paperchase (an Aladdin's cave replete with things necessary and, more importantly, unnecessary for anyone who has ever drawn a pen across a page). I drink a lot of coffee (What did mathy Eurofolk before, say, 1690 when attention flagged? Mathematicians, after all, run on coffee.); so mugs matter to me. This one is for those who like their coffee under-ground.