Wow, it's so hard to believe that my semester in London is almost over. This week marks the final week of my studies and the reminder that Centre has determined my future for all exsistence (aka: finals). Although I'm going to miss London horribly I am looking forward to going home. London is an amazing city full of amazing things and a place where I would love to work for a couple years but no more than that. Not to sound all patriotic but my home is back in Kentucky, even if America is losing it's power on the world economic stage.
After the week from hell this coming week I'll be off to Paris on Saturday for a little structured r&r. Then the following Wednesday I'll be back in the UK and on a jet plane 14 hours later if everything goes according to plan. I should be back in Cincy at around 2:40PM EDT 8 May 2008. When I land I expect to hear My Old Kentucky Home playing on the intercom system. For my peeps at Centre, the current plan is to come up on Monday and stay the night.
I was thinking the other day about what I would love to pick up and bring back with me to KY. Here is a short list:
The Tube (public transportation is the best thing ever, even if you have to packed in like sardines)
Waitrose (there are good grocery stores, just not where I live, we need one)
The West End (that should be self-explanatory)
Punchdrunk Company and the RSC (gotta add a little variety to the theatre offerings)
Diversity (93 nationalities, 94 languages for the most part peacefully co-existing and producing great variety in foods, arts and culture)
thelondonpaper (it's a tabloid you don't feel bad reading)
thelondonpaper guy at Russel Street Station (he's always so nice)
Censorship regulations (aka: none)
The Royals (that's for you Ann)
Random protests/parades (including the anti-Scientology protestors in Guy Fawkes masks)
The Met (because Police forces shouldn't be scary)
And with that I'm signing off. This will be the last blog of my adventure. See you in 11 days!!
Cheers!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
A Busy Week
I had this startling realization yesterday that our semester here is over in like two weeks. Between now and then I have to finish 3 papers, prep a presentation, do my Hebrew translation, prep for 3 exams and that's just the official side of things. So, like all true Centre students, I have been procrastinating like there is no tomorrow, or in this case, like there are infinite tomorrows.
On Wednesday we took a class field trip to Hampton Court. HC is the giant palace Cardinal Wolsey had built for himself then gave to Henry VIII. It was really neat to see a Tudor palace in all its...glory. The Tudors liked their palaces to be brick, asymmetrical, dark and full of passageways. When William and Mary came to power, or something like that, they had the back half destroyed a built a new palace attached to the back. This palace was open and airy like Continental palaces of the time. The gardens were beautiful, the artwork was splendid, and it was just really awesome to go in the great hall where Henry VIII entertained guests. Note, the seen of Henry VIII announcing the arrival of a son in The Tudors could not have happened in that room.
Then, Derrick and I went to Primark. This store is like a clothing version of Target and really cheap. It has been my downfall the last couple days, but I've gotten some clothes for work this summer at $5 a shirt. Following this adventure we went to see Fram at the National Theatre. I really don't want to get into it, but it was not a coherent play at all and it took Steve like 30 minutes to explain to us what the playwright might have been trying to get at.
Today a few of us went to see Spamalot. There is no better way to spend a Friday afternoon than watching a great Monty Python production on stage. I've always enjoyed the soundtrack and getting to see the production has definitely fulfilled a life-goal for me. Tomorrow Brad and I are going to try and see The History Boys.
On a more personal note, I'm so jealous of the weather back home right now. Not that the weather here is bad, but the warmest day so far has been like 58. I would like to feel 70 at some point.
Cheers!
On Wednesday we took a class field trip to Hampton Court. HC is the giant palace Cardinal Wolsey had built for himself then gave to Henry VIII. It was really neat to see a Tudor palace in all its...glory. The Tudors liked their palaces to be brick, asymmetrical, dark and full of passageways. When William and Mary came to power, or something like that, they had the back half destroyed a built a new palace attached to the back. This palace was open and airy like Continental palaces of the time. The gardens were beautiful, the artwork was splendid, and it was just really awesome to go in the great hall where Henry VIII entertained guests. Note, the seen of Henry VIII announcing the arrival of a son in The Tudors could not have happened in that room.
Then, Derrick and I went to Primark. This store is like a clothing version of Target and really cheap. It has been my downfall the last couple days, but I've gotten some clothes for work this summer at $5 a shirt. Following this adventure we went to see Fram at the National Theatre. I really don't want to get into it, but it was not a coherent play at all and it took Steve like 30 minutes to explain to us what the playwright might have been trying to get at.
Today a few of us went to see Spamalot. There is no better way to spend a Friday afternoon than watching a great Monty Python production on stage. I've always enjoyed the soundtrack and getting to see the production has definitely fulfilled a life-goal for me. Tomorrow Brad and I are going to try and see The History Boys.
On a more personal note, I'm so jealous of the weather back home right now. Not that the weather here is bad, but the warmest day so far has been like 58. I would like to feel 70 at some point.
Cheers!
Monday, April 14, 2008
It.
Have you ever had one of those days where you just get it? I was messaging with a friend of mine the other day and I commented that the two of us just get it. I don't know what "it" is but then again what is anything? What I do know is that when it passes by and you get it, it just makes everything better.
This morning started off like most mornings except this morning I decided to sleep in and just compress my morning routine. With a little extra dosing under my belt, freshly showered and fed, I headed out the door to class. As soon as I rounded the corner and headed to Tavistock Square Garden I just got it. The air was supremely crisp. It was light, moist and refreshing. In many ways it reminded me of those gorgeous spring mornings back home where the dew glistens on the grass and the sun pricks your face. In the middle of the garden there is a statue of Ghandi and this morning two people were standing talking while looking at it. How odd that there would be a statue of a man who helped knock the crown jewel out of the crown of His Majesty. In that moment he persevered only to die at the assassin's hand. That's it.
This is London, and as I walked to class I realized just how much this city was powered by opposition. Men in business suits, pressed and clean, riding their bikes through puddles on their way to work in some middle-management position that barely affords them a living in the second most expensive city in the world. Pigeons stand on the sidewalk silently begging for crumbs and don't bother to fly away when you come near, they just walk. City Hall that doesn't actually house City Hall. Instead the city is governed from a building where they have a 25 year lease, probably because nobody expects the Greater London Authority to last that long. And most importantly, being totally ignored in a city of 10 million. Nobody cares and that's it.
The last week-ish has definitely put a strain on my focus and resolve but for good reason. I realized today as I was walking back from the grocery store that it has happened. Maybe it has always been, Mom pointed this out to me yesterday ("Hi Mom!"), but today I guess it really sunk in. I'm done with the games, the drama and the ineffectiveness of college. Life is not college. Life is going to the market and buying groceries for that spectacular meal you're going to prepare because you just want to try something new. Life is squeezing into that overcrowded Tube because you don't want to wait for the next train in 3 minutes. Life is realizing that that beggar on the street is your age. Life is not waiting on that lift but rather taking the stairs and getting to breathe a little harder after five flights. Life is being comfortable with the fact that everything is decaying/dying and your life is icing on the cake. That's it.
Today in drama we listened to an interview with the playwright that wrote Fram which we are seeing on Wednesday night. He comes from a background much like my own; working class family in a rural part of England known for its accents and coal mining. While his friends were out playing he was in studying and doing other nerdy things. During the interview he was talking about the sensual nature of poetry and said something that was like this, "it is about the sensuality of the words moving off the tongue and touching the lips and the ridges on the roof of the mouth." That's it.
Today while making dinner (lamb chops and baked squash) I was frying the chops in the skillet. The window was open to get some air, Brad was sleeping and the grease was popping. I had taken out the squash and set it atop the hob to cool slightly while the chops were finishing and as I opened the aluminum foil a pop of grease from the skillet hit my arm. For a moment I was taken aback and reflexively withdrew my arm. I stood there staring at the squash wondering what had just happened, squash doesn't pop, when another pop hit my face. Then I understood. While I was so focused on the squash I had forgotten the chops and was shocked when they hurt me. For some reason this just clicked and I got it.
By now if you are still reading this you really must not have anything to do because I'm not this interesting. Maybe that's it.
You know what I miss most of all about home...silence. There's no silence here. Everywhere you turn there is sound. From music to squeaky bed springs to sirens, the pulse of the city is all around. This morning as I rounded the corner and headed to Tavistock Square Garden there was silence and for a brief fleeting moment I was able to be still and listen to it and you know what the silence said..."go home." I was confused, how could I go home? Then I looked at the people talking at the Ghandi statue and realized I already was home. Home was inside me and then I got...it.
This morning started off like most mornings except this morning I decided to sleep in and just compress my morning routine. With a little extra dosing under my belt, freshly showered and fed, I headed out the door to class. As soon as I rounded the corner and headed to Tavistock Square Garden I just got it. The air was supremely crisp. It was light, moist and refreshing. In many ways it reminded me of those gorgeous spring mornings back home where the dew glistens on the grass and the sun pricks your face. In the middle of the garden there is a statue of Ghandi and this morning two people were standing talking while looking at it. How odd that there would be a statue of a man who helped knock the crown jewel out of the crown of His Majesty. In that moment he persevered only to die at the assassin's hand. That's it.
This is London, and as I walked to class I realized just how much this city was powered by opposition. Men in business suits, pressed and clean, riding their bikes through puddles on their way to work in some middle-management position that barely affords them a living in the second most expensive city in the world. Pigeons stand on the sidewalk silently begging for crumbs and don't bother to fly away when you come near, they just walk. City Hall that doesn't actually house City Hall. Instead the city is governed from a building where they have a 25 year lease, probably because nobody expects the Greater London Authority to last that long. And most importantly, being totally ignored in a city of 10 million. Nobody cares and that's it.
The last week-ish has definitely put a strain on my focus and resolve but for good reason. I realized today as I was walking back from the grocery store that it has happened. Maybe it has always been, Mom pointed this out to me yesterday ("Hi Mom!"), but today I guess it really sunk in. I'm done with the games, the drama and the ineffectiveness of college. Life is not college. Life is going to the market and buying groceries for that spectacular meal you're going to prepare because you just want to try something new. Life is squeezing into that overcrowded Tube because you don't want to wait for the next train in 3 minutes. Life is realizing that that beggar on the street is your age. Life is not waiting on that lift but rather taking the stairs and getting to breathe a little harder after five flights. Life is being comfortable with the fact that everything is decaying/dying and your life is icing on the cake. That's it.
Today in drama we listened to an interview with the playwright that wrote Fram which we are seeing on Wednesday night. He comes from a background much like my own; working class family in a rural part of England known for its accents and coal mining. While his friends were out playing he was in studying and doing other nerdy things. During the interview he was talking about the sensual nature of poetry and said something that was like this, "it is about the sensuality of the words moving off the tongue and touching the lips and the ridges on the roof of the mouth." That's it.
Today while making dinner (lamb chops and baked squash) I was frying the chops in the skillet. The window was open to get some air, Brad was sleeping and the grease was popping. I had taken out the squash and set it atop the hob to cool slightly while the chops were finishing and as I opened the aluminum foil a pop of grease from the skillet hit my arm. For a moment I was taken aback and reflexively withdrew my arm. I stood there staring at the squash wondering what had just happened, squash doesn't pop, when another pop hit my face. Then I understood. While I was so focused on the squash I had forgotten the chops and was shocked when they hurt me. For some reason this just clicked and I got it.
By now if you are still reading this you really must not have anything to do because I'm not this interesting. Maybe that's it.
You know what I miss most of all about home...silence. There's no silence here. Everywhere you turn there is sound. From music to squeaky bed springs to sirens, the pulse of the city is all around. This morning as I rounded the corner and headed to Tavistock Square Garden there was silence and for a brief fleeting moment I was able to be still and listen to it and you know what the silence said..."go home." I was confused, how could I go home? Then I looked at the people talking at the Ghandi statue and realized I already was home. Home was inside me and then I got...it.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Home is Only a Month Away
Yes, it's hard to believe, but I'll be coming home in less than a month (27 days to be exact). It will be difficult to leave London for reasons that should be obvious, but in many ways it will be nice to come home. Every time I travel I realise just how much I love Kentucky. For some strange reason I'm just attached to the hills, knobby plains, horse farms and smiling helpful people. London has been my surrogate home now for about 6 weeks and it has been a good one. I can easily see myself living here for a time at some point in my life, but in the end I'll always come home.
As for goings on here in London there have been a couple of adventures. Last week a couple of us went and saw Chicago. It was a great performance and our second-row centre seats were splendid. My only real complaint was the woman they cast as Mama Morton. For those you familiar with Centre, try to picture this. It was as if Dean Fabritius was playing a busty crooked jail warden. I've never heard Stephanie sing, but this actress was awful. Otherwise, everything else was top-notch. I was highly impressed by the level of control the dancers had, and they didn't look too bad either. ;-)
Last weekend was spent mostly writing my History of London paper and this weekend will be spent catching up on other homework and writing my HIS 110 paper. Yes, it is that time.
Wednesday we went to Southall, the most South Asian neighborhood in London. The neighborhood is 90% Hindu, Sikh or Muslim. It was a splendid neighborhood. There was so much cheap Indian cuisine I was absolutely stuffed by the time I left. Also, there was a very large Gurdwara with a golden dome that was gorgeous.
Finally, I had sushi for the first time yesterday. Can I just say it was amazing. I hadn't been having the best of weeks so I decided to treat myself to something new. A group of us went to the little Yo! Sushi Bar. I had different rolls with tuna, eel, octopus, salmon, prawns and vegetarian options. All told it cost me almost $40 but it was totally worth it.
Cheers!!
Todays Lovestruck: "To the girl in Asda in Battersea on Sunday afternoon. I wanted to chat, but got tongue-tied in the cheese section. You were lovely." -Stuart
As for goings on here in London there have been a couple of adventures. Last week a couple of us went and saw Chicago. It was a great performance and our second-row centre seats were splendid. My only real complaint was the woman they cast as Mama Morton. For those you familiar with Centre, try to picture this. It was as if Dean Fabritius was playing a busty crooked jail warden. I've never heard Stephanie sing, but this actress was awful. Otherwise, everything else was top-notch. I was highly impressed by the level of control the dancers had, and they didn't look too bad either. ;-)
Last weekend was spent mostly writing my History of London paper and this weekend will be spent catching up on other homework and writing my HIS 110 paper. Yes, it is that time.
Wednesday we went to Southall, the most South Asian neighborhood in London. The neighborhood is 90% Hindu, Sikh or Muslim. It was a splendid neighborhood. There was so much cheap Indian cuisine I was absolutely stuffed by the time I left. Also, there was a very large Gurdwara with a golden dome that was gorgeous.
Finally, I had sushi for the first time yesterday. Can I just say it was amazing. I hadn't been having the best of weeks so I decided to treat myself to something new. A group of us went to the little Yo! Sushi Bar. I had different rolls with tuna, eel, octopus, salmon, prawns and vegetarian options. All told it cost me almost $40 but it was totally worth it.
Cheers!!
Todays Lovestruck: "To the girl in Asda in Battersea on Sunday afternoon. I wanted to chat, but got tongue-tied in the cheese section. You were lovely." -Stuart
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Small but Positive Step
The link below is to an article about a church here in London that has decided to stop performing full weddings. I'll let you read the article for yourself, but I would like to say that I appreciate the efforts of this congregation. Newington Green was the Unitarian church I visited back at the start of the trip. The service was not all that I felt it could be, but the people have great hearts. Actually, the day that I attended they had a congregational debate about the possibility of boycotting weddings. I would just like to say thanks Newington Green for standing-up for what you believe in.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7336187.stm
Cheers!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7336187.stm
Cheers!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Olympics
Today the Olympic Torch passed through London. Actually as I'm writing this it should be at about Trafalgar Square. A group of us went to see the torch pass through Chinatown aka Gerrard Rd. The Chinatown here in London is really small. All down the street there were paper lanterns and Chinese flags. It was great! There was one protestor from Free Tibet. Everyone was kinda laughing about it because first off, she was white, secondly she was the only one and drowned out completely by the crowd. There were no real incidents and the small parade was cool. Here a few pics from the event for your enojoyment.
Update: As I was uploading these images, a march to Free Tibet started down the street in front of my building. Here are a couple pictures.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Bang, Bang, One Bullet
Sorry for not updating in forever, but when we got back from Ireland I was pummeled by a horrible cold and then I've been really busy. For details on Ireland I'll reference you to Kendall's blog again. She did a great job summarizing the trip. http://kallenadventures.blogspot.com/ . The following is the link to some pictures from the trip I posted on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015802&l=8909e&id=59301097
Now that that is out of the way, a brief update on London. It is crunch time for papers and exams. In two weeks I need to have two papers in a pretty solid draft stage ready for the professor to look over. The HIS 110 paper is no problem since he doesn't want outside sources, but my History of London paper is going to be a trip. It's going to be a blast. Since work is beginning to ratchet up I haven't really been out on the town much lately. This weekend some of us may try to go see Chicago or Spamalot or Les Mis. We're still in the early planning stages.
The weather here is really looking to be on the up and up. At least for about the next 36 hours. The high today is supposed to be a scorching 57. Believe it or not, this is a warm day to British people, it's kinda scary. The sky is blue and I'm inside writing a blog. Maybe later I'll go down to the grocery or take a walk.
Speaking of taking walks. Sunday I got lost again. I had stayed behind after dinner with Milton to talk to Tubb for just a minute and by the time I left everyone was gone. Somewhere I took a wrong turn, but it was a nice day so I didn't mind. After walking down Baker Street for a long while and not finding a tube station I started up Edgeware Road looking for Edgeware Road station. Edgeware Road is a heavily Muslim neighborhood with lots of interesting shops and restaurants. I think I may go back down there and browse some more later in the trip. Finally I found Old Marylebone and hoping that London streets would behave like KY streets (they are just as confusing) I went up Old Marylebone looking for Marylebone and sure enough, after about 5 blocks, there it was. I found an eye hospital, Madame Toussad's, the Marylebone library and tons of other interesting things. Sometimes getting lost isn't such a bad thing.
Wednesday we are going to go see Masque of the Red Death by Punchdrunk Theatre Company. This company has converted the Battersea Arts Centre, all 7 floors of it, into the world of Edgar Allen Poe. Audience members are encouraged to explore on their own while scenes are acted out around them, and to facilitate people giving in to their curiosity and desire everyone is wearing plain white masques. If you can find the cloak room you can also rent a full body robe so as to be completely anonymous. It's going to be an interesting experience and I'll be sure to blog about it afterwards.
Otherwise, not much interesting has been going on. Hopefully something will happen so I'll have something to write about.
Cheers!
Todays lovestrucks:
"Hi Richard, fancy that Wimpy now?" -Candice Commentary: Wimpy Burger is a fast food chain here in the UK, but not knowing that makes it funnier.
"Greenwich station on Good Friday. Two girls met two boys, one ran along the platform waving goodbye. We laughed a lot. You looked like a right giggle. Do you want to meet up?" -Anonymous
"To the cute tall guy in Piccadilly Circus on Thurs 13 March. You helped me find my way using your iPhone. Wish I'd asked for your number." -Ricky Commentary: Duh, he was helping you with his iPHONE, that's an invitation.
Now that that is out of the way, a brief update on London. It is crunch time for papers and exams. In two weeks I need to have two papers in a pretty solid draft stage ready for the professor to look over. The HIS 110 paper is no problem since he doesn't want outside sources, but my History of London paper is going to be a trip. It's going to be a blast. Since work is beginning to ratchet up I haven't really been out on the town much lately. This weekend some of us may try to go see Chicago or Spamalot or Les Mis. We're still in the early planning stages.
The weather here is really looking to be on the up and up. At least for about the next 36 hours. The high today is supposed to be a scorching 57. Believe it or not, this is a warm day to British people, it's kinda scary. The sky is blue and I'm inside writing a blog. Maybe later I'll go down to the grocery or take a walk.
Speaking of taking walks. Sunday I got lost again. I had stayed behind after dinner with Milton to talk to Tubb for just a minute and by the time I left everyone was gone. Somewhere I took a wrong turn, but it was a nice day so I didn't mind. After walking down Baker Street for a long while and not finding a tube station I started up Edgeware Road looking for Edgeware Road station. Edgeware Road is a heavily Muslim neighborhood with lots of interesting shops and restaurants. I think I may go back down there and browse some more later in the trip. Finally I found Old Marylebone and hoping that London streets would behave like KY streets (they are just as confusing) I went up Old Marylebone looking for Marylebone and sure enough, after about 5 blocks, there it was. I found an eye hospital, Madame Toussad's, the Marylebone library and tons of other interesting things. Sometimes getting lost isn't such a bad thing.
Wednesday we are going to go see Masque of the Red Death by Punchdrunk Theatre Company. This company has converted the Battersea Arts Centre, all 7 floors of it, into the world of Edgar Allen Poe. Audience members are encouraged to explore on their own while scenes are acted out around them, and to facilitate people giving in to their curiosity and desire everyone is wearing plain white masques. If you can find the cloak room you can also rent a full body robe so as to be completely anonymous. It's going to be an interesting experience and I'll be sure to blog about it afterwards.
Otherwise, not much interesting has been going on. Hopefully something will happen so I'll have something to write about.
Cheers!
Todays lovestrucks:
"Hi Richard, fancy that Wimpy now?" -Candice Commentary: Wimpy Burger is a fast food chain here in the UK, but not knowing that makes it funnier.
"Greenwich station on Good Friday. Two girls met two boys, one ran along the platform waving goodbye. We laughed a lot. You looked like a right giggle. Do you want to meet up?" -Anonymous
"To the cute tall guy in Piccadilly Circus on Thurs 13 March. You helped me find my way using your iPhone. Wish I'd asked for your number." -Ricky Commentary: Duh, he was helping you with his iPHONE, that's an invitation.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Sexy Muppets and a Wicked Witch
One of the main reasons I really wanted to come to London was for the theatre. Our theatre class is doing a great job introducing me to subsidised and fringe theatre, but we are mostly going to avoid the West End commercial productions. This had to be rectified somehow, can't let there be a gap in my knowledge of London theatre, so yesterday and today I went to see two different shows.
Last night Erica, Allison and I went and saw Avenue Q. Somehow we lucked up with a box stage-left. From our vantage point we couldn't see about 3% of the stage, but the rest of the stage was outrageously close. I love Avenue Q and pretty much have the soundtrack memorized. The production was excellent. I was highly impressed by the parallelism between the muppets and their handlers. It gave a great amount of emotion to a few puppets. Daniel Boys who was the puppetier for the characters of Princeton and Rod did a great job providing each character a distinct voice, emotional range and movement style. Of course the jokes were dirty and muppet sex is enough to blind anyone, but that's why one goes to see the show. It was hillarious. There were a few changes from the original NY production, and some of them didn't work, but the original intent of most jokes was maintained. The George Bush quip at the end is still funny and the crowd erupted with cheers that even George Bush is "only for today." Great night out.
Then today, several of us went to see Wicked. By far this was one of the most complex performances I have ever seen when it comes to staging. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the set was. The acting was great for the most part once the actors got into it. For the first three or four numbers they just weren't feeling it and you could tell. My only real complaint was with the school group sitting in front of us. These young boys, probably 10-12 years old, could not sit still, they talked through most of the first act and were crinckling candy wrappers. I hope I never behaved like that.
It's interesting how much Londoners hate George Bush. Even Wicked had a little pun about regime change. I totally agree with their opinions of him, but I still find it interesting how in almost every production we've seen and in almost every newspaper I've read there is Bush-bashing. Makes me proud to be a Democrat.
This is going to be it for the entry since I am leaving for Ireland in like 7 hours. I'll update after I get back. However, let me leave you with a couple lovestrucks to tide you over for a couple days.
"To the girl with the bandaged leg, Wednesday 12 March, on the Tube from Camden to London Bridge. We couldn't stop smiling. Fancy a more relaxed drink sometime."
"To the blond girl I was talking to at the Topshop interview on Tuesday. I'm the 'pregnant' black guy. You're really nice! Would love to see you again."
"Beautiful brunette on Northern line last Friday. I was the guitarist chatting about that drunk girl. Would love to make sweet music with you."
Cheers!
Last night Erica, Allison and I went and saw Avenue Q. Somehow we lucked up with a box stage-left. From our vantage point we couldn't see about 3% of the stage, but the rest of the stage was outrageously close. I love Avenue Q and pretty much have the soundtrack memorized. The production was excellent. I was highly impressed by the parallelism between the muppets and their handlers. It gave a great amount of emotion to a few puppets. Daniel Boys who was the puppetier for the characters of Princeton and Rod did a great job providing each character a distinct voice, emotional range and movement style. Of course the jokes were dirty and muppet sex is enough to blind anyone, but that's why one goes to see the show. It was hillarious. There were a few changes from the original NY production, and some of them didn't work, but the original intent of most jokes was maintained. The George Bush quip at the end is still funny and the crowd erupted with cheers that even George Bush is "only for today." Great night out.
Then today, several of us went to see Wicked. By far this was one of the most complex performances I have ever seen when it comes to staging. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the set was. The acting was great for the most part once the actors got into it. For the first three or four numbers they just weren't feeling it and you could tell. My only real complaint was with the school group sitting in front of us. These young boys, probably 10-12 years old, could not sit still, they talked through most of the first act and were crinckling candy wrappers. I hope I never behaved like that.
It's interesting how much Londoners hate George Bush. Even Wicked had a little pun about regime change. I totally agree with their opinions of him, but I still find it interesting how in almost every production we've seen and in almost every newspaper I've read there is Bush-bashing. Makes me proud to be a Democrat.
This is going to be it for the entry since I am leaving for Ireland in like 7 hours. I'll update after I get back. However, let me leave you with a couple lovestrucks to tide you over for a couple days.
"To the girl with the bandaged leg, Wednesday 12 March, on the Tube from Camden to London Bridge. We couldn't stop smiling. Fancy a more relaxed drink sometime."
"To the blond girl I was talking to at the Topshop interview on Tuesday. I'm the 'pregnant' black guy. You're really nice! Would love to see you again."
"Beautiful brunette on Northern line last Friday. I was the guitarist chatting about that drunk girl. Would love to make sweet music with you."
Cheers!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Pictures (or maybe not)
I have been trying for a while now to upload some pics to this thing but I can't keep my internet connection to stay on long enough. I do apologise that what was originally intended as a photo blog has turned into a text blog, but you can just deal with it. :-) Thanks for reading.
This weekend was spent doing homework again. I've found it's better to do work on the weekends and go see the city during the week as the crowds are seriously diminished. However, for the next couple weeks most schools are going to be on holiday and everything is going to be crazy. Since I was doing homework nothing has really transpired worth talking about except food.
If you haven't heard me sing the praises of Waitrose then hear me singing them now. Waitrose is by far the best grocery store I've ever been to when it comes to selection. They have an amazing ready-made food section. This is not a TV dinner section like we would think about it. Most things are only a single dish and they are refrigerated, never frozen. For dinner last night I had veal meatballs with a rich tomato and red-wine sauce. They were amazing and all I had to do was microwave them. Tonight I had the Japanese duck-filled pastries that I had to fry. They came with a cherry dipping sauce. Heaven! I'm really going to miss the wide selection of international foods when I get home. Every day is a new taste adventure.
Finally, can I just say I am not a fan of taxes? I can? Okay then, I am not a fan of taxes. Besides VAT (value added tax / aka: sales tax) being 17.5% the government is raising taxes tomorrow on all alcohol. I'm not a big drinker, but I do occasionally like to have a glass of wine or a pint with dinner. Wine is going up $0.29 a bottle and a pint is going up $0.09. This doesn't sound like much but when you add it up it is. A pint of Guiness out is already about $6.10. The people here in London are not happy. All the papers are carrying articles demonising the government for this action. I understand what they are trying to do, tax alcohol and tobacco (cigarettes here are over $12 a pack) till youths can't afford it, but it really puts a crimp on pubs, the staple of British social culture. My bigger complaint, a four pack of root beer = $6, a four pack of real beer = $6. Something just seems wrong about that especially since I really like root beer better.
And now, to complete the fun, today's lovestruck: "To the girl with the big beautiful eyes on the 149, Monday morning, from London Bridge. We exchanged glances and I was sitting kind of opposite you chatting to my friend about my weekend! She called me a geek for attending the Westlife gig! Would like to hear about yours."
Cheers!
This weekend was spent doing homework again. I've found it's better to do work on the weekends and go see the city during the week as the crowds are seriously diminished. However, for the next couple weeks most schools are going to be on holiday and everything is going to be crazy. Since I was doing homework nothing has really transpired worth talking about except food.
If you haven't heard me sing the praises of Waitrose then hear me singing them now. Waitrose is by far the best grocery store I've ever been to when it comes to selection. They have an amazing ready-made food section. This is not a TV dinner section like we would think about it. Most things are only a single dish and they are refrigerated, never frozen. For dinner last night I had veal meatballs with a rich tomato and red-wine sauce. They were amazing and all I had to do was microwave them. Tonight I had the Japanese duck-filled pastries that I had to fry. They came with a cherry dipping sauce. Heaven! I'm really going to miss the wide selection of international foods when I get home. Every day is a new taste adventure.
Finally, can I just say I am not a fan of taxes? I can? Okay then, I am not a fan of taxes. Besides VAT (value added tax / aka: sales tax) being 17.5% the government is raising taxes tomorrow on all alcohol. I'm not a big drinker, but I do occasionally like to have a glass of wine or a pint with dinner. Wine is going up $0.29 a bottle and a pint is going up $0.09. This doesn't sound like much but when you add it up it is. A pint of Guiness out is already about $6.10. The people here in London are not happy. All the papers are carrying articles demonising the government for this action. I understand what they are trying to do, tax alcohol and tobacco (cigarettes here are over $12 a pack) till youths can't afford it, but it really puts a crimp on pubs, the staple of British social culture. My bigger complaint, a four pack of root beer = $6, a four pack of real beer = $6. Something just seems wrong about that especially since I really like root beer better.
And now, to complete the fun, today's lovestruck: "To the girl with the big beautiful eyes on the 149, Monday morning, from London Bridge. We exchanged glances and I was sitting kind of opposite you chatting to my friend about my weekend! She called me a geek for attending the Westlife gig! Would like to hear about yours."
Cheers!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Miracles do Happen
Today has been a day of miracles, in a more mundane sense. This morning I decided to go try for a British Library reader pass and then hit up the British Museum for a couple hours. Some people on the trip have had a difficult time getting reader passes because the powers that be don't feel they have legitimate reason for needing to access the library's resources. I knew I was in trouble when the receptionist was asking people ahead of me what specific documents they were looking for. When I got to the counter she asked me the normal questions about IDs and such which I fielded quickly with a smile and then she asked about documents. I thought quickly and started to speak, "Parliamentary re..." and she ushered me straight through without me having to finish the sentence. I filled out the paperwork online and got called for the interview. In no time flat she was pointing me where I needed to go for about anything in the library and my card was issued for a year without me even asking. It's amazing how looking for government records gets you in quick.
After a few hours in the British Museum, by the way it is awesome and horribly confusing to navigate, I headed home. Walking down the street I peered into one of the holes they've been digging in the street and guess what I saw, PIPES!! Finally, they have reached pipes in this hole that they've been working on for weeks. Now the question is going to be how long it takes to replace said pipes.
As we all know, most things happen in threes. A few minutes ago the third miracle happened. I turned on the hot water to wash some dishes and the water was warm. Not hot, just warm, but it's getting there. After five days without hot water you can't imagine the joy in my heart. It's a wonderful day to be alive.
Speaking of alive, today's lovestruck for all those who want to pep up their life is, "To the suited mixed-race guy on the 453 at about 8:30pm on Saturday night going from Elephant and Castle to Trafalgar Square. I'm sorry I ignored you! Do you wanna try that again?"
Cheers!
After a few hours in the British Museum, by the way it is awesome and horribly confusing to navigate, I headed home. Walking down the street I peered into one of the holes they've been digging in the street and guess what I saw, PIPES!! Finally, they have reached pipes in this hole that they've been working on for weeks. Now the question is going to be how long it takes to replace said pipes.
As we all know, most things happen in threes. A few minutes ago the third miracle happened. I turned on the hot water to wash some dishes and the water was warm. Not hot, just warm, but it's getting there. After five days without hot water you can't imagine the joy in my heart. It's a wonderful day to be alive.
Speaking of alive, today's lovestruck for all those who want to pep up their life is, "To the suited mixed-race guy on the 453 at about 8:30pm on Saturday night going from Elephant and Castle to Trafalgar Square. I'm sorry I ignored you! Do you wanna try that again?"
Cheers!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Adventures in Londonland
This week has been marked by several adventures. Actually, adventures is the wrong word. A better term would be experiences. The first is one here at good old Endsleigh. Apparently they are having hot water problems. Originally I thought I was just trying to take a shower at the wrong time until I realised that no matter what time of day it was there was no hot water. This has been a problem since Monday, yes Monday, and it still isn't fixed. On Wednesday I was in no mood to take a cold shower. Sooooo, in good old Southern fashion I thought back to what my momma taught me during all those power outages. I went and grabbed some pots and the electric tea kettle, filled 'em with water, set 'em on the stove and set 'em to boiling. Half an hour later I had a piping hot bath. Thank you ingenuity. It's looking like I'm going to be doing that again in the morning if a miracle doesn't happen soon.
Experience #2. One piece of advice, when boarding a train at Euston Square make sure you have the right line since three lines are serviced on the same platform. A group of us were on our way to the play last night and ran onto the train at the station which was a Hammersmith not a Circle Line train. Five stations later (they run through the same stations) we realise this fact. Now in most instances this wouldn't have been that bad, just jump off catch the train going back the other way the one station to get the right train. Not this time. Only because we had an engagement to get to would there be delays. 20 minutes later we have made up this one station difference and arrive at the theatre 15 minutes late. We couldn't get in so we watched the performance on a small monitor out by the bar.
Experience #3-Cooking. I'm really enjoying this whole cooking thing. If I had an unlimited food budget I'd do all sorts of things. Tonight I made salmon with dill and lemon, fresh steamed broccoli and peas, and couscous (which goes with everything, is cheap, and fills you up). As I was eating my peas I looked down into them and found a special guest for dinner. A tiny little silk worm was curled up in my peas. Of course he had been steamed with the peas and was probably edible but I decided to discard him. For most people this would have probably been the end of eating those peas, but I found it kinda refreshing. I knew that those peas were fresh and not heavily machined because otherwise there's no way that little guy would have made it.
Experience #4-Imperial War Museum. This place is really really cool. Dr. Tubb described it as a man's museum and I can totally understand why. It is home to major exhibits on WWI, WWII, and every other conflict since that the UK has been involved in. My favorite part today was the trench experience. In the WWI section they have constructed a simulated trench complete with eerily realistic human statues, gunfire, rank odors and simulated scenes of trench life. It was horrific. I found myself wanting to get out of there as soon as possible eventhough there wasn't true gunfire. How those soldiers stood that life I'll never know but I give them all the respect in the world.
The museum also had a really good Holocaust exhibit. This was the first exhibit I had been to since Poland and I wasn't real sure how I was going to do. It started out okay. The exhibit was heavily based in pictures and videos, graphic videos, but nothing that I hadn't seen twenty times before. Then we entered a room with a gigantic model of Auschwitz. That was all I needed to see. Immediately I was recounting in my head all the smells, the feel of the air, the stories, the images, the sounds. Watching these model people march into the model crematoria I felt my lungs crush with the heaviness of being in a gas chamber. All I wanted to do was run or break down in the middle of the museum. Luckily Hayley was there and together we got through it kinda composed. Note to self: avoid the camp models.
Here in London they give away free papers on the street. The three most common around here are The Metro, The London Lite, and thelondonpaper (yes, it's spelled that way). These are primarily tabloids but they also contain useful stuff like the TV listings. I recently discovered that they have a section called lovestruck where they post announcements from people trying to get in touch with someone they have maybe seen on the Tube or met on a bus. Most are creepily stalkerish but cute. Then there are some that are happily odd. I think I'm going to start including one or two at the end of entries for your enjoyment.
Today's lovestruck is: "Girl with black fingerless gloves and lipring on No 6 bus at 3am. Boy with green-stained hands and head, eyeliner and Garfield plaster would like to wake up next to you again."
Cheers!
Experience #2. One piece of advice, when boarding a train at Euston Square make sure you have the right line since three lines are serviced on the same platform. A group of us were on our way to the play last night and ran onto the train at the station which was a Hammersmith not a Circle Line train. Five stations later (they run through the same stations) we realise this fact. Now in most instances this wouldn't have been that bad, just jump off catch the train going back the other way the one station to get the right train. Not this time. Only because we had an engagement to get to would there be delays. 20 minutes later we have made up this one station difference and arrive at the theatre 15 minutes late. We couldn't get in so we watched the performance on a small monitor out by the bar.
Experience #3-Cooking. I'm really enjoying this whole cooking thing. If I had an unlimited food budget I'd do all sorts of things. Tonight I made salmon with dill and lemon, fresh steamed broccoli and peas, and couscous (which goes with everything, is cheap, and fills you up). As I was eating my peas I looked down into them and found a special guest for dinner. A tiny little silk worm was curled up in my peas. Of course he had been steamed with the peas and was probably edible but I decided to discard him. For most people this would have probably been the end of eating those peas, but I found it kinda refreshing. I knew that those peas were fresh and not heavily machined because otherwise there's no way that little guy would have made it.
Experience #4-Imperial War Museum. This place is really really cool. Dr. Tubb described it as a man's museum and I can totally understand why. It is home to major exhibits on WWI, WWII, and every other conflict since that the UK has been involved in. My favorite part today was the trench experience. In the WWI section they have constructed a simulated trench complete with eerily realistic human statues, gunfire, rank odors and simulated scenes of trench life. It was horrific. I found myself wanting to get out of there as soon as possible eventhough there wasn't true gunfire. How those soldiers stood that life I'll never know but I give them all the respect in the world.
The museum also had a really good Holocaust exhibit. This was the first exhibit I had been to since Poland and I wasn't real sure how I was going to do. It started out okay. The exhibit was heavily based in pictures and videos, graphic videos, but nothing that I hadn't seen twenty times before. Then we entered a room with a gigantic model of Auschwitz. That was all I needed to see. Immediately I was recounting in my head all the smells, the feel of the air, the stories, the images, the sounds. Watching these model people march into the model crematoria I felt my lungs crush with the heaviness of being in a gas chamber. All I wanted to do was run or break down in the middle of the museum. Luckily Hayley was there and together we got through it kinda composed. Note to self: avoid the camp models.
Here in London they give away free papers on the street. The three most common around here are The Metro, The London Lite, and thelondonpaper (yes, it's spelled that way). These are primarily tabloids but they also contain useful stuff like the TV listings. I recently discovered that they have a section called lovestruck where they post announcements from people trying to get in touch with someone they have maybe seen on the Tube or met on a bus. Most are creepily stalkerish but cute. Then there are some that are happily odd. I think I'm going to start including one or two at the end of entries for your enjoyment.
Today's lovestruck is: "Girl with black fingerless gloves and lipring on No 6 bus at 3am. Boy with green-stained hands and head, eyeliner and Garfield plaster would like to wake up next to you again."
Cheers!
Monday, March 10, 2008
And we all Know the Pope is the Antichrist
Classes here are a real joy. Any of you who have had Dr. Tubb know exactly what I mean. He's extremely energetic and never stops with the quotables. Today I decided to jot down a couple when I had the chance and here they are.
First: "Since we need to prove we have standards it was too much, even for us." I won't give you the context for that one, just take it wherever you want to since it's funnier that way.
Second: "In France, which is a Satanic Hellhole." This was a comment made to describe the Catholic France from the view of 17th century Protestant England. There are so many jabs made at the French each day I'm going to start compiling a list.
However, the best quote of the day came from Steve Dykes, the theatre professor. We were compiling a list of important modern issues that the Royal Court Theatre might tackle and someone said immigration. He responded that America has found the solution: "We're going to build this big wall but first we have to find enough Mexicans to build it." I just couldn't help but smile.
All in all today has been the crappiest weather we've had since we've been here. It's been raining on and off and really chilly. Guess it finally decided to give us a little English weather. When the weather is crappy there is only one thing to do, cook.
Tonight for dinner (yes I'm really proud of myself eventhough this was really simple) was a lemon-pepper encrusted chicken breast served atop couscous with fresh steamed asparagus spears. I didn't do a good job with the presentation but by the time I was done all I wanted to do was eat. There is a picture of it below. It was by far the best meal I've made for myself yet.
Also, I found a way to get the grocery clerk to bag your groceries for you. Find a clerk who seems talkative and helped bag for someone in line before you. Then just be nice and talk to them and they'll help you bag your groceries. A little Southern charm and friendliness goes a long way in a town where anonymity is commonplace.
That'll be all for tonight. Have a splendid day!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Read the Map...Fully
It seems that the last few days have been strongly marked by that simple phrase. Friday was our class field trip to Chinatown. Every time we go on a trip we get lost somehow. Tubb and Barkin wanted to take us back through Soho a little bit and then into Chinatown. After over an hour of wandering around the theatre district and walking past the theatre housing Spamalot probably six times, we finally arrived in the parts of Soho they wanted to show us. Not the sleezy red-light district that we had to cut through to get there, but the cool food and shopping sections. One of the these days I might go back down there. Eventually we made it to Chinatown.
This Chinatown is relatively small, only a few square blocks, and relatively new. Dr. Barkin sent us on a crazy photo scavenger hunt for everything from an iPhone unlocking service to a buddha statue to durien (a spiky seasonal fruit). Initially all the teams crammed into a supermarket, completely over-running it and not intending on buying anything. Eventually I bought a pound's worth of gunpowder tea just because I felt so guilty about us inconvenincing all these people for our personal gain. Surprisingly the hardest thing to find was a dim sum cart which are everywhere in the Chinatowns of the United States. Lunch followed and we found a great nice (business casual) restaurant with a cheap lunch menu. It was fabulous.
Yesterday we went to Portobello Market which is this great antiques and food market down near Notting Hill. The neighborhood was adorable with rows of townhouses painted numerous different shades of pastels and expensive cars lining the streets. Luckily we got there early enough to browse and buy some food products (I bought some grapes and a really great chocolate chip muffin) before the wave of humanity began. Now I'm used to yardsales and flea markets from my childhood, but this was more than I could have ever expected. The streets were packed, we almost couldn't move on the sidewalks and as we were leaving it was almost impossible to get into the tube station because throngs of people were trying to get out. If you are into antiques though and can stomach the exchange rate then this is the place to go.
After that adventure I figured it would be fun to go on another one. Back in January I went to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Lexington. It was a phenomnal experience and whenever I get back I'm definitely going to start going pretty regularly. However, while I'm here I figured I'd give the British Unitarian scene a chance. Rev. Cain from Lexington sent me a list of the local churches and I decided to go to the Islington-Newington Green congregation this morning. There are several in the area but this one had an interesting website and I was curious how a community could function serving two different locales. SOOOO this morning I left at about 10:10 to get there by 11:00, mind you it was only a "short" walk from Islington station which was one station up the Victoria Line from King's Cross. Things are going well, I get to Islington at about 10:25 and start walking to the church, or so I thought. Initially I must have taken a wrong turn because I was coming into a neighborhood where people were stumbling out of bars, beer bottles and litter plastered to the streets and the scent of piss and beer in the air. After diving up a sidestreet to consult my map (I didn't want to show my lack of knowledge in public just in case) I corrected my error and started walking. Islington is nice, kinda reminded me of the Notting Hill area but cheaper and I don't mean that in a bad way. It was just evident that home prices were lower and the cars not as fancy. Well this short walk ends up taking me almost an hour. By the time I get to the church it's 11:10 and I've walked at least 2.5km.
When I get to the church the front entrance is closed with a sign to go to the side entrance. There a sweet little old lady took me into the church through the only available entrance, a door at about a 15 degree angle behind and to the right of the pulpit. Yep, no missing my late entrance. I darted down the side aisle and into the last pew, well box really. They were box pews with little doors and no padding.
The service itself was heavily Anglican. It was stifly structured without smoothe flow, an organ supplied all the music and the minister seemed aloof and distant but nice and pleasant at the same time. From the sermon I learned an important lesson, Unitarians love unity. Who knew? I thought it would be implicit in the name. There was no overarching moral lesson, no life message to apply, no thought to think about for the rest of the day. It was a lesson on Unitarian history and the principle that Unitarians are united not by conformity but by a shared belief in individuality. As much as I appreciated this little lesson I kinda already knew the information provided. I left as soon as the service was over feeling that I had gained nothing, learned nothing, felt no spiritual movement and realised why that church was dying. Next Sunday I'm going to try either the congregation at Brixton or Kensington. Hopefully they'll be more enlightening.
I wish I could be in KY right now for the snow. Those of you who have spent any time with me know that I love snow as long as I don't have to drive in it. Seeing as this is the first significant snowfall in years I'm horribly sad to have missed it. Y'all should send me a couple pics so I can see what I'm missing.
Also, as much as I hate to admit this, I do somewhat follow Dr. Weston's blog. Lately his entries have really been getting under my skin, we can talk about that later, but he did post a link to another blog that I thought was kind of funny. It's called Stuff White People Like and pokes fun at the upper-middle class professional/educated white person culture that a lot of us embrace without realising it. You really should check it out. If you can't laugh at yourself then you really have no right to laugh at anyone else. http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
This Chinatown is relatively small, only a few square blocks, and relatively new. Dr. Barkin sent us on a crazy photo scavenger hunt for everything from an iPhone unlocking service to a buddha statue to durien (a spiky seasonal fruit). Initially all the teams crammed into a supermarket, completely over-running it and not intending on buying anything. Eventually I bought a pound's worth of gunpowder tea just because I felt so guilty about us inconvenincing all these people for our personal gain. Surprisingly the hardest thing to find was a dim sum cart which are everywhere in the Chinatowns of the United States. Lunch followed and we found a great nice (business casual) restaurant with a cheap lunch menu. It was fabulous.
Yesterday we went to Portobello Market which is this great antiques and food market down near Notting Hill. The neighborhood was adorable with rows of townhouses painted numerous different shades of pastels and expensive cars lining the streets. Luckily we got there early enough to browse and buy some food products (I bought some grapes and a really great chocolate chip muffin) before the wave of humanity began. Now I'm used to yardsales and flea markets from my childhood, but this was more than I could have ever expected. The streets were packed, we almost couldn't move on the sidewalks and as we were leaving it was almost impossible to get into the tube station because throngs of people were trying to get out. If you are into antiques though and can stomach the exchange rate then this is the place to go.
After that adventure I figured it would be fun to go on another one. Back in January I went to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Lexington. It was a phenomnal experience and whenever I get back I'm definitely going to start going pretty regularly. However, while I'm here I figured I'd give the British Unitarian scene a chance. Rev. Cain from Lexington sent me a list of the local churches and I decided to go to the Islington-Newington Green congregation this morning. There are several in the area but this one had an interesting website and I was curious how a community could function serving two different locales. SOOOO this morning I left at about 10:10 to get there by 11:00, mind you it was only a "short" walk from Islington station which was one station up the Victoria Line from King's Cross. Things are going well, I get to Islington at about 10:25 and start walking to the church, or so I thought. Initially I must have taken a wrong turn because I was coming into a neighborhood where people were stumbling out of bars, beer bottles and litter plastered to the streets and the scent of piss and beer in the air. After diving up a sidestreet to consult my map (I didn't want to show my lack of knowledge in public just in case) I corrected my error and started walking. Islington is nice, kinda reminded me of the Notting Hill area but cheaper and I don't mean that in a bad way. It was just evident that home prices were lower and the cars not as fancy. Well this short walk ends up taking me almost an hour. By the time I get to the church it's 11:10 and I've walked at least 2.5km.
When I get to the church the front entrance is closed with a sign to go to the side entrance. There a sweet little old lady took me into the church through the only available entrance, a door at about a 15 degree angle behind and to the right of the pulpit. Yep, no missing my late entrance. I darted down the side aisle and into the last pew, well box really. They were box pews with little doors and no padding.
The service itself was heavily Anglican. It was stifly structured without smoothe flow, an organ supplied all the music and the minister seemed aloof and distant but nice and pleasant at the same time. From the sermon I learned an important lesson, Unitarians love unity. Who knew? I thought it would be implicit in the name. There was no overarching moral lesson, no life message to apply, no thought to think about for the rest of the day. It was a lesson on Unitarian history and the principle that Unitarians are united not by conformity but by a shared belief in individuality. As much as I appreciated this little lesson I kinda already knew the information provided. I left as soon as the service was over feeling that I had gained nothing, learned nothing, felt no spiritual movement and realised why that church was dying. Next Sunday I'm going to try either the congregation at Brixton or Kensington. Hopefully they'll be more enlightening.
I wish I could be in KY right now for the snow. Those of you who have spent any time with me know that I love snow as long as I don't have to drive in it. Seeing as this is the first significant snowfall in years I'm horribly sad to have missed it. Y'all should send me a couple pics so I can see what I'm missing.
Also, as much as I hate to admit this, I do somewhat follow Dr. Weston's blog. Lately his entries have really been getting under my skin, we can talk about that later, but he did post a link to another blog that I thought was kind of funny. It's called Stuff White People Like and pokes fun at the upper-middle class professional/educated white person culture that a lot of us embrace without realising it. You really should check it out. If you can't laugh at yourself then you really have no right to laugh at anyone else. http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Lift is Under Investigation
What is the lift under investigation for? Was it a co-conspirator in the Camden cannabis ring? It's funny how everywhere today the lifts seem to be having problems. One was out of order at Birkbeck and then one was out here at Endsleigh. Whatever was wrong with it has been fixed, but I bet the investigation was enthralling.
Speaking of Endsleigh, I got to do my first bit of rubbish bin diving today. This a copy of Kendall's blog where she tells the story:
However..... little did I know that upon returning to Flat 210, Endsleigh Court, that neither my roommate nor I would have the golden ticket upon us: otherwise known as keys...... After a couple trips to the porter, and an unsuccessful "spare" key, I was provided the key to the rubbish bin door.....please take a moment and think about the size of a rubbish bin door.....think a European doggie door....Now picture me.....crouched outside said doggie door, but alas, this story is not going where you think it is. No, no, dear friends, don't kid yourselves, Josh Stevens was here to save the day. So yes, while I am still crouched outside said door, Josh stevens has head in door trying to open the little door to our flat.I should also clarify for the mental picture in your head that the doggie door opens into a little wooden box area. On the left, at a 90 degree angle, a door of comparable size opens to the flat. this comparable door, has a hatch, which was locked. But remarkably, Josh Stevens used man strength and punched the comparable size door open, through hatch and all. Then, Josh Stevens dove himself through both doors and at one point had legs outside the wall in the corridor, torso in tiny wooden box area, and head plus shoulders in Flat 210, Endsleigh Court. We have discerned, after proper discussion, that this was a Legends of the Hidden Temple Moment (thank you Nickelodeon). Upon seeing one Josh Stevens in such a position and all because he is such a good friend to climb through such a rubbish bin for me, I sunk to the ground in laughter, lovingly. Josh Stevens then emerged like a Roman god from the other side of the door and let us in to our humble abode. Josh Stevens has hereby been declared as Champion of Rubbish Bin Manuevers and will be awarded a medal of valor.
It was a difficult job, but somebody had to do it.
Last night we went to see Sarajevo Story for class. The play, we were pre-impressioned to think, is about an American judge serving on the war crimes tribunal after the Balkan Wars of the early 90s. However, it became readily apparent by the end that it really was more about relationships than anything and the Sarajevo portion was more backdrop and awareness of genocide than anything. Overall I enjoyed the performance greatly. The acting was great for a performance of this nature (small independent collegiate/professor company) and the use of numerous media including cameras, video screens, and simulated Skype made it an enjoyable performance. I was also touched by it on many levels as relationships in my life are sometimes rocky and it's good to know that sometimes it's what's not said that really makes the difference. Also, on the genocide aspect, the Serbs were the ones carrying out this genocide and in some strange way I felt a little shiver of guilt as my ancestors were Serbian up until our migration to America in 1912. Of course they are in no way culpable for what happened, but the last names of the guilty parties just sounded too familiar. By the way, small subsidized theatre is a lot more relaxed than big commercial theatre so we had the opportunity to have a Q&A with the cast and creative team afterwards that really shed some light. Apparently I had been sitting right behind the producer the entire performance and never realized it.
Now, for a sad and interesting tidbit, I knew that the 7/7 bombings had happened near to Endsleigh Court. What I did not realize until today was that the bus bombing happened literally at the end of the block not 30 meters from the building. It's a littler eerie thinking about it, but the resilience of the British people is amazing. They just truck along like nothing ever happened and I really admire that.
Welp, this has been a long entry and not a very happy one. Tomorrow we're going to Chinatown for a field trip. I'll try to update afterwards. Later!
Speaking of Endsleigh, I got to do my first bit of rubbish bin diving today. This a copy of Kendall's blog where she tells the story:
However..... little did I know that upon returning to Flat 210, Endsleigh Court, that neither my roommate nor I would have the golden ticket upon us: otherwise known as keys...... After a couple trips to the porter, and an unsuccessful "spare" key, I was provided the key to the rubbish bin door.....please take a moment and think about the size of a rubbish bin door.....think a European doggie door....Now picture me.....crouched outside said doggie door, but alas, this story is not going where you think it is. No, no, dear friends, don't kid yourselves, Josh Stevens was here to save the day. So yes, while I am still crouched outside said door, Josh stevens has head in door trying to open the little door to our flat.I should also clarify for the mental picture in your head that the doggie door opens into a little wooden box area. On the left, at a 90 degree angle, a door of comparable size opens to the flat. this comparable door, has a hatch, which was locked. But remarkably, Josh Stevens used man strength and punched the comparable size door open, through hatch and all. Then, Josh Stevens dove himself through both doors and at one point had legs outside the wall in the corridor, torso in tiny wooden box area, and head plus shoulders in Flat 210, Endsleigh Court. We have discerned, after proper discussion, that this was a Legends of the Hidden Temple Moment (thank you Nickelodeon). Upon seeing one Josh Stevens in such a position and all because he is such a good friend to climb through such a rubbish bin for me, I sunk to the ground in laughter, lovingly. Josh Stevens then emerged like a Roman god from the other side of the door and let us in to our humble abode. Josh Stevens has hereby been declared as Champion of Rubbish Bin Manuevers and will be awarded a medal of valor.
It was a difficult job, but somebody had to do it.
Last night we went to see Sarajevo Story for class. The play, we were pre-impressioned to think, is about an American judge serving on the war crimes tribunal after the Balkan Wars of the early 90s. However, it became readily apparent by the end that it really was more about relationships than anything and the Sarajevo portion was more backdrop and awareness of genocide than anything. Overall I enjoyed the performance greatly. The acting was great for a performance of this nature (small independent collegiate/professor company) and the use of numerous media including cameras, video screens, and simulated Skype made it an enjoyable performance. I was also touched by it on many levels as relationships in my life are sometimes rocky and it's good to know that sometimes it's what's not said that really makes the difference. Also, on the genocide aspect, the Serbs were the ones carrying out this genocide and in some strange way I felt a little shiver of guilt as my ancestors were Serbian up until our migration to America in 1912. Of course they are in no way culpable for what happened, but the last names of the guilty parties just sounded too familiar. By the way, small subsidized theatre is a lot more relaxed than big commercial theatre so we had the opportunity to have a Q&A with the cast and creative team afterwards that really shed some light. Apparently I had been sitting right behind the producer the entire performance and never realized it.
Now, for a sad and interesting tidbit, I knew that the 7/7 bombings had happened near to Endsleigh Court. What I did not realize until today was that the bus bombing happened literally at the end of the block not 30 meters from the building. It's a littler eerie thinking about it, but the resilience of the British people is amazing. They just truck along like nothing ever happened and I really admire that.
Welp, this has been a long entry and not a very happy one. Tomorrow we're going to Chinatown for a field trip. I'll try to update afterwards. Later!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Ask for Still
I'd like to begin this entry with three quick London lessons.
1. You bag your own groceries at the market and you better be quick about it otherwise people glare at you nastily.
2. The cheap Sainsbury's tea (63p for 80 bags) is total crack. Thanks Katt for turning me on to it. I am absolutely addicted now and have at least two-three cups each night.
3. When wanting to purchase bottled water ask for a "bottle of still." If you just ask for water the clerk will look at you wondering what kind you want or they will just assume you want sparkling water.
This weekend was spent primarily doing homework. Yeah, yeah, my first weekend in London post-classes and I spent it doing homework. Well, this is an academic trip and at some point the work has to be done. Why not now and then when the weather warms I can be out and about? There was one little adventure this weekend. My showerhead is suicidal. It leaps, not falls but leaps, off the hook whenever the water is turned off. I can't tell you how many times I have almost been bonked in the head by it. Saturday it decided to take a flying a leap and smash into the side of the bath. Needless to say, it has cracked open on the top. I went to take a shower and half the water started spraying up and over the shower curtain; before I could cut off the water the bathroom was nice and damp. They still haven't fixed it but has been only one working day.
Above are a few pics from the last week. My internet connection is holding pretty well tonight so hopefully this will work well. Enjoy and I'll be in touch soon.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Emergency Vehicles and Police Tape
So something went down tonight. I don't know what but it was close. After dinner I was sitting checking e-mail waiting for a couple mates to come over and I kept hearing sirens. It was like one right after another and all heading toward Euston Station. Finally when they arrived I got up and looked out my window. A police car was weaving down Upper Woburn toward my building ushering people away from Euston Road. He stopped at the building next door (the Hilton) and jumped out. After a minute inside the Hilton he ran across the street to the Ambassador. After a minute in there he began placing police tape across the sidewalks leading to Euston Street and I could hear him shouting at people to stay back.
Then a couple minutes later a Police command van pulled up and said something to him. He began tearing down the tape and emergency vehicles began progressively heading away from Euston Road.
Who knows what happened but it definitely gave us all a small fright. Actually, we all wanted to know what was going on because we are from Kentucky and knowing what is happening is part the culture. Apparently that's a universal thing because the Brits were gathered watching something on the other side of the tape.
Interesting night.
Then a couple minutes later a Police command van pulled up and said something to him. He began tearing down the tape and emergency vehicles began progressively heading away from Euston Road.
Who knows what happened but it definitely gave us all a small fright. Actually, we all wanted to know what was going on because we are from Kentucky and knowing what is happening is part the culture. Apparently that's a universal thing because the Brits were gathered watching something on the other side of the tape.
Interesting night.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Speed the Plow on Tower Hill
So yesterday was spent in two main areas. First, a group of us went to the Tower of London. It was quite impressive but not because of its size or grandeur but rather because of its history and age. We have nothing in America to even compare. The White Tower, the first fortress on the site and now home to the armoury display was built in 1080. 1080!! Theoretically I could live to see it turn 1000. It just blows my mind that something that old is still standing and I went inside it.
The Tower, which is actually a fortress consisting of over 20 towers, is still guarded by the Yeomen Warders aka Beefeaters. Nobody knows why they are called that but it does sound cool. Yeomen Warders are retired military officers who served at least 20 years in the armed forces and had good conduct and valor. They still live in the walls of the tower with their families. Of course their primary duty these days is to be tour guides because the fortress is no longer a military target, but they are still impressive.
After five hours and God-knows how many pictures with London Bridge in the background, we set off for home. Then a few hours later was part 2 of our day, Speed the Plow. This play at the Old Vic was our first visit for the theatre class. It starred Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum. We were in row 3, not 25 feet from the stage. Jeff Goldblum is really freakin tall and Kevin is a really great stage actor. The play was amazing but the production came off more than slightly sexist. Our professor summed it up as "Bitch, Book, Door." I'll leave it at that because I could get rolling if I wanted to.
Now for my first complaint about London. Today while on our group trip to St. Pauls Cathedral (we didn't go in because it costs 9GBP) Dr. Tubb commented on the air pollution turning the cathedral black and that they were having to give it a good cleaning before the 300th anniversary celebration. As soon as he said that I realised something. Since we've been here my (caution this will be graphic) I've wiped my nose at times and found black streaks on the tissue. At first I didn't think much about it until he said that and I realised that that black stuff was pollution. I've been basically blowing tar out of my nose for the last 4 days. Honestly, pollution isn't cool and I am trying not to think about what all is getting into my lungs.
I would add some pics to this post, but they take forever to upload and frankly I don't want to fool with it right now while I'm enjoying some tea and a biscuit. I hope everything is well wherever you are and maybe I'll post some pics later.
The Tower, which is actually a fortress consisting of over 20 towers, is still guarded by the Yeomen Warders aka Beefeaters. Nobody knows why they are called that but it does sound cool. Yeomen Warders are retired military officers who served at least 20 years in the armed forces and had good conduct and valor. They still live in the walls of the tower with their families. Of course their primary duty these days is to be tour guides because the fortress is no longer a military target, but they are still impressive.
After five hours and God-knows how many pictures with London Bridge in the background, we set off for home. Then a few hours later was part 2 of our day, Speed the Plow. This play at the Old Vic was our first visit for the theatre class. It starred Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum. We were in row 3, not 25 feet from the stage. Jeff Goldblum is really freakin tall and Kevin is a really great stage actor. The play was amazing but the production came off more than slightly sexist. Our professor summed it up as "Bitch, Book, Door." I'll leave it at that because I could get rolling if I wanted to.
Now for my first complaint about London. Today while on our group trip to St. Pauls Cathedral (we didn't go in because it costs 9GBP) Dr. Tubb commented on the air pollution turning the cathedral black and that they were having to give it a good cleaning before the 300th anniversary celebration. As soon as he said that I realised something. Since we've been here my (caution this will be graphic) I've wiped my nose at times and found black streaks on the tissue. At first I didn't think much about it until he said that and I realised that that black stuff was pollution. I've been basically blowing tar out of my nose for the last 4 days. Honestly, pollution isn't cool and I am trying not to think about what all is getting into my lungs.
I would add some pics to this post, but they take forever to upload and frankly I don't want to fool with it right now while I'm enjoying some tea and a biscuit. I hope everything is well wherever you are and maybe I'll post some pics later.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Still Sore
Alright, so yesterday was the grand walking tour of London, all 9 miles of it as Allison's pedometer registered. It began with a quick adventure through Regent's Park attempting to find Dr. Tubb's family by reading a map. Obviously he was trying to reassure himself that we could actually read a map after the incident of half the class, me included, getting lost trying to find the Thai restaurant Saturday night. Urban planning was not London's forte.
From there we went through Oxford Street and down Regent's Street which are the two main shopping districts. I mean Armani, Apple, etc. with apartment prices beginning at $3 million. In some ways I wish we hadn't gone through there because now I want to shop, but of course I have no money because food is more important.
We ended that leg of the journey poking more fun at the French (yes the French, those crazy people on the continent who stole English architecture) in St. James park where lunch was to be had. Can anyone say $11 for a sandwich and a juice.
Then it was off to Buckingham, the Victoria statue and the Houses of Parliament. It was a very touristy day. Actually at one point we were cursed at by a Spaniard near the National Gallery. Once the touristy part was over, then it was down to business. Grocery shopping and going to the chemist (pharmacy) for a few things. [sentence fragment] Hauling groceries a third of a mile after hiking 9 was a challenge but well worth it. I got a sleeve of chocolate cookies for 33p and life was all better.
Below are a few pics of the room as well. It has a tiny tiny kitchen but otherwise is not bad. The showerhead and I fight everyday because the shower curtain isn't large enough to go completely around the tub. There are no window screens and no air conditioning but neither are needed. It's been 55 and partly sunny so far.
I have to say that I feel I'm beginning to adjust pretty well. The people are friendly and helpful. I've never felt safer in a big city. It's really just splendid here.
I hope everything is going well back in the States and I'll update soon. Tomorrow is mobile phone shopping down on Tottenham so we'll see what adventures result. Cheerio!
*Nerd Alert* Here is a fine example of what happens in a post-Christian nation. Numerous faiths must get along because they can not survive on their own.
P.S. I would like to thank everyone who came to see me off. It was one of the best send-offs I've ever had.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Early Lessons
I have arrived safe and sound here at Endsleigh. All in all it wasn't a bad trip and the accommodations here are adequate, although not splendid. Over the course of my journey I learned a few lessons that I would like to share.
1. Delta food is actually better than Cowan food. I'm not entirely sure how this is possible but it is.
2. Never underestimate the power of a 200mph tailwind to make-up time on a flight. We departed Covington an hour late and arrived in London ten minutes early.
3. Random conversations with men waiting for the lavatory can be enlightening.
4. Sleep is not that important. Well it is, but it can be delayed when absolutely necessary.
5. This is the most important. I have no freakin' clue how to get back to Victoria Station, but I really don't care because Londoners can't drive and the roads are crazy confusing.
I know this is a short entry without any pics, but I've got to head downstairs for our group meeting in a couple minutes so I'm going to have to leave it at this. I'll be in touch soon with photos eventhough I'm not sure what of exactly.
1. Delta food is actually better than Cowan food. I'm not entirely sure how this is possible but it is.
2. Never underestimate the power of a 200mph tailwind to make-up time on a flight. We departed Covington an hour late and arrived in London ten minutes early.
3. Random conversations with men waiting for the lavatory can be enlightening.
4. Sleep is not that important. Well it is, but it can be delayed when absolutely necessary.
5. This is the most important. I have no freakin' clue how to get back to Victoria Station, but I really don't care because Londoners can't drive and the roads are crazy confusing.
I know this is a short entry without any pics, but I've got to head downstairs for our group meeting in a couple minutes so I'm going to have to leave it at this. I'll be in touch soon with photos eventhough I'm not sure what of exactly.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Ready to go...sorta
As John Denver would say, my bags are packed and I'm ready to go. I would usually agree entirely, but this time I wish I had a little more time to spend with everyone. It was really great seeing everyone today for the brief moment I was on campus, but I wish I could have stayed longer. Don't forget to send me e-mails and messages while I'm gone. Yes I'm needy.
It really is amazing what all a person can fit in two suitcases, a backpack, and a laptop case. I really feel I've managed to squeeze my life into these items with room left over. Space Bags, those "as seen on tv" airtight compression bags actually work. If you are ever going to travel for a long time, definitely pick some up.
Finally, in case anyone was wondering, I'm on Delta 36 from Covington. The next entry will be from London.
It really is amazing what all a person can fit in two suitcases, a backpack, and a laptop case. I really feel I've managed to squeeze my life into these items with room left over. Space Bags, those "as seen on tv" airtight compression bags actually work. If you are ever going to travel for a long time, definitely pick some up.
Finally, in case anyone was wondering, I'm on Delta 36 from Covington. The next entry will be from London.
Friday, February 15, 2008
T-minus One Week
In one week's time Kendall and I will be flying to England for Spring Term and this reality is beginning to set in. As I sit here with nothing packed, my books just shipped over and no idea how I'm going to get everything ready, all I can think about is reading Harry Potter 7. I know that sounds really dorky, but in the last week I've read 5 & 6 and really need (yes, at this point it is a need) to know how this story ends.
On a separate note, if you want to mail anything to me in England here is the address:
Joshua Stevens
Endsleigh Court
24 Upper Woburn Place
London WC1H OHA
United Kingdom
Word of warning, expensive! My books, and there weren't that many, cost me $56 to ship by USPS "it'll get there when it gets there" post.
I think that's all for now.
On a separate note, if you want to mail anything to me in England here is the address:
Joshua Stevens
Endsleigh Court
24 Upper Woburn Place
London WC1H OHA
United Kingdom
Word of warning, expensive! My books, and there weren't that many, cost me $56 to ship by USPS "it'll get there when it gets there" post.
I think that's all for now.
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